Hard Rock Calling 2009 - Day 2 - Neil Young

Saturday morning in London was a very hot one. But early in life we learn not to rely on British weather, don't we? So, we started making our way to Hyde Park quite early. Our goal was to catch the Pretenders. Because in my teens, Debbie Harry was my favourite blonde rock singer, but Chrissie Hynde was my favourite brunette.

I had a normal ticket this time, so we made our way to the normal entrance which was not too crowded today. There were lots more people sunning it out in the park though. After all, it was a Saturday morning!

The first thing we did when we entered was head straight for the bar, to get a beer! Yes, as I have already said, it was THAT hot!

As the last drops of our Tuborgs were being poured into our (plastic or paper - can't remember which) glasses we heard the first notes from the Pretenders coming from the stage. "Thank you for coming so early" Chrissie said, as they launched into a set of old favourites which also contained some new ones (the most notable being "Love's A Mystery" from their latest album at that time "Break Up The Concrete"). "Marry me, Chrissie" I said, after "Back On The Chain Gang", my favourite song of theirs.

After the Pretenders set was over there was now a lot of time to enjoy the "festival experience". We were walking around the grounds exploring all the facilities on offer. There was a stop to have a (paper) glass of Gaymers that was one of the festival sponsors. But Gaymers had also set up a "record shop" with lots of vinyl records on offer. What's more this also had a DJ who played songs and some people were dancing. Surprisingly, he even played Bruce Springsteen songs, surprisingly because he was due to appear on the following day. There was also time to check out the third stage, the "Bandstand".

After that we slowly gathered at the main stage where Ben Harper was just finishing his set. The "extremely hot Saturday morning" had now turned into an extremely overcast Saturday afternoon and it soon started raining. It looked serious, but gradually the rain went away and the weather was fine again by the end of the Fleet Foxes set.

Fleet Foxes were very good, but as I was looking through my files, I found out that I had no videos of them. What's more when I recently watched the Hard Rock Calling 2009 highlights TV broadcast there were neither clips nor interviews of the band either. Needless to say, there were very good and provided a nice warm up for Neil Young.

Finally it was time for Neil Young to come on stage. His latest album at that time was "Fork In The Road" (not bad) but he only played one song off it ("Get Behind The Wheel"). Instead he treated us to a "best of" set including songs from his solo career and several originally recorded with Crazy Horse. There was a super extended version of "Down By The River" and the biggest moment was the finale of the main set: "Rockin' In The Free World". Oh, and did I mention the sheer size of his amplifier?

But before he left, there was still one surprise in store for us: Paul McCartney came up on stage and together they performed "A Day In The Life" (There was a video of "A Day In The Life" on the DVD accompanying the deluxe version of "Fork In The Road" actually). The funny thing is that, I have attended Hard Rock Calling festival twice, and both times Paul McCartney has appeared on stage as a guest (In 2012 he performed with Bruce Springsteen).

And so it was on this note, after having seen one half of The (remaining) Beatles as a bonus that the 2nd day of Hard Rock Calling ended. The following day was the big day: Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band!

NEIL YOUNG SETLIST:
01. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
02. Mansion On The Hill
03. Are You Ready For The Country?
04. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
05. Spirit Road
06. Words (Between The Lines Of Age)
07. Cinnamon Girl
08. Fuckin' Up
09. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
10. The Needle And The Damage Done
11. Comes A Time
12. Unknown Legend
13. Heart Of Gold
14. Old Man
15. Down By The River
16. Get Behind The Wheel
17. Rockin' In The Free World
Encore:
18. A Day In The Life (with Paul McCartney)

Hard Rock Calling 2009 - Day 1 - The Killers

10 years ago, I attended the Hard Rock Calling festival. All of it. And it all happened by chance. I had already booked my Bruce Springsteen concerts in Italy for July of that year (Rome, Torino, Udine) when I noticed that the Bruce Springsteen concert at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park was on the anniversary of my previous and first one in Paris (Well, almost. The Paris concert was on the 27th of June 2008 and the London one on the 28th of June 2009. The following day of the anniversary actually). I thought that it would be nice if my second Bruce concert was one year (and a day) after the first, so I decided to go. The problem was that there weren't any tickets left. So, I paid some extra money and got a VIP ticket. Problem solved. A few days later another Hard Rock Calling date was announced, the day before the Bruce concert with Neil Young headlining and The Pretenders also appearing. "Since I am going to be there" I thought, "why not go to that one as well?". So I did and I was able to find a ticket quite easily. And much much later a third date was announced on the day before Neil Young, with The Killers headlining. "Now there's a new, a 00's band that I like" I thought, "why not go and see them as well?" However, this had quickly sold out as well and so I got another VIP ticket for this one. So I ended up having booked all three dates of the festival in reverse order.

So, on Thursday the 25th of June, we left from Athens airport with an Easyjet flight to Luton. When the plane landed and passengers started turning on their moblie phones we learnt that Michael Jackson was gone. And that happened at a moment in time when he had decided to make a comeback with a long residency at the O2 Arena in London that very summer. 

We got off the plane and after a what seemed like an endless bus ride from Luton we arrived in central London. From there we took a taxi to Earl's Court where our hotels were and the driver informed me that EasyHotel Earl's Court where I was staying was behind Freddie Mercury's house. (I had gone to see Freddie's house in 1996 but back then there was no EasyHotel nearby. In fact there was no EasyJet either.)

The next morning after breakfast, and a stroll through Earl's Court, it was time to go to Hyde Park. I meant to get there early because one of the bands playing at the second stage (the one inside a huge tent) was Air Traffic. Two years before I had bought one of their CD singles from Amazon by accident. I thought I was buying a single from Air who I had seen at the Fly Beeyond Festival of that year in Athens. It was because of this "accident" that I had found out about them and now that I had the chance to see them, I meant to do so. I made it just in time using the London Underground and the changes it required while spotting an advertising poster with a significant meaning for me in one of the stations. 

Upon arriving at the park all I had to do was follow the crowd. My VIP ticket meant that I could enter the park through a separate entrance so at least I didn't have to wait while entering, while in the meantime I could observe the people who weren't going to the festival nut where enjoying their day at the park.

Once inside, I spotted the main stage, where people were already gathering and then looking at the map I found and headed towards the second stage (the one inside a tent) which was called "The Pepsi Max Stage"

I was on time and Air Traffic were inside and performing. So the first part of my mission for that day was successful!

After the Air Traffic set was over, I started walking around on the festival grounds admiring the facilities.

But my aim was to reach the VIP section where I could relax away from the crowds and enjoy the special dinner that went with it. Now, there were two different VIP tickets, the first one, which I had bought provided a special dinner but you had to pay for the drinks. If you bought the second one which was £100 more expensive, the drinks were free. The idea was tempting but in order to make it worthwhile I would have to consume £100 worth of alcoholic drinks. If I had done that, I don't think I would remember what had happened at the festival the following day!

My friends started arriving then and while we were walking around the main stage and they secured their places there, I had to make my way back to the Pepsi Max stage. It was time for Echo & The Bunnymen!

Ian McCullough was there with all the favourites like "Seven Seas" and "Bring On The Dancing Horses". And then the moment we were waiting for finally came: "The Killing Moon"! But no, it wasn't to be. Ian changed his mind, stopped halfway through the song and played "The Cutter" instead. Afterwards he played "The Killing Moon" in its entirety!

They even managed to insert a snippet of "Walk On The Wild Side" while they were playing "Nothing Lasts Forever"

After that was over it was straight back to the main stage for the main course of the day! The Killers launched straight into "Human" one of my all-time favourite songs.

The rest of the set was magnificent, after all in 2009 the band were at their peak form. I had lost my friends by that time and couldn't find them but I somehow ended up with some British guys dancing in a circle and chanting "I got soul but I'm not a soldier"!!! "Did you enjoy yourself?" they asked me. "Yes" I replied, all the while thinking "who are you people?"

And on that note the first day of Hard Rock Calling Festival 2009 ended for me. What I didn't know at that time was how lucky I was to be there in London seeing them live. They were due to play at Terra Vibe in Athens around that time but because it had rained the organizers pulled the plug. Yes, the very same organizers that kept making us go all the way to Terra Vibe each time we wanted to see one of our favourite bands. They would finally play in Greece in 2017!

I found my friends at the exit and some new arrivals who had come for the second day of the festival and started trying to find somewhere to eat. Not an easy task when you're in London around midnight. We did finally find a place somewhere near Piccadilly Circus and then it was back to our hotels. Neil Young (and the Pretenders) would be waiting for us the following day...

KILLERS SETLIST:
01. Human
02. This Is Your Life
03. Somebody Told Me
04. For Reasons Unknown
05. The World We Live In
06. Joy Ride
07. Bling (Confession Of A King)
08. Shadowplay
09. Smile Like You Mean It
10. Spaceman
11. A Dustland Fairytale
12. Read My Mind
13. Mr. Brightside
14. All These Things That I've Done
Encore:
15. Bones
16. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
17. When You Were Young