Rolling Stones Hyde Park 2023: Hyde Park will be on fire by BST 2023 but didn’t start the fire – pun intended, of course! Summer is looming on the horizon and, with festival season once again upon us, it’s hard not to have festival fever once moreThere has always been a sense of expectation surrounding any Rolling Stones gig, but today’s event is particularly poignant. The Rolling Stones Hyde Park 2022 are performing in Hyde Park for the first time without Charlie Watts, partly because it was the band’s first live performance after Brian Jones passed away.
A Charlie-free Stones will not be discovered until a few more hours have passed. The Stones had already put on something that could be considered a festival in and of itself. Taking a look at what’s available will be a good place to start.
A band called Feet appears soon after we enter the venue via the south entrance on the ‘Birdcage Stage.’ A Chalk venue in Pool Valley hosted the band last month. A Coventry band, Feet consists of George Haverson on vocals, Callum Parker, Harry Southerton, Oli Shasha and Ben Firth.
Bands
A finely honed sense of humour goes along with melodic rock ‘n’ roll. Rather than just seeing us, Haverson reminds us to check out the other bands. Possibly in a decade or two. But they rock, and I’d love to see more of them.
The Dinner Party is on the ‘Main Stage’. At the tail end of June, the band played at The Prince Albert. Based in London, they play music with a vaguely dance influence. Abigaille is the vocalist, Rhys plays drums, Emily and Lizzie play guitars, Aurora plays keyboards, and Georgia plays bass.
Their posh frocks suggest they’re attending a 19th Century dinner party. It doesn’t grab me and seems somewhat inoffensive. This may be due to the huge stage. Similar bands would probably have a greater impact in a smaller dark venue. Obviously, I’ll have to seek them out at one of their own shows.
Shit Hot Band
Ingram is playing on another stage at the rear of the venue. With a shit-hot band, Christone plays blues guitar and sings. There is nothing less impressive or enjoyable than hearing this stuff again and again. Keyboard solo with Hammond organ sounds is a highlight.
Our next stop was Courtney Barnett on the ‘Main Stage’. We saw Courtney at Glastonbury a week before and her set is very similar. It’s even more disturbing that she’s wearing the same shirt!! In between times, she likely washed it. She is awesome as always. She performs well live. A tranche of tax regulations would sound absolutely riveting if set to music. On Saturday 12th November 2022, One Inch Badge will present Courtney at the Brighton Dome Concert Hall – purchase your tickets HERE.
Sam Fender performs on the ‘Main Stage’. I haven’t looked forward to this.
The only reason I’m here is to watch the Stones from a half decent spot. Sam Fender has quite the reputation for being a middle-of-the-road purveyor of muzak that I dislike. It’s about to be proven.
Brighton Centre Back in March
I was far more surprised by the Geordie troubadour’s guts than I anticipated. E Street Band and Bruce Springsteen elements. It seems heavier. Sam’s lyrics and onstage chat are both political. It’s like Frank Turner on earth. It’s a pleasant surprise. The Brighton & Hove News Music Team reviewed Sam’s performance at Brighton Centre back in March.
Show
It’s countdown time for The Rolling Stones’ show. Is it still possible for these old guys? Is Charlie going to be missed? While these questions (and more) are buzzing around our heads, the band takes to the stage with a moving tribute to Charlie Watts. It’s not too dissimilar from 1977’s ‘Love You Live’ album’s version of ‘Get Off Of My Cloud’. Then comes ’19th Nervous Breakdown’. To start a set, the Stones didn’t dig quite as deep into their catalog. I don’t even remember hearing them play these two songs before. Almost going back to the beginning may give them a feeling of rebirth. They’ve been playing the same oldies for seventeen years (although a new album is rumoured to be under way) so they might simply not want to play the same oldies.
Compared Charlie
It’s hard to avoid playing certain songs, such as ‘Tumbling Dice’. Mick Jagger gets emotional while dedicating the song to Charlie Watts. I think I haven’t heard them play ‘Out Of Time’ before, allowing us to listen to them in general and Steve Jordan in particular. Charlie would keep it simple. It’s not always possible to get what you want. As compared to Charlie, the coda seems faster. They’re all up to it!
‘Like A Rolling Stone’ is covered by the Stones. They’ve adopted it almost as a theme song for themselves, but I’d rather hear another of their own songs. In his introduction, Jagger says that the song was written by a Nobel laureate. He also humours us when he welcomes us to “the BST American Express super spreader event”.
Rolling Stones Likely Songs
Rolling Stones-like songs are prevalent in the (relatively) later part of the band’s catalogue. One of them is ‘You Got Me Rocking’. In comparison, it’s filler. However, ‘Honky Tonk Women’ follows, featuring Chuck Leavell on cowbell and appearing relatively early in the show. You must do this. ‘Honky Tonk Women’ wouldn’t work without a cowbell, would it?
In every Stones gig there’s a section called Keef Time. Keith serenades us while Mr Jagger rests his vocal cords. Ronnie Wood plays lap steel on ‘Happy’ from ‘Exile On Main Street’, which is from ‘Let It Bleed’. He’s in great form tonight, incidentally. Despite the fact that he has stopped colouring his hair, which now appears more white than grey, he plays and moves on stage like a much younger man.
Past Memories
The rolling stones Hyde Park briefly entered disco in 1978 with ‘Miss You. There is a guitar solo by Mick Jagger and a bass solo by Darryl Jones. Live, ‘Midnight Rambler’ stands out. Though the song is deeply unpleasant because it discusses rape and murder, it is nonetheless a great song that dates back to when ‘straight’ societies viewed the Stones as basically Satanic. Even though it’s about an unpleasant subject, the song is an absolute highlight.
‘Paint It Black’ (another oldie that is rarely played), ‘Start Me Up’, ‘Gimme Shelter’ (accompanied by Ukrainian flags), and ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ round out the set. There will soon be encores of ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ and ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ (but that will never happen).
Steve Jordan
There was no doubt about the Stones continuing without Charlie Watts after tonight’s gig as it was an emphatically good gig. Great job by Steve Jordan. The join is barely visible. Despite playing for more than two hours, the Stones still looked fresh. It seemed like they could have continued for another hour or so without the curfew in place at Hyde Park. Yes, they did well for old guys.
