Imagine a rock concert by a legendary act taking place on an episode of TV's Downton Abbey in front of 25,000 screaming fans. In real life, something very similar is going to happen in England this summer, and the local residents aren't too happy about it.
The Badminton Estate, a 17th century mansion on 52,000 acres of land in Gloucestershire, in the area of England known as The Cotsworlds, is hosting two major rock concerts this summer: Rod Stewart on July 2 and The Who on July 16.
The Times of London reports the owner of the estate, Henry Somerset, the 12th Duke of Beaufort, started selling tickets to the two concerts on the home's website, even though he and the concert promoter hadn't obtained a license. But after they got one, more than three dozen locals officially registered complaints, mostly about the traffic.
One villager complained, “The company say that the music will end at 11.30pm and they will have 25,000 people off the site...in their cars and clear of the village by 12am. This is utterly ludicrous.”
Another resident wrote a letter saying the concerts present "an unwarranted and wholly avoidable inconvenience and distress to the residents.”
Yet another villager complained these two concerts are only the start of what they fear will be an invasion of rock shows in the area, turning their neighborhood into "Glastonbury in the Cotswolds."
The Who's date is part of their first U.K. tour in six years. Rod's show is part of the U.K. and European leg of a tour that'll hit North America starting July 29.
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