Bruce Springsteen warned the audience at Hyde Park that he was about to be cut off as he neared the end of his Hyde Park set.
The 73-year-old rock star took to the stage on day five of Hyde Park BST on Thursday (07.07.23) night and recalled being cut off by organisers over a decade ago when he and Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney exceeded their time limit and started tapping his watch towards the end of the new set.
Speaking live on stage, he turned to E Street band member Steven Van Zandt and said: “I’m telling you, if we don’t go, they’re going to pull the plug on us again. F*** ’em! London is there anyone alive out there tonight? Cos if you’re alive, then I’m alive. And that’s what we came here for!”
In 2012, when Bruce was headling the Hard Rock Calling event with the ‘Hey Jude’ singer when organisers decided to pull the plug in the interests of public safety.
Organisers Live Nation said in a statement at the time: “The curfew is laid down by the authorities in the interest of the public’s health and safety. Road closures around Hard Park are put in place at specific times to make sure everyone can exit the area safely.”
On Thursday night, the US megastar had brought six decades’ worth of hits with him as he took to the stage at the annual festival on performing the likes of ‘Letter To You’, ‘Ghosts’, ‘The Promised Land’, ‘Kitty’s Back’ and ‘My Hometown’ before wrapping up the three-hour set with ‘Dancing in the Dark’ and ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out’.
Things took a more sombre turn when he decided to dedicate ‘Last Man Standing’ and ‘Backstreets’ to life-long friend and bandmate George Theiss, who died in 2018 following a battle with cancer at the age of 68.
He said: “Be good to yourself and those around you!”