The major thing would be BBC PROMS!!! More specifically the "Last Day of the Proms" concert at Royal Albert Hall(RAH) - 5 pound standing tickets. After vaccilating between going and not going the whole week before (there was a JOSHUA BELL concert I also wanted to go too!), I decided to go, partly because I had found a teman. So that Saturday (this is the Saturday before last) I rush down to RAH so that I can get there before 2 pm and line up for tickets. When I get there, I find that I can't line up for tickets, only one, so I take a raffle ticket for the gallery.
Now, to get the 5 pound standing tickets for the last night, one would have to get a raffle ticket in the queue, and come back about every hour for a roll call. Raffle tickets cease to be given out by about 4 pm, and then it's a long wait till 6.30 pm before you're let into the hall for the event which starts at 7.30 pm (on the dot, thank goodness). And even if you have a raffle ticket, that's no guarantee that you'll get in. More gung-ho people with yearly season tickets have to book their places in the line one day before, and come back at 10 pm the day before, 10 am on the day, as well as stand in line every hour after 2 pm before being let in. And of course they get more priority.
Anyway, I took advantage of some of the 1 hour breaks to get some books to read, which was good because waiting can be quite dreary. The characters waiting there are quite varied however, and it was interesting observing them. The season ticket holders were old familiars to each other, even this little old lady dressed in black with a black shawl and black semi-pointed hat a la a witch (though I'm sure she's the sweetest little old lady you ever saw). Other people brought picnic baskets and made a party of the wait.
My friend couldn't make it by 4 pm, so I decided to go for it alone. Inside the gallery (which is the topmost level of the hall) most of the prime standing spaces at the balcony were gone when I got in, so I meandered around trying to pick the 2nd best spot. There was a group dressed prom-style - guys in suits and girls in gowns; a lot of old men in bowties and tuxedos popping champagne and blowing balloons; and interestingly enough a host of superheroes and fictional characters - I saw Santa Claus, Wonder Woman, and Superman.
On the programme was a tenor, and a violinist, as well as some pieces for the BBC Choir and others solely for the BBC Orchestra. The first half of the concert was like any other concert - good music, lots of applause from audience, lots of bowing from both the soloist and the conductor, etc. I watched all this from a little space between 2 pillars which I shared with a young-looking British boy, who, amazingly, was there alone (young boy + classical music? can't really comprehend...).
It was only during the interval when things began to liven up. The front row prommers (those people with the 5 pound standing tickets) down at the arena (the ground floor open standing space) got up the stage and proceeded to decorate the conductor's stand and the rest of the stage with streamers and festive signs. And from within the audience, out came toots and whistles and horns and anything else that could possibly make sound. Even balloons weren't spared - the sausage balloons were stretched at the mouth as their air was let out (you know the spluttering sound that makes) or let loose into the hall, to woosh randomly around until they dropped on an unsuspecting audience member. I think the object of that game was to get the balloons up on stage. Streamers were thrown from above on those "privileged" audience with seats who weren't able to join in the festivities in the gallery, and down in the arena, big inflatable balls got thrown around to add to the festive mood.
The 2nd half of the concert was really enjoyable -a one-of-a-kind concert experience. The repertoire was not as heavy as the 1st half, and it was filled with lively and familiar tunes, like English airs and "Bizet's Carmen, Toreador Song" and "Pomp and Circumstance". Whatever could be sung, the audience sung along. Whatever couldn't be sung, was hummed, or tooted, or rang, or horned. And the audience would bob up and down to the music if it were a lively beat too. The last two songs, "Jerusalem" and the national anthem, were sung with much gusto and ceremony, akin to the football team anthems that you hear during matches. Very heartening.
I kind of regret going it alone, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. If possible, I'm coming back next year, for more concerts, with more people for company. And a full picnic basket for the experience. Promming is fun!
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