BST Hyde Park 2022
BST Hyde Park 2022 officially finished after three weekends of live concerts with Duran Duran, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Eagles, Adele and Pearl Jam.
Each year we always look forward to going to a concert at BST Hyde Park. We have seen Rod Stewart and Tom Petty with supporting acts ranging from Rumer, The Lumineers, and Stevie Nicks. After two years, we returned to BST with three weekends of live music at the one and only Hyde Park.
Rocking it with the Rolling Stones: Sixty Tour
The last time we saw the Rolling Stones was part of their ‘50 and Counting’ Tour in July 2013. We booked tickets thinking it would be the last night we’ll see the Rolling Stones in concert. But ten years later, if you can believe it, in their late 70s the Rolling Stones are still rocking it! Some hundred miles away, the famous Glastonbury music festival was also taking place. Mick Jagger joked that Glastonbury is for young aspiring musicians like themselves, Elton John, and Paul McCartney who was headlining at Glastonbury.
Leila’s former nanny came to babysit so we can enjoy the night out rocking out with the Rolling Stones. It was a great show with amazing energy. The Rolling Stones played all their classic hits from You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Honky Tonk Women, Paint it Black, and Gimme Shelter. They concluded the show with an Encore featuring Sympathy for the Devil and I Can’t Get No Satisfaction. What a fun and memorable night!
Adele Live at BST Hyde Park
It has been five long years since Adele played a live concert in the U.K. The last being her Adele Live 2017 tour at Wembley Stadium. I was disappointed not to get tickets for her highly anticipated show then. Fast forward five year later, we miraculously got tickets to see Adele Live at BST Hyde Park. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if this concert would go ahead. With a week to go before her concert, there was still no announcement of her supporting acts. Plus, Adele cancelled her ‘Weekend with Adele’ residency in Las Vegas at the 11th hour.
But Adele did not disappoint us at all. One week prior, she announced an all-female supporting acts including country star Kacey Musgrave and R&B singer Gabrielle. Three mom friends, all who have a four year old daughter, joined me for a ladies night out. Kenz was so kind to smoke an overnight brisket on the Big Green Egg for an alfresco lunch before the mums left to Hyde Park. Meanwhile, our 4 year-old daughters stayed with their dads for an extended play date at my house. It was a great day for all of us!
Adele was simply amazing; such formidable talent with a beautiful voice. Donning a beautiful black gown, Adele started her concert with Hello before belting out songs from her latest album including I Drink Wine and Easy on Me. Adele sang everything from her uptempo hits Water Under the Bridge and Rumour Has It. But most of the evening is all about sing-along love ballads including Someone Like You, Make you Feel My Love, and Skyfall. She is also funny on stage, bantering with her adoring fans and shooting off signed T-shirts to the audience. As the sun set, it started to drizzle just as she started to belt out Set Fire to the Rain which featured pyrotechnics shooting off the stage. So she literally set fire to the rain. An amazing evening with my circle of mom friends! And thank you sweet dads for taking care of the kiddos.
Pearl Jam: Best of 90s Rock
Pearl Jam was rescheduled from summer 2020 to summer 2022 if you can believe it. It was originally my birthday and Mother’s Day gift in 2020. But it was worth the wait. We are absolutely thrilled to see Pearl Jam as it is one of Kenz’ favourite bands. Hearing Pearl Jam live brings back so many feel-good nostalgic feelings growing up as teenagers in the 90s.
Opening for Pearl Jam on Saturday night was Welsh rock band Stereophonics on a beautiful summer day. Stereophonics played an energetic 75 minute set before Pearl Jam took centre stage before some 60,000 fans. The grunge 90s rock band from Seattle did not disappoint with their hits songs Wishlist, Black, and Dance of the Clairvoyants. The Encore set included none other than Alive, probably their most well-known song. Emotive and political, Eddie Vedder went on to comment how disappointed he was with the gun violence in the U.S.. He then dedicated River Cross to the people of Ukraine.
And where was my dear daughter Lady Yeya, you ask? Well, lucky her, Lady Yeya went on her first sleepover with her BFF! I know, a rare night (and morning) off! What a treat for us to enjoy a stress-free concert listening to one of our favourite rock 90s bands.
And so after three weekends of live music, that’s a swap for this year’s BST Hyde Park. Until next year!
