Do You Hear The Music?

Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney jamming together; what I would have done to have been there and witness a collaboration that 80,000 fans at Hard Rock Calling in London were privileged to.  Too bad it was marred by the unfortunate stance taken by festival organizers and authorities.

I saw it over the weekend, tweeted it a couple times as soon as I saw it but wasn’t really going to blog post about it until I realized that I need to vent a little bit.

This is a perfect example of some of what’s wrong with so many things today.  And yes, I know I’m referencing music but you know what, this is the universal language that speaks and unites strangers all over the world.

You went over curfew, so what. It’s a music festival and you have two of the greatest entertainers to ever exist sharing a stage and giving fans one of the most magical and memorable performances to date.  Live Nation, take the fine and pay it, make a statement apologizing for going over but don’t deprive the world of seeing improvisation at its finest take place. And it’s not like we are taking about anyone, we’re taking SIR Paul McCartney (oh and how do you not put in place a buffer for Springsteen when he is known for his marathon concerts).  For a destination where the spotlight will be shining bright with the summer Olympics about to take place, way to give yourself a self inflicted black eye leading up to it.

Also I love this, Springsteen guitarist Stevie Van Zandt quotes from The Guardian:

But Van Zandt, who also starred in the US drama series The Sopranos, turned to Twitter in rage. In a series of tweets from StevieVanZandt, he said: “One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state?

“We break curfews in every country but only English cops needs to ‘punish us’ by not letting us leave until the entire crowd goes. Is there just too much fun in the world? We would have been off by 11 if we’d done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing?” he asked.

“The cops got nothing more important to do? How about they go catch some criminals instead of fucking with 80,000 people having a good time? English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn’t want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney!

“I’m sorry but I have to be honest I’m pissed. Like I said, it didn’t ruin the great night. But when I’m jamming with McCartney don’t bug me!”

Van Zandt also compared the occasion to the last live Beatles performance in 1969 on the roof of their Apple record company offices in London’s Savile Row. It was cut short by police. “Ha! @raindogs70 just reminded me how the Beatles’ rooftop concert ended. Not much has changed in 43 years!”

All of this reminds me of the movie Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked for those of you in the UK) and how Government wanted to shut down rock and roll. Looks like things really haven’t changed…..

Tags: Bruce, england, Hard Rock Calling, Hyde Park, London, Paul McCartney, Quotes, Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, Stevie Van Zandt, Tom Morello, Twitter, UK, video