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Common Man Bruce Springsteen Gets Parking Tickets at His Own Concert

bruce springsteen, parking ticket, new jersey

Bruce Springsteen may be the Boss, but that doesn’t mean much to parking attendants in England. As the Guardian notes, Springsteen’s buses and rigging vans were slapped with parking tickets on Wednesday (July 24), the same night the Born to Run legend was playing the inaugural concert at the brand new Leeds Arena. 

“It was somebody being a little bit stupid and zealous,” Keith Wakefield, Labour leader of Leeds Council, told the BBC. According to Exclaim!, Springsteen’s vehicles were left on a side street near the 13,500-seat venue, and the fines kept flying into the next morning, when members of the live crew were dismantling the Boss’ VIP tent. Traffic officers told ITV that even if there weren’t any spaces available, the “Thunder” roadies couldn’t park on the double-yellow lines. 

A spokesperson with the Leeds Arena claimed the tickets have since been waived, saying, “We accept this is a little embarrassing but the attendant was doing his job — if a little too efficiently. These were somewhat unusual circumstances with a very large tour involving a tight turnaround of vehicles arriving from the previous night’s show in Cardiff on the opening night of a brand new venue. Having considered the special circumstances, the tickets were quickly cancelled. When you prepare a city to open and host a huge, state-of-the-art new venue, you’re bound to get the odd teething trouble.” 

The Leeds Arena doesn’t officially open until September 4, but Springsteen reportedly asked to christen the venue. “[It’s] a beautiful building, and a great place to play,” he said from the stage. And this is the thanks he gets.