Credit: Josh Pratt
British Summer Time has become one of the highlights of the festival season as their awesome line-ups attract some of biggest names in music; old and new. This year – amongst the big names – one artist especially popped out to me; Justin Bieber. No, I’m not a Belieber, but I’ve always been curious to see him perform live… and this is where our story begins.
To those that have not attended Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park, let me quickly give you a run down on how it works. The big acts all perform on the main stage called, Great Oak. Here, they split the crowd into general admission and a VIP area; which is basically a large semi-circle at the front of the crowd. Not anyone can just waddle their way to the front mind. You’re only allowed in this area if you have a special pass, so it’s a big deal if you’re a major fan to get in this area. Unfortunately, though, it was mainly just full of people with guest tickets or those working at the festival – guilty! It was here that I met the subject of this tale though…the Guns N’ Roses Fan.
With no formal introduction, the intoxicated GnR fan quickly befriended me as he noticed that I was one of only a few people who wasn’t singing along. I’m not a bore, I just didn’t know any of the words. Little did he know that I would later tell his tale on an online music publication (muhaha!). Yes, maybe I betrayed his trust by documenting his behaviour, but his lack of respect for the fellow members of the crowd made it seem ok.
So, let me take you on a photographic journey….
Here we have GnR first laying eyes on Justin:
Credit: Josh Pratt
His reaction was interesting. He clearly had a strong preconception of Beebs, but you could tell he was impressed with the production and the choreographed dancing. It wasn’t long before he tried to comically mimic Justin’s dancers.
Credit: Josh Pratt
In an attempt to come across as funny, GnR failed to impress his partner (woman on the left) with his sexy dance moves. I did learn a couple of things about GnR: he keeps his house keys on the end of a chain that’s clipped onto his jeans, he wears a studded belt and has a tattoo below his navel. Not receiving the reaction that he hoped, GnR soon became very bored and tired.
Credit: Josh Pratt
GnR’s tiredness was soon too much for him and resulted in GnR shouting sarcastic abuse at Justin and, as you can see by the response of the woman to GnR’s left, his ADHD behaviour was starting to take its toll on the surrounding crowd members.
Luckily though, GnR’s thought’s soon switched to: “you know what…people do love Justin, perhaps I’ll let them enjoy it at least.” which saw him quickly go from yawn to a quick power nap. Is this the end of GnR Fan?
Credit: Josh Pratt
NEVER! GnR fan never gives up!
Instead, he thought: “fuck it, let’s get into this” and whipped off his t-shirt. He was ready to become a Belieber. However, there was a problem; this rock n roll fan only knew one life and the surrounding Beliebers were not ready to party on GnR’s level. Pop! Off came a bottle cap and the froth from his Peroni beer spilt into the back of a teenage girls hair. Rising the smuggled beer into the air, GnR bellowed the most masculine cheer of them all: “Let’s fuckin’ av it.” As he went to caress his lips around the warm glass bottle, somebody nudged him. It was like time had stopped as his bottle of beer fell and landed on the grass of Hyde Park.
Credit: Josh Pratt
In an act of bravery, GnR drived into the knees of the crowd to find his beverage. With only a little of his frothy beer left, GnR disappointedly drank the remains. However, this seemed too much for his partner to handle. After a heated conversation, GnR was told off and ordered to put his t-shirt back on.
Credit: Josh Pratt
Within a few moments, GnR went from the highest heights to lowest lows. In a confused state, GnR fan didn’t know how to deal with his emotions so stood and meditated.
Credit: Josh Pratt
After filtering through his actions, GnR came to the quick conclusion that Justin Bieber was not for him. While fans were on their parent’s shoulders, Guns N’ Roses Fan stood still and sulked. Perhaps it was being told off like a child that got to him; which was ironic considering that most people around him were teenagers and children. Or maybe, he just wanted a beer to make up for the one that had fallen from his fingertips. All I know is soon after, GnR left.
Credit: Josh Pratt
We never saw Guns n’ Roses Fan again. I’ll never know if he got another beer, or hear his opinion on modern pop music, but one thing is for sure….GnR hated every last second of Justin Bieber’s performance at British Summer Time Festival.
