FESTIVAL GUIDE: British Summer Time

Name: British Summer Time

Where: Hyde Park, London

When: 18th – 21st and 26th – 27th June

Headliners: The Strokes, Blur, Kylie, The Who and Taylor Swift.

Also Featuring: Beck and Future Islands (The Strokes), Metronomy and The Horrors (Blur), Chic feat. Nile Rodgers and Grace Jones (Kylie), Paul Weller and Kaiser Chiefs (The Who) and Ellie Goulding and John Newman (Taylor Swift).

A Brief History: Now in its third year, this inner city series of shows has already built a strong reputation for monumental headliners, hosting The Rolling Stones a week after their Glastonbury date in 2013, and a Libertines gig last year so wild that the band had to stop playing to calm their crowd down. Each headliner is supported by acts of a similar genre across a handful of stages. And not a long drop in sight.

How To Get There: It’s in Hyde Park! Boris bike it there if the sun’s shining – it’s probably not best for the way back though.

Gigslutz Top Tip: Although the main stage is stacked with top acts take a walk around in between them – there’s all sorts of entertainment happening around the park. And ‘The Universal’ probably sounds better a little further back, with more room to throw your arms in the air, anyway.

Memorable Moments: Not to repeat ourselves but The Libertines date last year, which saw fans climbing the speaker rigs, causing Carl Barat to tell them off (it’s hard to believe that there was a moment before tickets went on sale when they wondered if they could sell enough) and The Rolling Stones in 2013. They last played in 1969, just two days after Brian Jones’ death.

What We Said Last Year: We caught Arcade Fire and The Libertines, and bloody loved both.

Did You Know? Blur’s show marks their fourth time playing Hyde Park in six years, following two reunion dates in 2009 and headlining an Olympics closing ceremony in 2012.

How To Get Tickets: You’re too late for Swifty, she sold out first. Get the others here though, or go for the offer on two days (valid for The Strokes, Blur and The Who) for £99. Bargain.

The Playlist:

Dan Bull

@danbull7609

Dan Bull

Dan Bull

Reviews Editor
London. Likes: Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, Prince Charles Cinema, Duran Duran Dislikes: Soreen, All-hits setlists, "I liked them before everyone else..."