Hyde Park Calling

Hyde Park Calling is a music festival in Hyde Park, London, which first took place on Saturday July 1 and Sunday July 2 2006. It was in the North East end of Hyde Park, with the main entrance being at Hyde Park Corner. The music played is primarily rock music. It was organised by Hard Rock Cafe and Live Nation. Its success led to the announcement that for at least the near future, it would be an annual event.

In line-ups, bold lettering indicates a headline act for that stage.

=Hyde Park Calling 2006=The inaugural festival had two stages, and was headlined by Roger Waters (performing in its entirety the Pink Floyd album 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 [http://www.royalparks.gov.uk/parks/hyde_park/event.cfm?id=649] . The Who's Sunday headline performance was released as part of their Encore Series 2006 of CDs & DVDs.

The festival was a peaceful one (in part probably because of the older demographic that the headline acts were targeting). 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 one 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.

2006 Lineup

= Hard Rock Calling 2008 =In late December 2007, the Hyde Park Calling 2008 website was launched. It confirmed the dates for 28-29 June, 2008.

On January 28 2008, the headliners for each day were announced, along with 2 support acts for each day:

Saturday 28 June:
Eric Clapton,
Sheryl Crow,
John Mayer,
Robert Randolph

Sunday 29 June:
The Police,
KT Tunstall,
Starsailor

It was also announced that the name would change to Hard Rock Calling to emphasise the festival's connections with Hard Rock Cafe.

The show was filmed in high definition for broadcast on VH1 Classic USA, Palladia, VH1 UK, WOWOW Japan and in Hard Rock Cafe venues internationally. The show was directed by Tim van Someren and produced by Paul King (musician, MJ) for Live Nation.

=External links=
* [http://2006.hydeparkcalling.co.uk Hyde Park Calling 2006]
* [http://2007.hydeparkcalling.co.uk/home/ Hyde Park Calling 2007]
* [http://hydeparkcalling.co.uk Hyde Park Calling 2008]
* [http://www.themusic.com/encore/thewho2006/ Exclusive online outlet for CD/DVD of The Who's set from Hyde Park Calling 2006]
* [http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/hydeparkcalling/ Hyde Park Calling at eFestivals]