Rock and Pop: Coming Up - Electric Proms @Roundhouse
Published: 04 November 2010
by ALAN STAFFORD
ELTON wore stars on his sleeves, Robert Plant played the long game and Neil Diamond accidentally showed up the BBC in a decidedly muted version of this year’s BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms.
The sold out Roundhouse was packed the celeb-crowds clamoured (see Lembit Opik at Robert Plant) but it was all so well-behaved.
Elton charmed – tripped along the piano keys while Plan B lost a wrestling match with I Guess That’s Why They Call it The Blues – and pulled it together as he and Leon Russell embarked on a nostalgia trip by playing new album The Union in full.
Those hoping for a packed set of hits may feel their champagne glasses were half-empty.
Much of Plant’s audience would have been happy with two hours of Led Zeppelin songs. The Roundhouse rippled with excitement for the opening bars of every legendary Led Zep track (there were three - Tangerine, Gallows Pole and Rock and Roll).
Plant, though, was just as excited by the rest of the set, a slow-burning journey through all things Americana from new album Band of Joy.
Fans still praying for a Led Zep reunion might not sympathise. There's clearly plenty of appetite for it, but Plant shows no signs of wanting to satisfy it.
Then came Neil Diamond. His was a set of classics, covers (Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers, Love Song – Elton John), a duet with Lulu and a few recent tracks but he knows where his loyalties lie and in his professional showman way, sang to his fans like old friends.
At one point he told the crowd how he’d played Top of the Pops in 1966, asking if it was still going.
When the response came in the negative, he pointed out that he still was – a joke to demonstrate his stamina but a sad reminder of the BBC’s failing resources.