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Clockwise from top left: Mark Ronson, Ray Davies, Siouxsie and Jamie Cullum |
Have you a date for the Prom?
PREVIEW - BBC ELECTRIC PROMS
Various Venues
THE Electric Proms start on Wednesday. So, assuming you're reading this and don't have a ticket, quick, grab a fiver, and try and get your hands on the limited cheapo ones available for every performance during the week-long festival.
The Proms kicked off last year in spectacular style with the last ever gig by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, and the unforgettable unveiling of Damon Albarn's new band, The Good The Bad and the Queen.
So although it take a lot to top a dead soul legend, I think the organisers may have just managed it.
Mark Ronson, the darling of the pop press (is there a backlash?), will be doing his trendy NY thang with Lily Allen and Charlatans' Tim Burgess, alongside a inevitably meaningful affair with The Coral at the Roundhouse on Wednesday's opening night.
Paul McCartney is on the following evening, same place, same time, and if his set is anywhere near as good as a recent show at the Electric Ballroom, it will be amazing. But the gig of the night on Thursday has to be the Chemical Brothers, supported by French pups – they are your friend – Justice, at Koko.
Friday sees the Kaiser Chiefs pound out tracks from their second album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, and no doubt unheard-of (and hopefully better) songs from their as yet unreleased third album at the Roundhouse. On the same night chav-tastic Reverend and the Makers are on at Barfly alongside The Metros. Enough already with 'the' prefixed band names.
And on Saturday the Jazz Cafe is turning a blinder with rapper Kano performing alongside loverman Craig David, while Bloc Party are on at the Roundhouse.
Meanwhile Razorlight's hard-to-love frontman Johnny Borrell is supporting Kinks legend Ray Davies on Sunday at the Roundhouse, who is also going to bring on his local band The Crouch End Chorus.
And at the FREEDM Studio there is a spectacular selection of films, including an Otis Redding gig and Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival.
Last but not least Girl Like You crooner Edwyn Collins and 1980, year that God made her hipster Estelle are heading up the rear.
Basically, the BBC Electric Proms has every genre covered. From grime-wave spitters (like nu-rave but grime instead) to wax smoking Djs, from sublime symphony orchestras to the off-kilter musings of NME's latest darling sporting an angular haircut, it's there.
But as the music cognoscenti will descend on Camden for five evenings of shape-throwing and serotonin-drenched madness, be warned tickets will be in short supply. Even so, leave the the family jewels alone, and forget about popping pills in the name of medical research. You can get the lowdown from the Proms website www.bbc.co.uk/electricproms. And all is not lost if you can't get your mitts on a ticket, because the BBC will be broadcasting the festival live on their website with the best bits being shown on radio and television.
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