Prince plays to 30,000 at Hop Farm Festival

US singer-songwriter Prince has performed to a crowd of 30,000 fans at the Hop Farm Festival this weekend (July 1st-3rd).
It was his first UK festival gig since 1993 and the musician performed a marathon set for two-and-a-quarter hours, playing out some of his greatest hits including Purple Rain, 1999 and Kiss, as well as some covers.
Commenting on the performance, the BBC’s Mark Savage reported that the set was like the Vegas-style shows he played at the O2 four years ago, but also felt like an after-show party with extended instrumental jams and five-minute sound checks.
And now aged 53, Prince still managed to blast out his falsetto, which Savage notes is “in stark contrast to Bono and Paul Simon’s fractured vocals at Glastonbury last week”.
It was rumoured that the controversial singer, who famously does not allow his music to have any presence on the internet, was set to perform at Glastonbury.
While Prince headlined the Hop Farm Festival on Sunday (July 3rd), the rural event in Kent opened with acts including Brandon Flowers, Death Cab for Cutie, Eliza Doolittle, Noisettes and Tinie Tempah.
However, there were also a number of blasts from the past, including legendary US rock band Eagles, who headlined the festival on Friday, as well as Bryan Ferry, the Human League and Iggy and The Stooges, who led proceedings on the Saturday night along with sets by Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Morrissey.
Indeed, the Guardian noted that the event was populated with “vinyl-era veterans”, reminding crowds of how to truly rock out.
“Hop Farm’s reliance on the classics paid off mightily this year,” the newspaper stated, which comes after the four-year-old festival headlined Bob Dylan in 2010, giving Hop Farm the reputation for bringing nostalgic yet multi-platinum-selling artists to festival-goers.