Duran Duran | BST Hyde Park | 10th July 2022

(Photo Credit: PA Wire)

In July 2022, 80s sensations Duran Duran took to the stage for the final night of the British Summertime Festival at Hyde Park in London, prior to their concert a huge range of artists from The Rolling Stones to Adele had graced the stage over the previous 3 weeks. Duran Duran headlined a day filled to the brim with incredible acts including Nile Rodgers and CHIC who warmed up the crowd ahead of the headline act. BST Hyde Park returns this year with a series of concerts including the legendary Bruce Springsteen and P!nk.

Despite being formed in 1978, Duran Duran are still at the top of their game, I last saw them perform live in Oxford in 2016 and in the past 6 years, they have only gotten better and better. Their headlining set came after the crowd had been hanging around Hyde Park for nearly 6 hours on a day where the top temperature reached over 30oC, you would naturally expect the crowd to be exhausted, but as frontman Simon Le Bon asked following the first song, “Have you got any gas left in the tank?” The crowd proved that the heat did not tire them out.

With over 65,000 people spread over Hyde Park the atmosphere was electric, with everyone singing along to the band’s greatest hits. When I first saw them perform in Oxford, there were only a few thousand people in the crowd, but this concert showed how versatile the band are, able to capture those even at the back of the huge crowd. A particular highlight of the show took place when they performed two songs including mega-hit ‘Notorious’ with the ‘honorary member of Duran Duran’, Nile Rodgers after he warmed up the crowd earlier that evening.

Their two hours on stage cemented their status as one of the greatest bands performing today and proved them worthy of their status in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.