Green Day at BST Festival

Photo courtesy: @jordshughesphoto

British Summer Time festival has taken over London’s iconic Hyde Park once again. Day two accommodated a punk rock extravaganza, headlined by none other than the legendary Green Day. The range of experience possessed by Saturday's (01/07/17) performers varied from punk veterans such as Gogol Bordello and Rancid sharing the line up alongside rising stars Culture Abuse, who opened the Summer Stage.

Read on to hear Grab The Setlist’s top three acts of the day:

SWMRS

SWMRS’ mid-afternoon slot kicked off! The Cali quartet was explosive as they smashed through tracks off their 2016 debut album, Drive North, whilst managing to draw the biggest crowd on the Barclaycard Stage all day. The band are becoming increasingly familiar with big crowds having toured across Europe with All Time Low and more recently with Blink 182. They made this ever so apparent, leading their fans into circle pit frenzies and “Ohhhh Jeremy Corbyn”s. SWMRS return to the UK for a headline tour later this year.

The Hives

Whilst SWMRS walked off stage at the opposite end of the complex, The Hives stormed onto Hyde Park’s Great Oak Stage. These guys should be supporting every gig. The now developed crowds were enthralled by the energetic Swedes as the band truly made their presence known to the crowd.

  They opened with the well-received singalong and Sky Sports advertising regular, Come on! before frontman Per Almqvist started gathering complete control of the audience as the band flew through the first half of their set which saw them launch into Hate to Say I Told You So. By the time Per and co closed with the anthem, Tick Tick Boom, a majority of the crowd had danced and sung along - just as instructed to do so - preparing themselves for the rest of the evening. If you can get The Hives to open for your band in the future, grab that opportunity immediately.

Green Day

Well, who else were you expecting? A Green Day return to London could only be done one way… a 150 minute, banger-packed triumph. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool showcased some of their oldest hits alongside the latest cuts from 2016 album, Revolution Radio. Coming off 1991’s Kerplunk, 2000 Light Years Away was a pleasant surprise for Green Day’s old school fans who were well treated all evening.

  Whilst plucking twenty-five tracks from seven of their albums, they even managed to cover some classics, including a touching tribute to the late George Michael lead by multi-instrumentalist Jason Freese. It’s not unknown that Billie Joe keeps himself socially aware and Armstrong’s empathy for the “hard times” which London has recently suffered and a call for unity and togetherness spurred on the summer celebration.

 Green Day, creeping towards their 30th year as the beloved trio, do not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The band seem to be enjoying themselves on stage every bit as much as they ever have done. Their last three summer visits to the UK capital have seen them conquer the two largest football stadiums and now its most iconic royal park. What could possibly be next for them?

British Summer Time once again pulled off a magnificent day full of musical celebration. Grab The Setlist will be returning to Hyde Park this Thursday (06/07/17) for Kings of Leon and The Pixies.

RA 😏