NEWS
EVENTS
We’ve been making the most of British Summer Time
As we all know, British summer time is not known for its sweltering sun and this summer has been even more short of the golden sunlight we so crave. That doesn’t mean we can’t frolic in meadows in the rain, as this year’s British Summer Time festival proved.
We hit up the British Summer Time day festival headlined by Florence and the Machine on Saturday 2 July to check out the vibe – we were too busy to attend much more of the festival, which runs in a series of non-camping day festivals in Hyde Park from 1 July to 10 July.
Other headliners included the legendary Carole King and Stevie Wonder and pioneers Massive Attack. Although Florence isn’t quite on the level of these generational greats, she knows how to headline a festival, and it’s quite possible she’ll become the kind of classic act she’s up against here.
The festival site is wide open, avoiding overcrowding and the main stage, the Great Oak Stage, is a behemoth of a setup to rival the main stages of Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds. There’s a giant oak on either side of the stage, and the sound was impressively immersive for such a huge crowd.
Florence gave her all at the end of the night, giving her signature shoeless waltz across the stage in a floaty green dress and asking the crowd to get loved ones on their shoulders in ‘Raise it Up’. The novelty came at the end of her set, when she joined a team of contemporary dancers in a choreographed interpretive dance routine.
The fireworks of Florence’s set were nicely offset earlier in the day by the chilled dancefloor created by Jamie xx, which got wilder as it got wetter. Cat Power’s voice is still heartbreaking, especially when considered along with her simple and humble artist persona – she’s no less impressive than Florence in just a T shirt and jeans.
One of our favourite moments was Blood Orange bringing Kindness onto the stage – the two are a musical match made in heaven, both stylish explorers of the hinterlands between indie and electronica. Kendrick Lamar was the only hip hop act on the lineup, but his energy was raw and irresistible, even to a mainly indie crowd.
Conclusion: Despite Barclay loudly proclaiming their sponsorship of the festival all across the site in a series of corporate adverts/eyesores, and despite the somewhat tame crowd inherent to most day festivals, the event is a champion of British legends and soon-to-be British legends – worth anyone’s time.
