HYDE PARK CALLING 2008
featuring
ERIC CLAPTON, SHERYL CROW and JOHN MAYER
EricClapton jams with Doyle Bramhall II and John Mayer during the encore
| Hyde Park's Hard Rock calling double-bill with Eric Clapton headlining Saturday night and The Police the Sunday, followed the celebration of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday Friday evening. Despite the fact too, that it was the weekend of Glastonbury 2008,with close on one hundred thousand fans, a huge crowd came out to see Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow and John Mayer deliver stunning performances, sharing the stage for Eric Clapton's encore. Sheryl Crow was in fine form and clearly enjoyed the fantastic reception, buoyed too by the warm weather the event was blessed with. I could tell the young girl behind me in the crowd was a huge fan - she screamed her head off. It was my first viewing of young American guitarist John Mayer. Whilst never having been a huge fan, I was truly impressed with his slick performance. He has a great voice too. But Eric Clapton's band stole the show. Playing a mixture of rock and blues, it was a rendition of "Cocaine" that brought the house down. This was the second "Slow-hand" concert I had attended, the first being in the 80's in Munich, Germany. Robert Randolph & The Family band set the tone for the mostly blues-based acts, opening their set with an instrumental version of Voodoo Chile. The first performance kicked into action just as I arrived around 14h30, whilst Eric Clapton's encore closed off events around 22h15, in time for me to catch the late train back to Royston. Considering the fairly considerable distance I was from the stage, I was able to capture some moments on camera. I was disappointed to have missed Scottish folk singer Eddi Reader at the second stage venue. |
