The traditional arrival of the British Summer Time festival series at Hyde Park coincided this weekend with the easing of a punishing heatwave. The slight drop in temperature a welcome relief for the record breaking 69,999 crowd, the largest in BST Hyde Park history.
On the Rainbow Stage, Maryland native Jackson Dean delivered a narrative-heavy set, drawing heavily from his Magnolia Sage album. His stripped-back storytelling anchored the early afternoon crowd, establishing a baseline of classic country songwriting.
On the Great Oak Stage, the direct support slot fell to the Zac Brown Band, who turned in a disciplined sixty minutes of high-tempo country-rock. The eight-piece ensemble displayed tight technical proficiency, multi-instrumentally shifting between fiddle, banjo, ukulele, and heavy percussion. Opening with "As She’s Walking Away"—a nod to the retiring Alan Jackson—the group quickly transitioned into their prominent radio hits, notably "Toes." A bluegrass-infused cover of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" showcased the band’s instrumental speed, while they also introduced "Hard Run" from their latest studio release, Love & Fear.
A five-minute countdown clock on the huge LED screens preceded the arrival of Garth Brooks. Marking his first appearance on a mainland English stage since a solitary date at Wembley Arena in the mid-1990s, it was a big 5 minutes. Brooks launched into "Rodeo," followed quickly by Dennis Robbins’ "Two of a Kind, Workin’ On a Full House" by saying: "I love concerts, I love live music. Nothing will piss you off quicker than going to live music, like somebody dropping a whole new album and not playing any of the old stuff. We brought all of our old stuff!"
Despite his status as the highest-selling solo artist in US history, Brooks’ catalog remains absent from major streaming platforms, meaning the near-70,000 attendees comprised entirely of diehard purists. The vocal response from the crowd frequently competed with the sound system, notably during the Tex-Mex rhythmic framework of "Two Piña Coladas" which brought smiles all round.
Brooks acknowledged the turnout before saying: “We're gonna play a lot of cowboy songs tonight.? That's just what we do when we roll in. Here's one I hope you remember. I really hope you like it. It’s called ‘The Beaches of Cheyenne’.”
The setlist featured moments of improvisation. Spotting a fan’s sign in the front rows, Brooks halted proceedings to perform an impromptu acoustic version of Bob Seger’s "Night Moves."
The dynamic shifted significantly when Brooks performed "Unanswered Prayers" entirely solo with an acoustic guitar. The crowd assumed the vocal duties, leaving the singer visibly startled by the volume of the reception. High-tempo arrangements like "Callin’ Baton Rouge" and the rapid-fire delivery of "Ain't Going Down (’til The Sun Comes Up)" re-engaged the band's rhythm section, a veteran backing band whose core members have toured with him for over three decades.
The latter portion of the two-hour set included a series of covers, including Billy Joel’s "Shameless" and "Piano Man," alongside an impromptu rendition of Eric Clapton’s "Change the World" featuring songwriter Gordon Kennedy. There were extended band introductions and guest spots which which showed exactly how proud he is of his longstanding band, and so he should be. The main set concluded with "The Dance," which saw the stadium-wide crowd leading the melody. Brooks closed the evening with his signature anthem, "Friends in Low Places," leaving the stage with a verbal commitment to return to London far sooner than his previous thirty-year absence would suggest.
Let's hope he does, a glorious evening of country music.
Setlist
Rodeo
Two of a Kind, Workin’ On A Full House (Dennis Robbins cover)
The Beaches of Cheyenne
Two Pina Coladas
Night Moves (Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band cover)
The River
Papa Loved Mama
The Thunder Rolls
Unanswered Prayers (Acoustic)
That Summer
Callin’ Baton Rouge (The Oak Ridge Boys cover)
Ain't Going Down (‘til The Sun Comes Up)
Shameless (Billy Joel cover)
Change The World (Gordon Kennedy impromptu performance)
Shout (Robert Bailey impromptu Isley Brothers cover)
The Dance (Tony Arata cover)
Encore
Piano Man (Billy Joel cover)
Friends in Low Places (Dewayne Blackwell cover)
