Bruce Springsteen draws criticism for not cancelling Italy gig after deadly floods
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American rock star Bruce Springsteen's concert was expected to attract as many as 50,000 people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ROME – American rock legend Bruce Springsteen came under criticism in Italy for going ahead with a concert in Ferrara on Thursday evening, after the northern Emilia-Romagna region was battered by floods that left at least 13 people dead.
Fans of The Boss took to social networks to urge him and his staff to reconsider in a sign of respect for the dead and the thousands evacuated from their homes after torrential rains caused landslides and made rivers break their banks.
“@springsteen please consider rescheduling your concert today. Surrounding areas have faced devastating floods. You should because: all emergency resources should be available in the affected area; we need to avoid massive traffic; out of respect for the victims,” Massimiliano Zampini tweeted.
Others were more outraged.
Cristiana Boi described the decision to go ahead with the show as “outrageous”, while Laura Casadei posted: “It is a scandal that they are doing Springsteen’s concert in Ferrara tonight. He will sing without an audience as all the main streets are blocked in several places.”
The 73-year-old singer’s representatives did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Ferrara, one of Emilia-Romagna’s main cities, has not been directly affected by the floods and Mayor Alan Fabbri defended the decision not to cancel the concert, which was expected to attract as many as 50,000.
He posted on Facebook: “I am sorry if anyone may have thought that Ferrara was insensitive to the tragedy in Romagna just because it did not cancel the concert of The Boss.”
A concert, “given its enormous complexity, cannot be postponed or cancelled” at short notice after having involved thousands of workers and tourists arriving in the city, he added.
The floods have instead led the authorities to call off Sunday’s Formula One Grand Prix in Imola,
