Bruce Springsteen poked fun at being cut off by Hyde Park during his return to the venue.
The musician and his E Street Band returned to London for the first time since 2016 for a three-hour show that saw them play songs including “The Promised Land”, “My Hometown”, “Badlands” and “Working on the Highway”.
During the the first of two dates at BST Hyde Park, Springsteen started at 7pm seemingly in the hopes of avoiding the venue’s curfew breach of 10.30pm, which he crossed in 2012; the plug was pulled while he was performing with Paul McCartney.
After leading the band in an encore, featuring “Born in the USA”, “Born to Run” and “Bobby Jean”, Springsteen played “Glory Days”, following which he cheekily addressed being cut off.
The musician, alongside his guitarist Steven van Zandt, told his co-star: “It’s time to go home.”
He then added: “I’m telling you they are going to pull the f***ing plug again!”
To this, Van Zandt replied, in jest: “F*** ‘em!”
Springsteen asked the crowd if they “wanted” to go home, and then went into “Dancing in the Dark” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”.
After the E Street Band left the stage, Springsteen performed an emotional acoustic rendition of “I’ll See You in My Dreams”.
The musician was in high spirits throughout the gig, interacting with the crowd in a variety of ways. At one point, he took a selfie with two crowd members, with another putting a red hat on his head. He then proceeded to perform “Darlington County” while wearing the hat.
Billy Joel will perform at BST Hyde Park on Friday (7 July), with Springsteen set to play a second show on Saturday (8 July). Lana Del Rey, supported by Father John Misty, will take to the stage on Sunday (9 July).
