England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales show what they’re made of, with one band chosen to represent each nation, although perhaps the less said about the English entrant the better.
Snow Patrol continue to show why they are a favourite, festival mainstay act, by adding this glossy show to their summer 2012 resume.
It’s indie-pop skewed – more so with each album – towards the latter, but, like Coldplay’s Fix You, when Chasing Cars kicks in, and the mass singalong, too, it’s hard for even the most cynical muso not be moved.
Sterephonics hold up the Welsh end, and are sure to belt out classics from their surprisingly wealthy back catalogue (10 top 10 hits, and a number one).
And where many would have bet that The Proclaimers were a natural shoe-in for the Scottish leg of this show (500 Miles is a jukebox classic the world over), the responsibility for reminding us all about whisky and shortbread falls to pop mumbler Paulo Nutini, and his new shoes, too, probably.
And England? Duran Duran are hardly everyone’s (anyone’s?) ideal band to represent at this best of the Isles of Wonder gig (not now, not even in their Eighties heyday), but here they are.
Still, Hungry Like The Wolf and Rio have gone full circle and are fun again and not just in a retro, post-modern, ironic way.
Hyde Park, W2 4RU
Friday, July 27 | Doors at 4pm | £60
Tube | Queensway | royalparks.org.uk
