Afternoon:
8°c
John Aizlewood's rating
Rockers under the weather
By
John Aizlewood
25 Jun 2007
As the Glastonbury tribes headed home last night, Hyde Park Calling squelched to its own damp, muddy conclusion. It rained incessantly but unlike Glastonbury the headliners hardly set the pulse racing.
If any act sounds like rain it is Chris Cornell. For all his vocal strengths, a rip-roaring, cloud-banishing time is a concept from a far-off land of which he knows nothing. At one gruesome point, he brought his children on stage, presumably as a character-building exercise so they could understand how it felt for daddy to play to somebody's else's disinterested audience.
Click here to see our Gallery: of the Hyde Park Calling music festival
Then there was hoary old Aerosmith. Their task was simple: to pack their set with hits, avoid the wretched blues honking they fall prey to in lazier moments and send the bedraggled, dripping, shivering throng home to hot baths, wet outside, but warm inside.
They would have managed it had they not dipped into 2004's Honkin' on Bobo, their wheezy, bluesy career nadir, most disastrously when guitarist Joe Perry sang , as if to remind us why he isn't Aerosmith's singer.
Elsewhere though, the hits rang loud and true. Crazy and I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, grandstanding ballads of the type Aerosmith secretly excel at, set the soggy crowd swaying. Love in an Elevator was as joyously rude as ever.
Best was the encore when Run DMC's DMC swapped Walk This Way lines with proper singer Steven Tyler.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (6)
With a smile a mile wide, Chris Cornell came on stage on Sunday evening and wasn't going to let a little thing like the weather dampen his set! He even commented on it being like "home" as we all stood there in the pouring rain in anticipation of the greatest voice of rock.
After seeing Chris at the Astoria last month, I couldn't wait to do it all again and as always, he didn't disappoint. He roared through a great set which had me bouncing along and singing at the top of my voice whilst the rain poured down which all seemed to add to the atmosphere. He had no qualms on coming out from the stage in to the rain to join us all. He seemed to be in a great mood and really enjoying the experience. Very cute when he brought his kids onto the stage and Chris Jnr tried to steal the show during the opening verse of Hunger Strike.
He gave a killer performance of Jesus Christ Pose in the end which left me breathless - it was pure rock at its best and I loved every second of it. Just the "Bond Theme" man he ain't....this man is a god in my eyes and as he thanked the fans for supporting him over the years, I was thanking him back for the pure enjoyment he brings to every show.
An hour and a half of sheer pleasure.... my words to Chris... carry on...!
- Catherine Short, London, UK, 02/08/2007 10:12
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Personally I found Sunday at Hyde Park amazing.
The Answer were as sensational as they were when I saw them at the 02 Wireless Event at Leeds last year, the singer resembles Robert Plant even more than last time - which I thought would've been impossible.
Jet seemed slightly passive in their performance, and the audience reaction reflected that. Apart from their most famous songs, of course, which were pretty good.
Chris Cornell really impressed me with his vocal talent, I was so pleased he played some of the best Audioslave tracks, and opening with Soundgarden's Spoonman won me over completely. The kids onstage bit was a little unnecessary though, and just felt cheesy, regardless of how cute they were.
Aerosmith...wow. I've been waiting 10 years to see them live, they had a lot to live up to in my mind...and they didn't let me down. Having said, I had managed to wiggle my way to the front, so I was a little annoyed when Tyler spent most of his time on the catwalk where I couldn't see him.
Other than that, a perfect performance. Sweet Emotion, Dream On, Seasons of Wither, Stop Messin Round - I was SO glad they played these more classic bluesy songs and didn't completely fill their set up with the newer "ballads" that people seem to either love or hate. The odd ballads they did actually worked really well, and made for a more rounded set. DMC coming onstage was a nice touch, and everybody I spoke to left feeling wholly satisfied and wanting more.
Rock on!
- Emma Hobson, Carlisle, UK, 27/06/2007 00:39
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The whole show was awesome. A bombardment of rock and roll. The 60,000 plus crowd were excellent throughout the whole night.
- Kris, Newcastle, 26/06/2007 17:57
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Had never seen Aerosmith before and was really looking forward to a blistering, rocking set..oh dear!
Very disappointed to hear all the ballads and bluesy guitar riffs and the sound wasn't all that hot either...
Oh well next time eh?
- Andy Sexton, Hertford, 26/06/2007 11:12
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I thought the whole thing rocked and I was stood in the rain for 8 hours. Aside from Jet, all the bands that played really brought the audience into the experience. I thought Chris Cornell came across really well (bringing kiddies onstage aside). I thought he did a good mix of Soundgarden and Audioslave.
As for Aerosmith, they are a blues based band... Hence, believe it or not, the blues songs and the blues album (Which I kinda like; it's a quirky addition to their discography). And you didn't point out that they peppered their set with songs from the 70s like Seasons of Wither and Toe the Line, which I thought were received well. They only did three bad ballads which I have to say work better live than on CD. I despise I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing and even that came across well.
They are showmen and they're good at being showmen; I love the theatrics, the deck chairs on the ramp with the muddy, bluesy Hangman Jury, the garish costumes, all of which just add to that larger than life atmosphere they dragged across the Atlantic after 8 long(ish) years.
It's the first time I've ever seen Aerosmith and I was 12 the last time they were in the UK; even I felt a weird sense of nostalgia when Tyler screamed Dream On and the hair on the back of my neck stood up when Tom Hamilton launched into Sweet Emotion. Aside from one or two moments, they proved that they are capable of getting a crowd going despite almost being able to claim senior bus passes.
I likes 'em!
- Nic, London, UK, 26/06/2007 09:33
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This concert has to have been one of the worst events I have ever attended, aside from the unpredictable British weather the food and toilet situation was diabolical. Being a veteran of outdoor gigs I knew what to expect but this took the biscuit, queues for the toilet that lasted a minimum of 90 minutes every time (couldn't even use a bush as they'd fenced off strategically to stop people using these in an emergency), only 9 food vendors there to cater for 40,000 people resulting in a 45 minute queue for a burger! I could go on. We ended up walking out before Aerosmith came on as we couldn't face queueing for 2 hours missing Aerosmith just so we could pee.
The only positive to come out of this whole event was the helpful and friendly nature of the security staff who helped my 6-month pregnant wife to jump the queue for the toilets, which anyone who's been pregnant or whose partner has been pregnant can sympathise with.
Having saw The Who at Hyde Park Calling last year which was an excellant event I had very high Hopes for this year but will definitely not be attending Hyde Park Calling next year.
- Lee Bryant, Hemel Hempstead, 25/06/2007 15:12
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