It’s time to get excited for summer 2024 as American Express presents BST Hyde Park proudly announces that international superstar Andrea Bocelli will headline London’s best festival on Friday 5 July, the first classical artist to headline in BST Hyde Park’s history, and a 2024 UK exclusive. Tickets go on sale Wednesday 15 November 10am GMT, visitwww.bst-hydepark.com
Tickets purchased for the Amex VIP Summer Garden, VIP HydeAway and Gold Circle areas will include reserved seating. General Admission, Primary Entry and VIP Terrace will all be unreserved standing.
“In and of itself, it should be a private celebration: a career spanning 30 years, 30 years – a lifetime! – spent on stages around the world, striving to brush with beauty and offer my voice to those who wish to hear it, as part of the soundtrack of their lives. I am delighted to see how today this anniversary has become a celebration for many: a collective way to celebrate three decades of music and excitement, of memories and feelings, that can bloom to life to the notes of a score each time. Hyde Park is the perfect place for coming together to celebrate my 30th anniversary and reimagine it as a springboard propelling us into the future, imbued with positivity and the power of good. Celebrating it here is sure to be unforgettable, in the vast green lung from which London has been drawing breath for hundreds of years, in this park that is the embodiment of a glorious chapter in the history of a nation, of a continent, of a civilization…and also of so much wonderful music that has rung out here, nourishing it in its wake.” – Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli is the most successful classical artist of all time – he’s performed for Popes, Presidents, Prime Ministers and royalty, sang in many of the greatest concert halls and opera houses, and sold 90 million records. There is no other classical star that comes close – he has a Golden Globe, 7 Classical BRITs and 7 World Music Awards under his belt, plus a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has performed across the world’s most famous venues and for globally significant events, including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at Buckingham Palace in 2022 and at the ceremonies of the Olympic Games.
This special UK exclusive show at BST Hyde Park comes at a milestone year for Bocelli, who celebrates 30 years of his career in 2024. Drawing millions in with his popular crossover appeal, Bocelli has collaborated with iconic opera singers such as Pavarotti as well as a host of A-list pop stars including Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Céline Dion, Tony Bennett, Dua Lipa, and many more. As former BST Hyde Park headliner Céline Dion puts it, “If God had a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli.”
Jim King, CEO of European Festivals at AEG Presents, says, “We have wanted to host Andrea Bocelli in Hyde Park for many years and so it’s a great honour for us that we are able to share this special moment with him and his loyal fans. There can be no bigger occasion for all music than experiencing the world’s greatest tenor in London’s Hyde Park.”
Out today (10 November), Bocelli, alongside his 26-year-old son Matteo Bocelli and his 11-year-old daughter Virginia Bocelli, released the deluxe edition of A Family Christmas, which was the Bocelli Family’s first album together and the best-selling new Christmas album of 2022 in the U.S. The deluxe edition includes four brand new holiday recordings plus six bonus tracks.
One of the world’s most beloved performers, coming to the very special stage at BST Hyde Park for one night only. This will be an extraordinary one-off show and we look forward to seeing you there!
BST Hyde Park 2023 was a year of firsts for the London festival – with once-in-a-lifetime shows from the world’s biggest musical stars P!NK (24 + 25 June), Guns N’ Roses, Take That, BLACKPINK, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (6 + 8 July), Billy Joel and Lana Del Rey. BST Hyde Park’s hugely popular summer event Open House returned for another year, offering a host of free activities throughout the week and All Things Orchestral presented by Myleene Klass and featuring Alfie Boe.
American Express presents BST Hyde Park isdelighted to announce the next monumental headliner for 2024. The UK’s own greatest entertainer and global icon, Robbie Williams,is making his big return to Hyde Park on Saturday 6 July 2024 for a UK exclusive show. Tickets go on sale Friday 8 December 10am GMT, visitwww.bst-hydepark.com
“It’s an honour to be back here to headline BST Hyde Park. I can’t wait to see you all there!” – Robbie Williams
Since bursting on to the stage as the youngest member of Take That in 1990 and then going solo in 1995, Robbie Williams has been at the top of his game for over 30 years, and it’s an understatement to call him one of the UK’s best musical exports.
Robbie is one of the most decorated music artists in the world with six of the Top 100 best-selling albums in British history, a huge 80 million album sales worldwide, 14 Number 1 singles and a record 18 BRIT Awards – more than any other artist in music history. Robbie secured his 14th UK Number 1 album with “XXV,” which topped the chart in its first week of release. The global hits of Robbie Williams are endless… Feel, Rock DJ, Let Me Entertain You and his best-selling and most iconic single, Angels.
Last year Williams released “XXV,” a hit packed album celebrating his 25 years as a solo artist, and featuring countless Number 1s, fan favourites and original tracks. He soon followed with a successful UK tour last year which is currently on the road across Australia and New Zealand.
Never far from the spotlight, Williams last month released his self-titled docuseries via Netflix, offering the world an intimate glimpse into the singer’s life and career, plus his biopic movie ‘Better Man’, Directed by ‘Greatest Showman’ Director Michael Gracey, will be released in 2024.
A UK legend, coming to the very special stage at BST Hyde Park. What BST Hyde Park does best is bring the greatest music superstars to London for once-in-a-lifetime shows and this certainly will be that. Williams joins previously announced headliner Andrea Bocelli (5 July), with more to be announced soon.
Tickets purchased for the Amex VIP Summer Garden, VIP HydeAway and Gold Circle areas will include reserved seating. General Admission, Primary Entry and VIP Terrace will all be unreserved standing.
BST Hyde Park 2023 was a year of firsts for the London festival – with once-in-a-lifetime shows from the world’s biggest musical stars P!NK, Guns N’ Roses, Take That, BLACKPINK, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,Billy Joel and Lana Del Rey. BST Hyde Park’s hugely popular summer event Open House returned for another year, offering a host of free activities throughout the week and All Things Orchestral presented by Myleene Klass and featuring Alfie Boe.
It’s a drizzly morning in London today, which isn’t stopping thousands of people from descending on BST Hyde Park for New Jersey legend Bruce Springsteen tonight. On one side of the park we have the Trans Pride march in an array of gorgeous colourful outfits and placards, on the other – the Dad-Mecca. Cargo shorts as far as the eye can see, aged Springsteen shirts held as artifacts or badges of honour, and of course The Baseball Cap™. If Merrell walking boots ever did a convention, this should be the location.
Heading into the arena we decide to check out the merchandise, but sadly find the limited edition print poster already sold out. There are plenty of tshirt options though, featuring various motor-city style artwork and images of Bruce looking moody, as well as not one but two baseball cap options to appease the previously mentioned Dads.
Deciding to grab some early dinner we head to a taco place for some absolutely delicious barbacoa beef, before checking out the brilliant James Bay. Rocking out in his signature black hat, a neckerchief and skinny jeans, his voice soars across the site. We are treated to a set of absolute bangers. ‘Best Fake Smile’ and ‘Just For Tonight’ are impossible not to dance to, but ‘Endless Summer Nights’ and ‘Hold Back The River’ are the true epics of this show – James Bay is a fantastic booking for Springsteen day at BST in my opinion.
On the Birdcage stage, Oscar Corney is giving us feel-good Americana soft rock with a Telecaster in hand, and a decent crowd on deck. “We feeling good? Now that rains fucked off right?” he quips in his distinctly-not-American Cambridge accent, before playing ‘Afterglow’ in a gravelly singing voice which is reminiscent of the Boss himself.
The Chicks (…the artist formerly known as…) are here to present Dallas country and bluegrass with a side of feminism, this is the kind of hoedown I can… get down with. ‘Gaslighter’ isn’t exactly subtle but they sell it well, there’s a lot of banjo and hollerin’ – the sun is out and we’re up for dancing. Yelling “Well hello Hyde Park! Everybody ready for Bruuuce? We are the pre-show entertainment band!” and “London, do you know what a hootenanny is?” before ‘White Trash Wedding’, there’s no denying The Chicks know how to create fun.
It’s getting late, the sun is on it’s way down, and the arena has suddenly filled up. Low calls of “Bruuuuuuce” begin in the crowd, which sort of sound a bit like booing, but I get the intention. Starting early at 7pm, perhaps in an effort to not repeat curfew mistakes of the past, Bruce Springsteen hits the stage yelling out “Hello London Town” in his classic black shirt and peg-rolled jeans, to rapturous applause.
Bruce is holding his beat-up “mutt” Fender guitar, one of the most iconic pieces of rock and roll history that has been his choice of instrument for the last 35 years – or at least, it looks like it… he does notoriously have various copies of it to save wear and tear. Starting up with ‘My Love Will Not Let You Down’ into ‘Death To My Hometown’ and ‘No Surrender’ it’s a bloody good opening, and the sound quality is top notch.
By song seven ‘The Promised Land’, he still hasn’t stopped for even a few seconds break, and now heads down the front steps to greet his fans and hand over a prized harmonica to someone in the first row. The cameras pan down to fan signs during ‘Out In The Street’ where there are a surprising number of kids on shoulders, one holds a slab of cardboard with “This is my first concert” written on it. A lady a few rows back holds a photo of herself being kissed by Bruce at a previous concert, with the words “Make this the best day of my life again” while an enterprising man a little way over has a sign that says “Tequila 4 a harmonica?”. Bruce declines to take him up on the offer despite it being his tipple of choice according to previous reports.
Taking what looks like an explosive can of peroni light from someone in the front row, Bruce heads back onto the stage with dripping wet hands, for ‘Working On The Highway’ which honestly sounds a lot like Chucklevision and now I can’t unhear it.
Commodores cover ‘Nightshift’ is an absolute classic, but as he moves into ‘Mary’s Place’ we’re subjected to rain-based kismet, with the refrain “let it rain, let it rain”. Bruce is soaked to the skin and singing into the sky as if he had a pact with someone above for this iconic moment. ‘Backstreets’ is met with a huge round of applause, but I’ve heard at least three songs about “the streets” tonight already and it’s starting to get funny. Luckily ‘Because The Night’ (Patti Smith collab) is up next to turn things up a notch, it’s gorgeously seventies, that sort of twinkly ethereal sound you associate with starry skies around campfires.
The truly anthemic ‘The Rising’ has everyone ‘la la laaa-ing’ along before ‘Badlands’ sees off the last of the evening light over the arena. Well within the curfew limits we get into the encore with the sensational ‘Born To Run’, ‘Bobby Jean’ and ‘Glory Days’, and Bruce finally yelling “I think it’s time to go home”. Obviously this crowd has no intention of stopping and screams back “noooo”, to which he jokes “They’re gonna pull the fucking plug again! I don’t wanna go home either”. The lady in the crowd holding the ‘Bruce, take me dancing in the dark’ sign, practically faints as the opening notes play, but Bruce is busy wiggling his bum at the stage camera and dancing down the steps.
Yanking his shirt open (which was actually stripper style poppers, a bit less cool than actually ripping buttons off) Bruce thanks the E-Street Band and heads down to lie back into the arms of his fans, before his signature rendition of The Top Notes ‘Twist and Shout’ with a little bit of La Bamba mixed in – the very thing that got him and Paul McCartney shut down last time.
Going out half an hour before Hyde Park’s curfew, on an acoustic ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’ and softly saying “Thank you so much” renders the crowd absolutely silent. It’s beautiful and a rare musical moment in this type of show. I’m still salty that we didn’t get ‘The River’ or ‘Thunder Road’, but there’s no way to describe how absolutely phenomenal Bruce Springsteen is as a performer and tonight has been a masterclass in classic rock. 73 years old, busting out a 3 hour set with no breaks, back to back 29 songs. Bruce Springsteen truly is The Boss.
The electricity of teenage fandom is buzzing in the air today at Hyde Park, this is by far the youngest crowd I’ve seen at a BST event, and almost everyone is wearing the obvious colours for K-Pop international superstars BlackPink. As we head into the arena it’s clear there are a lot less people around early today, compared to the previous BST events, perhaps in part due to the overcast weather, but it’s actually quite pleasant being able to walk around the arena with ease.
Checking out the merchandise options you can only imagine my abject horror at finding bucket hats with tiny BP embroidery on for an eye-watering £40 each. Tote bags were also £40 (compare to £20 for Take That, which I still thought was steep), zip up printed tour hoodies for BlackPink are an astonishing £120. Despite my wish to own all the merch from everything I attend, I really couldn’t justify these prices, but there were plenty of people queuing up to catch some exclusive (and hard to find in the UK) items.
The most popular seems to be the BlackPink official lightstick – which, if you aren’t in the know, looks like a miniature mallet with squishy pink hearts on either side, that you can connect to an app which lights up along with the music at the show you’re attending. Well… it would, if anyone on Hyde Park could get any signal at all.
Shuffling off to the Rainbow stage we catch a bit of the completely adorable Annika Benett, who has a gorgeous voice and is singing breakup songs “…I built my life around someone, and it’s awful when that ends”.
Caity Baser hits the main stage wearing a tartan bodysuit that gives Attack on Titan vibes, and the wind begins to pick up around the arena as she too chooses the topic of breakups for her set – “How many of you have been cheated on before?”. Honestly, looking around at the average age of the fans here and I’d say that quite a large portion probably can’t relate Caity. Nevertheless she’s upbeat and fun, and despite the smaller crowd today she’s managing to get them jumping around.
Taking a turn around the arena to see what’s cracking, we take a few minutes up on the Whiteclaw balcony to sit on some comfortable beanbags and drink a fancy drink or two. It’s a lovely view but any stage sounds are impossible to entertain from there, due to the absolute chaos that is the Carousel Swing fairground ride next to us, which is flying at a brutally horizontal angle and making the riders SCREAM.
We catch at bit of self-proclaimed manic dream pixie – Peach PRC, who is sporting her unique iridescent fairy wings and pink wavy hair, jumping around the stage. I like her, she’s good energy and song ‘Blondes’ is a perfect pop appetizer. Speaking of energy though, we need to eat and the options are bountiful, and therefore hard to choose from. Heading over to the Peroni bar we spy The Cheese Wheel, who are preparing fresh pasta inside, well, a giant wheel of cheese. Deciding to go boujie today we order the truffle cheese pasta and then sat in pure silence while we indulged. This may be the most decadent festival food I’ve ever eaten, highly recommend.
Waddling over to the main stage for Korean rock band The Rose, we are greeted with a cacophony of screaming girls. It’s true, they are *very* pretty, but honestly – they’re a great band and I really enjoyed their song ‘Yes’, even if it came with the slightly odd warning “Er, don’t say yes to everything though!”. It’s not hard to like them when they are a very wholesome mix of funny and humble “Our first gig was to twenty people in Korea, seven years ago… and fifteen of them were our friends!”.
The Cuban Brothers are bringing the Funky Nassau to the Garage stage, and Miguel quickly decides to “…change [his] material” for the clearly younger crowd who have gathered in front. Encouraging the kids to yell “Kenny The Pasta” instead of the other thing, has those of us who’ve seen them before, laughing. Yelling “Where the Blinks at?” they immediately have all the young girls along the front row screaming at ear-bleeding levels, and I think some first crushes have well and truly been established today in the form of Young Domenico.
Rebecca Black, no longer the gawky teenager in possibly one of the worst/most iconic music videos of all time, steps out on stage in a very Goth-loli red tartan outfit with all the confidence of a seasoned performer. Not gonna lie, she’s had some solid follow up bops over the years, but it’s fairly obvious everyone is waiting to hear her sing about her car seat dilemmas in ‘Friday’.
Sabrina Carpenter hits the main stage in stacked gogo boots and a metallic pink slip dress, but the crowd is very very thin on the ground, despite her saying “Hyde Park what’s poppin? There’s so many of you god damn!”. She goes on to say “I’ve been to London a few times… your relationship dramas are so wild, I watch Love Island. Who here has been in a situationship?” is met with rapturous… crickets. These kids are like 13 Sabrina… what’s your angle. Her voice is lovely but she ends up being a bit like one of those Pinterest recipes, where I’ve now heard enough of her life story and would like very much to just make the pie (her cats are named Benny and Bjorn, she covers Abba’s ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’).
At this point we are fully stalking the fancy AmEx guest areas to try and catch a glimpse of Hugh Grant whowas somewhere about, bringing his daughter and her friends to see BlackPink tonight. Alas, we failed our mission, he was nowhere to be seen so we shuffled off in favour of getting ourselves ready for the headline slot.
Now, this is not just another headliner it has to be noted, this is the first time a Korean band has ever headlined a major UK festival in history – and a sold out show no less. The crowd is getting fretful now, as the band are a few minutes late in starting, but the ominous “Blaaaack Pink” chant they’re all doing is some horror movie level shit.
Coming in hard with ‘Pink Venom’, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa take their absolutely earned place in the spotlight to the deafening screams of thousands of fans. Having been mostly a fan of rock and metal, this type of fanatic behaviour is somewhat new to me, and it’s kinda hard not to get swept up in the thrall. Why didn’t I buy a lightstick, damn. Dressed all in white, but different variations on the Leeloo-fifth-element theme, they’ve got quite an industrial gothic look about them – offset heavily by the occasional pink pyrotechnics and sparkles around them.
“London what’s UUUUP” they yell, before dropping the absolutely epic ‘How You Like That’, which was my first introduction to the band a few years ago. It doesn’t matter what musical background you come from, you’ve got to agree that song slaps. The crowd is going absolutely berserk at this point, and there’s a girl next to us who knows every dance move and seemingly every word.
‘Pretty Savage’ includes a saucy chair routine at the end of the runway, and their house dancers are absolutely incredible during their costume change break at the end of ‘Whistle’ as well. It’s such a full on performance, there’s always something happening. The second ‘act’ of the night is each performer’s chance to showcase their solo material, which is truly a genius way of incorporating personal work into your band schedule without breaking the lot or having to split. Why haven’t more bands thought of this?!
Jennie does ‘You & Me’ in a gorgeous lacy tiered coat, followed by Jisoo with ‘Flower’ in sparkly and floral reds with blooming flower choreography to boot, and then a huge explosion of petals across the crowd. I really rate this level of production detail, it’s making everything so magical and special for the audience.
Rosé enters wearing the absolute coolest outfit of the whole night, she is draped in gold chains and looks like pirate treasure, for ‘Gone/On The Ground’. Obviously, there’s a heap of floorwork in the choreo to reflect the ‘ground’ sentiment too, but a ticker tape streamer explosion backfires quite spectacularly, covering the stage lights and a poor unsuspecting security guard due to a turn of the wind. Hey future kids, if there’s a second fire of London, it probably started here m’kay?
Lisa rocks a red bustier and knee high biker boots for ‘Money’ which is one of my favourites of the night, it makes me wish I could actually dance. I kinda wish they’d done money ticker tape here, but you can’t have everything. Coming round into act 3 the whole band is back together for the incredible ‘Boombayah’ in some excellently mad-max style black outfits. Wielding sparkly mics which look quite a lot like the lightsticks is another little touch I think is very well thought out, as they head into the most visually pleasing part of the night yet.
Male dancers with huge burlesque white feather fans head to the top of the stage, as BlackPink emerge on stage on a lift/riser. The fan dance hides each member while another sings, and thes moves fluidly with them as they descend the stairs, it is so well choreographed that it looks amazing from all angles.
‘Shutdown’ has everyone dancing and singing along with them, exclaiming “Wow wow wow, I did not expect this much energy” and “This is a dream come true!”. Now, I absolutely LOVE the feminist message of ‘Tally’, but there’s no doubt that this well and truly moves them out of the ‘wholesome kpop band’ zone. They’ve always been harder edged as a band, but this song deals with sexuality, confidence and equality in a way that I think other female fronted bands haven’t been able to in the genre. Even their video backdrops say ‘Fuck It’, go on gals. I did have to stifle my laughter when the Mum of the girl next to us heard the line “Getting mine like the fuckboys do” and yelled “WHAT”.
For an encore we get the awesome ‘DDU-DU, DDU-DU’ before they head back down the runway and into a cage which is lifted into the crowd on a platform during ‘Forever Young’. The crowd simply cannot be contained at this point, it is decibel curfew shattering levels of screaming all around me. I can’t blame them, you can call me a Blink now too – that was a sensational show. BlackPink are welcome in our area, anytime. Someone send me a lightstick please.
Back to Hyde Park again this sunny Saturday for some true British treasure in the form of Take That – the band that broke the nation’s heart when they broke up, and then came back as the ultimate zaddies of pop to woo all the mums again.
Before we all get too hot under the collar, Will Young is giving everyone at the main stage a huge wholesome hug. Not my usual fayre by any means but his voice is excellent, the vibes are funky, and I really like his frilly shirt and braces. Though he’s battled through extreme anxiety and more than his fair share of difficult times, Will is possibly one of the nicest men in pop music today. It’s hard not to smile through this performance, particularly when he goes over to hug the Great Oak stage tree, and then says “Hope you’re all hydrating yourselves, it’s hot today!”. Yes Will Young, I will do as you say because I think you’re darling.
Doors cover ‘Light My Fire’ has the whole arena singing along (and I must say it’s a very respectable crowd for this time of day) but ‘Leave Right Now’ and ‘Evergreen’ are the hits everyone came for, and he delivers.
Over on the Cuban Garage stage we witness the joyful beats of South London Samba, and some frankly incredible rainbow feathered moves from the carnival dancers (two of whom can jump drop into a split, amazing) before we grab some much needed dinner. There are a ridiculous amount of options here for a festival this size, but we try out a Buffalo chicken bowl (way spicier than I’d anticipated) and some ginger tofu Bao (faaaancy) – both great.
Sugababes hit the main stage with a set that surprised me, for the simple reason that I had no idea I knew *that* many of their songs. Starting strong with Adina Howard cover ‘Freak Like Me’ they come out looking every bit the pop princesses they always did, and are absolutely owning the stage for ‘Red Dress’. ‘Hole in the Head’ is fantastic, but if you’re a certain kind of person – even hearing the intro to ‘Too Lost In You’ will both make you think of Christmas AND make you irrationally angry… if you know you know.
“It’s an absolute honour to be here! Look at the weather, the sun is coming out!” they yell, before hitting us with classic trio ‘Push The Button’, ‘Round Round’ and ‘About You Now’. It’s a very clean and precise set, I think I’d like to see them loosen up a little but musically – it’s great, and I appreciate their long battle to reclaim their name and their lost music, to get here.
Ireland’s The Script are fun, and there’s a nice roundness to the fact that they used to tour with Take That back in the day too, but I can’t get by the cringeworthy bit that took a full ten minutes out of their set time to orchestrate. “I wanna call someone’s ex! Who right now is crazy enough to give me their phone?” yells frontman Danny O’Donoghue before grabbing one passed up by security. He proceeds to phone someone’s unsuspecting ex-boyfriend, tells them who he is and lets the crowd scream at them before singing ‘Before The Worst’ at him. Following the serenade, he has the whole arena yell “Goodbye Asshole” at the phone, which is just… not that funny and kinda gauche. ‘If You Could See Me Now’ is dedicated to the memory of their guitarist Mark Sheehan, it’s a great song, but they’ve kinda lost me with the stunt if I’m honest.
Heading into the final event, the arena has now swelled with people to the point of bursting. The toilet queues are out of control and stretch halfway around the arena, the bars are all loaded and the merch stalls are still going strong. We catch The Cuban Brothers doing another brilliant set on the Cuban Garage stage, but when heading over to grab a tshirt we find that the BST have racked the price up by a tenner since yesterday. Price gouging isn’t a good look for an event – especially when The Cubans themselves just said the tees were £20 on stage and would be when they hit the online shop. Not cool.
Heading down to the Golden Circle area to find a good place to watch Take That, we are immediately pulled into the throng alongside an excited lady wielding a giant face cut out of Gary Barlow (a little disconcerting) and we can see another woman in a Take That patch jacket down the front. This particular person was spotted last night, camping out in Hyde Park ready to be right there today, the dedication is on point.
As intros go, this one is pretty epic. A hoarde of dancers enter the stage seemingly from everywhere, and set themselves up all over the giant lighted staircase that runs from the backdrop right down to the main floor, in front of which a giant runway ending in a second smaller stage area has been set. The band emerge to ear-bleeding levels of frenetic fan screams all around us. The cacophony of the mums knows no bounds. Include me in that, because I cannot get enough of their fashion ensembles tonight. Howard is wearing something that I can only describe as… Newscaster-school-football-kit-in-the-seventies. It is ochre, striped and flared, and I want it. Gary has decided to come as Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty, and Mark is… well Mark is wearing an ostrich. A whole one.
There might only be three of them now (no sign of Robbie despite him also being on tour… boooo) but right out of the gates ‘The Flood’ sounds absolutely brilliant, seems like they’re going to be on top form tonight. Yelling “Good evening Hyde Paaaaaark!” the trio head down the long runway to the middle of the pulsing crowd, “…this is gonna be an amazing night tonight, we want you to sing along and dance along!” and huge blasts of ticker-tape confetti erupt from around them as fireworks go off along the front of the stage. It’s pretty clear they’ve come here to party and I’m instantly all-in.
‘Could It Be Magic’ brings glittery screens and their OG boyband dance moves, and I am shooketh to my core as I myself (ten years their junior) have injured myself getting out of bed, why only this morning. Special guest Calum Scott of Britain’s Got Talent fame, joins the band for ‘Greatest Day’ as he had been part of the reworked song for their film which was released last month, before taking the stage to himself for his cover of Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’.
BeeGees cover ‘How Deep is Your Love’ and ‘A Million Love Songs’ are the catalyst for a whole lot of overwhelmed fangirl sobbing, and my sister who had nipped to the loos at an opportune moment belted back to us to sing “AND HERE I AAAAAAM” in our faces. ‘Shine’ heralds a delightful outfit change, including a fancy white top-hat (which is later thrown out into the crowd, what an excellent bit of memorabilia for some lucky person) for Mark, a green velvet biker jacket for Gary (I would also like to own this) and a tux jacket with golden-winged lapels for Howard. They are taking this photo opportunity very seriously and I love it. Despite the air of professionalism, they joke “We might miss a few of our cues tonight, the runway is way longer than we thought… it takes ages to get back up there” and then mention how appreciative they are of everyone coming back to gigs after some weird years during the pandemic.
Stopping for a quick break to read some of the signs being held up in the front rows, we are treated to the truest representation of the British wit… “This song is older than us” Gary reads as two kids scream holding the sign, and another “I think of you when I shag my husband” with (presumably) the husband standing alongside the woman laughing. “I left my husband in hospital to be here” has the entire crowd in agreement on the state of her morals, but the best one by far was “Today is MY Greatest Day – I made it! F U Cancer!”. Having an arena full of thousands of people cheer you on and celebrate with you must be phenomenal in itself, but when the band dedicate the next song to Laura, holder of the sign, she looks absolutely beside herself with joy. It’s a lovely heartfelt moment.
Telling everyone this is the “Song that brought us back”, we are treated to a little acoustic guitar for ‘Patience’ before a huge singalong for ‘Pray’ and the most incredible original video dance moves, an absolute highlight. ‘Back For Good’ is also brilliant, and I can’t help but dance to Sigma cover ‘Cry’ under an obscene amount of ticker-tape spewing into the air above us.
Another quick outfit change into the most ridiculous giant white furry coats and it’s time for ‘Relight My Fire’ with the actual for-real LuLu, who is sporting some excellent sparkly flared trousers. ‘Hold Up A Light’ sees the crowd holding up phone torches across the arena, but ‘Never Forget’ is the true epitome of Take That-ness and every single person has their hands up for it. “You know the choreography, join in!” hardly needs to be said because we are all totally invested at this point of the proceedings.
Going out in style with ‘Rule The World’ leaves me in no doubt that Take That are making yet another triumphant return, following their performance at the Corrie-Nache earlier this year. Looking over to see my sister and her sister-in-law doing a little cry and singing along, I reckon they’ve gained another confirmed fan in me tonight, it was a bloody brilliant show, so Take That.
Due to excessive traffic issues and poor time management, we are entering BST Hyde Park much later than planned this fine sunny Sunday afternoon. Luckily we grab our wristbands and a drink just in time to get a good spot in front of the Great Oak stage for my 90’s manic-pixie-dream-girl crush Gwen Stefani (pretty sure she was everyone’s 90’s celeb crush actually).
Were you even a 90’s kid if you didn’t have that one No Doubt centre-magazine poster on your wall? You know which one I mean. It just occurred to me that kids now probably don’t buy physical magazines… what are they decorating their rooms with…
Anyway, Gwen bounces onto the stage resplendent in a disco ball inspired outfit for opener ‘The Sweet Escape’ right into No Doubt classic ‘Sunday Morning’, like there hasn’t been a single minute between the day she wrote it and now. Yelling “I don’t think you guys understand the love I have for London Town… let me pinch myself, THIS IS MY LIFE!” before busting out another classic – ‘It’s My Life’ (Talk Talk cover).
In a curious revelation about the inner workings of her mind, she blurts out “I was thinking about my life. Most of the time when I’m singing the songs, I’m thinking – what am I gonna have to eat later? Thank you for listening to my music all this time” which comes across a little odd, a little nonchalant, given her previous emphatic affectations about her work.
Nevertheless, ‘Underneath It All’ brings the groove back, admittedly with a small side of cringe these days – the ska/reggae overlap has always been part of Stefani’s music but it is one of those things that we’ve gradually distanced ourselves from since the early noughties. It would be remiss of me to write about Gwen Stefani without joining the chequered commentary about cultural appropriation vs. appreciation over her recording history, and the inclusion of controversial ‘Harajuku Girls’ and iconic ‘Rich Girl’ give me awkward pause for thought. Bringing on stage rapper Eve for a duet/cover of her song ‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind’ was extremely welcome though, being immediately transported back to 2001 in the opening notes.
After what looks like a slight bra malfunction, Gwen returns in yet another skirt/trouser combo that also smacks of very firmly Y2K vibes, but that ska checkerboard pattern will never not appeal to me – even the dancers are rocking matching jumpsuits. Oh and she’s being wheeled around on a giant throne, also fun.
‘Don’t Speak’ is where this set truly comes alive for me again, from there it’s a hit parade of core memory songs, with ‘Wind It Up’, and ‘What You Waiting For’ into ‘Spiderwebs’ which I screamed at the top of my extremely limited vocal range for.
‘Just A Girl’ is everything I want, remember and enjoy about Gwen Stefani. Her unique vocal sound seems unchanged by time, and it feels like such a treat for teenage-me to finally end up here, hearing it the way I did dancing with my friends in the living room to MTV. To cap it off, the slightly ridiculous ‘Hollaback Girl’ features dancers wielding giant bananas while she gads about in a sparkly cape – big Gwen energy.
(C) Dave Hogan / Hogan Media
There’s a pretty decent time gap before tonight’s main act, due in part to the absolutely insane stage set up being hastily squashed into view, so we have a little reprieve to check out some of the food options here at BST. For a relatively small festival footprint, you can pretty much find cuisine from most corners of the earth – but still settle for basic bitch buffalo loaded fries if you want to (and I did) but you better believe I’ll be sampling my way through as many outlets as possible over the coming weeks of BST gigs. They were delicious anyway. Though I didn’t make it around the rest of the site today due to time constraints, it’s nice to note that the site has lost none of its vibrancy from last year – there is colour, decoration and things to pique your interest everywhere you look. More exploration required.
With the sun beginning to dip over Hyde Park, it’s time to settle into our spots for tonight’s headliner, the incomparable wonder woman that is P!NK. Every single person I’ve met who has been to one of her shows assures me that she is incredible and possibly superhuman, so I’ve got a lot of hype and anticipation for this one – and it seems I am not alone. It’s a huge crowd tonight (and yes, a good percentage of that is potentially people who did not get Glasto tickets this weekend but we won’t dwell on that) but it is also a very female centric crowd too with a wide and enviable age range. I think if you’re the kind of performer who can appeal to three generations of women at the same time – you’ve kind of hit the jackpot, and that’s what I’m seeing here.
So when the stage screens light up with Pink’s AI avatar to introduce her Summer Carnival, I am understandably already enthralled to see the bottom of her sparkly silver boots hiding away up in the canopy of the stage, behind a giant Rocky Horror style mouth. The mouth opens to reveal Pink herself wearing a gemstone-encrusted leotard, who then plummets to the stage on a bungee cord before styling it out into something between circus and x-games. I have no desire to do such a thing personally, but I truly could watch her do an entire set up there, she is SO FUN.
(C) Dave Hogan / Hogan Media
Obviously the opening line is “I’m coming out” from ‘Get The Party Started’ because that is quite literally the perfect point to hurtle towards the audience with the sheer glee of someone with seemingly zero inhibitions or fear. Iconic.
‘Raise Your Glass’ will forever hit the spot with lyrics that celebrate the ‘underdog’, I think this is why the entire crowd tonight bar absolutely no-one, is singing along with wild abandon. It’s true that P!NK sits apart from other artists of her time, unlike the polished teen aesthetic of Britney and Christina, Pink had tattoos and short hair, swore and leaned into a grittier rock vocal sound. The genre-straddling appeal teamed with often inspirational and introspective lyrical content, has firmly rooted Pink in a place where we are appreciating her work throughout her career instead of just waiting for those early-days hits.
Oh and her wardrobe is beyond enviable honestly. I would 1000% try and steal that studded and glittery leather jacket if I saw it in a dressing room, watch out Alecia. Taking a quick pause to chat to those in the front rows Golden Circle area, she addresses a young fan “Happy birthday you’re 10, double digits, you’re gonna save the world… can’t wait!” and jokes “So many kids here.. oh god I’m such a mom now” before busting out classic ‘Who Knew’.
During ‘Just Like A Pill’ Pink is presented with an unenviably awkward situation, that I really feel she handles with incredible grace. Over the last few months we have witnessed Harry Styles being asked to do gender reveals on stage, Elton John’s farewell Glasto set the same night had cameras diverted to a couple getting engaged in the crowd… all sorts of interesting fan interactions. This though, feels like an absolute violation.
As Pink takes a small mid-song reprieve and walks down the runway, she is showered with gifts like flowers and soft-toys – cute right? Less cute is the Ziploc bag of ashes that is next to be hurled into her path. “Wait, is this your mom? I don’t know how I feel about this…” a clearly stunned Pink exclaims whilst gingerly picking it up and placing it carefully by one of the speakers. She then returns to singing but there’s an obvious wobble in her voice for those first few notes, and upon ending she quips “Well… that was a first” whilst looking uncomfortable. I get the sentiment of wanting to symbolically take your loved and missed person to something important to you, but truly this is intrusively unhinged behaviour, to actually throw human remains onto a stage. This moment will undoubtedly be filed in the same zone as Ozzy-biting-the-head-off-a-bat in rock’n’roll history I’m sure, but it speaks to the ever closing space celebrities are able to hold between themselves, and what fans think they’re entitled to.
Consummate performer that she is, Pink returns in a sparkly checked shirt and joined by a beautiful male duo dance performance for ‘What About Us’, followed by an aerial performance of her own – but not without a technical hitch. “Stop. Can we re-set? It’s too low. We just need six inches…” has the entire crowd giggling. “I’ll just do an Interpretive dance if this doesn’t work, I’ll tell jokes! Ok, go back into the sexy serious thing we were trying to do…” before performing ‘Turbulence’ whilst spinning around on a rope swing. I have no clue how she is managing to sound this good, doing that.
Back on solid ground once more, Pink heads to the piano saying “There are so many songs I wish I wrote… oh look at the sunset! I wish I wrote ‘Spiderwebs’… ‘Just A Girl’… ‘Don’t Speak’. My absolute She-ro Gwen Stefani is over there, you don’t get cooler than that” pointing stage side where Gwen is watching the show. “I also wish I wrote Baby Shark. I could buy everyone here a yacht” she laughs before performing a gorgeous cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’.
In another big moment, someone in the front decides to propose to their partner during this, which she notices “Did someone just pass out or propose? Was it a yes? Wooo! The first 20 years are the hardest” before going into the beautifully soulful ‘Just Give Me A Reason’.
‘F**kin’ Perfect’ sees Pink in yet another extremely steal-able studded biker jacket, this time in eponymous baby pink, before she changes into the early noughties revival outfit that we are now seeing on ASOS (RIP my youth). More rip-than-material crystal studded jeans and a leopard print corset were the lifeblood of Y2K teens. Add a diamante-butterfly backed g-string and you’ve hit peak Paris and Nicole.
With barely a break, we head into the third stage of this this epic show, with an acoustic ‘Please Don’t Leave Me’ and bringing her daughter Willow on stage to join her for the adorable ‘Cover Me in Sunshine’ in front of a glowing sun stage set, mirrored by the setting sun behind us.
“You know them right, First Aid Kit? These beautiful sisters… they were nice enough to write me this song” Pink leads in for ‘Kids In Love’ which is unmistakably First Aid Kit in composition. It’s a deliciously sweet twilight song, the kind you’d use as a backing track for a campfire scene, it’s going on my summer playlist.
The phone torch lights are out in force for ‘When I Get There’, she signs stuff for front row fans during ‘I Am Here’ before diving into protest anthem ‘Irrelevant’ “When I sing this song, you all have permission to lose your last marble”. In a post-Roe world we need more voices, and yelling “girls just wanna have rights” everywhere she goes is positive platform action.
“Yall ready to dance?” she yells, as the dancers whip off their velco trousers to reveal classic 80’s bodysuit-and-legwarmers gym wear, as she arrives back on stage in a silver bomber jacket doing fitness-video moves for ‘Runaway’.
Album namesake ‘Trustfall’ is highlighted by an amazing stairs/trampoline show where acrobats fell and popped back up in time to the music, before ‘Blow Me One Last Kiss’ in contrast featured dancers dressed in kinda creepy lips costumes and we dance our socks off to ‘Never Gonna Not Dance Again’. Finally, yelling “I’m coming to see you guys at the back” we get to see what the four giant cranes flanking the stadium are there for, as Pink is hoisted up into the air over the crowd during ‘So What’. I don’t know how she sings like she does while flying around above thousands of people but it truly cements her line “I’m still a rockstar” for me. What a bloody legend, please come back soon.
It’s a busy London Saturday, the tube is hotter than satan’s armpit, but we’re on our way to Hyde Park for BST today… let’s go.
As we head into the arena via the south entrance, we’re filtered straight into the VIP area which is a tree covered shady sanctuary in the heat, along with a few food carts, a bar and an ice-cream truck. It’s a small area but it’s quite cute and has nice loos.
On the way into the arena we hit up the merchandise stall for t-shirts, and there are some incredible Pearl Jam art prints on sale – specific to this event, a really special and interesting merchandise option. They even helpfully have a heap of tubes so you can transport one home safely/let your child use it as a lightsaber. There’s also a little bandstand stage here called ‘The Birdcage’ and absolutely heaps of food choices and water refill points. So far so good!
On the Great Oak stage, Dublin-based singer-songwriter Imelda May is a vision in flouncy Victorian mourning dress. She has such a dynamic stage presence and a stunning voice, we thoroughly enjoyed the Meatloaf ‘I’d Do Anything For Love’ cover, and hope to see her on many more festival bills in the future.
Punk rock fury from Petrol Girls on the Birdcage feels particularly prominent after the last few weeks in world events, and it’s pretty great to see them pull a decent crowd of young faces – punk has always existed as a call to arms, and we need it back more than ever.
Welsh rockers James & The Cold Gun give us that shoulder-to-shoulder sticky-club-floor teenage rebellion feeling, very fun but ever so slightly strange in the setting of belting summer sun under the light of a dappled tree canopy.
Elsewhere on site the South London Samba Band hit that sunshine beat with utter perfection, they are absolutely full of energy, which spreads into the crowd around them in the form of some very questionable but joyful dancing. After all of that, it’s time for a drink, and wow are you spoilt for choice here at BST. The bars are shipping containers all made up to look like a row of Santa Clara Cuban restaurants, colourful and interesting with enough different serving fronts to ensure there’s never a horrendous queue.
As we take a walk around the back of the arena, the presence of advertising partners is pretty overwhelming compared to other festivals. Maybe it’s a London thing, or the fact that it’s a small space, but it’s a bit of a bombardment. Having said that, some of it is quite sympathetically done, like AmEx giving out free water bottles and tote bags (as well as access to cold water filling stations, and the option to go into a private rooftop viewing area) seems quite welcome on such a hot day.
Around the corner there is another bar area which looks like something pulled straight from Snow White, a faux beamed pub called ‘The King’s Head’, then there’s the florally adorned Hard Rock area which directly overlooks the Rainbow stage. The Hard Rock Shop is obviously full of their own merch rather than BST stuff, but next door they’ve brought a sample of café items to an indoor food stall, surrounded by roadie cases of BST-relevant memorabilia, like you would see in the real Hard Rock Café. We took a peek at Eddie Vedder’s signed wetsuit, Elton John’s Union Jack biker jacket, and a choir robe signed by Mick Jagger. Oh and, it’s shady and cool in there. Magic.
Up next on the Giant Oak we see the iconic Johnny Marr (of The Smiths fame) powering through a fabulous set with his vibrant yellow guitar. It’s a mix of works from various eras of Marr’s musical career – ‘Spirit Power and Soul’ is epic, but honestly the thing I’m most excited about – is getting to hear my favourite Smiths songs sans unavoidable Morrissey bullshit. Johnny sings them well, ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’ and ‘How Soon Is Now’ have the entire arena singing along, and ‘There Is a Light, That Never Goes Out’ is so upliftingly, I suppose canonically bright.
During a small break, Marr notes someone standing in the front section on their phone and snarks “I hope you’re texting ‘Johny Marr is a fucking bad-ass’” we all laugh, as the person in question red-faces it to the cameras. “It feels good to be doing this again after all this time, and to see your lovely faces” he tells us, before dedicating his last song to Pearl Jam for inviting him.
On their very own stage in the corner, the chaos creators themselves, arbiters of festival mischief since the dawn of time, The Cuban Brothers – are pied-pipering the hell out of BST. As their set begins with Kengo on the mix, Juan Erection throwing shapes and as he noted to all the kids ‘Uncle Miguel’ brandishing a hosepipe at the crowd. There’s something very comforting about seeing them back on the festival scene, albeit sans iconic brother Archerio who retired last season.
Yelling “I’m gonna pump some gas into you in the correct fashion” Miguel is as much of a bawdy menace as ever, I love it. He manages to cheekily forget that tonight is Stereophonics not last nights’ The Pixies… “I don’t keep an eye on who’s supporting us!”, sing us a verse of Even Flow and get us all to chant ‘Boris Is a Dickhead’ in the space of about 15 minutes. We’re treated to old school hip-hop, Kengo on rollerskates, Juan doing crazy flips and Miguel yelling “Goodbye Boris you narcissistic fucking clown!” which honestly, is just excellent fun. I’ll never not want to see The Cuban Brothers at a festival.
Up next, Stereophonics on the Great Oak stage. As someone who listened to a lot of Stereophonics as a kid but not much since, I don’t know that I was expecting too much from them. A bit of nostalgia sure, but maybe not greatness? Happily proven wrong, Kelly Jones’ voice is still grittily excellent and they give us the most epic tour of the classics that we want to hear.
“It’s nearly 30 years to the day I first saw Pearl Jam, supporting Neil Young at Finsbury Park…” says Kelly, before joking that they themselves only have an hour to fit in 25 years and 12 studio albums worth of music to fit in.
‘Bartender and the Thief’ is followed by ‘Hanging On Your Hinges’ but it’s the likes of ‘A Thousand Trees’, ‘Have a Nice Day’ and ‘Pick a Part That’s New’ which really hits you in the memories. The wistfulness for the optimism of the early noughties is ripe for twanging that emotion string, things definitely feel heavier this side of a global pandemic.
‘Just Looking’ flows into closing track ‘Dakota’ with the band squinting into the still scorching hot sun to say “Thank you, it’s been amazing… have a brilliant time tonight!” before leaving to rapturous applause.
We decide to check out the dinner offerings before the main act, and it is absolutely peak London in here. Truffle burger? Bhaat? Steak frites? You got it. Wash it down with some Perrier or a can of Pinot? We chose paneer wraps and churros, both of which were excellent. Festival food has come a loooong way, and I am grateful.
Ⓒ Sandra Sorenson for BST
The heat haze is still shimmering over Hyde Park, the arena is suddenly packed with warm bodies, and every face is turned towards the Giant Oak stage for tonight’s headliner, Pearl Jam.
There mega lighting rig above the stage reconfigures to a honeycomb style backdrop as the band take to the stage to a huge roar from the crowd. Then 10-Club VIP area at the front is definitely the best perk of the upgrade packages, as they get a full close up of Eddie Vedder emerging to The Beatles ‘All You Need is Love’, and images of themselves plastered on the giant wraparound stage screens above.
Without a huge amount of fanfare, the band rolls straight into the first song ‘Corduroy’ and its clear that Eddie’s voice, and the band as whole have lost absolutely none of what made them famous in the first place. It’s as raw and powerful an intro as I’d hoped for. “…hope this night goes nice and slow, we’re so grateful to be here and do it again, we’re gonna try and play everything we didn’t play yesterday” Vedder says, and having looked at yesterday’s set-list already – I know we’re in for a very special and unusual set. ‘Why Go’ is one of my favourite Pearl Jam songs of all time, and it seems I am not in the minority, it absolutely sets the crowd ablaze, with people singing and dancing all around us.
We slip under for ‘Deep’ which is crushingly heavy, another Ten hit, followed by Vedder lamenting on how damn hot it still is this evening, when he notices a situation unfolding in the crowd. It seems like someone needs assistance and Vedder directs medics into the crowd saying “…make a little tributary, everyone clear some space’, making sure the music doesn’t start again until they’re safely out. With the 2021 Travis Scott/Astroworld situation making for very bad headlines last year, I take great comfort that most artists out there do take concert safety seriously, and notice what is happening at their shows.
Not only this, but the well-known and expected outpouring of political and moral opinion by the band is also welcome – we stan a band who use their platform to raise awareness, to comment on what is happening in the world. Eddie talks about gun violence in the US, and about how it affects his family, in relation to track ‘Garden’ which he explains is about tombstones in a cemetery. Following this “…a song [they] wrote and performed with a legend, Neil Young. Tonight we play with another legend, Manchester’s own Johnny Marr” for ‘Throw Your Hatred Down’. It is nothing short of epic to see these legends grace the stage together, this is an unforgettable rock moment.
‘Do The Evolution’ showcases the bands unmistakable delight in playing live, the energy is infectious and seeps into the crowd – contrastingly heavy, under the rainbow pastel summer skies of London. Van Halen tribute cover ‘Eruption’ is fittingly brilliant, and out in the front row the camera pans across a young lad with a “1st Row” sign, dances along as Eddie uses his plaid shirt as a cape for ‘Black’ and manages to snag himself one of Eddie’s tambourines, I am intensely jealous of a child.
A second tributary mention goes to the late great Taylor Hawkins, and is dedicated to his wife and children by the band. ‘River Cross’ is another thoughtful dedication to the people of Ukraine, and as the lighting rig snakes and changes to slither over them, the band drop into arguably their most famous song ‘Alive’. Hearing this live, is a full body experience, the ridiculous bone shaking power that this song has over everyone is absolutely wild. If you didn’t love it, I’m sorry to say, there’s something wrong with you.
Closing out with The Who cover ‘Baba O’Riley’ wouldn’t have been my number one choice to be sure, but adding in a return from Johnny Marr and Andrew Watt, I can’t deny it’s pretty special. It’s been such a different and varied set from last time I saw them, many moons ago at Leeds fest 2006. Grateful doesn’t even cut it – how lucky are we to be back outside after the absolute shitstorm of the last couple of years, witnessing something like this?
Live music isn’t just fun, isn’t just entertainment, or diversion. It’s the lifeblood of what it means to be humans with shared experiences. Pearl Jam tapped into that reservoir tonight, it was clear on so many awed faces leaving the arena. Thank you BST for making sure this happened, despite every setback.
Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park is putting the finishing touches to the lineups for the shows of the summer. Today, we announce a string of incredible acts to add to two of the Hyde Park shows this July.
Florence + The Machine: Saturday 2nd July
Joining the superstar bill of Florence + The Machine on the first Saturday night of the festival in Hyde Park are Poliça, Georgia, Kelsey Lu, Khruangbin, Gabriel Bruce, Gwilym Gold and Cloves.
Electro-pop outfit Poliça are confirmed to support. With their electronic soundscapes loved by fans worldwide, last month they released their third studio album United Crushers, hinting at what to expect from their hotly anticipated performance in the park.
London musician Georgia will enthral crowds with her sassy and punchy pop. Inspired by the pioneering spirit of artists such as Missy Elliot and MIA, Georgia’s genre-busting and globally minded sound will set the stage for the headliners.
Brooklyn-based Kelsey Lu has also been confirmed. A classically trained cellist who loops her instrument and voice to make ethereal R&B pop, you may previously have seen her as part of Blood Orange’s band, but this year she’s released a smattering of breathtaking solo tracks.
Khruangbin, a Texan three-piece band, bring their Thai-inspired funk to the middle of London. Having previously toured with Bonobo and featured on his Late Night Tales mix, their vintage sound will make the perfect summer soundtrack come rain or shine.
Gabriel Bruce, Gwilym Gold, and Cloves will all make their Hyde Park debut this summer. Singer-songwriter Gabriel Bruce’s deep and expressive voice has been compared to the likes of Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. He recently unveiled his stunning new single ‘Freedom’, and will release his comeback album next month ahead of his performance forBarclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park.
Previously the front man for indie-dance band Golden Silvers, Gwilym Gold has ventured out on his own to make his own acclaimed electro-pop. Likened to Radiohead and Talk Talk by Resident Advisor, his sparse piano-led tracks and soulful vocals have brought him plaudits from across the media for latest album A Paradise.
The Melbourne-raised singer-songwriter Cloves has been received with resounding enthusiasm from LA to Paris following the release of her debut EP ‘XIII’. After being featured by Annie Mac on the New Names list for 2016 in January, this summer Cloves brings her whisky-tinged tones to London’s Hyde Park.
Mumford & Sons: Friday 8th July
Headlining the second Friday of the festival, Mumford & Sons will be joined by Kurt Vile & the Violators in Hyde Park, with more support added across the day including Mt. Desolation, Matthew and the Altas, Modern Pleasure, Rukhsana Merise and The Strumbellas.
Kurt Vile & the Violators’ unique blend of shoegaze and Americana, alongside their frontman’s witty stage presence, captures crowds like no other. Signed to Matador Records, the American singer and his backing band released their seminal album Smoke Ring for My Halo in 2011 and last year introduced sixth studio album b’lieve i’m goin down, which made the top 20 in NME’s 2015 Albums of the Year chart.
Also taking to the stage is British alt-country band Mt. Desolation. The brainchild of Keane’s Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin, the ensemble has already toured with Mumford & Sonson their US tour and this summer they will bring their beautiful folk-pop harmonies to one of London’s biggest parks.
Matthew and the Atlas and Modern Pleasure are two more acts confirmed to support Mumford’s headline performance. Having released their brand new album ‘Temple’ this month,Matthew and the Atlas’ dreamy blend of Americana and melancholy electronica has been described as “the British Bon Iver.”
Modern Pleasure are a Leeds based, 5 piece guitar band (Scott Johnson, vox/guitar/keys Giuseppe De Luca, vox/guitar, Adam Taylor, Bass, Sean Goodchild, Guitar and Graham Robson, drums) leading the charge in a new scene emerging from one of North England's most vibrant cities. With an audio aesthetic perhaps more akin to the sun kissed coastal roads of California, the band's shimmery melodies and tropical guitar licks soar over uplifting vocals as they spin odes to lovers and capture perfectly the romance of youth and the adventure of summer road trips.
Rukhsana Merrise and The Strumbellas will also make their Hyde Park Debut. West London singer-songwriter Rukhsana Merrise appeared on the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury last year and has supported artists such as Laura Mvula and Leon Bridges with her folk and soul-inspired sound.
Canadian six-piece The Strumbellas have won the hearts of audiences (and a Juno Award!) with their infectious “folk popgrass” tunes. With their keenly awaited album Hope due out this month, audiences will love their poignant lyrics and beautiful songs.
Following the announcement that Stevie Wonder will take to the stage in Hyde Park to perform his masterpiece Songs In the Key of Life in its entirety, Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park are excited to announce three spectacular new additions to the Sunday line-up.
But fans should act quickly as this amazing show is nearly sold out and the last few tickets are going fast.
Considered to be one of the world’s most prolific producers and performers, Pharrell Williams is the first new addition to the Sunday billing. The force behind so many incredible smash hits, including Kelis’ “Milkshake”, N.E.R.D.s “Lap Dance” and of course 2014’s Grammy-Award winning and feel-good track of the year “Happy”. Pharrell has worked with music legends from Britney to Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk to Snoop Dogg, and will be sure to drop it like it’s hot this summer.
Of Stevie Wonder,Pharrell has said – "Stevie Wonder was a fixture in my life as a child. His music is probably the closest thing to auditory transcendence."
Joining Stevie and Pharrell on the main stage is soul-singer extraordinaire Corinne Bailey Rae. The BRIT-nominated and two-time Grammy-Award winning artist rose to prominence with her breezily beautiful singles “Put Your Records On” and “Like A Star”, and has since released two albums, her multi-million-selling eponymous debut and the Mercury Prize-nominated The Sea. With her brand new studio album The Heart Speaks In Whispers out for release on May 13th, Corinne’s uplifting and charismatic performance – described last week as “mesmerizing” by the Evening Standard – will be the perfect soundtrack to a Sunday evening in Hyde Park.
Corinne Bailey Rae says, “I have been a fan of Stevie Wonder my whole life and saw the 'Songs In The Key of Life’ show at Madison Square Gardens. I cried, I danced and I had massive smile on my face throughout the show. It’s a dream come true to be asked to join Stevie Wonder when he brings this amazing show to Hyde Park, and also to be on the stage with Pharrell, who is a huge inspiration to me, and KING, who are my friends and musical collaborators.”
Also taking to the stage with their “nu-soul” sound is Los Angeles-based KING. The trio is composed of sisters Paris and Amber Strother and Anita Bias, whose whooshing synths, spiraling harmonies and detailed songwriting create a truly unique and jazzy sound – one that has been compared to the likes of Solange Knowles and Estelle.
Pharrell Williams, Corinne Bailey Rae and KING will all join Stevie Wonder to form an incredible line-up for the day of soul and R&B. The hot new additions to the line-up follow the announcement that Stevie Wonder will perform his masterpiece Songs In The Key of Life in its entirety, for a truly epic, must-see show from one of the most prolific artists of all time.
Hugely acclaimed in the US, Songs In The Key of LifeTour has run for 18 months, having been extended many times due to phenomenal public demand. Coming to the UK for the very first time, there is extra reason for celebration because 2016 is the album’s 40th Anniversary year.
On July 10th, Stevie Wonder will perform his masterpiece Songs In The Key of Life in its entirety, for a truly epic, must-see show from one of the most prolific artists of all time.
Hugely acclaimed in the US, Songs In The Key of LifeTour has run for 18 months, having been extended many times due to phenomenal public demand. Coming to the UK for the very first time, there is extra reason for celebration because 2016 is the album’s 40th Anniversary year.
Released in 1976 on the legendary label Motown Records, featuring the hits Sir Duke, Isn’t She Lovely and I Wish, it is cited as an influence on many of the world’s biggest stars, Elton John, Prince, Michael Jackson and Pharrell to name a few. It was crowned Grammy Album Of The Year in 1977 and is widely hailed as a true work of art.
It followed an unsurpassed trilogy of albums that graduated Wonder from teenage Motown prodigy to true artist – Talking Book, Innervisions and Fullfillingness' First Finale – all released in the first 4 years of the 1970s. Wonder spent 2 more years on 'Songs', producing a double album of enthralling music and cementing his position as a musical genius.
Together, the albums made the 25-time GRAMMY winner the only artist to have ever received Album Of The Year awards in three out of four consecutive years.
Praise for the album over the years has come from all quarters:
Elton John – "Let me put it this way: wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of Songs In The Key of Life. For me, it's the best album ever made and I'm always left in awe after I listen to it. When people in decades and centuries to come talk about the history of music, they will talk about Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder."
Barack Obama (on his musical heroes) – "If I had one, it would have to be Stevie Wonder. When I was just at that point where you start getting involved in music, Stevie Wonder had that run with Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Innervisions, and then Songs In The Key of Life. Those are as brilliant a set of five albums as we've ever seen."
Kanye West – "I’m not trying to compete with what’s out there now. I’m really trying to compete with Innervisions and Songs In The Key of Life. It sounds musically blasphemous to say something like that, but why not set that as your bar?"
Praise for Songs in the Key Of Life US tour:
Rolling Stone – “Fitting an album that attempted to capture the nuance of existence, the show is possibly 2014's greatest testament to the limitless potential of American music itself.”
Hollywood Reporter –“You just wanted it to go on forever, for it was yet another song in the key of Stevie Wonder’s magical life.”
Consequence Of Sound – “After three hours of playing, people were still hoping he’d do a second encore. You can tell it’s not 1976 by looking at him, but you’d never know if you were only listening. Some things get old, but Stevie Wonder barely ages.”
