BST Hyde Park: Lewis Capaldi
Hyde Park, London - 12/07/2026
Photo Credit: Ellie Koepke
BST Hyde Park 2026 came to a close last night in the most fitting way possible, with Lewis Capaldi headlining the final night of the festival for the second time across the weekend. After a season that has brought Garth Brooks, Duran Duran, Pitbull and so many more to the Great Oak Stage, there was one last chance to soak it all in, and Hyde Park delivered once again. The capacity crowd that filled the park made sure every second of it counted, with the atmosphere never dipping from the very first act to the final note.
The strength of the day's full lineup meant that missing any of it felt genuinely painful. Much of the time between main stage sets was spent in a manic dash between the Birdcage and Rainbow stages, catching half sets from BER and Folk Bitch Trio, and later splitting time between Alexandra Savior and Sadie Jean, not wanting to miss out the chance of seeing of any of them.
However the real shining light of the day's bill was the stacked Great Oak Stage lineup, which opened with Absolutely and Jacob Alon before arriving at the first main stage act I caught. Alessi Rose is fast becoming one of the country's biggest names, with last night feeling like something of a crowning moment in that journey. Having first played her music on my radio show back in early 2024 and reviewed her show at KOKO in early 2025, a show that already felt too small a venue for what she was becoming, I have been lucky enough to watch from the outside as Alessi has grown into what is becoming a genuine global superstar. Even on a bill of this scale, without her name at the top of it, tens of thousands were screaming her songs back at her as if it was the most important thing in their lives. For many in that crowd it genuinely is, such is the connection between Alessi and her fans, a bond that was further highlighted by the separate fan meetup arranged earlier in the day.
Alessi was at her absolute best, commanding the vast Great Oak Stage with an ease that made it look like she had been doing this at this level for years. She guided Hyde Park through a set that blended her earliest releases with newer material, one of which, 'Dependent', was not even a week old and yet still had every word screamed back at her from across the field. There are artists who people say are destined for the big stage. Alessi Rose is already there.
Photo Credit: Ellie Koepke
Following that was always going to be a tough ask, but BST had found an artist more than equal to it in Conan Gray, who is as close to headline ready himself as anyone on the circuit right now. Stood in front of a stage filled with clouds, at one point even sitting on a giant swing, he and his band worked through an hour-long set that tackled the full range of human emotion with total conviction. Drawing largely from the records 'Wishbone' and 'Kid Krow' with some offerings from 'Superache', the set moved through moments of pure jubilation and into songs that he admitted he does not normally play at festivals as they are "too depressing", but figured that if Lewis Capaldi had invited him along it would probably be alright. With every song Conan cemented himself further as a crowd favourite, so by the time the set closed the reception from the capacity crowd was as deserved as anything heard all weekend.
With the crowd well and truly warmed up, it was time for Lewis Capaldi to take to the stage. Backed by his full live band, they wasted no time, kicking straight into 'Hollywood', 'Grace' and 'Heavenly Kind of State of Mind', each receiving the enormous reaction it deserved from 65,000 people who had been waiting all day for this. As the last of the three came to an end, Capaldi greeted the crowd in his signature quick-witted style, quite poetically declaring "Ya couldn't fit another c**t in here." If Conan Gray had extracted every human emotion across his set, Capaldi managed to do the same within a single moment, having you doubled over laughing at his between-song observations and the next pulling you to an entirely different kind of tears with his stunning ballads. The songs carry an extra weight to them now, and as Capaldi frequently acknowledged throughout the night, he has had to go through an enormous amount mentally to get to where he is standing today. Watching someone with that platform speaking so openly about his mental health always means a great deal, and last night it added a layer to the whole evening's emotional impact that I suspect stayed with most of the 65,000 long after they left the park.
Photo Credit: Thomas Falcone
That is not to suggest the set was all slow ballads and crowd work, because Capaldi's live band gave many of the songs a rockier edge that kept the energy unpredictable in the best way. A reimagined version of 'Pointless' driven by electric guitar and drums hit with far more force than the studio version, with the chemistry bouncing effortlessly between Capaldi and his bandmates throughout. A special guest appearance from The Kooks' Luke Pritchard for a duet on 'Naive' kept that electric guitar-backed joy going, delivering yet another of those moments that BST Hyde Park does better than anyone else.
As the hits continued, the likes of 'Before You Go' and 'Hold Me While You Wait' were sung back in perfect unison between Capaldi and a crowd that seemed to grow louder with every passing song. Having seen Lewis Capaldi before in an intimate stripped-back setting I already knew what his voice was capable of, but hearing it carry effortlessly across a field of 65,000 people, sounding better than it ever has, was genuinely one of those memories you know immediately you will never forget.
It was the duo of 'Survive', which saw Capaldi and his band surrounded by a circle of stage rain in one of the night's most visually stunning moments, and a more acoustic stripped-back 'Someone You Loved', that eventually brought an end not just to Capaldi's two-night residence but to BST Hyde Park 2026 as a whole. There could not have been a more perfect way to close it. This year's festival brought pop, rock, new wave, country, Latin and so much more across its three stages, but there was something so perfectly communal about it all being wrapped up by nothing more than the sound of human voices full of love for one another and for the artist on stage.