Annual music festival
The 2009 Hard Rock Calling Festival
Calling Festival
(formerly
Hyde Park Calling
and
Hard Rock Calling
) was an annual
music festival
, formerly held in
Hyde Park, London
, from 2006 until 2012, and from 2013 in
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
. In September 2013, Hard Rock International announced that they would no longer be sponsoring the festival; however, the event returned in 2014 and 2015 under the name Calling Festival at the
Clapham Common
.
[1]
The music played is primarily
rock music
, and various performers, including
The Killers
,
Paul McCartney
,
Eric Clapton
,
The Who
,
Bon Jovi
,
Roger Waters
(with
Nick Mason
),
The Police
,
Aerosmith
,
Neil Young
and
Bruce Springsteen
have played at the event. The festival was organised by
Hard Rock Cafe
and
Live Nation
.
Hyde Park Calling 2006
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]
The inaugural festival had two stages and was headlined by
Roger Waters
(performing in its entirety the
Pink Floyd
album
The Dark Side of the Moon
as part of his set) and his band (featuring Pink Floyd drummer
Nick Mason
) on the Saturday and
The Who
on the Sunday. Gates opened at 14:00, and the show ended at 22:15 on both evenings.
[2]
The Who
's Sunday headline performance was released as part of their
Encore Series 2006
of CDs & DVDs. British TV Show
Top Gear
filmed a brief segment of The Who’s concert as part of a Van review between the three hosts.
The festival was a peaceful one, being inside the city the event required attendees to rely on external accommodation - unlike more popular festivals such as
Download Festival
or
Reading and Leeds Festival
, which require camping on site for most people.
Despite the veteran status of the headline acts, most other bands were younger and with a more 'contemporary' audience, providing a contrast in musical styles. Since this festival, Razorlight particularly has acquired much fame and in under a year has gone from second slot in a smaller inaugural event like Hyde Park Calling to headlining the long-running and respected Reading/Leeds Festival. The festival mainstage proved to be unusually British, with the British Isles being represented by seven English bands and two Scottish, with only one American and one New Zealand band from abroad. However of the ten second stage bands, three were from Canada and two from the USA.
(
Main Stage)
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Second Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Hyde Park Calling 2007
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After Hyde Park Calling's success, a Hyde Park Calling 2007 quickly entered planning stages. It was announced that the event would take place during the weekend of 23?24 June 2007. It was
Aerosmith
's first concert in the
United Kingdom
for eight years and featured
Peter Gabriel
and the recently reformed
Crowded House
as a joint-headliner for the first day. Other draws to this year's event were the addition of a new third stage. Only one band to have played at the previous Hyde Park Calling, Rose Hill Drive, played again in 2007. With six bands per stage, instead of five, and an extra stage, the expansion of the festival only a year after its inception was dramatic.
One of the many incarnations of the
Buena Vista Social Club
featured. Hyde Park Calling 2007's version of the band includes
Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal
(trumpet),
Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez
(double bass),
Manuel Galban
(guitar) and
Jesus "Aguaje" Ramos
(
trumpet
). Unlike the previous years' mostly British mainstage, of the nine bands playing, three were American, one from New Zealand and one from Australia.
Sunday became an "Aerosmith Family" event. Aerosmith headlined the mainstage, with it opened by The Micki Free Electric Blues then Arckid - a band featuring
Steve Tyler
(vocalist of Aerosmith)'s son in law.
Chris Cornell
played the main stage before Aerosmith made their appearance.
TAB the Band
, played fourth on the bill on second stage featuring Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's two sons. Many people saw the event as unbalanced, with most commercially successful bands playing the Sunday (Aerosmith in particular - having sold more albums than both of Saturday's headline bands combined).
[
citation needed
]
The second stage was sponsored by Pepsi.
Despite Aerosmith having the headline slot on Sunday, Chris Cornell played for the same length of time. His set combined Audioslave and Soundgarden songs with his own. In keeping with the family theme Aerosmith brought with them, on Saturday Peter Gabriel's daughter sang and played percussion. On Sunday Cornell brought his two children onto the stage for the audience to see.
Aerosmith had to finish at 10.30 pm due to the curfew, and the police were forcing them to leave. The encore was the usual "Walk this Way" song, but featured
Darryl McDaniels
(commonly referred to simply as 'DMC'). This was the first time a member of
Run-D.M.C.
had performed with Aerosmith since their 2002 tour, five years previous.
Main Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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The Pepsi Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Third Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Hard Rock Calling 2008
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In late December 2007, the Hyde Park Calling 2008 website was launched. It confirmed the dates for 28?29 June 2008.
On 28 January 2008, the headliners for each day were announced, along with two support acts for each day:
Main Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Second Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Attendance: 57,561; Capacity: 60,000
[3]
Hard Rock Calling 2009
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In 2009, for the first time it was a three-day event, beginning on the Friday rather than a Saturday, running over 26, 27 and 28 June.
[4]
Neil Young headlined on Saturday and his encore was a cover version of "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles. Paul McCartney joined him on stage for parts of this performance. Bruce Springsteen finished his headlining set with "
Dancing in the Dark
", while he also joined The Gaslight Anthem for their song "
The '59 Sound
". Springsteen's entire set was released on DVD in June 2010, titled
London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
.
Main Stage
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Pepsi Max Stage
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Hard Rock Calling 2010
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]
Hard Rock Calling 2010 took place of the weekend beginning 25 June.
Wolfmother
was scheduled to perform on Friday but backed out in advance.
Main Stage
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Friday 25 June
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Saturday 26 June
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Sunday 27 June
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Pepsi Max Stage
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Band Stand
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Hard Rock Calling 2011
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The 2011 festival took place over the weekend of 24?26 June.
Main Stage
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Bandstand
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Saturday
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Sunday
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- The Breakers
- The Launderettes
- The Contrast
- Yellowire
- Red White A Blues
- Lee Macdougall
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- Vetiver
- Zun Zun Egui
- Alessis Ark
- Veronica Falls
- Gabriella Jones
|
Hard Rock Calling 2012
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]
During the song "
Twist and Shout
", performed by
Bruce Springsteen
and guest
Paul McCartney
at the Saturday show, Springsteen was forced to cut his set short when he ran overtime on a council curfew.
[6]
Paul Simon's set featured
Hugh Masekela
,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
and
Jimmy Cliff
; it was released on DVD and album in June 2017, titled
The Concert in Hyde Park
.
[7]
"I don't recall anything of Hyde Park," Soundgarden bassist
Ben Shepherd
said in 2013, "except looking stage-right and seeing that
Jimmy Page
was watching us. So, if anything, we actually played a lot more professionally than we usually do. I thought we were spot-on."
[8]
Main Stage
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Pepsi Max Stage
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Hard Rock Rising Stage
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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- Dylan LeBlanc
- Jack Savoretti
- Gabriel Bruce
- Feral Singers
- KonKoma
- Tanya Auclaire
- Brass Wirs Orchestra
|
- James Walsh
- Marcus Foster
- Life in Film
- Nina Nesbitt
- Sadie & The Hotheads
- Bwani Junction
- Molly McQueen
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Band Stand
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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- Sissy and The Blisters
- Drop Out Venus
- Vukovi
- Turbogeist
- Micro Jupiter
- Scams
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- Sheilds
- Danny Shah
- Daytone Lights
- Alistar Griffin
- Richard Cowey
- Halfway to New York
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- Peggy Sue
- Alessi's Park
- Chailo Sim
- Honey Ryder
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Hard Rock Calling 2013
[
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]
The 2013 event was moved to the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
in
Stratford
after
Live Nation
had pulled out of the tender for
Hyde Park
. The 2013 festival returned to being a two-day event, unlike the four previous years which had run over three consecutive days. The first announcement was made on 5 March, when
Kasabian
and
Bruce Springsteen
&
The E Street Band
were confirmed as headliners. It would be the latter's second headline performance in consecutive years.
Main Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Pepsi Max Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Hard Rock Rising Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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- Gaz Coombes
- China Rats
- Syd Arthur
- My Preserver
- Eliza and the Bear
- Steve Cradock
- Jack Savoretti
- Yellowire
- Josh Weller
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Calling Festival 2014
[
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]
Hard Rock Calling returned under the name of Calling Festival from 28 to 29 June 2014 at
Clapham Common
. It was renamed Calling Festival when the previous sponsor, Hard Rock International, pulled out.
Main Stage
|
Saturday
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Sunday
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Pepsi Max Stage
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Calling Festival 2015
[
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]
Calling Festival returned to Clapham Common the following year, but only as a one-day festival, on 4 July.
References
[
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]
External links
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