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Paul Simon closed another highly successful Hard Rock Calling festival in London’s Hyde Park yesterday (July 15).

Simon entertained the crowd with nearly three hours of classic songs spanning his Simon and Garfunkel and solo careers. The 70-year-old’s set included a complete run through of his 1986 album “Graceland,” with trumpet player Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the South African male choir who appeared on the original album.

Simon closed with the Simon and Garfunkel classics “The Sound of Silence” and “The Boxer,” and his solo hit “Still Crazy After All These Years”.

“The Sound of Silence” – Paul Simon

The night before saw Bruce Springsteen headline with a typically lengthy and energetic set, opening with a solo vocal and piano version of “Thunder Road” and ending with a guest appearance by Paul McCartney. The pair duetted on “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Twist and Shout,” but unfortunately the organisers called time on the pair by cutting out the sound before they had a chance to bid farewell to the crowd (the curfew had been exceeded by 30 mins).

“I Saw Her Standing There” – Springsteen and McCartney

Earlier in the show, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello joined Bruce and the E Street Band on several tracks, including “Death to My Hometown” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

Another highlight of the Springsteen set was a cool duet with John Fogerty on “The Promised Land”.

“The Promised Land” – Springsteen and Fogerty”

Earlier in the day, Springsteen had been on stage during Fogerty’s show for a duet on Rockin’ All Over the World.” Fogerty performed a a great set including many Creedence Clearwater Revival classics, such as “Lodi,” “Bad Moon Rising” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”.

The headliners on Friday night were American grunge rockers Soundgarden, whose plea for the sun to “wash away the rain” in their biggest hit “Black Hole Sun” caught the imagination of the drenched crowd. Their set was heavy with tracks from their albums “Badmotorfinger” and “Superunknown,” including “4th of July, “Rusty Cage,” “Spoonman,” and Jesus Christ Pose.”

The support for Soundgarden was Iggy Pop and the Stooges, whose debut Hard Rock Calling appearance featured crowd pleasers such as “Search & Destroy,” “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Open Up And Bleed.”

Roll on Hard Rock Calling 2013.