The Rolling Stones: SIXTY Tour 03/07/2022

Where: BST Hyde Park – London, England (UK)

Venue rating: 7/10 (Exciting when you first go in, almost like an amusement park – before you become “sardined” once the big acts come on)

Who I went with: Myself

Where I stayed: Holiday Inn London – Watford Junction (because of the Elton John concert the following night)

How I travelled there: Plane from Inverness to London Gatwick > Train from Gatwick to St. Pancras International > Train from Euston Station to Watford (to drop off my bag) > Train back to Euston Station > Tube to Green Park > Walked to Hyde Park

Beverage of choice: OJ and water until my cup broke/leaked

SETLIST:

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The Rolling Stones are probably the biggest rock band on the planet, so I knew I had to see them. They did two shows at Hyde Park this Summer (the first being June 25th) as part of their sixtieth anniversary tour and this fitted in well with the Elton John concert the following night in Watford (he did two homecoming shows, the first being July 3rd). I decided to find Watford and drop my bag off at the hotel there instead of worrying about finding a locker and collecting it again late at night etc. That will always be a last resort for me as I’m always worried I won’t get my bag back for whatever reason and lockers can be a pain to locate in the first place. There is a fast and slow train to Watford and I got to experience them both. I was so excited to see Wembley Arena from the train window. I hope to go there to see another massive musician someday.

I was sure the gates to BST Hyde Park opened at 2pm but I’ve been so disorganised with my trips lately, having so many events one after the other – I’ve been getting lazy when it comes to checking the smaller details. I don’t think I would have liked to stand at the barrier for hours anyway, similar to what I did for twenty one pilots. It was a hot/muggy day again and you couldn’t see the stage very clearly from that distance anyway, as far as I could make out. Unless you had a Gold Circle or VIP ticket, you were almost better off standing a bit further back from the General Admission barrier to get at least some kind of a view. I wandered around a bit, since I didn’t feel I could secure a very good spot. They put together a reasonable number of stalls but they got boring/repetitive fast. There was one ride and it was one of those carousel/swing things (I’ve never known their actual name) which had warnings plastered on it about not riding if you have a bad back (which I do, so I avoided it like the plague).

I got truffle flavoured fries, which were so weird. The flavour was so strong, I can almost taste them again now. I couldn’t figure out whether I was enjoying them or not. I didn’t buy any merch but might get something later from their website, as it would be nice to get a sixtieth anniversary t-shirt or anything with the tour name on it. I’m trying not to buy merch at every show, as the prices are usually very steep and it costs me a lot of money to even get to these places. It took me a while to decide where I wanted to stand. I thought about securing a spot by the side of the stage as it seemed to be the closest I could get to the band – but 2/3 of the screens were obscured by the giant tree at the side of the stage. As stunning as it was, it would block most of the action. I ended up choosing as central a location as I could, so I could at least see what was going on via the giant screens and get nice symmetrical photos of the stage. I think I made the best choice with what I had to work with and you can always move at these things if you happen to end up beside someone annoying like the girl who was unapologetically blowing smoke in my face. One girl near me sighed and said she wishes she was taller but the guy behind her who must have been 6ft 5 said he could barely see either, if that makes her feel better.

The Dinner Party was the first band I saw. I liked them but can’t remember much about their songs, except that they had one called ‘Godzilla’ which someone near me got incredibly excited about. I took the opportunity to work on my Duran Duran blog while I was listening, since I could hardly see anything. I was more excited to see Sam Fender (like most people there, I’m sure). I didn’t know any of his songs at this point and was looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about. I really liked him and made a special trip to HMV to buy his CDs afterwards. My favourite from this performance was ‘Get You Down’ – it’s the one that stuck in my head/memory the most post-concert. Now I’m recognising his songs everywhere I go, especially at work and on the car radio. It’s extremely difficult to pick a favourite, as it depends on my mood at the time of listening. A girl beside me jokingly asked her boyfriend to translate for everyone because he is from Newcastle, like SF. She said it’s funny how he loses so much of his accent when he sings but I still hear it. He made a joke at one point about the people in the front row having never set foot in an Aldi in their lives, in reference to one of his songs about shopping there. I can’t figure out which one it was. Someone came along later in the evening and was disappointed to find out he’d missed SF, saying he would have come earlier if he’d known he was performing.

Excitement and adrenaline were flowing through the park when The Rolling Stones made their appearance at 8:15pm, only about 5 minutes behind schedule. The screens changed colour to orange/red/yellow stripes to let us know they were about to come on and to set the mood! I am happy I can now say I’ve been to a Rolling Stones concert, even if they looked like ants on the stage and I had to stand on my tiptoes to see them. They were incredible, of course. I have no idea how they’ve managed to keep touring this long and still be so enthusiastic and energetic. They’ve been going for so long, even my granny knows who they are. That proves they are a big deal because the majority of my family are not musically minded at all. I’ve heard people online criticise their recent performances (I guess because of how long they’ve been touring for) but I thought they were excellent and very entertaining.

It started with a heart-warming tribute to Charlie Watts, their long-time drummer who sadly passed away last year, in August. Mick Jagger said they had been performing together for sixty years and they miss him so much. They dedicated this show to him and everybody cheered. They have a new drummer for this tour – Steve Jordan, according to my research. It must be incredibly difficult/stressful to replace CW as the drummer of TRS but he has worked with them before and has been a respected/established drummer for a long time. He did a brilliant job. We got to hear a couple of songs from Keith Richards too, in the middle of the setlist. A fan held up a sign which said “KEEF” on it, which he seemed to acknowledge. I didn’t know the two songs he performed but my dad has his solo albums, so I should check them out some time. I thought some of the crowd were booing him at first but it doesn’t make any sense why they would do that as I can’t find information on anything controversial he’s done recently. Maybe I was just delirious because of the heat.

MJ was strutting around the stage, like he has always done. I want to watch more live performances on YouTube because he was such a showman. It was hilarious when the pause/break between songs went on too long as he was pacing the stage and he admitted he couldn’t remember which song was supposed to be next (‘Out of Time’). He had to ask someone backstage a couple of times until he could catch what they were shouting at him. Someone behind me muttered it must be “COVID brain” because he had just recovered from it. None of us are safe. He talked about how it’s been a good time to visit London because of everything that has been going on lately including the Pride Parade and Adele’s concert at Hyde Park. He was very complimentary towards her but said he owns more sparkly dresses than she does! That got a big laugh in response. He said it’s the fifth time they have done a show at this location. The first time they ever performed at Hyde Park was a free concert and it’s estimated 250,000 – 500,000 people attended. He laughed and said the concerts after that were “…not free.”

Lots of people agreed on Twitter the highlight of the night was when they performed ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan. I didn’t even know the song was by him as I haven’t listened to a lot of his music yet but enjoyed their cover of it a lot. I’m not sure if they have covered this song before (with a title like that, surely they would have) but people loved it. MJ called BD “a genius of literature” and said he wrote the song for them before going into it, which was possibly a joke. I don’t know what their relationship is like. My dad is a Bob Dylan fan and whole-heartedly agrees he is a genius. I haven’t given BD much of a chance yet, as his singing voice puts me off to be honest. Sam Fender bragged he opened for him before, which I think was also at Hyde Park but I’m not completely sure.

When the first run of songs ended and they went offstage, people started chanting “woo-woo!” as their way of demanding ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, one of my favourites. It was funny when the calls got more frequent and increased in volume, sounding like thousands of drunk owls. They came back and performed it, as well as ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’! The songs flowed amazingly well in this setlist and it was great to hear a mix of popular and lesser-known tracks as well as some creative covers. Each number was spectacular and the band still sounded amazing to me. On the train back to Watford, a group of people sat beside me who had also come from the concert. One of them was humming the last song and breathed a sigh of relief when he sat down, stating it’s the first time he’s sat down in six hours. They were also discussing whether or not to see EJ in Watford the following night, as the concert is just around the corner from where they live. I was thinking they’d be lucky to still get tickets but didn’t say that out loud. Everyone’s reactions I saw were positive and tons of people were singing the songs on the way out. I was exhausted when I eventually broke free from the bottleneck of people but I had a great time before my body started to give up on me and hope I get the opportunity to see the band again.

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GALLERY:

People securing their spots

My potential side view

Happy crowd

The Dinner Party

Sam Fender

So far away

My spectacular view at one point…

I had to lift my arm so high in the air

Colourful

Dancing 

The iconic band logo

My attempt at getting the full band in one picture 

Bow at the end