Martin Fry @ Night Of The Proms


		Martin Fry participated in the prestigious Night Of The Proms tour at the end of 2001. He perfomed on 47 shows in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, backed by a 72-piece orchestra and a 50-piece choir. About 562.000 people attended the shows. Other artists who performed included Meat Loaf, Chris de Burgh and Adiemus. A CD featuring the highlights of Night Of The Proms 2001 is OUT NOW. It features two ABC tracks: The Look Of Love and When Smokey Sings. You'll be able to buy this from German, Belgium and Dutch internet music shops such as http://www.bol.com
		Night Of The Proms in Rotterdam Ahoy. Review by Stephen Grady This year marked the 15^th anniversary of the Night of the Proms, and once again the Ahoy’ in Rotterdam was the gracious host to the orchestral tour’s visit to The Netherlands. Again this year there was a diverse line-up of guests providing the pop components for the event, including Meat Loaf, John Miles and his Electric Band, Chris de Burgh, Adiemus (Karl Jenkins) and the irrepressible Martin Fry. Linking and harmonising the whole show together was the Proms superb ‘Il Novecento’ orchestra, conducted by Robert Groslot and the ‘Fine Fleur’ choir.
		The show opened wonderfully dramatically with a crescendo of horns and drums, announcing the incredible sound of Richard Strauss’s ‘Also Sprach Zarathrustra’, and aptly in 2001, this confirmed that the audience was truly destined for a tremendous musical odyssey. This was greeted enthusiastically by the building crowd. Following various introductions from the compere and also a rousing rendition of Johannes Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No.6, the show continued to evolve. The lead percussionist, who had an amusing sense of humour which the crowd enjoyed throughout the evening, had stepped forward with his xylophone, and following a short hush began to play some beautifully flowing notes as from a lullaby that were quite enchanting. For those in the crowd who knew the ABC* repertoire in depth or for those listening very carefully, may have sensed that it was time indeed for the entrance of Mr. Fry. As the chords began to build and form more beautiful tones, it was soon clear that we were being delighted to a simple, but so-charismatic introduction to ‘The Look of Love’, although possibly this could be expressed as the ‘xylophone of love’ just for tonight!
		Indeed, with the audience clapping in time, from the back of the stage, a shadow slowly took centre-stage and subtly we were treated to the dulcet tones of Martin Fry accompanied by the full orchestra. It was an entrance of a confident, mature and professional performer, looking suitably dressed in fine attire. For ABC* fans, this was the first time that the orchestral grace and majesty of ‘The Lexicon of Love’s World Tour’ had been revisited almost twenty years on, and indeed was probably bettered due to the far bigger orchestra. For many fans who were fortunate enough to be at the Ahoy’, or elsewhere in Europe at the Proms, this provided their first chance to hear these songs similar to their original live glory. During The Look of Love, the most notable parts were the quiet string-driven moments, with eclipsing flutes and piccolos.
		Then followed ABC*'s song which is most clearly suited to the classical treatment – the string-drenched masterpiece, introduced by Martin as “a romantic song called All of My Heart”. The real power, glory and despair of the heart-felt lyrics were delivered, enforced by the dramatic suspense of the tight orchestra. In fact, the version sounded as though it could have been literally taken from the original long player itself, so true to the original it was. The crowd was also keen to sing along to the chorus. The only slightly disappointing moment was the rather abrupt transition from its end into Martin Fry’s final song. With no time to really applaud All of My Heart, there was a rapid, but admittedly apt shift into a short introduction from Smokey Robinson’s ‘Tears of a Clown’, for of course ‘When Smokey Sings’. This was a clever idea, but the introduction could have been extended, further emphasised and more subtly arranged into the beginning of the song. However, the tempo certainly raised and the crowd seemed to react accordingly with a rousing response to this. The pleasure of this, was to hear for the first time a song from ‘Alphabet City’ given the classical treatment, and it worked well. Indeed, this suggested that perhaps Alphabet City was indeed the reincarnation of The Lexicon of Love, half a decade on! There were some sweetly subtle percussion moments, defiant horns and the string-section again allowed the song to swing and swagger on. The performance seemed to fly by, and Martin left the stage to deserving applause.
			Other notable highlights were John Miles’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’ and ‘Music’, ‘Adiemus’ by Adiemus, Chris de Burgh’s ‘Lady in Red’ and a lengthy version of Meatloaf’s ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’. Slightly annoying was the possibly over-noisy standing crowd during the quieter orchestral moments, and the often-untimely interruptions by the compere during the evening, which tended to disrupt the flow of the music and the performance. The acoustics were much improved in the seated areas, but to gain a real perception of the full orchestral workings, the CD released from the 2001 Proms features excellent versions of The Look of Love and When Smokey Sings. Unfortunately the sublime xylophonic introduction to The Look of Love is not fully included, but the clarity of both recordings is superb, elaborating the full pomp and might of the orchestra as well as Martin Fry’s strong and precise voice. To end the show after Edward Elgar’s ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, all the guest musicians and singers joined together on stage along with the choir and orchestra for a fun version of The Beatles’s ‘Yellow Submarine’, Martin Fry taking much of the lead on vocals. It was the right way to end a truly celebratory evening of music – classic meets pop.