Sixty thousand people hung out in Hyde Park yesterday for The Strokes headlined opening day of British Summer Time. But what did we learn from the experience?


1. Beck's a tough act to follow

He dances, he raps, plays harmonica, can launch into a lusty falsetto and has 20-odd years worth of tunes to his name. He opens with Devil's Haircut and never lets up from there, at one point stringing crime scene tape across the stage. And he performs Loser. As a performer Beck's pretty hard to match.


2. Strokes fans like to sing along to guitar riffs

Which is annoying. But it's all part of a noughties nostalgia fest which is fairly endearing - plenty of people seemed genuinely emotional to hear these songs live again. Wisely, most of the set sticks to the old favourites.

News Shopper:


3. Julian Casablancas hasn't changed much, apart from his hair

He's got an odd new barnet with red streaks and a bit more on stage patter but the voice is still the same, roaring out songs like Reptilia and Take It Or Leave It with the same spirit as he did a decade ago. 

News Shopper:
 

4. Neither have the rest of them

They've always just kind of stood around, looking cool. They still do.


5. The festival has a rather large VIP area

It's too large really, segregating the regular punters from the guestlist crowd. It creates a strange atmosphere.

News Shopper:
 

6. And it attracts a lot of celebrities

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, Alex Kane, Fearne Cotton, Nick Grimshaw, Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Daisy Lowe, Alexa Chung, Noel Fielding, Vernon Kay, Gemma Arterton, Pixie Geldof, Tiger Lily Geldolf - you get the picture.

 

News Shopper:
 

7. Future Islands' singer Samuel T. Herring has a unique dancing style

If you've seen the Letterman performance that did the rounds, you'll know this already. It's hard to take your eyes off his strange moves. Must play havoc with his knees.