Back in the day, radio stations used to have roadshows for where the stars of the day could come out and promote their latest single and sing to a backing track. That kind of ended in the 90’s when Radio 1’s fabled Summer roadshow tour ceased to be. At the same time, Capital Radio in London were holding Party in the Park. Moving to the present, PITP has long gone, and taking an idea from Z100’s Jingle Ball – have now evolved into a big mini festival of pop. Yes, there is also T4 on the Beach, but in terms of artist quality, this year’s Summertime Ball pulled a few biggies out of the bag.
In the order they were on;
Coldplay
Should’ve and could’ve headlined quite easily – except they had their own gig in the Etihad in Manchester – Damn you Chris Martin! Seen them in December at the MEN Arena, just wished they could’ve done more than the 5 tracks they did (9/10 – Should’ve been 10 if it was longer)
Kelly Clarkson
She’s been at the STB previously, and loved her line thanking Coldplay for “being my warmup”. (7/10)
Flo Rida
Didn’t expect much at the start, how wrong I was. Had the Wembley crowd in the palm of his hand – especially when he took his shirt off. Proper showman – 8/10
Example
The fourth time of me seeing Elliot Gleave, and every time it’s a treat. Didn’t disappoint with Changed the way you kiss me, Stay awake or Kickstarts. Although I’d have loved to have heard the new single We’ll be coming back, produced by Calvin Harris – 9/10
Pitbull
Another “don’t really expect much set”. Again, I was wrong. You forget how many collaborations he’s be part of. Faultless – 8/10
Cover Drive
Part of the breakers section. One song, Twlight, and that was it – went down a storm with the crowd – majority obviously the core demographic for Capital’s radio stations – Female’s 15-24, for me though, 6/10 – Audio levels were all over the place
Conor Maynard
Another “breaker” and the UK’s equivalent of Justin Bieber, with god knows how many views on Youtube, so many thousand followers on Twitter, and probably millions of little hearts breaking when he announces he’s got a girlfriend (he hasn’t I’m just making a point…possibly) Catchy song 7/10
Lawson (band)
Final part of the breakers section. I’ve seen them previously supporting the Wanted earlier this year, just the one song – When you were mine. Good 8/10
Usher
Initial sound problems with his mic seem to be overcome, although he was better just singing. Burn was outstanding 8/10
Rita Ora
Two songs from the new queen of UK D&B. Loads of energy 8/10
Dizzee Rascal (Surprise Act)
Seeing Dizzy was awesome. New single “The Power” is going to be massive 8/10
Cheryl (Surprise Act)
Another surprise act – Didn’t disappoint 8/10
The Wanted
Third time I’ve seen the boys in the past 12 months – again, a faultess performance. 9/10
Jessie J joined on stage by Rizzle Kicks for Price Tag
Missed out seeing Jessie on her UK tour at the back end of 2011, but had heard there were tuning issues (she was flat – that’s my friend the music teacher with that nugget for the review). Couldn’t hear any problems with her voice. All the “licks” were fine, and her performance of “Who you are” was spine tingling. 9/10
Ed Sheeran
It just goes to prove you don’t need any fancy stage show. Just a guitar, loop pedal, and one of the best male singer songwriters the UK has produced in many years. 10/10
Justin Bieber with special guest Carly Rae Jepsen
Hmmmm, Justin. What can I write about Justin. We’ll for the majority he was the headlining act – not Katy Perry. The Beliebers in the crowd loved every second, and when he brought one lucky girl onto the stage for “One less lonely girl” and hugged her – you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d killed her with the amount of screaming girls that surrounded me – the hearing has returned now. You can’t fail to appreciate how popular the guy is, and probably if someone else was singing the sings, you’d like them? Maybe? 9/10
Katy Perry
Another person I get a hat rick out of. Third time of seeing Katy, and again wasn’t disappointed. Sad part of her set was most people were leaving after seeing Bieber – if you did, you missed out on a fab performance from the California Gurl herself. Nice touch too for her interpolating one of her songs with Queen’s We are the Champions, a slight nod to Queen’s huge concert back in 1986 – and her first time playing “this historic place” 10/10
Also, thanks go to our bus driver of National Express/Mainline of the W14 – he had a a bit of a handful dealing with some of our fellow passengers – but he managed really well, so hats off to Dave – and I do wonder whether that girl’s partner will ever work and not buy from Tesco anymore – if he’s spending the majority of his wages from Tesco IN Tesco – a side issue I know. Loved Wembley, although the “getting out of there” was a bit mad – about an hour or so, so if you are planning on making a quick get away from an event there, forget it. I will be back one day though, just depends who’s playing
Overall, a proper quality gig – maybe they could’ve put Justin Bieber on earlier. And put Example on a bit later – and don’t get me started about Coldplay – damn you lucky Mancunians and everyone else who saw them at the Etihad.
Full setlist
Coldplay
‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’
‘Yellow’
‘Princess Of China’
‘Viva La Vida’
‘Charlie Brown’
‘Paradise’
Kelly Clarkson
‘Since U Been Gone’
‘Dark Side’
‘Mr. Know It All’
‘Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)’
‘My Life Would Suck Without You’
Flo Rida
‘Club Can’t Handle Me’
‘Whistle’
‘Wild Ones’
‘Good Feeling’
‘Low’
Example
‘Stay Awake’
‘Won’t Go Quietly’
‘Kickstarts’
‘Changed The Way You Kiss Me’
Cover Drive
‘Twilight’
Conor Maynard
‘Can’t say no’
Lawson
‘When she was mine’
Usher
‘OMG’
‘Yeah’
‘DJ Got US Fallin’ In Love’
‘Burn’
‘Climax
‘Without You’
‘Scream’
Rita Ora
‘RIP’
‘Hot right now’
Dizzy Rascal
‘The Power’
Cheryl
‘Call my name’
The Wanted
‘All Time Low’
‘Lighting’
‘Gold Forever’
‘Chasing The Sun’
‘Glad You Came’
Jessie J
‘Do It Like A Dude’
‘Price Tag’ (w/Rizzle Kicks)
‘Who You Are’
‘LaserLight’
‘Domino’
Ed Sheeran
‘Drunk’
‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’
‘Small Bump’
‘Lego House’
‘The A Team’
Justin Bieber
‘Somebody To Love’
‘Baby’
‘All Around The World’
‘Die In Your Arms’
‘Turn To You’
‘One Less Lonely Girl’
Carly Rae Jepson
‘Call me maybe’
Justin Bieber
‘Never Say Never’
‘Boyfriend’
Katy Perry
‘Hot N Cold’
‘Teenage Dream’
‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)’
‘Part Of Me’
‘Wide Awake’
‘The One The Got Away’
‘We Are The Champions’
‘Firework’
‘California Gurls’
Review by Patrick Downes (@officialpoptart)
