13 Jul 2022

Simon Townshend wows the crowd at British Summer Time

Simon Townshend was one of the special guests for the first of two nights headlined by Pearl Jam at British Summer Time in Hyde Park, London on Friday 8 July. On what was yet another glorious summer’s day in the park, with temperatures soaring into double figures (C), the crowd of over 65,000 fans were treated to an afternoon and evening of some of the very best in music.

Simon opened his set with ‘I’m London’, a song he wrote way back in the late 70s. This is a totally new, updated version reworked just recently especially for the Hyde Park show. Never released.

Next up was ‘The Way It Is’ from Simon’s 1996 album Among Us.

Simon’s son, Ben joined him on percussion and backing vocals for ‘Looking Out Looking In’, ‘Mr. Sunday’, ‘She Asked Me’ and ‘Break the News’ (Simon’s song recorded by The Who on their current album, WHO). It was great to hear some rarities, particularly ‘Mr Sunday’ from Simon’s 1983 album, Sweet Sound, where the orchestration at the end was originally arranged by Pete’s ex father-in-law, the late Ted Astley.

Both Simon and Ben are currently on tour with Roger Daltrey on Roger’s Who Was I UK tour.