Calling Festival (formerlyHyde Park Calling andHard Rock Calling) was an annualmusic festival, formerly held inHyde Park, London, from 2006 until 2012, and from 2013 inQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. In September 2013, Hard Rock International announced that they would no longer be sponsoring the festival; however, the event returned in 2014 and 2015 under the name Calling Festival at theClapham Common.[1]
The inaugural festival had two stages and was headlined byRoger Waters (performing in its entirety thePink Floyd albumThe Dark Side of the Moon as part of his set) and his band (featuring Pink Floyd drummerNick Mason) on the Saturday andThe Who on the Sunday. Gates opened at 14:00, and the show ended at 22:15 on both evenings.[2]The Who's Sunday headline performance was released as part of theirEncore Series 2006 of CDs & DVDs. British TV ShowTop Gear filmed a brief segment of The Who’s concert as part of a Van review between the three hosts.
The festival was a peaceful one, being inside the city the event required attendees to rely on external accommodation - unlike more popular festivals such asDownload Festival orReading 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 two 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.
After Hyde Park Calling's success, a Hyde Park Calling 2007 quickly entered planning stages. It was announced that the event would take place during the weekend of 23–24 June 2007. It wasAerosmith's first concert in theUnited Kingdom for eight years and featuredPeter Gabriel and the recently reformedCrowded House as a joint-headliner for the first day. Other draws to this year's event were the addition of a new third stage. Only one band to have played at the previous Hyde Park Calling, Rose Hill Drive, played again in 2007. With six bands per stage, instead of five, and an extra stage, the expansion of the festival only a year after its inception was dramatic.
Despite Aerosmith having the headline slot on Sunday, Chris Cornell played for the same length of time. His set combined Audioslave and Soundgarden songs with his own. In keeping with the family theme Aerosmith brought with them, on Saturday Peter Gabriel's daughter sang and played percussion. On Sunday Cornell brought his two children onto the stage for the audience to see.
Aerosmith had to finish at 10.30 pm due to the curfew, and the police were forcing them to leave. The encore was the usual "Walk this Way" song, but featuredDarryl McDaniels (commonly referred to simply as 'DMC'). This was the first time a member ofRun-D.M.C. had performed with Aerosmith since their 2002 tour, five years previous.
In 2009, for the first time it was a three-day event, beginning on the Friday rather than a Saturday, running over 26, 27 and 28 June.[4] Neil Young headlined on Saturday and his encore was a cover version of "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles. Paul McCartney joined him on stage for parts of this performance. Bruce Springsteen finished his headlining set with "Dancing in the Dark", while he also joined The Gaslight Anthem for their song "The '59 Sound". Springsteen's entire set was released on DVD in June 2010, titledLondon Calling: Live in Hyde Park.
"I don't recall anything of Hyde Park," Soundgarden bassistBen Shepherd said in 2013, "except looking stage-right and seeing thatJimmy Page was watching us. So, if anything, we actually played a lot more professionally than we usually do. I thought we were spot-on."[8]
The 2013 event was moved to theQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park inStratford afterLive Nation had pulled out of the tender forHyde Park. The 2013 festival returned to being a two-day event, unlike the four previous years which had run over three consecutive days. The first announcement was made on 5 March, whenKasabian andBruce Springsteen &The E Street Band were confirmed as headliners. It would be the latter's second headline performance in consecutive years.
Hard Rock Calling returned under the name of Calling Festival from 28 to 29 June 2014 atClapham Common. It was renamed Calling Festival when the previous sponsor, Hard Rock International, pulled out.
