Bruce Springsteen Edinburgh: Balmoral hotel incident sees hundreds gather and police swarm Princes Street

Fans descend on Edinburgh hotel where Bruce Springsteen is rumoured to be staying

Hundreds of Bruce Springsteen fans gathered in Edinburgh city centre hoping to catch a glimpse of The Boss ahead of his Edinburgh concert – but were later told he was never there.

Police swarmed Princes Street after fans gathered outside The Balmoral, after rumours that the star was staying at the hotel circulated on social media. The incident caused traffic chaos, with nearby South Bridge and North Bridge having been brought to a standstill. Despite the rumours, police told people in the crowd that Springsteen was not at the hotel. An eye witness added that police at the scene had said there were initially ‘hundreds of people’ who turned up.

He said: “I was walking from my house down to the St James Quarter and noticed all of South Bridge was rammed with buses. It’s usually busy but this was something else. When I got near, there were loads of people outside The Balmoral, apparently they were waiting for Bruce Springsteen. The police said he wasn’t even there - and was flying in. Apparently his support band was, which maybe where the confusion come from, but all this for a glimpse of some old American rocker seems a bit much.”

Police dealing with the crowds of Bruce Springsteen fans who gathered outside The Balmoral on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of his concert at BT Murrayfield

Bruce Springsteen is set to play at BT Murrayfield tonight, May 30, with his E Street Band. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 12.50pm on Tuesday, 30 May, 2023 we were made aware of crowds gathering outside a premises on Princes Street, Edinburgh. Officers attended for crowd control and traffic management."