BST Hyde Park 2025 roared into its second day with a headline set that will be etched into festival folklore. Zach Bryan, the Oklahoma-born troubadour, delivered a powerful 23-song performance that spanned his six-year career — and marked his triumphant arrival on the UK’s biggest outdoor stage.
Wearing his trademark black tank with an Ozzy Osbourne logo and a Fender Telecaster slung low, Bryan walked out to a rapturous crowd of 65,000 and didn’t waste a second. “I feel like the luckiest man in the world,” he told the Hyde Park faithful, before launching into Overtime, the night’s rollicking opener.
Bryan’s set was a love letter to the genre he’s redefining. Motorcycle Drive By, Dawns, and American Nights followed in quick succession, each song echoing across the park with thousands of fans belting every lyric back at him. Between songs, Bryan’s signature humility shone through: “Isn’t country music the most beautiful thing in the world?”
The atmosphere reached a fever pitch when Bryan brought out Dermot Kennedy for their aching duet Hey Driver, calling the Irish star “one of the best fucking singers in the world.” The crowd — already warmed up by Kennedy’s earlier set — sang along in near-religious unison.
Emotional moments defined the night. A 23-year-old fan, Ollie Hawkins, was invited on stage to perform Heading South after Bryan spotted his viral TikTok cover. And fans were also treated to a world premiere of a brand new song, Streets Of London, written just days before in a London studio once used by David Bowie.
Musically, Bryan’s full band brought sweeping Americana textures to life: lap-steel guitars, strings, a six-piece brass section, and Bryan’s raw, impassioned vocals wrapped the park in a southern warmth. From the introspective Something In The Orange to the full-blown, firework-accompanied Revival, the set never lost momentum.
Before Bryan took over, Dermot Kennedy gave a commanding performance, fusing vulnerability with grandeur on tracks like Outnumbered, Giants, and Power Over Me. “This show is so great,” he beamed. “You’ll have a great time tonight.”
British singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin charmed the crowd with Panic Chord and Home, wearing a self-made Mr Men dress and joking about the heat. LA folk-rockers Mt. Joy brought joyful energy and even surprised the crowd with a cover of Teenage Dirtbag (a nod, perhaps, to the massive Iron Maiden themselves playing a stadium show in London the same evening).
Rising star Willow Avalon, hailing from small-town Georgia, opened the Great Oak Stage with grit, humour and heart. Over on the Rainbow Stage, Kentucky’s Ole 60, Canada’s Noeline Hofmann, and 18-year-old breakout Waylon Wyatt kept the crowd rooted in rich Americana tradition, while Aaron Rowe and Nadia Kadek brought fresh, summery sounds to the Bird Cage Stage.With its mix of iconic headliners, free midweek events, and handpicked support acts, BST Hyde Park continues to be the heartbeat of the London summer. And with more superstars set to follow — including Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan, Sabrina Carpenter, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, and Jeff Lynne’s ELO — the festival shows no sign of slowing down.
But Saturday belonged to Zach Bryan. And as fireworks lit up the London skyline to the final notes of Burn, Burn, Burn and Revival, it was clear: a new Hyde Park legend had arrived.
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