02.07.2023 : BST FESTIVAL HYDE PARK LONDON : THE ROSE
OFFICIAL BST PERFORMANCE REVIEW
South Korean indie rock band The Rose, third on the bill, were a huge hit. The band, consisting of Woosung (vocals and guitarist), Dojoon (keyboard), Lee Hajoon (drums), Jaehyeong (bass), beamed with delight at the sea of faces looking back at them, as singer Dojoon telling fans: “I love Hyde Park!”
Belting out one of their early tracks Time, they responded to the audience’s cheers with Yes (“Sometimes saying ‘yes’ can lead to amazing things, an amazing night”), Beauty and the Beast and the catchy Sour.
“We’ve been [a] band for seven years now and we came from Korea and now we’re singing in London… wow! In front of this great crowd. It’s an honour. Thank you so much guys,” Woosung continued. To end, The Rose performed their as yet unannounced new track, giving fans an exclusive thank you for their support.
FESTIVAL LAYOUT
The American Express presents BST Hyde Park is an annual London festival featuring prestigious guests throughout: P!nk, Bruce Springsteen, Take That, Lana Del Rey, Billy Joel, Gun's and Roses, in this year's "Main act". Spread out over almost 2 weeks, the festival is held in Hyde Park, in central London, in the city's tourist district. The park is extremely large, with a good quarter of it dedicated to the festival, which can accommodate no less than 70,000 people at maximum capacity every day.
Dozens of food stalls from all over the world await festival-goers, as do merch stands, a guest area, a carousel and other moments of relaxation. The festival alternates performances on 3 stages. Film screenings and yoga sessions are also held to diversify the audience's activities! Affordable, the first pass is less than 100 pounds. However, it can go very high for the Platinium and other sesame passes for the seats closest to the main stage.
The main stage was named Great Oak stage, because an (artificial) tree dominated the installation. Musically, the sound is pretty good, despite the size of the event, and there's no shortage of sound distractions. In the evening, the lighting effects bring out all the colours, accompanied by cotillions.
Finally, the screens, large enough to be seen from a distance, projected beautiful images of the band on stage. In the middle of the park, another giant screen is available for those further away.
THE ROSE : PERFORMANCE
When you say Festival, you say setlist adapted for, and shorter than, a concert. Having seen The Rose on their "Healing together" tour last February, it's easy to see that the boys are really at ease in this type of exercise. Whether on a small intimate stage, or a huge festival stage, they play with fervour and desire! In the middle of their festival tour, the 4 boys arrived on stage ahead of schedule, and got their set off to a flying start with Cure from their latest album, Heal. Then came California on the B-side of the single Red. Rarely played at festivals, it's great to see them alternating tracks from one performance to the next! Red, in turn, is played with enthusiasm! They're happy to be on stage, and it shows.
Their time was limited, so they moved quickly from one track to another, from one hit to another, from one memorable song to another. She's in the Rain is proof of the band's versatility, and they put in a great performance on this lovely track. Half the set-list already flies by, with Shift, then Time. and finally Yes, the triptic from 'Heal'. Singing in English in front of an audience not necessarily familiar with The Rose is an asset! However, it has to be said that a large part of the audience was here for the headliner, namely BLACKPINK, The Rose's Korean compatriots, and a good part of the front of the pit, pink lightstick in hand, cheered on the 4 boys! Beauty and the Beast is such a beautiful song! And what a pleasure it is live! When you hear SOUR, you can't help but be delighted to hear it live, with all the spirit the band puts into it, the song gets the crowd going! But that's it, the set list is almost over, and there's just one song left before The Rose take their place on the Great Oat Stage at the BST Festival, for the last song in a set that's an hour too short, but as good as it gets! The last song was... a surprise! It was an unreleased track from their forthcoming album, Back to Me! and the crowd went wild for it! The boys leave quickly, no more, no extra song...
CONCLUSION
You can't expect the same thing from a festival as you can from a world tour concert: the setlist is shortened, the stage is mainly adapted for the headliner (Hajoon seemed so far away behind his drums!) and the boys scattered at each end of the main stage could barely interact with each other. The audience wasn't quite there yet, wandering all around the festival. They weren't 100% focused on the band, but who cares? It's a festival, and this summer The Rose are doing it again and again! What a pleasure to see them again, to discover a new song, and to admire the ease with which the band has grown up before our very eyes over the last few years. A fine performance, which we hope, with the release of the next album, will lead to a new world tour?
SET-LIST
Cure
California
Red
She's in The Rain
Shift
Time
Yes
Beauty and the Beast
Sour
Back To Me
Follow The Rose ON SNS !
thank to BST Festival organisation for the accreditation and trust
Crédit : BST Festival
Concerts pictures :K-Pop Concert Team