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The Review - MUSIC - grooves with CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 1 November 2007

THE Electric Proms just leaves you feeling all warm and fluffy inside. I know I may possibly sound like the biggest grinch of all time to pull it apart – or just stretch it slightly – but there are a few things about it that confuse me.
First up, let’s deal with the idea that the event is supposed to bring you something different – an unusual collaboration or a new way of playing a song. Well, that happened in spades at the Mark Ronson gig, but Paul McCartney didn’t exactly tackle much of The Prodigy’s back catalogue, and The Enemy, charming as they were, essentially did what they always do, just with a different banner taped up behind them.
My next issue is with the name. What does it have to do with the Proms – a much-loved fixture in the classical calendar? While its aim to bring classical music to a younger, pop-fixated audience is commendable, I don’t think sticking a 50-piece orchestra at the back of the Roundhouse stage is the answer. They banged a few cymbals and the first violinist got a bit excited at times, and that was cool to see during the show, but all that was cut out of the highlights screened on TV, which was Electric, but no Prom.
And while the BBC Concert Orchestra got the biggest round of applause on the night I went to see Mark Ronson, it was lip service, like telling someone you had a great time with them only on the condition that you will not be asked to do it again.

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