Hard Rock Calling: fans complain as 'volume is turned down' for Paul Simon's Hyde Park gig

Volume on final night for Paul Simon gig 'disappointingly low' according to fans
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Lindsay Watling16 July 2012

Concert-goers today complained Paul Simon's final night show at Hyde Park was closer to the Sound of Silence than Hard Rock.

Worried organisers apparently cut the volume at the Hard Rock Calling gig as more than 50,000 concert-goers swayed on the woodchip underfoot at the festival.

The music legend recreated his controversial 1986 album Graceland for the final night of the weekend's entertainment.

But many said the sound levels were “disappointingly low”, spoiling a “brilliant” gig.

Danny O’Toole, 33, from Shepherd’s Bush, said Simon was so quiet he could hear other people’s conversations over the music.

He added: “It seemed like the volume had been turned down. It was probably because of Saturday night. I mean turn it up a little bit - it was disappointing.”

Lucy Schwerdtfeger, 27, from Notting Hill, said: “I just wonder why? I understand the end of the night thing but I don’t know what the correlation is between shutting it off and turning it down?”

Alison Bowman, 46, from Hertford, described the show as “brilliant” but added: “I have been to concerts where it has been a lot louder. Sometimes you can’t hear yourself think. “But this was comfortable – although maybe that’s because I am getting old.”

Promoters were already reeling from a barbed attack by Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist who accused them of operating a “police state” for pulling the plug on the Boss’s historic duet with Sir Paul McCartney to meet Saturday night’s curfew.

Rosie O’Toole, 31, of Acton, who saw Springsteen perform in the Isle of Wight, said: “He should have been allowed to continue playing. It was really strict.

“It’s quite harsh that it just went silent and he did not have the chance to say goodbye.”

Bryony Raisey, 29, of Shepherd’s Bush, added: “It was very harsh. I would have been annoyed as a fan.”

Boris Johnson waded into the row, saying the musicians should have been allowed to play on.

He said: “It sounds to me like an excessively efficacious decision. You won’t get that during the Olympics.

“If they’d have called me, my answer would have been for them to jam in the name of the Lord!”

Steven Van Zandt, who plays guitar in Springsteen’s E-Street Band and starred in cult US drama series The Sopranos, took to Twitter to voice his frustration.

He said: “One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state?”

But local residents, who have complained in the past that the venue is inappropriate for rock concerts, praised the promoters for sticking to the deadline.

Business owner Karen Scarborough, 57, whose flat in Connaught Square backs onto the park, said: “I can understand the crowd was jeering when Springsteen was cut off, but why don’t the bands just rock up a bit earlier?

“Westminster Council has finally started engaging with us properly and I’m glad they’re taking our concerns seriously.”

Leith Penny, the local council’s city management director, said: “Concert organisers, not the council, ended Saturday’s concert in Hyde Park to comply with their licence, which allows them to run the concert until 10.30pm.”

The number of gigs which can take place in Hyde Park will be reduced from 13 to nine from next year following increased complaints.

The crowd limit will also fall from 80,000 to 65,000 – and in some cases 50,000 – following a decision by the council’s licensing sub-committee last February.

Madonna will be the next to perform at the venue, taking to the stage as part of her MDNA tour tomorrow night. (Tues)

The American singer is on her way from France, where she courted controversy by showing an image of National Front leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead at a concert in Paris.

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