It’s a three-for-one kind of afternoon at BST Hyde Park on Friday. There might be something inapt about using coupon terminology to describe an event that costs punters close to £100 (or more), but it’s true. Neil Young might be the headliner, but this is a triple bill of legends: Van Morrison and Yusuf/Cat Stevens make up a formidable undercard.
At first, it seems obvious why Morrison is first up. In his worst moments, the Northern Irish singer has the tepid banality of a lounge crooner, and the early number “Only a Dream” suggests we’re in for a set of amiable but thoroughly unengaging mood music. Wearing a paisley shirt so bright and summery it’s impossible to picture him picking it out himself, Morrison adopts an utterly frill-less approach to showmanship: the band are hunkered down one side of the stage, with two gazebos to (I presume) fend off roasting heat.
