Bruce Springsteen poked fun at his previous battle with Hyde Park’s strict curfew during his British Summer Time performance in London.
The American music legend last performed in Hyde Park back in 2012, and fell foul of the rules when his set ran over time, prompting organisers to pull the plug – right in the middle of a Beatles cover featuring Sir Paul McCartney himself, no less.
It’s fair to say that Bruce and his bandmates were less than impressed by the move, with his long-time guitarist Steve Van Zandt questioning “when did England become a police state?” in a tweet posted after the show.
A few days later, at his next gig in Dublin, the singer picked things up exactly where he left off, kicking off the show with the last section of The Beatles’ Twist And Shout, while holding up a sign which read “Only the Boss says when to pull the plug”.
When he and his band returned to Hyde Park on 6 July for the first of two headline shows, Bruce arrived on stage at around 7pm, ensuring that he would have enough time to play his mammoth three-hour set in full.
Around 15 minutes before the end of the show, though, he jokingly alluded to his previous appearance there, tapping his watch and telling his guitarist “I think it’s time to go home”, according to reports.
“I’m telling you, they’re going to pull the fucking plug again!” he added.
Fortunately, his worries were unfounded, and he managed to play the entire set, including an encore, without any interruptions.
Bruce will return to the Hyde Park stage on Saturday night, before Lana Del Rey (who’s had her own recent problems with curfews, after her Glastonbury set was cut short last month following her late arrival on stage) closes the festival on 9 July.
Over the years, the New Jersey-born star has become renowned for his commitment to super-long sets, which usually span nearly 30 songs.
In a recent interview, Sir Paul McCartney blamed his pal for upping concert-goers’ expectations.
“Now people will do three or four hours,” he told Conan O’Brien during an appearance on the Needs A Friend podcast, comparing modern gigs to the shorter shows he would play with The Beatles back in the 60s.
“I blame Bruce Springsteen – I’ve told him so, I said, ‘It’s your fault, man.’ You can’t now do an hour, we used to do a half hour. That was The Beatles’ thing - half an hour and we got paid for it.”