So after my much enjoyed journey across a large portion of the country I finally arrived in London. St Pancras International is a weird and wonderful place, where families reunite, people scurry around and relationships end. The scope of people is quite beautiful, travellers from all over the world arrive here every day, mixing with business men and women rushing through for the next train, desperate to make their meeting on time. Each time my travels bring me here I’ve usually given myself enough time to sit for a little while, drinking coffee, watching life happen. Today is slightly different, but when I return in a few days I’ll get my chance to watch the world.
The loose purpose of this journey, by the way, is to visit my good friend Alex and head over to this years Wireless Festival in Hyde Park. After meeting we quickly had to get across the city to firstly check in at a hotel in Waterloo and also meet with Malachi to complete our little band of travellers. Destination Marble Arch.
Arriving at Hyde Park we were greeted by a sea of festival goers all eager to get inside and explore the days events. The sun shone down hotter than it had done since I reached London, we were all baking in the midday heat but happy to be there and dig the sounds inside, increasing in volume as we got closer to the somewhat poorly organised entrance.
Success! Mr Hudson & The Library are already in full swing when we arrive at the main stage, we’d made the rush journey over to see him specifically as Alex grew up with the eponymous hero. It’s a total contrast to see him on the main stage at a festival playing to 50,000 people, when a few years ago the crowd would consist of a small, randomly formed group including our Al and a man and his dog. Literally. There actually was a dog I’ve been told.
After Mr Hudson, Roll Deep took to the stage with their own blend of radio friendly grime. Chipmunk followed, the crowd enjoyed, however I found this a good time to go exploring, returning to the fold for the living legend that is guitar god, Slash. Strangely the crowd cleared out at the begining but by the end he and his band won everyone back over with extended renditions of crowd pleasers ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and a raucus closer of ‘Paradise City’. Once that man reaches the depths of his flow there is no stopping the genius at work; remove him from the stage at your own peril.
Friendly Fires had the unenviable task of following Slash, but to their credit they did an amazing job. Complete with samba dancers and drummers, they succeeded into turning Hyde Park into a festival of dazzling colours and soul defining beats. It was enough to even forgive the woeful disappointment of omitting my absolute favourite song, ‘Paris’, from the setlist. After they left we went to explore a little more and stumbled into Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip mid set, providing political posers and true food for thought in amongst some of the lighter acts of the weekend. Lily Allen meanwhile was taking her place on the main stage which I went to catch a portion of - all the while dodging fists from one of the three ridiculous fights that had flared up within a short space of time.
The main event was about to start. The beautiful, blazing sunshine that had followed us throughout, was slowly edging out itself of the day, making way for the atmospheric dusk creeping in. Three horizontal red bars filled the giant screens, all the stage equipment brandished with the same mark. The bars were later replaced by a 10 minute countdown, met with a mixed sense of frustration and anticipation. Finally Jay-Z hit the stage running, performing an energetic and rousing set of mostly radio hits and current material. For the more veteran Shawn Carter listener such as myself, lesser known tracks such as ‘Jigga What, Jigga Who’, ‘U Don’t Know’ and ‘Hovi Baby’ were a joyous delight to be a part of. Jay-Z closed his monumental set by asking everyone in attendance to look after each other and get home safe. This is always a winner in my books. We heeded these words and arrived back at the Waterloo hotel tired but satisfied, carrying the knowledge that we had witnessed something great today.
