BST Hyde Park welcomes the mighty Pearl Jam for the first of two nights –

Day 15 at American Express presents BST Hyde Park 2022

credit Sandra Sorensen

Showcasing an incredible setlist spanning over three decades, Pearl Jam opened the third weekend of live music at American Express presents BST Hyde Park today. They entertained the crowd of 65,000 people with 22 of their biggest songs, leaving the crowd in awe as they belted out hit after hit. 

A show two years in the making, the Seattle legends headlined the Great Oak Stage as a part of their 2022 European Tour. This was the first of two stellar back-to-back nights of live music. Hitting the stage under the London summer sun, Eddie Vedder opened with Better Man – for the first time in nearly eight years – and told the audience: “This is the best crowd we’ve ever had in London.“

Retrograde, Even Flow and Once were just a few of the favourites on the band’s setlist for Friday night – while all-time greats Daughter and Jeremy also featured. They were joined on stage by guitarist and singer-songwriter Simon Townshend, younger brother of Pete Townshend from The Who, for a rendition of his own track, I’m The Answer. “Please meet one of my great, great friends and one of my heroes, Simon Townshend,” said Eddie, as Simon walked on stage.

Concluding their two and a half hour set was Alive and a cover of Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World, – and with that Pearl Jam left the stage to a roar of applause. As a final word Eddie told the audience, “If we could have a crowd join the band, it would be you!” 

The band will return to BST Hyde Park on Saturday 9 July for a second headline slot. They then make their way to Budapest, Krakow, Paris, Vienna, Prague and Amsterdam before starting the American leg of their tour in September.

Pixies were the penultimate act to take to the Great Oak Stage, supporting their good friends Pearl Jam. The four-piece – made up of Black Francis, Joey Santiago, David Lovering and Paz Lanchantin – from Boston, Massachusetts are currently in the midst of their tour across Europe, with their BST Hyde Park show being their only London date. They dazzled fans with plenty of their greatest tracks, including Here Comes Your Man, Mr Grieves, Wave of Mutilation and Monkey Gone To Heaven.

The group performed Human Crime and There’s A Moon On from their upcoming album, Doggerel, and impressed their audience with a string of their best-loved songs from albums, Doolittle, Bossanova and Indie City among others. Doggerel is due for release on 30 September 2022.

Meanwhile, Simon Townshend, opened the Great Oak Stage with a selection of his favourite solo-performed tracks, including The Way It Is, Looking Out, Looking In and Break The News. Simon released his first single in 1974 at the tender age of 13. Since then, he has performed with a host of superstars, including The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Pearl Jam, Dave Grohl and Jeff Beck.

Launching the Great Oak Stage was Irish post-punk band, The Murder Capital, followed by US-based garage punk band, White Reaper. Warming up the crowd for a stellar punk rock line-up ahead, the band led the way for the impeccable Cat Power – the American singer-songwriter also known as Charlyn Marie ‘Chan’ Marshall – who dazzled the audience with her tracks Great Expectations, Good Woman and a special cover of the Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.

The day kicked off on the Hard Rock presents Rainbow Stage with Brighton-based rockers Sick Joy. Later in the afternoon, The Glorious Sons brought the Hard Rock presents Rainbow Stage to a rocking finale on this Friday night. 

What a show-stopping night of live music at this year’s American Express presents BST Hyde Park.