Fans Angered By Snow Patrol Curfew Extension Following Macca And Springsteen Hyde Park Cut-Off
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Written by Elliott Batte
Scottish rockers Snow Patrol will be feeling rather privileged when they round off the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony on Friday - after it was revealed that London’s Westminster Council will allow them to play until 1am in the morning, two and a half hours longer than rock legends Sir Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen were allowed to play before being interrupted.
In news that is surely to anger the legions of fans who were at the Hard Rock Calling event at London’s Hyde Park, Snow Patrol - who will be supported by Duran Duran, the Stereophonics, and Paolo Nutini - will be given until 1am to perform, whereas Bruce Springsteen’s epic end-of-the-night performance was cut short at 10:30pm.
Springsteen’s set saw him joined by a number of iconic musicians - including Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and John Fogerty - and was shaping into one of the greatest performances he’s ever put on. But, with another surprise up his sleeve, he was joined by Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney for an impromptu performance of ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Twist and Shout’.
But, before the two acts could even thank fans (let alone break into anymore of the songs they were hoping to perform), the LiveNation were forced to shut the show down, ending what some described as ‘music history in the making’ dead in it’s tracks. As you can imagine, absolutely everyone in the venue was unhappy, not least Springsteen guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who took to Twitter to ask ‘who were we disturbing?’
After LiveNation explained that they had strict curfews laid out by the local council, the blow of having their show stopped was (ever-so-slightly) softened - but now, fans and musicians alike will be angry to learn that Snow Patrol will be allowed to play until 1am, with the council describing the event as ‘exceptional’.
Audrey Lewis, a council spokesperson, told The BBC: “The opening night of the Olympics is clearly an exceptional evening and the Hyde Park show it times to run around the opening ceremony. It is not a straightforward concert night at Hyde Park – it is clearly different from commercial shows that run throughout other parts of the year.”
While we can agree that the Olympics are a very special event that doesn’t come along very often, I think we can definitely also say that Bruce Springsteen jamming with Sir Paul McCartney is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime, super-rare, super-awesome event!
Twitter has become overrun with people feeling the same way, with one user Mark Reed writing: “So Bruce and Macca get cut off at 10.30pm and Snow Patrol get a 1am curfew? NO JUSTICE. NO PEACE.” Another, Jordan Waller, added: “What world is it where Springsteen plays to a curfew but SnowPatroohhImSoBoredIJustKilledMyself get to play through?”
What do you think of the decisions - do you think it’s fair that Snow Patrol play longer, or are you pissed that PaulSteen (I wonder if that sticks!) couldn’t play for longer? Let us know in the comments section below.
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