MASSIVE ATTACK, GHOSTPOET, PATTI SMITH… and more: BST HYDE PARK, LONDON, 1st July 2016

Arriving at a festival early gives the opportunity to walk around the site to soak up the atmosphere and with the BST series of concerts there’s always something to see, most of the bars and eateries are presented to resemble a little village away from home and the main stage is made to look camouflaged within the trees themselves, whilst the area surrounding the Casa Bacardi stage is as if you’ve reached your holiday destination.

Musically first call was Balthazar over on one of the smaller stages, whilst they were a good opening act they weren’t necessarily anything over exciting just fairly normal indie-rock, albeit with nice harmonies and the addition of a violin here and there.

The carnival atmosphere however was in full affect over at the aforementioned Casa Bacardi as Kiko Bun soon had a bunch of up beat summertime vibes to get the crowd dancing despite the skies above threatening to open up, but as ever the festival goers remain resilient to the possibility of rain… that’s why we come prepared for all eventualities, but Kiko Bun didn’t care about that – he was clearly a man happy to be here whatever the weather.

Lyrically there wasn’t anything over complicated but you couldn’t help but move your feet to the combination of soulful reggae and salsa tunes such as singles “Where I’m From” and “Sticky Situation“, the more commercial side of reggae appealing to the wider audience making Kiko Bun an afternoon hit.

Then it was to the main stage for TV on the Radio, the bands request to let people at the back come into the “summer garden” (an overpriced area dedicated to premium ticket holders) fell on deaf ears and it did seem like the band were indeed playing to a segregated audience, albeit due to no fault of their own.

Even from a distance though the combination of Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone interacting with the crowd along with their stage presence made for a great performance, more than just another indie rock band TV on the Radio delve in and out of multiple genres.

Next was a dash back to the far stage and fellow American group in Warpaint, they cross over indie rock with a touch of grunge, Warpaint perform it in style, there’s no imagery as such other than they’re just four girls embracing the standard vocals/bass/guitar/drums combination with sweeping keyboards and nice vocals.

Even though I really enjoyed Warpaint they became a little bit samey after a while, maybe they were more suited to the club environment or maybe I was just getting itchy feet about missing the legend that was about to take to the main stage.

We arrived back in time to see Patti Smith, the punk poet opened with a passionate reading of the Allen Ginsberg poem “Footnote to Howl” before the rest of the band joined her for a rendition of the Patti Smith Band’s “Dancing Barefoot“.

She may still be sticking two fingers up at the establishment but does it whilst remaining the ultimate hippie and with the crowd embracing the peace and love her set most definitely lived up to expectations, Patti Smith has released a couple of great albums in recent years but pulled heavily from her 70’s back catalogue along with revisiting her cover of Prince‘s “When Doves Cry“.

The acoustic guitars were out quite a lot making a more relaxed set, but it was “Because the Night” that was met with the biggest reception followed by  the epic three part “Land” with it’s gradual build up which eventually blended into Patti Smith closing with the Van Morrision/Them classic in “Gloria“.

Back on the smaller stage Ghostpoet was to become one of the days highlights, I love the almost lazy slurred delivery of the vocals as Baro Ejimiwe (the man behind the name) has a natural voice fitting perfectly with the lo-fi electro, combined with a tight group of musicians and a female vocalist who herself would sound at home with the nights headliners.

It was soon apparent how much of a draw Mercury Award Nominated Ghostpoet had been, as there was no sign of the large crowd that had gathered dispersing in any hurry to make it to the other side of the field for the start of Massive Attack, but as Ghostpoet finished it was indeed time for the trip-hop pioneers.

Massive Attack came on with a mission, not only to play to an eager crowd and introduce an array of special guests, but to promote their distain at the countries exit from the EU “As sons of immigrants, we are both very disappointed with the situation” announced Robert Del Naja before numerous political messages adorned the big screen.

Visually this was spectacular, albeit slightly lost in daylight, several guests would join the band on stage including TV on The Radio‘s Tunde Adebimpe on “Pray for Rain” and Reggae legend Horace Andy was literally wheeled on for a great rendition of “Angel” before being sent back to hospital, following a recent illness and performing “Eurochild” for the first time since the 90’s was also rather fitting.

The performance was slightly disjointed with the revolving stage personal and the special guests of Young Fathers made for a weird set-within-a-set featuring both their own songs and those in which they’ve recorded with Massive Attack themselves, but all this going on ultimately made the occasion more special, as you didn’t know which direction the set would take next.

Likewise the much hyped return of Tricky joining the band onstage for the first time in twenty years was always going to receive a huge applause but the reconciliation only lasted for the one song “Take it There” from the bands “Ritual Spirit” album before Deborah Miller took to the microphone on “Safe from Harm“.

The obligatory encore fulfilled crowds expectations with an orchestral version of the hit single “Unfinished Symphony” complete with live strings ending a performance that had been ironically dedicated to Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, one in which left with the words “We are in this together” flashing in bold letters across the back drop.

So no matter your own personal opinion of the countries political divide no truer word has been spoken, we are indeed in this together no matter what, for we are one world/one love and what better way to spend the day than in a field listening to great music surrounded by like minded individuals.