hyde park

The UK summer might have called in sick for the last month and a half, but we’re on our way back up to tropical climes starting today; the final session of BST Hyde Park – featuring K-pop icons Stray Kids. With 50 thousand through the gates and the sun actually shining, we are in for a delicious day in that there London.

Taking a stroll around the arena for a bit of sight-seeing, we clock the lovely uniquely BST pastel faux storefronts that house the bars, even more eateries than in previous years where you can get anything from prawn tempura bao to roast duck wraps or a gourmet pizza.

Volvic are out in force giving away cans of their fruit-spiked sparkling water which is really welcome today, and you can even throw it into your new American Express stanley-dupe cup because they’re giving away free ones all over the site. We make a pilgrimage to the very back of the arena to the toilet block, which honestly are some of the nicest festival loos I’ve ever experienced. Kudos BST, the tickets may be spendy but the perks are perky.

We toddle back to The Great Oak stage to check out another K-Pop crew, also on the JYP entertainment label alongside Stray Kids – NMIXX. A six-strong dynamite gang of fierce women, Lily, Haewon, Sullyoon, Bae, Jiwoo, and Kyujin, bounce out onto the stage with all the adorable exuberance you would expect from a kawaii cartoon. They’re all rocking some very Taylor-Momsen-Gossip-Girl-Era school uniform outfits, featuring tartan, ripped shirts and specially designed pink silk ties, featuring the band name in Korean Hangul.

There’s a massive crowd out already, and they’re all screaming as the band bust out two immediate bangers ‘TANK’ and ‘DICE’ (with some interesting MC Escher style visuals splashed across the giant stage screens). Being a total NMIXX rookie, I was kind of expecting the traditional cookie-cutter approach to K-Pop girl bands but they instantly blow me away with their raw take on the K-pop meets rock sound. It’s clear they’ve all got fantastic voices, and can throw down some classic choreo for sure, but there’s edge and individuality that comes through in both parts. It’s hard to explain but it certainly seems like they’re actively pushing against the uniformity and clean-cut stereotype of K/J-pop that has gone before.

“We are so excited to perform our songs in front of you” they yell out, before hitting us with ‘Run For Roses’ and the hugely popular ‘DASH’. I also really enjoy the tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition of the cutesy candy backdrop and the actual sentiment of ‘Young, Dumb, Stupid’, and I can’t even be mad at their sample platter of covers – Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘good 4 u’, Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ – particularly when the gorgeous harmonies in the last of those makes the performance better than the real version. I said what I said.

We get a sneak preview of brand new track ‘Moving On’, and they finish strong with ‘Love Me Like This’. They’re unpolished, punchy and know how to push their rock-edge – I’m a new fan.

We caught a little of Alec Benjamin in passing I’m afraid, lovely soft acoustic American-indie in the blazing sunshine, but we are scooting across to the Peroni bar for a swift mini beer and some absolutely delightful lemon butter tagliatelle for late lunch. This lovely serene pretend-Italian scene, is only slightly overshadowed by the ear-piercing screams emanating from the nearby chair-swing ride. Despite the din, I do really enjoy Alec’s ‘I Sent My Therapist to Therapy’ because – is there anything more millennial than that sentiment… and ‘Let Me Down Slowly’ is beautifully done.

Reinvigorated and full of pasta, we head over to The Cuban Garage Stage, 11-year BST home to resident mischief-makers, The Cuban Brothers who promise us a slightly less risqué show due to the average age of the crowd today. Somehow I don’t quite believe them. We get a dance-party vibe, with Miguel giving Music Producer pal Andy Franks an excellent leaving-do on stage, Kengo on rollerskates and Dom busting out the breakdancing and flips. As always, a pleasure, and truly there was only a smattering of rude jokes, bravo.

Next up on the main stage, manic pixie dreamgirl fantasies come alive with the absolutely adorable Maisie Peters. Don’t let her young age fool you, this firecracker knows how to drive a crowd wild. The folksy ballads with her acoustic guitar are great (they bring to mind notes of Taylor Swift and First Aid Kit, and fit right in with her signing to Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records) but I want to talk about her scorching power-pop tracks instead.

Before ‘You’re Just Another Boy (And I’m Kinda The Man)’ she jokes about her embarrassment over being sad about a boy, but the softness is quickly replaced with a fiery edge in ‘Not Another Rockstar’ – straight to my playlist that goes. Her breathy cover of The Killers’ ‘Mr. Brightside’ is very soothing and ‘John Hughes Movie’ is, well… exactly what it says on the tin. As a lifelong Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller fan, you can stack me up on the giant inflatable cloud Maisie has along the stage, and let me listen in bliss for the rest of the day thanks. Oh and it absolutely must be said, that the BSL interpreters who have been covering all the main stage acts today, have been incredible and look like they’re having the best time. We stan an inclusive festival.

Following that we scuttle away to the leafy solace of ‘The Hydeaway’ a VIP perk area full of lovely tables to hang out at, with a big bar, extra food options and some even fancier loos. We take a quick squiz at the merch on our way past but lanyards have completely sold out and £40 a tshirt is a little rich for our blood. Cozzie livs innit. Instead we spend our cash on snacks, mine being a cup of incredibly fresh strawberries mixed with marshmallows and covered in dark melted chocolate. It was decadent af, as always I am absolutely sold on the bougie city festival vibe.

Heading back into the now teeming arena, we weave our way amongst screaming teenagers waving SKZ light-sticks aloft. What they’re actually screaming for isn’t clear – it seems to be whenever anyone roadie or otherwise, simply steps one foot onto the stage… ah to be part of hysterical teenage fandom again. Anyway, after fighting our way through the cutesy lolita outfits and homemade signs trimmed with lace, we get to a good viewing area just as a giant red Stray Kids banner is hoisted up in front of the stage.

With the eardrum piercing banshee shrieks of the girls behind us, and the dramatic dropping of the banner, Stray Kids are revealed atop a raised platform at the back of the stage wearing matching beige fatigues in various states of DIY. Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. are all undeniably pretty, and the deafening screams of fans are all but drowning out opening track ‘S-Class’.

Self-proclaimed as a band with an experimental music style, influenced by everything from hip-hop to heavy metal and electro (which has been named “Mala taste music” since, referencing spicy Chinese mala seasoning) they are definitely another JYP Entertainment band who don’t fit that classic clean J/K-pop sound, and it’s evident from the off. Another unusual note about Stray Kids is that they’re mostly self-produced and write a lot of their own music, rather than being fuelled by a team of external musicians – that’s pretty rad right?

‘Freeze’ features a barrage of on-stage fireworks, followed by flame cannons and a lot of raunchy dancing. “You guys miss us?” they yell, to a solid wall of screams in return, from what sounds like all 50 thousand voices in attendance. Having made their UK debut in 2019 to the comparatively tiny Brixton Academy, this is an incredible step up – and it’s easy to see why.

‘TOPLINE’ features striking red, yellow and black text on the screens spelling out the lyrics so that even the casual fan (or dragged-along partner) can join in with the fun, and before long we too are swept up in yelling “Karma!” and “We don’t give a fuck!”. There’s something almost pantomime about K-pop that has a way of making you participate and I really think it’s a big part of the pull – after all, for every early noughts pop fan who learnt the dances of their favourite boyband, this hits that nostalgia button really hard.

‘Domino’ sees the band rushing down the runway and spraying the close-up crowd with bottles of water, and more intricate choreography featuring a lot of holding hands, adorable. They take a quick break as their house band give a truly excellent solo interlude – it’s very metal inspired, and I’m going to have to research their personal projects a bit I think.

Back again with an outfit change to a Timberlake-adjacent double-denim effort, we spot Felix sporting a Louis Vuitton jacket (having been a house ambassador for the brand in 2023) and Hyunjin with a Versace snapback (he was a Versace global ambassador last year). In fact, there’s a lot of bling across the board with this crew, perhaps unsurprisingly as they also made their Met Gala debut as a band earlier this year, as guests of Tommy Hilfiger.

Ballad ‘Lonely St’ is a light and soft pause, before busting out a Korean version of ‘Social Path’, followed by ‘Charmer’ and ‘Back Door’ which I’m sorry but I cannot help but laugh at. Yes I know that they all get the pun, frequently slap each others’ arses and call Lee-Know ‘Butt Hunter’ but, well… bum jokes are funny and the English love when people make mistakes with our language to comic effect. Sue me.

‘MANIAC’ seems to be about Frankenstein (cool) and comes with some Thriller-esque dance moves, while ‘God’s Menu’ is replete with choreography depictions of cooking such as mixing, chopping and frying. Because why the hell not. Nothing surprises me at this point.

Coming in with their meteoric hit ‘LALALALA’ which has been used in so many ad campaigns and tiktok videos you can’t fail to have heard it before, it elicits the biggest scream from the crowd yet, and is accompanied by a huge set of pink fireworks behind the stage. It’s half an hour before curfew but this feels like and ending songe… and it’s at this point that everything starts to fall apart. After that absolute blinder of a song leaving us all hyped up, there follows a long rambling speech, with backing music that completely drowns out anything the band members are saying. It’s confusing, it’s irritating, and we only know what is actually happening when the ripple from the front starts chanting “one more song”.

Equally confusingly, they play ‘TOPLINE’ through again, and then ‘Megaverse’ (which I can’t lie, sounds exactly like Megabus… which then led me to sing Vengabus throughout…). After yet another round of chanting “one more song” the finale is left to the comparatively quiet ‘Haven’. It seems like the sound has been massively turned down at this point and we can easily speak over it, but the Stays are still bouncing around having a lovely dance party. There’s a bit more of a “Who’s seen Stray Kids before?” talk from the band and a “thanks for coming” at the end but it seems very unscripted and messy, compared to the seamless first half of the show.

All in, it’s been great to see another top tier K-Pop band on top at such a massive UK event, I’m just not sure they accounted for the extra time they appeared to have on hand at the end of the show. Hopefully with two years in the bag for BST down this track, we can look forward to another incredible show in the future – topping my wishlist are BTS and BigBang… see you in 2025 Hyde Park!