Yesterday, Saturday 12th Sep, was the Last Night of the 2009 Proms season and I went to the Proms in the Park in London's Hyde Park with a few friends.
After a lengthy wait in the crowd to get through the entrance gates for ticket checks we determinedly made our way all the way to the front, just right of the right screen (trust the German to know her way, teehee) and got comfortable laying out our picnic blankets and setting up the delicious food. I suppose we could have stayed there overnight until the ABBA tribute concert on Sunday and still have leftovers. On offer were pasta- and couscous-salads, red orange and yellow peppers, carrots, cucumber and celery with either sour cream & chives or hummus, quail's eggs, red and green grapes, strawberries, 8 different kinds of cheeses, Italian meat antipasti and turkey meatballs, crackers, bread, 3 different kinds of HARIBO wine gums, Cadbury's Roses, Bahlsen's Schoko-Leibniz, peanuts, pretzels, crisps, banana cake, apple crumble slices, water, juices and of course wine for the grown ups. Wow, even just trying to remember listing all this is hard work, no wonder David winced when he picked up the bag containing everything that didn't have to be in the cooler bag.
First act up was Rolling Stones cover band 'The Counterfeit Stones', of which the "Mick Jagger" was more of an Alice Cooper lookalike and the whole act seemed like a Rolling Stones spoof, not a tribute.
Next we were treated to some nice and easy to listen to Motown by 'The Emperors of Soul', so that was a step up from the opening act already.
But the third band to come on beat it all! It was 'Gary Mullen and The Works', a 'Queen' cover band and it was amazing to see Gery Mullen impersonating Freddie Mercury so well, his voice sounding exactly like Freddie's, the moves, the look, the charisma, a striking resemblance to the late Freddie Mercury. Almost the whole crowd of 40,000 people (hear hear!) was on their feet, singing and dancing along.
After this was a short interval with more music by the BBC Concert Orchestra, before the main, classical show started and the women all madly rushed to the facilities, for which I would like to say a very big Thank You to the BBC (proper containers with real flushable toilets and running water, only towards the end of the night the paper and towels were running out).
Finally, Sir Terry Wogan came onto the stage to present the main show and after some of his trade-mark banter he announced the first artist, Gardar Thor Cortes, an Icelandic Tenor, followed by the lovely and stunning Welsh mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins.
Then we were treated to the violin quartet 'Escala' who were discovered in 2008 through Britain's Got Talent, before, at long last, we could welcome on stage special guest Barry Manilow.
He really had us going with Copa Capana, such a Las Vegas style classic!
Of course we were then all connected with the Royal Albert Hall and different Proms in the Parks all over the UK. After Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks it was time for some trusted classical sing-alongs: Rule Britannia! (which I changed to Rule Germania! of course), Jerusalem and Pomp and Circumstance.
During the British National Anthem we packed up all our belongings, enjoyed the little firework display and made our way out of the park to the tube station to join the other concert goers on the crowded platforms and trains, and that was actually Bond Street station, I can't begin to imagine how busy Marble Arch must have been. Over to the City, up and out at Bank, since we blessedly had parked the car in the underground car park at work, then whizzing home in David's sleek MG.
We have had such a amazing afternoon and evening with great entertainment. Thank you very much, BBC, for staging another wonderful Last Night and Proms in the Park. I am already looking forward to next year and am eager to find out which artists you will be inviting to perform then.
RULE GERMANIA!
After a lengthy wait in the crowd to get through the entrance gates for ticket checks we determinedly made our way all the way to the front, just right of the right screen (trust the German to know her way, teehee) and got comfortable laying out our picnic blankets and setting up the delicious food. I suppose we could have stayed there overnight until the ABBA tribute concert on Sunday and still have leftovers. On offer were pasta- and couscous-salads, red orange and yellow peppers, carrots, cucumber and celery with either sour cream & chives or hummus, quail's eggs, red and green grapes, strawberries, 8 different kinds of cheeses, Italian meat antipasti and turkey meatballs, crackers, bread, 3 different kinds of HARIBO wine gums, Cadbury's Roses, Bahlsen's Schoko-Leibniz, peanuts, pretzels, crisps, banana cake, apple crumble slices, water, juices and of course wine for the grown ups. Wow, even just trying to remember listing all this is hard work, no wonder David winced when he picked up the bag containing everything that didn't have to be in the cooler bag.
First act up was Rolling Stones cover band 'The Counterfeit Stones', of which the "Mick Jagger" was more of an Alice Cooper lookalike and the whole act seemed like a Rolling Stones spoof, not a tribute.
Next we were treated to some nice and easy to listen to Motown by 'The Emperors of Soul', so that was a step up from the opening act already.
But the third band to come on beat it all! It was 'Gary Mullen and The Works', a 'Queen' cover band and it was amazing to see Gery Mullen impersonating Freddie Mercury so well, his voice sounding exactly like Freddie's, the moves, the look, the charisma, a striking resemblance to the late Freddie Mercury. Almost the whole crowd of 40,000 people (hear hear!) was on their feet, singing and dancing along.
After this was a short interval with more music by the BBC Concert Orchestra, before the main, classical show started and the women all madly rushed to the facilities, for which I would like to say a very big Thank You to the BBC (proper containers with real flushable toilets and running water, only towards the end of the night the paper and towels were running out).
Finally, Sir Terry Wogan came onto the stage to present the main show and after some of his trade-mark banter he announced the first artist, Gardar Thor Cortes, an Icelandic Tenor, followed by the lovely and stunning Welsh mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins.
Then we were treated to the violin quartet 'Escala' who were discovered in 2008 through Britain's Got Talent, before, at long last, we could welcome on stage special guest Barry Manilow.
He really had us going with Copa Capana, such a Las Vegas style classic!
Of course we were then all connected with the Royal Albert Hall and different Proms in the Parks all over the UK. After Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks it was time for some trusted classical sing-alongs: Rule Britannia! (which I changed to Rule Germania! of course), Jerusalem and Pomp and Circumstance.
During the British National Anthem we packed up all our belongings, enjoyed the little firework display and made our way out of the park to the tube station to join the other concert goers on the crowded platforms and trains, and that was actually Bond Street station, I can't begin to imagine how busy Marble Arch must have been. Over to the City, up and out at Bank, since we blessedly had parked the car in the underground car park at work, then whizzing home in David's sleek MG.
We have had such a amazing afternoon and evening with great entertainment. Thank you very much, BBC, for staging another wonderful Last Night and Proms in the Park. I am already looking forward to next year and am eager to find out which artists you will be inviting to perform then.
RULE GERMANIA!
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