Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany30th November 2024
Night of the Proms 2024 with Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics, Shaggy, Mickey Thomas’ Starship, Max Giesinger, Louis Philippson, Cutting Crew, the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Alexandra Arrieche, the NOTP Backbone Band and the choir Fine Fleur - moderation by Markus Othmer
The very first German Night of the Proms in Germany took place in Dortmund exactly 30 years ago. On the last evening of November 2024, the series celebrated its 30th anniversary and, of course, once again took place in the completely sold-out Westfalenhalle in Dortmund.
The parking situation around the venue was disastrous that very evening. The “German Classico” Borussia Dortmund versus FC Bayern Munich took place as the top match of the 12th matchday of the Bundesliga from 6.30 pm in the huge Signal Iduna Park in front of over 81,000 spectators. The car parks around the stadium and the Westfalenhalle were completely full by the time the first guests arrived for the Night of the Proms. Even the Park & Ride facilities were completely exhausted by this time. “Drive further into the city and then into some side streets and then walk or take the train back to the hall!” advised one of the workers who were busy blocking the access roads to the Westfalenhalle. Fortunately, the expected parking problems were on the minds of the guests present, so they started their journey early and the event was able to start almost on time in the end.
Since the very beginning of the Night of the Proms, the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra has been the centrepiece of the show. The orchestra will once again be conducted by the Brazilian conductor Alexandra Arrieche. This unbeatable team is supported by the NOTP Backbone Band, a five-piece group that complements the orchestra with percussion, keyboards, guitar, bass and drums and masters every musical style in its sleep. And that's not all: three backing singers from the neighbouring Netherlands and the 24-strong Belgian choir Fine Fleur provide the vocally powerful, perfect sound polish that the Night of the Proms deserves.
Among the pop stars, Dave Stewart is certainly one of the highlights. As an award-winning singer, composer, songwriter, producer and co-founder of the EURYTHMICS, Stewart has made a significant contribution to the history of pop music. Dave Stewart is joined on vocals by Australian singer Vanessa Amorosi. In fact, the two artists have been working together on and off since 2012, including at this year's Night of the Proms. The singer's star was rising around the time the EURYTHMICS split up: in 1999, she had her biggest hit with ‘Absolutely Everybody’. SHAGGY, the master of Reggae Pop and the man behind some of the biggest party anthems of the last few decades, including the mega hits ‘Boombastic’ and ‘It Wasn't Me’, is also part of the Night of the Proms. His reputation as an entertainer precedes him.
Micky Thomas from STARSHIP is another high-calibre performer. The US Rock band made their breakthrough in the mid-80s with ‘We Built This City’. Further hits followed. The voice of charismatic singer Mickey Thomas characterised the band's hits at the time. For the second time since 2002, CUTTING CREW will be joined by singer Nick Van Eede and guitarist Gareth Moulton. With the single ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’, the band stormed the charts worldwide, making it to #1 in the USA. Two local heroes from Germany complete the field of stars. The first is Max Giesinger, who came fourth in the first edition of the casting show “The Voice Of Germany” and went on to have an impressive career, with the singles ‘Wenn Sie Tanzt’ and ‘80 Millionen’ standing out. The second artist from Germany is not quite that far yet. LOUIS PHILIPPSON. The young pianist is in his early 20s and combines classical music with modern influences with virtuosity, bringing his own fresh approach to each piece.
The Show
As mentioned at the beginning, the event started a few minutes later than announced. However, presenter Markus Othmer, known on TV among other things from the ARD Sportschau and the ARD Mittags-Magazin, finally entered the stage and welcomed the audience. Over the course of the evening, the presenter would make a few more appearances, for example to welcome the next acts on stage or to introduce the interval. In his opening speech, Markus Othmer briefly recalled the history of the Night of the Proms series, its origins in the Westfalenhalle in 1994, its 30th anniversary and then welcomed the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Alexandra Arrieche. The show began.
The concert opened with the ‘Ouverture’ by the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra and the NOTP Backbone Band, a piece that itself bridged the gap between classical and pop music. As in previous years, the following ‘Waltz Medley’ gave the audience the opportunity to dance a Viennese waltz to the sounds. More and more dance couples filled the unseated area in the centre of the stage, enjoying their performances. After this atmospheric start, it was time for the first star of the evening. Pianist LOUIS PHILIPPSON, who lives in Mühlheim an der Ruhr and has a decent number of followers on TikTok in particular, seemed downright thrilled to be part of the Night of the Proms show. And you could definitely tell from his performance. The joy he showed in playing went down extremely well with the audience. The young pianist was sure to receive enthusiastic applause.
The British-Canadian band CUTTING CREW released three albums from the mid-1980s onwards, of which the debut album ‘Broadcast’ with ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’ stormed the charts worldwide. Although the band itself has not existed for 30 years, singer Nick Van Eede has not let that stop him. Together with his long-time friend and exceptional guitarist Gareth Moulton, he then took the stage. While the guitarist was allowed to show off his skills in an extended instrumental at the beginning, Nick Van Eede finally joined in as a singer with THE band’s hit. Afterwards, classical music once again took centre stage. In ‘Figaro's Hochzeit’, the orchestra once again shone under the direction of the intense and passionate conductor Alexandra Arrieche. Louis Philippson then took to the stage once again to present two more pieces, ‘Beethoven Virus’ and ‘Supernova’. Interesting: the light show above the heads of the orchestra was linked to the piano and showed which keys the pianist was pressing in two light strips.
Then it was time for the Fine Fleur choir. Guiseppe Verdi's ‘Dies Irea’, supported by the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra, was extremely well received. Max Giesinger was the second German artist to take to the stage and presented his greatest hits with ‘Wenn Sie Tanzt’, ‘Menschen’ and ‘80 Millionen’. Before ‘80 Millionen’, the singer outed himself as single and asked the audience to reveal who had been together with the same partner for more than 30 years, which was the case here and there with the audience. During the song, Max Giesinger finally made his way into the crowd, left the stage and used the paths between the rows of chairs to get closer to the audience.
After another intermezzo by the orchestra, STARSHIP were the highlight of the first set. The US Rock band, who had three major hits in the 80s with ‘We Built This City’, ‘Sara’ and ‘Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now’, performed in the person of their singer Mickey Thomas and his younger singing partner. The world-famous songs, accompanied by the orchestra and the NOTP Backbone Band, naturally went down extremely well. The now 75-year-old singer's vocals were not always convincing, but he was brilliant in the difficult parts without exception. His partner was convincing all along the line. As a duo, the two artists harmonised perfectly. After the interval, it was once again the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra that kicked things off. With ‘Pirates Of The Carribean’, whose motif was clearly recognisable from the film series, and the ‘Ritual Fire Dance’, in which the consistently magnificent light show coloured the stage flickering red, the orchestra got the second half off to a wonderful start.
And then came SHAGGY. Admittedly, I wasn't seriously expecting Shaggy at Night of The Proms. But I was proved wrong. With ‘Hey Sexy Lady’, ‘Boombastic’, ‘Oh Carolina’ and ‘It Wasn't Me’, Shaggy and his singing partner fired from all guns blazing, impressing with their humour, self-confidence and entertaining qualities. And of course, SHAGGY also sought contact with the audience and immersed himself in the crowd while his partner danced with the ladies in the front row close to the stage. What a performance. What a show. In terms of atmosphere, this performance was clearly the highlight of the whole evening. Louis Philippson, Max Giesinger and CUTTING CREW performed once again before Dave Stewart brought the evening to a climax. After the young pianist presented a medley, Giesinger and CUTTING CREW performed a beautiful duet with ‘More To This Life’.
But then it was time for the finale. Dave Stewart was allowed to present a total of five songs from the large repertoire of the EURYTHMICS discography. And these were, of course, the hits that Stewart released with Annie Lennox at the time: ‘Here Comes The Rain Again’, ‘There Must Be An Angel’ and ‘Sweet Dreams’ are modern classics of pop music history. Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox have now been going their separate ways musically for two decades. In Dortmund, the British guitarist, songwriter and producer was joined by Australian singer Vanessa Amorosi. Amorosi sang the songs just as confidently as Stewart performed on the guitar. The vocal colour of the Australian and ANNIE LENNOX are worlds apart, but that didn't get in the way of the performance. The songs worked splendidly and were worthy of a final.
When the last notes of ‘Sweet Dreams’ were finally played, the whole ensemble took to the stage together once more and celebrated. A great evening in the prestigious Westfalenhalle thus came to an end. Tickets for 2025 could already be purchased during the event. And we can assume that next year will also be a very well-rounded event. 2024 was definitely fantastic.
The Setlist
01. APO - Ouverture
02. APO - Walzer Medley
03. Louis Philippson - Tchaikovsky Konzert Nr. 1
04. Cutting Crew - Died In Your Arms
05. Cuttin Crew - I’ve Been In Love Before
06. APO - Figaro’s Hochzeit
07. Louis Philippson - Beethoven Virus
08. Louis Philippson - Supernova
09. APO & Fine Fleur - Verdi - Dies Irea
10. Max Giesinger - Wenn Sie tanzt
11. Max Giesinger - Menschen
12. Max Giesinger - 80 Millionen
13. APO - Palladio Allegretto
14. Starhip - We Built This City
15. Starship - Sara
16. Starship - Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now
---break---
17. APO - Pirates Of The Carribean
18. APO - Ritual Fire Dance
19. Shaggy - Hey Sexy Lady
20. Shaggy - Boombastic/Oh Carolina/It Wasn’t Me
21. Shaggy - Strength Of A Woman/Angel
22. Louis Philippson - Medley
23. Max Giesinger & Cutting Crew - More To This Life
24. APO - Ouverture Wilhelm Tell
25. Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again
26. Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics - There Must Be An Angel
27. Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics - Miracle Of Love
28. Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics - Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
29. Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
The mix of classic and Pop is surely not easy, but the concept of NOTP succeeded once more. Even though you might not be into classic or into this kind of Pop music presented there, the event is always highly recommended.
All Pictures by André Wilms
