Late Night: Nobody cuts off Springsteen's mic, says Jon Stewart

By Meredith Blake

July 18, 2012 12 AM PT

Jon Stewart tends to be a liberal guy, but apparently there’s one surefire way to bring out his jingoistic side: Pull the plug on Bruce Springsteen.

As you may have heard, on Saturday night some killjoy bureaucrats in London cut off Springsteen’s concert in Hyde Park just moments after Paul McCartney had joined the Boss onstage. The abrupt ending to the three-hour concert – a relatively short run-time for the famously vigorous Springsteen – infuriated fans and drew jeers far and wide. Even London Mayor Boris Johnson criticized the “excessively efficacious decision,” claiming “if they’d have called me, my answer would have been for them to jam in the name of the Lord!”

Tuesday on “The Daily Show,” Stewart came to the passionate defense of the rock legend and fellow New Jersey native.

“Let me tell you something, England. Nobody puts Brucie in the corner,” Stewart said, his voice rising angrily. “Springsteen gets to sing as long as he wants and as loud as he wants, and there’s nothing that you or anybody else can do about it.”

That’s when resident Brit John Oliver decided to intervene. Dressed in a nightgown and stocking cap, he urged Stewart to keep the noise down. “Britain has got the Olympics coming up. We need our rest, lest we lose either of the two bronze medals we’re hoping for.”

When Oliver pulled the plug on the noisy Stewart, the host reached into a briefcase and pulled out his secret weapon: a patriotic microphone decorated with a golden eagle and an American flag.

“We don’t let British people tell us how loud we can be,” he said defiantly, breaking into the chorus of “Thunder Road.” “Who the hell do you people think you are, cutting off Springsteen’s mic? He’s the Boss.”

Apparently even the Boss answers to the Queen.

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Follow Meredith Blake on Twitter @MeredithBlake