Tens of thousands of revellers packed into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as Kasabian and Bruce Springsteen became the first rockers to headline concerts on the site.
A pop-up venue on the site of the old Olympic basketball arena between empty blocks of athletes’ flats and the Pringle-shaped curve of the Velodrome, created the setting for the Hard Rock Calling Festival at the weekend as it was moved from Hyde Park after a noise curfew cut the concert short last year.
The Northern band set the audience “on fire” Saturday night as they christened the venue while the American singer-song writer, also known as The Boss, brought a touch of star magic on the Sunday during an utterly professional performance.
A variety of other artists performed at the four stages over the two days with a festival atmosphere reminiscent of last summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Playing a variety of some of their biggest hits such as Fire, Days are Forgetten and Reason is Treason accompanied by women playing the violin and a trumpet Kasabian demonstrated the breath of their music from raw electronic rock to slower acoustic pieces.
Lead singer Tom Meighan rounded the evening off beautifully singing the Beatles track She Loves You unaccompanied by any instruments, showing off the vocal range of his voice.
Earlier in the evening Modfather Paul Weller had got the crowds going as the singer-song writer of the punk rock band The Jam appeared as special guest.
And Springsteen did not disappoint either as he announced he was going to play the whole of his landmark Eighties album Born in the USA. The 63-year-old was accompanied by the E Street Band as his weathered voice billowed out those classic songs. He even brought out his mum to serenade her during Dancing in the Dark followed by his little sister. Throughout the night he also ran along the stage to great his fans who had come from across the globe.
Around 40,000 tickets were sold for each day.
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