Lewis Capaldi delivered his largest headline show to date, captivating more than 65,000 attendees on the Great Oak Stage during day seven of BST Hyde Park. The ninety-minute set, which was streamed live around the globe on YouTube, marked the first in a pair of back-to-back headline appearances for the Scottish singer-songwriter at the London festival.
The performer kicked off with a run of early crowd-pleasers, including ‘Hollywood’, ‘Grace’, and ‘Heavenly Kind of State of Mind’. Aware of the vast audience before him, he rolled out a densely packed setlist that featured emotionally charged favourites like ‘Wish You The Best’ and his 2017 debut track, ‘Bruises’, which ignited a colossal singalong from the audience.
The defining moment of the night arrived a little past the halfway mark when Capaldi invited a special guest onstage. Sam Fender joined him, with Capaldi lauding Fender’s career achievements and quipping about their long-standing friendship. The duo embraced and then delivered a duet of Fender’s current single, ‘Rein Me In’. The collaboration felt especially apt, given that the track had just broken a record 24 hours earlier as the longest-running British number-one single of all time.
As the concert moved further into the evening, Capaldi traversed his catalog with powerful performances of ‘Before You Go’ and ‘The Day That I Die’. In moments of visible emotion, the crowd offered vocal support, prompting chants and robust singalongs to ‘Hold Me While You Wait’ and ‘Forget Me’.
Returning for an encore, Capaldi treated the audience to a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain’ before following with ‘Survive’. He closed the night with ‘Someone You Loved’, thanking the fans for their enduring support and revealing plans to take a break to work on his next studio album.
The extensive supporting bill across the Hyde Park stages featured a main opening set from Californian singer-songwriter Conan Gray, who performed tracks from his current world tour. Indie-rock veterans The Vaccines also appeared on the main stage, delivering an energetic set packed with well-known hits alongside new material. Additional performances throughout the afternoon came from Mercury Prize-nominated Jacob Alon and London-based artist Absolutely.
Photo credit: Thomas Falcone
