Music

Carole King at BST Hyde Park: An evening for the whole family

The rave reviews don’t lie – Carole King’s performance at British Summer Time in London’s Hyde Park was a truly beautiful performance.

One thing is for sure, we can pinpoint our highlight: the stand-out live rendition from Tapestry, the record that for a period in history could lay claim to being the best-selling album of all time. You’ve Got A Friend, was so good, a vibrant and energetic Carole King decided to play it twice, which none of the 65,000 at Hyde Park were complaining about.

(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman was as beautiful vocally as it was visually, with the fantastic video sequence that accompanied it. For a ramped up rendition of the Locomotion a spontaneous 500-strong conga line appeared in the middle of the mass crowds and amped up the party atmosphere.

On a warm summer’s evening full of big moments, another highlight for us has to be the incredibly moving reaction of the crowd witnessing the Tapestry album being played live in the UK for the first time. This wasn’t a sing-along as loud as you can crowd, nor could you describe it as a youthful audience. This was Hyde Park packed with the youth of the ’60s and ’70s, who had purchased the album on vinyl, en massse. Everywhere you turned there were individuals, couples, even families, shedding tears to different songs throughout the evening. The live rendition of the album clearly provided a wave of poignant memories, both joyous and painful for many of those attending.

By the end we could have done it all again, but alas, being a one off, never to be repeated again, made it all the more special.

Thankfully Carole reminds us all live on stage, with the help of the full cast of Beautiful The Musical, that her music can be enjoyed, in the West End, with eight shows a week. What’s even better, throughout the summer you can save up to £20 on great seats!

Here’s what the press had to say:

‘A vast choir were united by the power of popular music’ ***** – The Telegraph

‘beautiful Tapestry performance finds a 50,000-strong backing choir’ ***** – The Guardian

‘Tears of joy as Tapestry sweeps Hyde Park’ ***** – Evening Standard

Word: Gary Roden