Anna has been a festival fanatic since her first ever outing to Download Festival back in 2001, she's got eclectic tastes and covers everything from metal to EDM and loves a chance to try out new festivals. Anna has covered a few European festivals like Snowbombing and Wacken Open Air, but mainly hits up her UK faves; Download, Bestival and Bloodstock!
Ahoy shipmates! Bestival has only gone and ruddy done it again, a stellar line-up announcement in the middle of the dreary sludge ridden grey early days of the year, just to remind you that there’s a couple of days in September that will make everything ok. Don’t forget the theme is HMS Bestival, interpret it as you wish…
Despite some e-whingery from non-Bestivalites that the headliners aren’t to their exacting (and often hipster ‘I only like bands that no-one’s heard about) tastes, you can’t deny the pure musical royalty of the acts they’ve managed to grab. Glitter-bombing, Willy-Wonka sunglasses wearing, mad croon machine, Rocket Man Sir Elton John is to be the festival’s Sunday showcase – the absolute essence of everything Bestival, flashy, sing-along and a little bit cheesy.
Sippin’ Gin and Juice, Saturday will welcome hip hop heavyweight The D-O-double-G or Snoop Lion as he prefers to be holla’d at these days… (It’s the whole Puff Daddy, Puffy, P.Diddy crap all over again right?). Not an obvious choice to run alongside Elton, but that is probably the most perfect reason and call curator Rob Da Bank and crew could have made. That is completely the point of Bestival, and if you don’t get it, you’re wrong. However, Snoop does have a tendency to cancel shows so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Let us not forget that the bill isn’t headliner central at Bestival, oh no, the line up is rife with talent both retro and blossoming. Where else can you kick a bit of kung-fu to the Wu-Tang Clan, then pop off for a smackerel of Sinead O’Connor? Truly, I kid thee not. Joined by the likes of M.I.A., Franz Ferdinand, The Flaming Lips (hopefully with their crowd-walking zorbing ball which looks far too fun for one man to have), Bombay Bicycle Club and Bastille, there’s enough here to keep pretty much anyone happy. Even a hardcore black metal find would find a smile in there somewhere.
Bestival stalwarts and purveyors of inappropriateness The Cuban Brothers, will be there to help you seaworthy scallywags to ‘release the kraken’ and Belle & Sebastian’s soft tones will provide the mellow side. Comically, there will also be Fleetwood Bac and a Daft Punk tribute night, for anyone who kept an eye on the festival rumours this year you’ll know why that’s giggleworthy. With DJ’s Carl Cox, Seth Troxler and DJ Yoda, as well as Scroobius Pip bringing the Satin Lizard Lounge, and a whole host of other Bestival site things to see and do, from cinemas, to roller disco, to crafts, there is always far too much to do. Head over to the Bestival website to check it all out, ya scurvy dogs! Arrr!
Across a deep deep sea, in a deep deep valley, some animals are arriving at Robin Hill Park…
The Isle of Wight once again plays host to a family of freaks and fiends, this time dressed in a frightening array of leopard print, fur, wings and extra legs. There are beetles and Beatles, spiders and birds, butterflies, dragons, whales and squirrels… fantastic foxes, wise owls and long necked giraffes as well as a few Bill Oddie looking gentlemen and fierce looking hunters with a wild look in their eye.
Thursday’s campsite frenzy is as comedic as ever, particularly in the case of a very heated debate over ‘space-saving’ which eventually warranted the input of security guards after a threat of tent-burning was made. Despite a few tiffs here and there, everyone seems to already be in the festival spirit as the fizz and crack of cans opening can be heard all around and the suspicious smells of herb waft past.
Thursday is no longer just a hang around the camp night – Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’ lights up the crowd and Alabama Shakes play to a packed out tent, but Bestival favourites Hot Chip headline the Big Top to what seems like all forty thousand of today’s arrivals. Unfortunately the sound quality outside of the bursting at the seams tent doesn’t inspire much more than a wish to lounge around with a burrito, it’s not exactly the Hot Chip electronic spectacular we were hoping for. The real action is to be found at Arcadia, with enough fire and lasers to make your eyes burn and rave kids absolutely living it up on the first night. Just around the corner in the Healing Field (????) is the pod café, where you can laze in a padded pod swinging above your own little swamp (no, we don’t have a clue why…) and eat food from pretty much any cuisine you can think of, the halloumi wraps were exceptional.
Friday hails an Indian Summer, the number one wish of all Bestivalites, and the sun shines hard enough to cook campers right out of their tents. After a breakfast of turbo’ed Strongbow (with Jack Daniels, yes we’re exactly that classy) it’s off for a look around the enormous site. There’s way more to see and do at Bestival than anyone can fit in, but we attempt a go at as much as we can. Mainstage goodies include First Aid Kit and Adam Ant, the latter wearing his signature Napoleonic costumery and looking as mental as ever as he plays ‘Stand and Deliver’ to a sun lazy crowd. ‘Get It On’ gains applause and ‘Prince Charming’ sees a surprising amount of youngsters getting into the dance moves, it’s clear we have Adam Ant to thank for the likes of the ‘Macarena’ and ‘Saturday Night’.
Gallows draw a fair sized crowd but it’s cutesy Emeli Sandé who turns up the volume with ‘Heaven’ and ‘My Kind of Love’ as well as a quick rendition of Bob Marley & The Wailers ‘One Love/No Woman No Cry’. The XX’s main stage show certainly goes down well but stand out performance of the day goes to Scroobius Pip (plus his excellent live band) performing the last set of album tour ‘Distraction Pieces’. The Replay tent is wall to wall writhing bodies as Pip explodes onto the stage yelling ‘Let’s Get Rowdy’ and has a fight with the microphone. Wearing his signature trucker cap and hightops, (as well as a Sharpe tshirt and shark backpack, a nod to the wildlife theme maybe?) Pip burns through ‘Let Em Come’ and ‘Domestic Silence’ as well as the hugely popular, and rather funny ‘The Struggle’. After inciting a circle pit around the central pillar of the tent, the wiley Pip decides to go for a crowd surf around which ends in him hurriedly escaping back over the barrier when excited hands accidentally dropped him, stopping on the way to take a photo or two with some ecstatic animals.
Headline act Florence & The Machine take their new romanticism to a new level, as Flo’ swirls around the stage with her red hair streaming behind her looking every bit the fairy queen her music embodies. Hits ‘Rabbit Heart’ and ‘Drumming song’ get euphoric applause from the huge arena but closing ‘Dog Days’ is the all out karaoke song of the night with every voice in the crowd turned up to eleven trying to join in.
As any Besti-goer knows, the close of the main stage is never the close of the night and this is no more apparent than at the Big Top where 2ManyDJ’s are blasting out a series of hits and mashups, or Jamie XX blowing up the Roller Disco. If that’s not really your cup of chai, the Ambient Forest is full of exciting nooks and crannies, a band here, a DJ there, even late night films at the Amphitheatre.
Saturday early birds catch Mr. Motivator’s, ahem… worm? The man is a Besti-legend, and still has way more energy than he ought to. Dressed in his lycra onesie and headset microphone he gets the crowd up and jumping ready for the day ahead. Soulful Delilah rocks a Tiger print jumpsuit and performs new single ‘Shades of Grey’ protesting “It’s got nothing to do with the book”, and vocal behemoths Sister Sledge give everyone a good retro hit of ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ whilst pulling a variety of wildlife up on stage with them. After a quick Katsu Curry at the new and extremely popular Wagamama lounge, it’s off to Beardyman at the Big Top, who samples himself complaining that “They always want a set list… I haven’t got a set list”.
In the streaming heat, Archerio, Kengo-san and a hibiscus adorned throne lifted by 4 burly stage hands, carrying Miguel of The Cuban Brothers, bring a touch of naughtiness to proceedings with their instance that everyone “touch each other”. Apparently Miguel can’t walk as he’s broken his banjo string, and instead brandishes his crutches as they “make love to [our] ear tunnels” with renditions of funk and hip hop classics. Archerio and Kengo delight with head spinning, rollerskates, break dancing and general smuttery, Bestival wouldn’t be the same without them. After they’ve given us our fill of ‘Mind bumming’ and a fun cover of Motorhead’s ‘The Ace of Spades’ we get to experience one of The Cuban’s idols – De La Soul. The hip hop trio pull out all the stops and give a classy performace, mirrored by some very poor attempts at Fresh Prince style dance moves in the crowd.
A bit of a rest in the Lost Picture Show for Jaws is a lesson in Bestival love, the giant mattress covered floor is strewn with limp bodies until famous quote ‘We’re going to need a bigger boat’ is uttered, gaining cheers all round. Headliner New Order come over a little dull in comparison to some of the previous energetic acts of the day, but they put on a solid enough performance, with a few Joy Division tracks mixed in. Back out in Arcadia, Kissy Sellout is burning up the open air dancefloor with heavy dirty beats and some truly brilliant samples, followed by the Arcadia cabaret and a lunatic performing acrobatic feats 100 feet in the air without a harness. Amazing.
Sunday is a gruelling get up after the excesses of the night before, but a breakfast burrito, corn on the cob or a lovely rotisserie chicken is all you need to revitalise. If you’re a little more precious about your morning routine, a wristband for the spa (saunas, Jacuzzis, massage etc.) might be more your thing, but the morning is a bit grey and windy so it’s off to warm up with a trip around the site. Pop into the Insect Circus Museum, see the Wall of Death riders, or get a saucy tickle at Time for Tease, or perhaps learn to breakdance in Club Dada, ride the big wheel or create your own nipple tassels this crafternoon. The drag show at The Grand Palace of Entertainment is the naughty front to a secret debauched club in the back, and the Dressing Up Tent is full of everything sparkly, furry and fierce you could want. Oh and don’t forget your pint of Bestivale from the Wonderland Inn before you slump at the Bandstand.
The main stage sees dynamic duo Rizzle Kicks, perform their high energy hits ‘Down With The Trumpets’ and ‘When I was Younger’ wearing Tiger and Red Panda onesies. During ‘Mama Do The Hump’ many an animal tail is given the Beyonce treatment, and comedy musical snippets of James Bond, Harry Potter and a cover of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Like I Love You’ get the crowd giggling along with the jokers. Unfortunately the first rain of the whole weekend trickles down to an unfortunate renaming… Drizzle Kicks.
Bat for Lashes put a downer on the excitement with a less than interesting set. It’s not that they’re bad per se, but it’s hard to get on board with something so sombre and soft when you’ve just had the upbeat Kicks in your ears. New single ‘Laura’ is better received but it’s still not enough to make a mark. Following on in the melancholy style is Iceland’s Sigur Rós, whose ethereal and somewhat pretentious style doesn’t really travel further than their current fanbase. There’s something a bit weird about band based on wailing unintelligibly into the microphone and using violin bows to play non-violin instruments. A quick look around the front row belies the truth, everyone is bored stupid. Yes yes, we know you’re supposed to like Sigur Rós because they’re all experimental and weird and that makes you ‘cool’, but this is Bestival, home of all out wildness and fun times. It’s not all bad, when the band get going and it becomes more orchestral, it can be great, but it’s permeated by way too much self-indulgence.
Luckily Stevie Wonder comes along to save the day with his soulful voice and plethora of anthems. Though his mic dips out here and there and the roar of the crowd sometimes drowns him out, this is a musical tour de force through the likes of ‘Master Blaster (Jammin’)’, ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’ and ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ as well as a couple of Marvin Gaye covers for good measure. The legendary musician stuns all hopping off his piano stool to belt out ‘Superstition’ and goes out with a bang singing the truly funny ‘Happy Birthday’. As the fireworks light up the Magic Meadow over the giant I (heart) Bestival sign, the oohs and ahhs come thick and fast from the mesmerised crowd. There are so many people here we must be creating a hot spot visable from space. As the arena clears, the exodus to the campsites and carparks of those getting on late night/early morning ferries is huge, but for those of us who can keep our eyes open, there’s lots more fun to be had this night. Deep in the dark woods, a cheer goes up for the Mulholland Drive lesbian erotica scene in the Amphitheatre and we settle in with a bag of free toffee popcorn for a bit of Blue Velvet, amongst the creepily blue lit trees.
Over at the Swamp Shack, although the outdoor stage is shut for the night, through the misty bayou into the back room is a sweaty dancefloor filled with bodies for B. Dolan’s Church of Love and Ruin. American rapper B. Dolan flaps out in purple papal robes to deliver a punch of political remedies, yelling “Who’s skint? After four days of drinking five pound beers?” and dropping into ‘Earth Movers’, ‘Which Side Are You On’ and ‘Film The Police’ and a rapped over sample of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Heard it Through the Grapevine’.
Bestival may be over for another year, but as sleepy little tigers and turtles creep for the last time into their tents, grins plastered over their chops, it’s clear that the memories of this one will keep them going through their winter hibernation. With important developments (like adding more camping space, and more exciting stuff to do) it seems Bestival went and got even better. On the precipice of becoming too big and losing a bit of the fraternity of it’s past last year, it seems Rob and co. have managed to pull it back from the brink and preserve the distinct feeling of home here on the IOW. It’s all over, and we already can’t wait for next year.
When the announcement came that the legendary Stevie Wonder was to headline this years’ Bestival, we could scarcely contain our excitement and amazement. I mean, STEVIE WONDER. The man who basically created the soundtrack to millions of weddings the world over. It was too exciting for words. Now, the day is here, and Bestival’s main stage has never been so rammed full of eager bodies. Stevie’s band file out to rapturous applause but the noise becomes a wall of sound as the man himself saunters on in a red & black Captain Jean-Luc Picard jacket/keytar combo, looking completely at ease and every bit the superstar he is.
Stevie bobs along through the intro of ‘Master Blaster’ flashing a dazzling smile to the already Jammin’ crowd., before dropping into a cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘How Sweet It Is’ and then seamlessly back into ‘Master Blaster’ again. Michael Jackson cover ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ elicits squeals from the seventies and eighties kids in the crowd whilst the huge ‘Signed Sealed Delivered, I’m Yours’ prompts a lot of comedy action dancing in the form of licking envelopes and posting letters.
‘Uptight’ is rolled out to a deafening roar, and Stevie is almost drowned in sound during his cover of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ but it is the iconic ‘Superstition’ that really gets everyone fired up. If you weren’t squished shoulder to shoulder with your mates, head tipped back, singing your heart out at the stars for this, there’s something wrong with you. ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ sees pairs around site attempt a bit of waltzing but it’s the guy standing next to us who really takes it one step further by dropping to one knee to ask his stunned girlfriend to marry him! Of course she said yes, I mean come on, it’s Bestival and Stevie Wonder.
Back on stage, Stevie calls over daughter Aisha (one of his lovely backing singers) to sit by his side as he sings her song ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ which draws a tear to the eye of every daughter in the audience, and Beatles cover ‘She Loves You’ probably receives a better reception than if McCartney was singing it himself. Closing with the obligatory but sort of odd ‘Happy Birthday’, Stevie dedicates it to all those celebrating today. The man is undoubtedly a legend, but this performance is beyond legendary. Followed by a huge fireworks display which is the icing on the cake, no-one is going to forget this night.
Strolling nonchalantly onto the main stage without so much as a howdy-do, eighties synth superstars New Order start off their headline slot with slow 'Elegia' and an extraordinary amount of smoke blasted in front of them.
After more than a few years of their on again off again status, this is a rare treat for Bestivalites, despite the absence of original member Peter Hook, and the arena is full to the seams. As they reel through classics 'Crystal' and 'Age of Consent' the crowd get down to some serious new wave bopping. '5 8 6' is accompanied by geometric swirling visuals and yet another full covering from the smoke machine, whilst 'The Perfect Kiss' gains an appreciative roar from the crowd.
It's hard to be too enthusiastic about a band who are so obviously absorbed in their own music rather than attending to the audience, but a bit of Joy Division's 'Isolation' is the musical equivalent of frosting, it covers up the cracks in the cake, and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves as they power through 'Blue Monday' and 'Temptation'.
Closing with more Joy Division, 'Transmission' and 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', New Order leave the stage having satisfied fans and maybe gaining a few more along the way. It's not the full force performance many would have liked from a Bestival headliner, especially after the hyperactivity of some of the previous acts in the day (The Cuban Brothers, De La Soul) but they didn't exactly disappoint either.
The night is pitch black and clear, stars speckle the darkness and fringed silk flags ripple in the breeze as the main stage area fills with expectant faces.
Florence Welch strides gracefully on stage to a deafening scream from the thousands strong crowd, wearing a Poison Ivy-esque getup – a floaty green dress contrasting violently with her bright red hair which is bedecked with trailing ivy. 'Only If For A Night' warms up the crowd, whilst fan favourite 'The Drumming Song' does indeed get "louder and louder" as Florence belts it out in her distinctive vocal style.
New track 'What The Water Gave Me' is almost at anthem status as a chorus of terribly off key ladies and gentlemen around attempt to sing back up for lady Flo'. After encouraging the crowd to hop up onto each others shoulders, Florence gives a little parenting advice along the lines of "Raise Them Up" as 'Rabbit Heart' invites a lot of eyes-closed swaying from flower-garlanded girls. Candi Station cover 'You've Got The Love' sparks a swathe of fancy dress animals cuddling up to each other and 'Shake It Out' sees some fairly impressive ass wiggling (mostly of the male persuasion).
The last time Florence and co graced the Bestival main stage back in 2008 unfortunate sound problems plagued the whole set and it was a bit of a wash out, but this year sees the redhead's powerful voice triumphantly resonate across the site, mingling with the screams and cheers of a well and truly enthralled crowd. Closing with an epic, pogo-ing 'Dog Days' Florance flounces out with style.
As hot day turns into teeth-chatteringly cold night, Forty thousand thursday Bestivalites attempt to squish themselves sardine-like into the Big Top for Besti favourites Hot Chip, at midnight.
Opening with 'Shake a Fist', Hot Chip begin a musical journey through some of their lesser known tracks before giving the anthem craving crowd a taste of 'Over and Over' with an extended intro just to whet the whistle. Oldie 'The Warning' and 'One Life Stand' also see raucous applause, whilst new single 'How Do You Do' has the karaoke effect amongst the fans. For those that haven't seen the band before, the fact that pretty much all of them can play any instrument on any of their songs is rather amazing, and watching as they glide seamlessly between guitars, keyboards and drums can be quite confusing.
As a Tiger sails overhead towards the front barriers the heat and lack of breathing room becomes stifling, so we venture outside for a burrito only to be disappointed by the lack of decent sound past the pillars. 'On The Floor' seems to go down well with the sardine-can-clan but for those out of the fold it just isn't the same. A closing cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Everywhere' is pretty special, but for all those who didn't make it into the tent, the magic is well and truly gone.
SFG: So I’m here with NeedToBreathe from the USA and they just played the Pepsi Max Stage, well a few minutes ago anyway, and we’re at Hard Rock Calling 2012, so how you doing guys? Had a nice day so far?
NTB: Oh yeah, love it, love it. It’s dreary but we’re excited about all the rock n roll coming up.
SFG: It was a pretty big crowd in there, everybody dancing, loads of girls in daisy dukes, quite appropriate?
NTB: It was, it was great, yeah it’s our typical audience, haha
SFG: So, British Summer, as you can see, pretty rubbish. Coming from South Carolina, it must be a bit of a shock?
NTB: It’s a nice change of pace I guess, it’s a nice way to put it… hahaha
SFG: That was a *really* nice way to put it, yeah, thank you!
NTB: We’ve experienced a little bit of it before, we actually recorded our first record in England, and so yeah we’ve had a little bit of the British weather before.
SFG: It’s got to be the worst though, surely
NTB: We’ve heard from everybody here that they’re just disappointed, but the sun will come out at some point!
SFG: How do you think your Southern Rock style goes down over here? I mean obviously South Carolina is known for that kind of thing, but Britain hasn’t really got that kind of groove…
NTB: Um, I think it’s refreshing, you know I think for us it comes off to the fans as genuine. It’s something we grew up doing, something we didn’t have to try at, you know we didn’t have to try to be some other band or be something different, and real fans, they appreciate that. And so, I think that goes over anywhere.
SFG: Do you have a good British fan base?
NTB: We just started, this is our second tour over in the UK, and its been amazing. It’s crazy to see people who have the record and it’s not even in stores you know?
SFG: I did just hear that your London show on Monday has rocketed in ticket-sales, and obviously you seem to be pretty popular in the TV and Film world, I’ve been doing a bit of research there and just for the record they’ve had songs on; PS. I Love You, The Hills, Prison Break, Employee of the Month and Cougar Town, just to name a few – that is a serious list guys!
NTB: It is, it is. It’s always a shock and surprise you know, when it comes on, cause we don’t know every time it’s going to come on and we start seeing the tweets and it is weird. When you hear it sometimes it takes a few, we’re kinda caught off guard a little bit, and we don’t even notice it’s us right away, cause we don’t sit around listening to the record – we play the song and it’s always a bit different to the record
SFG: Do you not just go “hey, who’s this, I really like that, that is such a good song”
NTB: Hahaha yeah “oh yeah there is something about this that is really getting me going” yeah that’s the way it is haha
SFG: Well following on from that, my question is, if you could pick any TV show or movie, past, present, future, that you could record the soundtrack for, what would it be?
NTB: Er…wow… maybe…
SFG: Jeez, that’s a tough one right? I’m thinking… not Predator, or Alien… right
(Bo, laughing) Yeah wow, haha, I think The Gladiator movie, I like the arrangement of that, yeah I like the big sounds.
(Joe) For me it would probably be Lost, because all you would really need to do it so be able to make that ‘woaawwwww’ sound.
SFG: So, you’re currently touring Europe, but what other festivals have you done this summer, and how do they compare to Hard Rock Calling?
NTB: Um, we just did Bonnaroo, about a month ago, yeah and it was really like… stinky hot. It might be kinda cold here, but at least the smell is kept in by the cool air, in Bonnaroo it is just released among the crowd, it reeked of hot weather.
SFG: How do the festivals compare to playing your standalone shows?
NTB: Yeah it’s always fun when it’s our crowd but it’s nice playing to new people and showing what we do, so we like the festivals yeah.
NeedToBreathe’s upcoming single ‘Keep Your Eyes Open’ is out on September 3rd with full album ‘The Reckoning’ being released the following week in the UK.
The lazy Sunday vibe is washing over a warmed up crowd at Hyde Park as they wait in anticipation of tonight’s headliner, musical maestro Paul Simon (of Simon and Garfunkel fame). There’s an overtly different feeling in the air compared to last night’s Bruce Springsteen show, fans this evening are relaxed and calm as well as being of an over-all older age group and there’s something rather nice about it.
Opening with soft bluesy ‘Kodachrome’ to a round of appreciative but grown-up cheers and applause, Paul Simon steadily rides through the song in his so-laid-back-he’s-almost-horizontal way but the sound gets a little bit washed out in ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’. He is then joined on stage by “… a great hero of mine, Jimi Cliff” (sporting gold sequinned trainers no less!) who gives the reggae edge to the proceedings with ‘The Harder They Come’ and ‘Many Rivers To Cross’.
Moving on to Simon’s decisive African Township influenced ‘Graceland’, which caused quite a stir back in ’86, is tonight reverential, and is felt all over again as the formidable Ladysmith Black Mambazo take to the stage to do it justice. There’s no formal ceremony about this show, it’s unassuming but special, and the likes of ‘Homeless’ and ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ seem to take the breath away from the awed onlookers.
When Hugo Masekela comes out for a spirited ‘Mandela’ as the sun shines down, people are warming up their dancing feet and with two encores featuring the likes of Simon & Garfunkel hit ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, he rounds off the Sunday jam session with an easy casual manner. This was undoubtedly Paul Simon at his best, but it smacked of a quiet comedown for Hard Rock Calling rather than a sensational out-with-a-bang type of affair and the crowd definitely began to wane from around 9pm in favour of early tubes and soft beds.
There’s a reason 76 thousand people turned up to Hyde Park in this, the most miserable of summers, and that reason is the man, the legend, Bruce Springsteen. After a tense 30 minute wait (in which time we managed to sardine ourselves between a very jolly man yelling ‘Bruuuuuuuce’ at random intervals and an extremely short couple trying to swap saliva as if it were life-force) The Boss rocks up wearing his signature jeans and waistcoat combo with serious swagger and no pomp or fanfare whatsoever. This guy just commands attention on his own.
Dropping the lights to a single beam, Bruce breathes into the mic “This is the first song I played when my feet touched British soil” and opens with an absolutely epic acoustic rendition of super-hit ‘Thunder Road’ which honestly, nearly brought a tear to my eye. Straight into ‘Badlands’ and pushing on through ‘We Take Care of Our Own’ (plagued by a temporary fit of poor sound, which is overridden by the thousands of chorus voices) Springers already has us enthralled. ‘Wrecking Ball’ is punchy and the Bill & Ted style guitar wind-milling shows us that the 62 year old rocker is anything but past it. Bruce welcomes on stage friend Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine fame) “and his furniture” for ‘Death to My Hometown’ and ‘My City of Ruins’ heralded by sage words “It’s about the things that leave you, it’s about the things that never leave you, the things you remember for the rest of your life. This is for my old faces in the crowd.” Bruce walks off the stage and into the clamouring arms of his fans, even putting one lucky (?!) punter in a friendly headlock.
As Bruce sings a little thought along the lines of “Who’s in the house tonight? Are your legs hurting, and your ears hurting and your sexual organs… stimulated? It’s in the smallprint of your ticket…” he stands up against the crowd barrier with a security guard hanging onto the back of his pants for dear life, at serious risk of de-kegging the rockstar. Back up on the stage steps, he takes time for a little recline next to E Street saxophonist Jake Clemons as they duet, and are then joined by the great John Fogerty, who played the main stage previously.
A wavering sign in the crowd attracts the attention of Springsteen, a fan who has been following him around the world repeatedly requesting the little played song ‘Take Them As They Come’ gets his wish as Bruce shouts “Tonight you’re gonna hear this damn thing, It’s your song buddy”. As the skies begin to cloud over and darken, aptly named ‘Because The Night’ brings on a few drops of rain and an extreme case of tone-deaf karaoke from the girl a little way behind us. No dear, dogs in Hounslow can hear you, but Bruce can’t. Guitar slung nonchalantly across his back, bopping an inflatable Mr. Blobby back into the crowd, Bruce asks security guards to drag a small boy out onto the stage with him to sing ‘Waitin’ on a Sunny Day’ with him. That lad’s life has hit its peak, what else will ever be as good, I ask you? Following this lighthearted act, ‘The River’ sends the thousands strong throng into complete awed silence, the like of which is rarely witnessed in the music world, and there is something entirely mesmerising about his gravelly voice soaring out across the silhouetted faces of all these people.
Morello re-joins the group for ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ and blasts out a face-melting solo with insane harmonics, after which Bruce drops ‘Born In The USA’ and fan favourite ‘Born To Run’. ‘Glory Days’ sees Bruce and E Street’s Steve Van Zandt shaking their asses to the crowd at the top of the steps and the incredible ‘Dancing In The Dark’ is cue for Bruce to grab a young lady from the crowd and pick her up for a spot of dancing… er… in the dark. She may never marry after that!
Bruce needs no intermission, no encore, the man is a veritable machine. How many other musicians do you know who can pull a 3 hour set without a break, let alone one who’s been gigging for as long? To cap off an already celebratory show, who should turn up but pal and UK rock-legend Sir Paul McCartney. Yes that’s right, Sir Paul McCartney. This unbelievable occurrence sees more than a few around me rubbing their eyes in astonishment as they do Beatles hit ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and a cover of The Isley Brothers’ ‘Twist and Shout’ before finishing up with a jumping cheese-tastic ‘La Bamba’.
Okay, so you might have already heard a fair amount of bitching about the plug-pulling incident, but here’s my take. It was only 5 minutes of La Bamba – funny but not great by any stretch of the imagination, it’s the song played by crap DJ’s at weddings, right? It’s a shame that Bruce didn’t get to say his goodbyes (heck, he didn’t even know the sound was off for a while) but the man gave us unadulterated power and polished rock n roll for over 3 outstanding hours. Despite various celebs tweeting about the ‘incident’ (even Boris Johnson weighed in) this shouldn’t be the final word on what was otherwise an utterly astounding set. Springsteen has one hundred percent earned his title of The Boss and this is just a tidbit of news on the back of one of the best shows ever to grace Hyde Park.
A damp day in London’s Hyde Park and a subdued, sparse crowd awaits 90’s grunge titans Soundgarden. It’s not the best of situations but Chris Cornell’s obvious nonchalance as he walks on stage to a fanfare of grimy amp feedback, seems to please the avid fans at the front (cue girls screaming). With an intro like ‘Searching With My Good Eye Closed’ it’s clear they intend to roll out the hits tonight, in their two hour headline set, and follow up ‘Spoonman’ is hurt either by dodgy sound quality or an un-warmed vocaliser a la Cornell, it’s hard to tell.
Luckily, the further into the set we get the better. As clearer vox on ‘Jesus Christ Pose’ and chart hit ‘Black Hole Sun’ start to warm up the crowd, Cornell laments on the 15 year hiatus and proclaims that they’re “Happy to be back”. Despite the joyful sentiment, the weather has other plans and chucks buckets on the already soggy scene, and despite the very public notices about an arena umbrella ban, up go the multicoloured domes to shelter the London crowd. Two drenched hippies in a state of distress (and miss-dress, they were wearing an extraordinary collection of woven garments which must have sucked up ALL the rain) stagger past holding each other up and screaming “I don’t know what you’re saying” over ‘Let Me Down’ and ‘Pretty Noose’. The melancholy sentiment now matches that of the dwindling crowd.
Something about an event in the heart of London seems to breed a disinterested attitude towards outdoor music, a guy next to us said that five of his friends who bought tickets today, didn’t bother to come because of weather forecasts. It’s easy to ditch and hop on a tube home here, unlike a normal camping festival and people seem to be embracing it, as Soundgarden move through to their more self indulgent numbers. ‘Super Unknown’ is a glistening gem in this moody close but encore track ‘Rusty Cage’ is met with indifference from the majority of listeners as they spend an age playing around with their pedals and messing about with feedback and resonance. The sight of these grown men standing resolutely holding their guitars up to amps like some teenage garage band, is a little funny to tell the truth. There’s a fine line between cool and cock, and this definitely crosses it. Soundgarden put on a good show, but not an epic one, and possibly weren’t the best fit for this festival, however – die-hard ‘garden fans got exactly what they came for.
