Morgan Wallen at Hyde Park
The BST festival was born the on 5th July 2013 with Bon Jovi headlining the very first night of British Summer Time in Hyde Park, that his since seen headliners that when listed reads as the complete musical history of the late twentieth and early twenty first century along with the Hall of Fame for virtually every musical genre including: The Rolling Stones, Blur, Kylie Minogue, The Who, Carole King, Phil Collins, Green Day, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Eric Clapton, Michael Buble, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Elton John, Adele, Eagles, Pink, Guns N’ Roses, Lana Del Rey and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.
Due to the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, the event did not take place in 2020 or 2021 meaning this years event taking place across the last weekend in June and the first two weekends of July, would be the tenth running of the festival. To celebrate the decade of performances Kings of Leon, Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue return to headline the festival for a second time along with South Korean boy band Stray Kids, legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, multi Grammy winning R&B star Sza and twice inducted Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Stevie Nicks plus not one but TWO of the biggest names in the world of country music pulling top billing across the nine days in one of central London’s Royal Parks.
The biggest selling female country artist of all time and Canadian global icon Shania Twain will headline on July 7th and coinciding with American Independence Day on July 4th, record breaking superstar Morgan Wallen returned for his second ever show in London on what was one of the most anticipated days for country music fans on this side of the Atlantic which sure lived up to the hype. Country and Americana music have long since had a bed at the festival with homegrown artists such as Ward Thomas, Catherine McGrath, Jade Bird and The Wandering Hearts previously representing the best of British whilst Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves, Alison Krauss and The Chicks form part of a strong US contingent to have appeared over past festivals.
The difference this year is that with two global superstars as showpieces to the event, country music has upgraded it’s bed at the festival to now having firmly found a home in Hyde Park.
Due to the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, the event did not take place in 2020 or 2021 meaning this years event taking place across the last weekend in June and the first two weekends of July, would be the tenth running of the festival. To celebrate the decade of performances Kings of Leon, Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue return to headline the festival for a second time along with South Korean boy band Stray Kids, legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, multi Grammy winning R&B star Sza and twice inducted Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Stevie Nicks plus not one but TWO of the biggest names in the world of country music pulling top billing across the nine days in one of central London’s Royal Parks.
The biggest selling female country artist of all time and Canadian global icon Shania Twain will headline on July 7th and coinciding with American Independence Day on July 4th, record breaking superstar Morgan Wallen returned for his second ever show in London on what was one of the most anticipated days for country music fans on this side of the Atlantic which sure lived up to the hype. Country and Americana music have long since had a bed at the festival with homegrown artists such as Ward Thomas, Catherine McGrath, Jade Bird and The Wandering Hearts previously representing the best of British whilst Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves, Alison Krauss and The Chicks form part of a strong US contingent to have appeared over past festivals.
The difference this year is that with two global superstars as showpieces to the event, country music has upgraded it’s bed at the festival to now having firmly found a home in Hyde Park.
Credit Kendall Vowels
Our musical day started at The Rainbow Stage with the blissful sound of Zandi Holup and her beautiful painted Martin guitar, where unlike our first encounter in Berlin with the songwriter from Pennsylvania, she was accompanied by both fiddle and electric guitar. Opening with her stunning folk ballad ‘Gas Station Flowers’ Holup has continued with looking to make herself known to the UK audience early in her musical journey having also appeared at this year’s Country to Country and Black Deer Festival’s as she followed them up by performing a wonderful showcase of of her deep and powerful songwriting in the London sunshine.
Heading over to The Great Oak Stage, we were greeted by a wall of much bigger sound as we traded the calm of the woods for the heavy rocking first ever UK appearance by Ella Langley and WOW was this worth waiting for! Giving absolutely everything she possibly could as she switched between playing guitar and strutting her stuff dressed in all black as she utilised every single inch of the stage. The Alabama native was originally planning to visit the UK for the first time last year but the opportunity to make her introduction on the biggest stage possible really allowed her to put down a serious mark in this market and set the tone to ensure that the boys that would follow her would absolutely need to bring their A Game!
From meeting Alexandra Kay for the first time earlier this year, I don’t think there has been an artist I have ever wanted to root for more. The only independent artist across the festivals two major stages delivered one of the most fun and uptempo displays of pop country to an absolutely huge crowd on The Rainbow Stage. Following Ella Langley’s rocking set it was almost as if the entire crowd descended on the back corner of the festival site and they were treated to thirty five minutes of pure intensity through her own songs and a great nineties country medley to get her entire audience singing along to every word. Backed by a small independent team, the streaming numbers she has achieved are not just phenomenal but absolutely justified and supported by the fact that Jelly Roll decided to take her out, she showcases the true value of hard work, dedication and sticking to your gut in the music business so I was absolutely thrilled to see her get the crowd of this size for a truly professional performance that was sadly cut short due to timings not being able to overrun.
The spacing and theming of the site is one of the, if not the best of arena areas that you will find at any UK festival. All of the bars (which there are plenty of) are well staffed, are standard festival prices but considerably more choice and what is most impressive is their theming. There are plenty of toilets in three of the corners of the site, there is a good and varied choice of food outlets along with a highly efficient team maintaining the site to remove litter, so effectively ticks all the boxes in the ultra positive column as a marker for what other festivals should strive for.
Heading over to The Great Oak Stage, we were greeted by a wall of much bigger sound as we traded the calm of the woods for the heavy rocking first ever UK appearance by Ella Langley and WOW was this worth waiting for! Giving absolutely everything she possibly could as she switched between playing guitar and strutting her stuff dressed in all black as she utilised every single inch of the stage. The Alabama native was originally planning to visit the UK for the first time last year but the opportunity to make her introduction on the biggest stage possible really allowed her to put down a serious mark in this market and set the tone to ensure that the boys that would follow her would absolutely need to bring their A Game!
From meeting Alexandra Kay for the first time earlier this year, I don’t think there has been an artist I have ever wanted to root for more. The only independent artist across the festivals two major stages delivered one of the most fun and uptempo displays of pop country to an absolutely huge crowd on The Rainbow Stage. Following Ella Langley’s rocking set it was almost as if the entire crowd descended on the back corner of the festival site and they were treated to thirty five minutes of pure intensity through her own songs and a great nineties country medley to get her entire audience singing along to every word. Backed by a small independent team, the streaming numbers she has achieved are not just phenomenal but absolutely justified and supported by the fact that Jelly Roll decided to take her out, she showcases the true value of hard work, dedication and sticking to your gut in the music business so I was absolutely thrilled to see her get the crowd of this size for a truly professional performance that was sadly cut short due to timings not being able to overrun.
The spacing and theming of the site is one of the, if not the best of arena areas that you will find at any UK festival. All of the bars (which there are plenty of) are well staffed, are standard festival prices but considerably more choice and what is most impressive is their theming. There are plenty of toilets in three of the corners of the site, there is a good and varied choice of food outlets along with a highly efficient team maintaining the site to remove litter, so effectively ticks all the boxes in the ultra positive column as a marker for what other festivals should strive for.
Credit Kendall Vowels
Earlier this year in Berlin she was the brightest star in the sky from the west, in London she was the hostess with the mostest and today Alana Springsteen returned to be crowned the undisputed Queen of Hyde Park and (unsurprisingly) the unquestioned highlight of the day! Strutting out as charismatic as ever to ‘twenty something’ the sun kissed vibes of Virginia Beach were flowing through central London for a set that oozed sass and class as she switched between guitar, keys and energetically engaging with the entire crowd. Likely, the biggest crowd that The Rainbow Stage will be hosting across the entire festival were treated to a set that categorically belonged on The Great Oak Stage as she played through the big hitters from her ‘TWENTY SOMETHING’ record and even treated the crowd to two brand new songs (‘Hold My Beer’ has BANGER and country radio smash written all over it) in the gorgeous English sunshine. The stunning piano ballad ‘amen’ is always an absolute highlight of seeing her live which showcases her prowess both vocally and as a songwriter but as we have written after every time that we have seen her live, she really is the complete package as a lyricist, vocalist and entertainer which really works her crowd whilst having a lot of fun on stage and bringing a real party atmosphere to close out the second stage.
A day prior to my first visit of the year to the festival, I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Riley Green at his label office in London and my biggest takeaway (beyond the fact that he gave the most firm handshake which I have ever received but what should have I expected from a former college football quarterback) was his humility and his gratitude for the fact that his music was able to take him to another continent which was so evident watching the joy as he performed on stage. Green also reintroduced Ella Langley to perform their duet ‘you look like you love me’ as one of the highlights of not just the set but the entire afternoon. Proper raw authentic country infused with southern rock that I’m sure that the late great Levon Helm who he referenced so fondly of during our interview would have really appreciated to get the crowd ready for the main event. The set was slick, it was clean, it was well paced and really showcased why he is emerging as one of the hottest properties on the US festival circuit and set the tone for the UK to become a regular destination for the Alabama native.
A day prior to my first visit of the year to the festival, I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Riley Green at his label office in London and my biggest takeaway (beyond the fact that he gave the most firm handshake which I have ever received but what should have I expected from a former college football quarterback) was his humility and his gratitude for the fact that his music was able to take him to another continent which was so evident watching the joy as he performed on stage. Green also reintroduced Ella Langley to perform their duet ‘you look like you love me’ as one of the highlights of not just the set but the entire afternoon. Proper raw authentic country infused with southern rock that I’m sure that the late great Levon Helm who he referenced so fondly of during our interview would have really appreciated to get the crowd ready for the main event. The set was slick, it was clean, it was well paced and really showcased why he is emerging as one of the hottest properties on the US festival circuit and set the tone for the UK to become a regular destination for the Alabama native.
Credit Kendall Vowels
Finally, came what the people came for and the first headline set from a country artist at BST (we could look at technicalities here with Taylor Swift’s 1989 Tour show in 2015 or the Vince Gill fronted Eagles headline performance two years ago potentially throwing spanners into the works) as Morgan Wallen entered the stage watched by back to back Super Bowl winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes at just before 8:30 to commence a truly mesmerising visual spectacle. The two hour show included an acoustic set performed on a B stage in the crowd at the back of the Gold Circle area with the live rendition of his brand new release ‘Lies Lies Lies’ being a truly memorable moment before a stunning version of ‘Sand In My Boots’ played solo on the piano to conclude this portion of the show.
Ernest would return to the stage following his own rousing set earlier in the day to join Wallen on ‘Cowgirls’ to start a parade of the most notable hits in Morgan’s back catalogue including his recent smash hit ‘I Had Some Help’ which has achieved commercial chart success and airplay here in the UK. Following ‘Whiskey Glasses’ a well deserved encore was due and it was great value as three songs preceded a few customary 4th of July fireworks to close out this incredible evening.
Wonderfully organised event as always and a great celebration for July 4th which we enjoyed so much we’re excited to keep coming back for at least another ten more years. Actually Sunday (July 7th) sounds like a plan so three words: “Let’s Go Girls!”
American Express presents BST Hyde Park 2024 continues with appearances from Robbie Williams (July 6th) Shania Twain (July 7th) Stevie Nicks (July 12th) Kylie Minogue (July 13th) and Stray Kids (July 14th) with full festival details and any last remaining tickets available on their WEBSITE and socially via INSTAGRAM TIKTOK FACEBOOK
Ernest would return to the stage following his own rousing set earlier in the day to join Wallen on ‘Cowgirls’ to start a parade of the most notable hits in Morgan’s back catalogue including his recent smash hit ‘I Had Some Help’ which has achieved commercial chart success and airplay here in the UK. Following ‘Whiskey Glasses’ a well deserved encore was due and it was great value as three songs preceded a few customary 4th of July fireworks to close out this incredible evening.
Wonderfully organised event as always and a great celebration for July 4th which we enjoyed so much we’re excited to keep coming back for at least another ten more years. Actually Sunday (July 7th) sounds like a plan so three words: “Let’s Go Girls!”
American Express presents BST Hyde Park 2024 continues with appearances from Robbie Williams (July 6th) Shania Twain (July 7th) Stevie Nicks (July 12th) Kylie Minogue (July 13th) and Stray Kids (July 14th) with full festival details and any last remaining tickets available on their WEBSITE and socially via INSTAGRAM TIKTOK FACEBOOK
Credit Dave Hogan