By Akshay Bhansali
Stevie Wonder. Pearl Jam. Elvis Costello. Crosby, Stills and Nash. And Sir Paul McCartney. Yes, the annual Hard Rock Calling Festival saw venerated veterans entertaining close to 50,000 fans this past weekend in London's Hyde Park, just a stone's throw away from Buckingham Palace. MTV News' Damian Vaca, Matt Elias and myself were lucky enough to take in the series of epic performances that drew the likes of Gwenyth Paltrow, Andy Roddick, Nick and Joe Jonas and Kings of Leon, as spectators. Were we impressed by the extensive line-up of music icons? Certainly!
But really it wasn't until a few hours after festival headliner Sir Paul McCartney hopped off stage and into his maroon robe and waiting caravan of vehicles (with daughter, designer Stella McCartney) that we were treated to a truly unique performance.
Festival VIPs, Hard Rock staff and Damian and I gathered at the Hard Rock Cafe in Mayfair, and just after midnight, '80s English superstars Bananarama took to the stage for a hair-raising 30 minutes set. That's right. I said it. Bananarama. Childhood besties Sarah Dalin and Karen Woodward sang quite a few of their hits, including "Cruel Summer" and "Venus." The girls were kind enough to take a lovely pic with us. Do you have one of these? No? I love this job. Shout out to Meredith, Mark, Amanda and Claire for making a dream come to fruition.