Mumford and Sons Hyde Park Review
For the second weekend in a row we headed to arguably the most famous of the eight Royal Parks in London as this time it was Mumford & Sons on headline duties. Having attended five of the concerts last summer (Sabrina Carpenter twice, Noah Kahan and both Zach Bryan shows) and still reminiscing about the historic day last Saturday which saw Garth Brooks first UK show in three decades to the largest ever crowd to attend a day in the history of the event, we’re pretty dialled now in with getting to the event, the site layout in terms of where things are and a rough idea of timings.
The fact that the site doesn’t change year on year is a good reflection on how well that it works for live events and the facilities in terms of food, bars, toilets and position of stages have been nailed on. The one slight change this year which we did like and didn’t notice last weekend was that the Birdcage Stage which is the third performance space had rotated ninety degrees so now faced the side of the Great Oak Stage rather than towards the back of the arena space. This is one of those tricks your mind plays on you as with it being more open on both sides, even though it is in exactly the same place, the stage feels bigger but it also helped to attract larger crowds as we saw when we went to check out Bec O’Malley who deserved had a massive audience which went a long way back.
I’ve seen Bec play a couple of times before and we know each other through mutual friends and the real testament to the lad from Manchester is despite having a minimal amount of music currently available to stream or download, which he made no secret of when he was on stage but people stayed for his whole set and continued to grow even before he did his Ella Langley cover. In the country space on this side of the Atlantic we have a couple of duos that are doing incredibly well and a lot of real talent amongst the female artists but I have felt for a long time that we need someone to do it for us blokes and I think he gained a lot of new fans in Hyde Park where he can hopefully be the male artist that can breakout and breakthrough because he is easily the most exciting in terms of vocals, lyrics and stage presence.
However, once again it was the second stage at the back of the park which was a big focus of attention. After stunning sets from Mae Estes and Jackson Dean on the Rainbow Stage last Saturday, it was the turn of a girl from Illinois that is really becoming one of Nashville and the rest of world’s most talked about new artists. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last three months you will have had a song called “Boston” stuck in your head and during the first ever British performance by STELLA LEFTY, her humongous audience knew every single word.
Becky had seen her play last month during CMA Fest and could vouch for how the twenty three year old had virtually shut down lower Broadway where during her thirty minute set in Hyde Park, it was clear to see why. The two of us got to spend some time with Stella before her set (this is a really cool interview that you will be able to read in the coming days) and her fun personality on stage is incredibly genuine. She moves around a lot and spins around as she dances across the stage where she has one of the strongest major label debut EP’s that we have heard in a long time! Whilst “Boston” which is currently sitting in the top twenty of the Official UK Singles Chart would close the set, she delivered the equally infectious “Thinking ‘bout You” to open things up along with the rest of the tracks from “Is This Heaven?”
“Good At Leaving” which came out on Friday to complete the extended version of the project was performed live for the first time since being released along with the super catchy “Slow Dancin’” and another big crowd singalong of “I Know I Know” where I can confirm that we consumed a lot more than one glass of wine, one sip of gin and one shot of tequila over the weekend. It’s always very intriguing to see a new artist live for the first time who have a number of songs that have gone heavily viral but her charisma on stage is so strong and it is very evident how natural she is as a performer which she clearly loves doing.
She is very fun to watch, has a stack of songs that are well written which are also perfect for playing live and she has a very dedicated fan base which continues to grow, so the hype around her is more than justified and I doubt people heading to her show at Hoxton Hall on Monday will ever get to see a show that intimate again! She would also appear as one of three guests with Mumford & Sons later in the even to join them for “Badlands” and it won’t be long until she is playing stages of that magnitude over here in her own right.
On the Great Oak Stage, we quickly became fans of The War on Drugs before Marcus and the guys had one of the most visually impressive backdrops I have seen anywhere where Hozier would also join them along with another previous BST headliner Shania Twain coming on stage for two songs straight after being at Wembley Stadium to open for Harry Styles earlier in the day. The customary fireworks display at the end of the show closed out the fourth day of the festival and sadly our trips to party in Hyde Park for the summer as fans are already talking about if we will get another “Country Day” in 2027 where a lot of people are keeping their fingers crossed that the organisers are considering “Choosin’ Texas” and bringing back another festival alumni.
The festival is so local to us, it’s always an incredible day out, it’s so well organised and we are incredibly looked after by the team at The Outside Organisation so every trip is always a highlight of the year where this summer we got to experience two unforgettable days in the glorious London sunshine.
American Express presents BST Hyde Park concludes next weekend with headline performances from Pitbull (July 10th) and Lewis Capaldi (July 11th & 12th) to complete this year’s programme. Full festival details and any last remaining tickets for shows which are not sold out are available on their WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that is happening across the festival on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
The fact that the site doesn’t change year on year is a good reflection on how well that it works for live events and the facilities in terms of food, bars, toilets and position of stages have been nailed on. The one slight change this year which we did like and didn’t notice last weekend was that the Birdcage Stage which is the third performance space had rotated ninety degrees so now faced the side of the Great Oak Stage rather than towards the back of the arena space. This is one of those tricks your mind plays on you as with it being more open on both sides, even though it is in exactly the same place, the stage feels bigger but it also helped to attract larger crowds as we saw when we went to check out Bec O’Malley who deserved had a massive audience which went a long way back.
I’ve seen Bec play a couple of times before and we know each other through mutual friends and the real testament to the lad from Manchester is despite having a minimal amount of music currently available to stream or download, which he made no secret of when he was on stage but people stayed for his whole set and continued to grow even before he did his Ella Langley cover. In the country space on this side of the Atlantic we have a couple of duos that are doing incredibly well and a lot of real talent amongst the female artists but I have felt for a long time that we need someone to do it for us blokes and I think he gained a lot of new fans in Hyde Park where he can hopefully be the male artist that can breakout and breakthrough because he is easily the most exciting in terms of vocals, lyrics and stage presence.
However, once again it was the second stage at the back of the park which was a big focus of attention. After stunning sets from Mae Estes and Jackson Dean on the Rainbow Stage last Saturday, it was the turn of a girl from Illinois that is really becoming one of Nashville and the rest of world’s most talked about new artists. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last three months you will have had a song called “Boston” stuck in your head and during the first ever British performance by STELLA LEFTY, her humongous audience knew every single word.
Becky had seen her play last month during CMA Fest and could vouch for how the twenty three year old had virtually shut down lower Broadway where during her thirty minute set in Hyde Park, it was clear to see why. The two of us got to spend some time with Stella before her set (this is a really cool interview that you will be able to read in the coming days) and her fun personality on stage is incredibly genuine. She moves around a lot and spins around as she dances across the stage where she has one of the strongest major label debut EP’s that we have heard in a long time! Whilst “Boston” which is currently sitting in the top twenty of the Official UK Singles Chart would close the set, she delivered the equally infectious “Thinking ‘bout You” to open things up along with the rest of the tracks from “Is This Heaven?”
“Good At Leaving” which came out on Friday to complete the extended version of the project was performed live for the first time since being released along with the super catchy “Slow Dancin’” and another big crowd singalong of “I Know I Know” where I can confirm that we consumed a lot more than one glass of wine, one sip of gin and one shot of tequila over the weekend. It’s always very intriguing to see a new artist live for the first time who have a number of songs that have gone heavily viral but her charisma on stage is so strong and it is very evident how natural she is as a performer which she clearly loves doing.
She is very fun to watch, has a stack of songs that are well written which are also perfect for playing live and she has a very dedicated fan base which continues to grow, so the hype around her is more than justified and I doubt people heading to her show at Hoxton Hall on Monday will ever get to see a show that intimate again! She would also appear as one of three guests with Mumford & Sons later in the even to join them for “Badlands” and it won’t be long until she is playing stages of that magnitude over here in her own right.
On the Great Oak Stage, we quickly became fans of The War on Drugs before Marcus and the guys had one of the most visually impressive backdrops I have seen anywhere where Hozier would also join them along with another previous BST headliner Shania Twain coming on stage for two songs straight after being at Wembley Stadium to open for Harry Styles earlier in the day. The customary fireworks display at the end of the show closed out the fourth day of the festival and sadly our trips to party in Hyde Park for the summer as fans are already talking about if we will get another “Country Day” in 2027 where a lot of people are keeping their fingers crossed that the organisers are considering “Choosin’ Texas” and bringing back another festival alumni.
The festival is so local to us, it’s always an incredible day out, it’s so well organised and we are incredibly looked after by the team at The Outside Organisation so every trip is always a highlight of the year where this summer we got to experience two unforgettable days in the glorious London sunshine.
American Express presents BST Hyde Park concludes next weekend with headline performances from Pitbull (July 10th) and Lewis Capaldi (July 11th & 12th) to complete this year’s programme. Full festival details and any last remaining tickets for shows which are not sold out are available on their WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that is happening across the festival on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.