Words – Karen Hetherington
Photo: Jennifer McCord / BST Hyde Park
Following the annual pilgrimage to Hyde Park last year, I did my usual wondering about which artists would feature in 2024. The iconic venue has presented so many greats over the years including The Stones, Clapton, The Who and The Eagles to name but a few. With some top acts announcing retirement and others touring infrequently in their twilight years, I could have been forgiven for thinking that the opportunity to see some classic rock bands was waning and sadly this appeared to be the case. As last year wore on and I kept my eye closely on the line up, British Summer Time had still failed to announce a rock band. It was nearing the end of February of this year when Kings of Leon were confirmed as a headliner with Stevie Nicks being announced shortly after. Delighted as I was for the opportunity to see one of my idols and the legend who is Stevie again, the delay in announcing headliners and the calibre across the board, demonstrates in my opinion, difficulties in procuring artists worthy of headlining this venue.
I arrived in Hyde Park on Friday past and pitched a spot in good time to see Brandi Carlile. I must confess to having no previous knowledge of this artist and had never heard of her prior to seeing her name billed under that of Stevie Nicks. She opened with the fantastic ‘Broken Horses’ and I was immediately blown away by her voice, her musical brilliance and her sunny, enthusiastic stage presence. Addressing the audience several times she seemed more than a little overwhelmed by the masses she was playing before stating that it was her largest gig to date. Nearing the end of an amazing set, her penultimate song was ‘Woodstock’, written by Joni Mitchell and made arguably more famous by Matthews Southern Comfort, it is a life long favourite of mine and I think Brandi’s ‘rocked’ up version of this cult classic might just be the best yet…indeed I could have left the venue at this point content after this outstanding performance. I was more than a little bewildered as I gazed around the crowd that no one else seemed to have any recognition of the song, nevertheless, as Brandi concluded her set with the Queen cover ‘We are the Champions’ I think she could have quite rightly congratulated herself on winning, a few thousand new fans.
After being forced to cancel shows in Glasgow and Manchester due to a leg injury, I’ll admit that despite press assurances I wasn’t entirely convinced that Stevie was going to perform at BST until just a few hours beforehand. It was reported that 76 year old Stevie had minor surgery, subsequently requiring rest, and lets face it, these things don’t always go to plan. The last time I saw Stevie Nicks was at British Summer Time in 2017 along with the late Tom Petty and when Tom’s ‘Runnin down a Dream’ rang out I was confident that her arrival on stage was imminent.
Commencing what was to be a highly charged, poignant set with ‘Outside the Rain’, melding into Fleetwood Mac classic ‘Dreams’ Stevie appeared to be struggling more emotionally than physically, relating to the audience that the last time she played Hyde Park was with Tom Petty and that it was to be the last time she ever saw him…
Showing off the original shawl from ‘Belladonna’, the set was peppered with outfit changes and anecdotes which were graciously received by the captivated crowd even though Stevie admitted that she could get carried away with her stories. Her fantastic rendition of ‘Freefallin” was played amidst a back drop of photographs documenting Tom Petty through the years, it was a nice touch and exceptionally well received although, in my opinion the absolute pinnacle of Friday’s show was the mind blowing, elongated version of ‘Gold Dust Woman’.
Perhaps one of the the most easily recognisable intros ever, ‘Edge of Seventeen’ featured a heavily extended, fantastic musical prelude which lead the audience to several false starts, for the purposes of singing along. The 15 track set featured three encores and there was much cheering and squealing as Harry Styles joined Stevie on stage for ‘Stop Draggin’ my Heart Around’. Unsure what, of substance had occurred I had to be brought up to speed. Harry Styles, until around midday on Friday had completely escaped my radar and I considered what a bizarre occurrence it was that he presented on stage with Stevie Nicks as if he had been conjured up…
Exiting Hyde Park each year is a hugely reflective time for me. Observing the ‘dress code’ of the day to be women attired in Stevie Nicks style with men adorning Stevie T Shirts, it’s clearly testament to her iconic status as the woman every woman wants to be and who every man wants to be with.
SETLIST
[intro]Runnin’ Down a Dream (Tom Petty song)
Outside the Rain
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac song)
If Anyone Falls
Gypsy (Fleetwood Mac song)
For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield cover)
Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover)
Wild Heart
Bella Donna
Stand Back
Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac song)
Leather and Lace (with Steve Real)
Edge of Seventeen
Encore:
Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac song)
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (with Harry Styles)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac song) (with Harry Styles)
[outro] Got a Hold on Me (Christine McVie song)
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