Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Hard Rock Calling and Wireless 2013 to be staged at the Olympic Stadium

THANK God someone has seen sense.

This year’s Hard Rock Calling and Wireless festivals will be staged in London’s Olympic Stadium instead of Hyde Park.

It finally brings the curtain down on the park’s dismal recent record as a major venue.

The Still Got The Fever blog started life last year to protest about the ludicrous decibel level limit set by the authorities, which meant thousands in Hyde Park struggled to hear Bruce Springsteen.

A council curfew imposed because of complaints about noise also meant that The Boss and Paul McCartney were silenced when some jobsworth ordered that the plug be pulled, sparking worldwide condemnation.

Well, the good news is that promoter Live Nation has secured an exclusive deal to host gigs at the Olympic Stadium in east London.

And first up will be Wireless and Hard Rock Calling in July.

Live Nation has struck the deal with the London Legacy Development Corporation, which is tasked with securing the future of the Olympic Park complex in Stratford.

“Our vision for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has always been as a destination for world-class sport as well as major cultural and leisure events,” said London mayor Boris Johnson.

“The confidence shown by one of the world’s leading live entertainment promoters to relocate two of its biggest music festivals from the centre of the capital is a ringing endorsement of out legacy plans.”

Live Nation will also host a number of big-name gigs concerts in the main stadium, with the first thought to be planned for early July.

The fantastic London 2012 opening ceremony showed just what could be done in the stadium.

So come, on Roger Waters. Bury the hatchet with the rest of the guys and let’s have the big Pink Floyd reunion.

“Live Nation is delighted to have won the inaugural contract for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,” says John Reid, president of concerts at Live Nation Europe.

We’re delighted, too. Cancel that order for hearing trumpets ...

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