Barclaycard PresentS British Summer Time (BST) 

Sunday 7th July 2019

Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom

 

So it’s the Sunday of the first BST concert weekends and a bill headlined by US super diva Barbra Streisand does lead to some evident headscratching by those assembling the roster of opening and supporting acts.  The inclusion of, say, Bryan Ferry and his Roxy Music hits would seem a tad incongruous…but Kris Kristofferson does seem a natural inclusion, especially given their pairing many years ago on one of the film versions of A Star Is Born. The acts’ approach to the shows really differs –Streisand chats on and on (but doesn’t acknowledge her musicians), Bryan Ferry says virtually nothing between numbers (but does credit his players), US super songsmith displays his tongue-in-cheek humour, Kristofferson is…Kristofferson. He uses the late Merle Haggard’s band.

It must be said that Barbra Streisand is a Palladium act, not an open air natural. Her song choices range from obvious big hits to a bizarre rendition of Silent Night!   The huge welcome afforded to one guest Lionel Richie is heartening, but the Broadway ballad of ‘Memories’ from the ‘The Way We Were’ cannot properly display his exuberant soul person.  The spot with Kris gave a chance to hear ‘A Star Is Born’ tune never performed live before. This was ‘Lost Inside Of You’. The vaudeville corn of ‘Second Hand Rose’ is a good inclusion for keen fans, as is ‘Guilty’.  It was when Streisand transitioned from the Barry Gibb penned ‘I Am A Woman In Love’ to ‘No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) that Streisand’s powerhouse vocals shone.

A suited and booted Ramin Karimloo is a guest for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Music Of The Night’ from The Phantom Of The Opera proving why he is so sought after in the world of musical theatre. Their voices blend well together on this number and Karimloo also treated the 65,000 strong crowd to a song from ‘Love Never Dies’ so that Barbra could have a costume change from her specially made hot pink Zandra Rhodes kaftan to a black silk outfit.

Wrapping up proceedings with the fan favourite ‘Rain On My Parade’ (thankfully the heavens didn’t open during the song) and the Judy Garland tune ‘The Man That Got Away’ Barbra Streisand accomplished what she set out to do; bring  an entertaining show of music and chat (perhaps a little too much chat this writer thinks) to the beautiful surroundings of Hyde Park for a 2019 European Exclusive performance.

Famous names in attendance for Barbra Streisand included The Beckhams, Rebel Wilson, Myleene Klass, Dermot O’Leary, Andrew Scott, Ronan & Storm Keating, Leigh Francis, Claudia Winkleman, Richard Curtis, Emma Freud, Kelly Hoppen, Kate Garraway, Jacob Anderson, and of course Richard E. Grant. Didn’t see any of these at Hollywood Vampires!

Her elongated soundcheck found her griping about everything and delayed the early entry paid for by some concertgoers. The stewards were booed but it wasn’t their fault. Barbra takes liberties with some song lyrics in a shot at Anglicising them.

She mentions that she didn’t attend Pride, because she knew they’d all be along to see her the next day!  Which is on the button. 

Suave Englishman Bryan Ferry takes the stage to run through his radio favourites. A star saxophonist shines. He puffs a harmonica on Wilbert Harrison’s Let’s Stick Together. He includes Virginia Plain, the first Roxy Music hit, along with Slave To Love, the lovely Dance Away’, Love Is The Drug, Avalon alongside songs by Bob Dylan and John Lennon.

Kris Kristofferson is a favourite of many. He opens with his 1970 classic, For The Good Times. Other highlights included That’s The Way Love Goes, Here Comes That Rainbow Again, and closing number, Please Don’t Tell Me How This Story Ends.  A natural for festivals, I would venture.

The Kingdom Choir were responsible for the musical interlude at the last big Royal Wedding with ‘Stand By Me’ and add little to the gospel sphere bar competence. Versions of Coldplay’s Fix You and Aretha Franklin’s Say A Little Prayer were all performed ably with the decent arrangements but not really my thing.

Richard Marx has the songs, an easy confidence, top class musicians and in all honesty a longer spot on a bigger stage would have been welcome.  We managed to interview Mr Marx, a separate article will cover this. The songs Marx performed included rocky opener Endless Summer Nights, the spellbinding Angelina and Now And Forever. “I went on Wikipedia to see which songs were hits in the UK for this set!” Marx admitted. The opening notes of Hazard generated a large cheer from The Barclaycard Stage with the stunning acoustic guitar before closing his eight song set with radio hit Right Here Waiting as the crowd swooned and grabbed their phones to capture the moment. Absolutely magical and the perfect addition to the day.

You can read our exclusive interview with Richard Marx here: http://bit.ly/2XyI7tX

 

Jamie Lawson appeared on the Barclaycard Stage earlier in the day for a solo acoustic set with three albums on Ed Sheeran’s record label. Wearing a white t-shirt, Lawson performed a mixture of material including as he himself admits ‘his hit’ I Wasn’t Expecting That’. With an easy on the ear vocal and fluid guitar skills he never disappoints in a live setting.

The day opened with Welsh singer-songwriter Hannah Grace who backed with a three-piece band performed tracks from her new EP ‘The Bed You Made’. Wearing a white top and red trousers, Grace was in her element as she sang the upbeat ‘Keep Your Love’ and the emotional ‘Break The Pattern’ which received its first live airing in Hyde Park. “I’ve never had a sign before and I’m really excited!” she commented whilst pointing to her name on the screen behind. People sat and listened attentively throughout and highlights included the foot-tapper ‘Oh River’ which is about living in the moment and her version of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ which was used a sync on a UK Bank television advert. A friendly person with a strong voice and well written songs.

You can read our exclusive interview with Hannah Grace here: http://bit.ly/2HBmLtc

 

Overall, for an event on such a scale BST was a lovely day out filled with A-Listers and rising stars, a much needed expanded choice of food and drink vendors with queues that weren’t has horrendous as they could have been (the same goes for the toilets actually), complimentary soft drinks and alcohol free beer were a welcome surprise as the sun beat down on the audience. My only real criticism would be that it took a long time to get into the main festival area whilst being in the priority queue so that although doors opened at 1pm, people were stopped from moving forward until about an hour later which did result in clapping and a bit of booing but things do happen outside of the standard programming especially at outdoor events.

 

Glenn Sargeant

(I would like to thank Emily B and Suzie F of The Outside Organisation and Mr Marx and Mrs Mark and Sam)

Feature Image Photo Credit: David Lim at Outside Organisation

Additional Photography Credits: Louise Morris, Luke Hannaford, Rory James and Tom Hancock.

Final tickets for Florence and The Machine and The National on Saturday 13th July 2019 at BST, Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom are available here: http://bit.ly/2QxVcSn