Re: Hyde Park Report

At 10:56 PM 6/29/96 -0400, DylansMuse@aol.com wrote:

>The show, which featured Bob Dylan, members of The=20
>Who and Eric Clapton, is expected to raise =A3500,000=20
>for The Prince's Trust.

     By the day of show, figuring concessions raised
the total to over a million pounds (about $1.5=20
million).
=20
>And after watching Pete Townshend and Roger=20
>Daltrey of The Who lead the first live performance=20
>of their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia, Charles=20
>met the stars and thanked them for their efforts.=20
>He apologised to Dylan for missing his hour-long=20
>performance earlier in the day ...

     Quad was delayed for about 15 minutes while
the royal entourage filled in; they left immediately
after & skipped Clapton as well as missing Dylan. A
coupla British kids who came up & asked about my JAE
tourshirt summed it up: "150,000 blokes bloody paid=20
to come see The bloody 'oo -- the best band they's=20
ever been."=20

>Daltrey, who was sporting a bizarre eye-patch=20
>following an accident in rehearsals ...

     Gary Glitter hit him below the left eye,
swinging a mike stand during rehearsals. The=20
patch was a blue & white bulls-eye with a red
center. Nice touch ...

>Organisers believe the concert was the largest=20
>ever to be staged in Britain. It was certainly=20
>the first of its kind in Hyde Park for 20 years=20
>and the largest open air event seen in Britain=20
>since the late 70s.=20

     The June 29 Daily Mirror said it was the
second-largest, after the July 5, 1969 Hyde
Park with the Stones headlining (250,000).

>Groups of Mods gathered on the fringes of the=20
>park on scooters reviving memories of the London=20
>in the 60s.

     Groups of ambulances, too. The day was cool
& windy, and the crowd quite sober and almost
docile -- maybe the calm after soccer riots=20
earlier in the week.
=20
>Eric Clapton, regarded by many as the world's=20
>greatest rock guitarist, closed the evening with=20
>a selection of his best-loved numbers.=20

     His *sound* was really spectacular -- almost
studio-quality. But the energy started to fade
after an hour and the crowd started leaving about
that time as well.=20

>An unknown rock band made up of unemployed=20
>youngsters who had taken part in rock schools=20
>set up by The Prince's Trust started proceedings.=20

     Actually, the "rock school band" played
intermittently during the day. Included a cover
of "Pinball Wizard" at one point. Two or three
other acts that have received grants from the
Trust also performed.

>The grey skies which hung over London throughout=20
>the day failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the=20
>huge crowd.

     Actually, it didn't rain at all. And the
clouds started to break at the end of "Love Reign
O'er Me," with sunbeams spotlighting parts of
the sky & ground behind the stage. *That* was
incredible ...
Bad defeats Good then self-destructs ...