Who needs Glastonbury when there is British Summer Time Hyde Park? Glastonbury headliner SZA gave her mesmerising new stage set a test drive on Saturday night in Hyde Park, before heading to Somerset to headline Glasto on Sunday night.
US artist SZA had the audience in the palm of her hand throughout an epic performance, with thousands of teenage girls singing along passionately to every track, and going wild at renditions of her biggest hits including Love Galore, Broken Clocks and Garden. SZA’s star was in the ascendant with the release of her 2022 album SOS. Her star turn in Hyde Park was full of rich vocals, energetic choreography from SZA and a troupe of dancers, a flawless band and epic solo from the female guitarist. Combine that with SZA’s songwriting talent, magnetic stage presence, and a breathtaking, Afro-futurist set complete with giant ants, psychedelic visuals featuring butterflies and bugs, and you get a field full of more than 40,000 people singing along, feeling the vibrations. Her breathtaking performance proved that the Grammy award-winning, genre-defying singer-songwriter is here to stay.
Sampha, who played Glasto on Friday night, was a support act for SZA, following soul singer Snoh Aalegra. Sampha . Sampha won the 2017 Mercury Prize for his debut album Process, and the London-born musician played Blood on Me and other hits to a home crowd.
American Express presents British Summer Time Hyde Park started in 2013, and has grown to attract a host of world class performers covering musical genres ranging from classical to pop and soul. Upcoming headliners for summer 2024 include Kylie, Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams and Stevie Nicks.
Images copyright Culturalee.
