Here’s a simple maths question for you, dear reader.
Take one field in Coventry, add some of the biggest stars on the planet, and throw in 100,000 more-than-up-for-it music fans, and what do you get?
The answer, of course, is BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend. The Beeb’s flagship musical weekender touched down in Coventry’s War Memorial Park over the weekend as part of the city’s program of City of Culture 2021 celebrations, and they brought a veritable plethora of global superstars along for the ride.
Here’s what went down.
Calvin Harris
If it was a one-man NOW That’s What I Call Music compilation you were after, then you could’ve done worse than to swing by Calvin Harris’ Main Stage set on the Saturday night of the festival.
The likes of One Kiss, Feel So Close, Summer, and We Found Love are guaranteed crowd-pleasers at the best of times, but it was the closing combination of Sweet Nothing and a pleasingly maximalist firework display that solidified Scotland’s favourite son – sorry, Lewis – as one of the highlights of the weekend.
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Sam Fender
The Geordie Springsteen has long since outgrown the confines of even the biggest festival tents, which made his Saturday headline slot at the Future Sounds stage all the more special.
A banger-packed setlist – including ‘TikTok smash’ Seventeen Going Under and fan favourite The Dying Light – was compiled and delivered in a manner that left us with little doubt that Fender and co. are going to be headlining stadiums within the next few years. If he’s only getting started, then God knows where he’s going next.
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Sigrid
Is Sigrid the most consistent performer in pop? We’ve seen her half a dozen times, and she’s never failed to blow us away – and judging by the reaction of the crowd on the Saturday afternoon in the Future Sounds stage, we weren’t the only ones.
Hits like Don’t Feel Like Crying, Burning Bridges, and Bad Life were duly wheeled out, but it was the closing track, ‘Mirror’, that got every member of the audience dancing away their Friday night hangovers before the afternoon was out.
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Lorde
God bless Lorde. She disappeared for a few years and then returned with a gorgeously sparse third long-player, Solar Power, that’s more suited to sunny New Zealand beaches than drizzly fields in the Midlands – and yet, somehow, her set was still a highlight of the weekend. It was a spectacular show by an artist who’s still got more to give – we wouldn’t be surprised if she came back and headlined the Big Weekend in the not-too-distant future.
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YUNGBLUD
He’s going to be a superstar, isn’t he? Doncaster’s answer to Johnny Rotten dominated the Main Stage on the Saturday afternoon, and earned the unique distinction of being the first Major Pop Star of the weekend to bring some Major Punk Energy and a shout-out to his Mum to the Big Weekend. A winning combination if ever there was one.
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Dermot Kennedy
The sadboy superstar is back and he’s ready to hit you deep in the feels. If you came to Dermot Kennedy’s Main Stage set on the Sunday afternoon hoping for feel-good, summertime vibes, then you would’ve left sorely disappointed; but if you arrived expecting to hear some of the most multi-layered, intricate, and rawly emotional pop music of the last decade, then you would’ve walked away with a smile on your face and a faint desire to drunk-call your ex in the back of your mind.
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Harry Styles
You might just have heard of this guy. Oh, who are we kidding – it’s Harry bleedin’ Styles. He’s the biggest star on the planet; and on the Sunday night of BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, he showed us why.
A hit-packed set was delivered with impeccable charm, charisma, and showmanship by the best thing to come out of Redditch since the M40. Hearing Watermelon Sugar, As It Was, and Adore You played live in a field in the middle of England, sunburnt and cider-drenched, was nothing short of life-affirming – and we’ll be damned if you could find anyone who was there that would dare to disagree with us.
It’s Harry Styles’ world, dear reader, and we’re all just living in it.
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