*Hyde Park, London*
Glimmers of greatness amid a safe-as-houses bland-out at Radio 2's one-day festival
BBC Radio 2 in the Park is a curious affair. A one-day festival curated by a network that has traditionally been predicated on easy listening and nostalgia, its lineup of earnest singer-songwriters and once-innovative artists now firmly in the autumn of their careers can resemble a giant musical comfort blanket.
It's a festival for people who don't do festivals, attracting a doughty crowd who look less like hardened gig-goers than they do the occupants of Wimbledon's Murray Mount bussed in en masse. They won't be encouraged to return by the woefully inadequate food and drink facilities, with the queue for beer frequently stretching across the entire width of the arena.
Live radio coverage also meant Sunday's bill was distinctly lopsided, with former stadium-rock titans Simple Minds kicking off proceedings with a lunchtime set that thankfully drew on the days when they were liquid rather than lumpy. Jamie Cullum mitigated his dismal, jazzy soft rock by proving a droll and entertaining performer and raconteur. Texas are accustomed to being dismissed as AOR slush, but songs such as Summer Sun and Dry Your Eyes (for which they were joined by Richard Hawley) confirmed they have far more Fleetwood Mac-style poignancy than they are generally given credit for. There were no such redeeming features for Jack Johnson, whose mellow blandishments were simply excruciating.
Once the spikiest band in existence, Manic Street Preachers appeared absurdly incongruous on this bill: a quote about firebombing Radio 2 doubtless exists somewhere in their early-interview vaults. Yet their clenched intensity was exactly the fillip the afternoon needed, and new single Show Me the Wonder implied that imminent, acoustic-led album Rewind the Film will be pleasingly heavy on Weltschmerz.
A mini-orchestra and choir couldn't redeem Josh Groban's pop-opera epic guff, while James Blunt's puppy-dog eagerness to please – he even went crowd surfing – merely made his soporific soft rock even more regrettable. Jessie J's aerobic performance was oddly enjoyable, but her Pink-like rave-pop remains utterly generic.
At 73, headliner Smokey Robinson's voice is not the force it was, and cosmetic surgery has given his features a disquietingly startled expression. He has clearly also spent too many years on the Vegas circuit: his cabaret-like band reduced Tears of a Clown to a schmaltzy blare. Yet glimmers of greatness shone through: the catch in his voice during a brilliantly testifying Ooh Baby Baby, the visceral yearning with which he fully inhabited Tracks of My Tears. A moving end to an uneven day, Smokey proved that Radio 2 isn't just there for the tedious things in life.
• Did you catch this gig – or any other recently? Tell us about it using #GdnGig
Rating: 3/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.
Glimmers of greatness amid a safe-as-houses bland-out at Radio 2's one-day festival
BBC Radio 2 in the Park is a curious affair. A one-day festival curated by a network that has traditionally been predicated on easy listening and nostalgia, its lineup of earnest singer-songwriters and once-innovative artists now firmly in the autumn of their careers can resemble a giant musical comfort blanket.
It's a festival for people who don't do festivals, attracting a doughty crowd who look less like hardened gig-goers than they do the occupants of Wimbledon's Murray Mount bussed in en masse. They won't be encouraged to return by the woefully inadequate food and drink facilities, with the queue for beer frequently stretching across the entire width of the arena.
Live radio coverage also meant Sunday's bill was distinctly lopsided, with former stadium-rock titans Simple Minds kicking off proceedings with a lunchtime set that thankfully drew on the days when they were liquid rather than lumpy. Jamie Cullum mitigated his dismal, jazzy soft rock by proving a droll and entertaining performer and raconteur. Texas are accustomed to being dismissed as AOR slush, but songs such as Summer Sun and Dry Your Eyes (for which they were joined by Richard Hawley) confirmed they have far more Fleetwood Mac-style poignancy than they are generally given credit for. There were no such redeeming features for Jack Johnson, whose mellow blandishments were simply excruciating.
Once the spikiest band in existence, Manic Street Preachers appeared absurdly incongruous on this bill: a quote about firebombing Radio 2 doubtless exists somewhere in their early-interview vaults. Yet their clenched intensity was exactly the fillip the afternoon needed, and new single Show Me the Wonder implied that imminent, acoustic-led album Rewind the Film will be pleasingly heavy on Weltschmerz.
A mini-orchestra and choir couldn't redeem Josh Groban's pop-opera epic guff, while James Blunt's puppy-dog eagerness to please – he even went crowd surfing – merely made his soporific soft rock even more regrettable. Jessie J's aerobic performance was oddly enjoyable, but her Pink-like rave-pop remains utterly generic.
At 73, headliner Smokey Robinson's voice is not the force it was, and cosmetic surgery has given his features a disquietingly startled expression. He has clearly also spent too many years on the Vegas circuit: his cabaret-like band reduced Tears of a Clown to a schmaltzy blare. Yet glimmers of greatness shone through: the catch in his voice during a brilliantly testifying Ooh Baby Baby, the visceral yearning with which he fully inhabited Tracks of My Tears. A moving end to an uneven day, Smokey proved that Radio 2 isn't just there for the tedious things in life.
• Did you catch this gig – or any other recently? Tell us about it using #GdnGig
Rating: 3/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.