The BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms (formerly the BBC Electric Proms) was an October pop music festival in London run by the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
for five years, 2006–2010. On 31 January 2011, the BBC announced that the event would be discontinued with immediate effect due to financial cutbacks.
The name was taken from
The Proms
The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...
, a classical music festival running since 1895, and borrowed a few traditions from its counterpart such as the final night culminating in an interpretation of ''" Land of Hope and Glory"''. The musical performances at the festival typically involved
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
bands incorporating instruments outside of their usual arrangement, most commonly in the form of collaborations with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Primarily the festival's headline acts played at The Roundhouse in Camden but events, which included a programme of film, were not limited to this venue. For example, acoustic events took place at Cecil Sharp House. In 2008 in acknowledgement of its status as European Capital of Culture, events were staged in both
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and London.
In Australia, this program started airing on ABC2 from 1 May 2009 with episodes in a scattered order.
2010 line-up
The 2010 event (rebranded as the BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms) took place solely in The Roundhouse and ran from Thursday 28 October to Saturday 30 October. The entire event catered to the Radio 2 audience, whereas previously the Electric Proms events featured the involvement of all four of the BBC's national popular music stations.
There were three acts, which were announced by Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2.
28 October
Elton John
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Lulu
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and
Amy MacDonald
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2009 line-up
The 2009 event took place solely in The Roundhouse and ran from Tuesday 20 October to Saturday 24 October.
20 October
Robbie Williams
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Hal Ritson
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Shirley Bassey
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The Streets
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Lowkey
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The Coral
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;
Editors
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Sigur Rós
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Paul McCartney
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Jamie Cullum
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Justice
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Kaiser Chiefs
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Bloc Party
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Ray Davies
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Ben Westbeech
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The Flaming Lips
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Paul Weller
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with
Amy Winehouse
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James Brown
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The Who
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Donovan
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both on the same set.
See also
*
The Proms
The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...