The journey to Hyde Park was made more complicated by TFL deciding to close one line and the nearest station. Anyway we arrived just as Tom Morello was ending his set, which was a little disappointing, and frankly with hindsight I could have missed Lady Antebullum without too much hardship.
Just before 6pm John Fogerty took the stage; now I remember seeing him as the lead vocalist of Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969 at the Albert Hall. On a Saturday evening with the rain abating for a while, Fogerty was the perfect warm up act. Much of the material was familiar to a large proportion of the audience, as he delivered a number of CCR's hit from the late 60s. At the end of his set he was joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen to duet on "Rocking all over the World".
By now the park was filled to around its 80,000 capacity, all eagerly awaiting Bruce. This was part of his "Wrecking Ball" tour, he had played the festival two years ago, and is so at home playing outdoor venues. However the last two years have brought a number of changes to the E Street Band, most significantly following the death of Clarence "Big Man" Clemons. Importantly Clarence who in the minds of most long term Springsteen fans was joined at the hip to Bruce (see Born to Run cover), has been "replaced" by his nephew Jake Clemons on saxophone. The E street band now numbers about 15 musicians including a brass section and a group of backing singers.
Bruce starts with "Thunder Road" played with only piano accompaniment from Professor Roy Bittan. He intersperses new tracks from "Wrecking Ball" with tracks from his back catalogue, which after close 40 years recording is vast.
A Spanish fan made a banner asking for an obscure track, he'd followed Bruce across Europe asking for it to be played, tonight Bruce makes his day.
It's the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie birth and Bruce invites Tom Morello back on stage to play "Jack of all Trades" and Ghost of Tom Joad, which to me seems the most apt song to celebrate Woody's contribution to American music.
As the concert enters its third hour the rain falls but it doesn't deter Bruce who launches into a run of his more popular songs, Born to Run, Born in the USA, Glory Days and Dancing in the Dark. It's encore time and he is joined by on stage by Paul McCartney. Now Bruce admits that he waited 50 years to play with the Beatle, and in truth my wife has waited as long to see Paul McCartney on stage. They played I saw her standing there and Twist and Shout, before someone pulls the plug.
Bruce is forced to leave the stage, without a goodbye. Clearly the band were not best pleased, and the next morning the decision to cut the power not only made the london media but echoed around the world, my mother in law in Australia was aware of it as it had featured on Australian news. We made our away from Hyde Park, not short changed, but disappointed. It had been an amazing set from Bruce, but the abrupt end, had naturally made most fans lose focus on just what a fine performance it had been.
Less than 24 hours later we were back at the Park. The Sunday bill showed the problem with festivals. We arrived by 5pm to hear Alison Krauss and Union Station, sadly many others were happier to talk, drink and generally ignore the band's set. Frankly I'd listen to Jerry Douglas any night I got the chance, but unfortunately the choice of material, there were a number of slow ballads, lost the crowds attention. Perhaps understandably there only became interested at the more up tempo bluegrass songs, such as Man of Constant Sorrow.
The bulk of the 50,000 were there to see Paul Simon. It's 25 years since he released the then controversial album Graceland. The use of black South African musicians gave them worldwide exposure, yes it was against the word of the UN boycott, but I doubt against its spirit. ThE UN boycott was designed to prevent established acts going to South Africa and playing to white only audiences during the apartheid era. Simon was doing the reverse and his intention was anything but an act designed to support apartheid.
Paul Simon has a wide back catalogue and he started by playing several familiar tracks before bringing onto stage the musicians, and singers who had helped him put together Graceland. Now sometimes a singer produces a song that raises the bar, Simonwent one step further and in Graceland produced an album of exceptional quality.25 years later, the tracks still sounded fresh and invigorating.
As an encore he came back and played solo the class Sound of Silence before inviting Jerry Douglas to accompany him on a rendition of "The Boxer". It was a night to remember, on a weekend of outstanding music from artists who have perfected their craft over decades.
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