We've been having a bit of a "recovery day" here at Dolores Delargo Towers, after the excesses of yesterday's Proms in the Park celebrations - and what a fab event it was, too!
OK, we could have done without the rain, the "amateur orchestras", Tim Minchin and the precocious brats from the cast of his musical Matilda, School of Rock The Musical and, for that matter, The Feeling (who weren't bad, just not "our type of music"), but the rest was excellent.
What a joy to sing along in a torrential downpour to Rick Astley - like this lot did (whoever they are):
Only in Britain...
After the break, ABC brought back happy memories of that golden era of the early 80s:
Despite not performing our fave Under the Bridge, the re-formed All Saints were in fine voice:
And speaking of voices... even at 82, Frankie Valli's still got it!
The "pop bit" dispensed with, it was time to go over live to the Royal Albert Hall ["Hello Hyde Park" Hello, Hall!"] for the grandest of grand finales, with the massed talents of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sakari Oramo, and the star of the show, Peru's finest [hence the costume!], tenor Juan Diego Flórez:
Rule, Britannia...
...Land of Hope and Glory...
...and [in its centenary year] Jerusalem:
And, with God Save The Queen, Auld Lang Syne and the fireworks, that was it for another year (and another summer, sob)...
Utterly unforgettable!
I honestly had no idea that Frankie Valli was still alive, let alone hale and singing. He looks basically exactly as he did the last time I saw him - circa 1983. Better, if anything, because his rug then was Burt Reynolds/William Shatner level bad.
ReplyDeleteHis rug nowadays is more Bea Arthur than Burt Reynolds. Jx
DeleteIt looked good on the telly. I did the first Proms in the Park with Wogan and Montserrat Caballe, it was a bit damp then too. I came up with friends from Brighton, where I lived then, but they hit the pubs all afternoon and were rat-arsed by evening. Back to this one: If Rick Astley is dying his hair it would look better with a bit of gray in it - just saying. At least he has not got a whole new hair and face like James Nesbitt!
ReplyDeleteWe're not such veterans - we've only been going since 2007. Will Young was very good, as I recall. However this year's was rather fab fun (and Rick's dye-job didn't run, despite the rain :-) Jx
DeleteIt was a fab day
ReplyDeleteWorth suffering the "hangover from Hell" for. Jx
Delete