Only in the UK could you expect an impromptu performance by two legends of rock and roll to be cut short because it was a bit late. Last night, Bruce Springsteen was joined at the end of his show by one of his heroes, Paul McCartney. After two songs they were still going strong at 10.45 and planning one last song to bring their show to 60,000 fans to a rapturous close, as is usual with a Springsteen. Instead of this they found themselves talking into microphones which had been silenced by organizers whose license ran out at 10.30 because of concerns over public transport.
Setting aside the huge lapse in musical appreciation that this represented, lets remember that this is a summer evening, albeit a wet one, in July, in one of the biggest cities in Western Europe. Can it really really be true that public transport in London stops at 10.30, even when it's not a school night? The organizers have concerns over noise for local residents? Well hold it somewhere else then. An extra 10-15 minutes would have made little difference, but the pedantry of the decision is simply churlish. To then refuse to let the band leave for a further hour due to£ security" concerns is either petty, or a further example of the state of over hyped paranoia we have let ourselves slip into.
All this sorry decision has achieved is to spoil an evening for the music fans, and spoil a possibly unique moment for Bruce, Paul and the band. But more importantly, made London a laughing stock in the eyes of the world, at a time when all those eyes are all focused in thier direction. Hopefully they know roughly how long races will take during the Olympic Games.
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