Streets ahead at the Proms

By Georgie Rogers
6 Music news reporter

The Streets' first album Original Pirate Material was released in 2002

The Streets' Mike Skinner said it was an honour to perform at the Electric Proms because his late father was a fan of the BBC.

Skinner, whose ballad Dry Your Eyes was a tribute to his father, added he had pulled out all the stops for his set.

Along with the full band, The Streets enlisted the backing of The Heritage Orchestra and seven gospel singers.

The show took place at the Roundhouse in London's Camden Town on Thursday 23 October, with support from Santogold.

The band played a balanced set of older hits and new tracks from Skinner's latest album, Everything Is Borrowed.

All of those on stage were sporting a pair of Skinner's trademark Reebok classic trainers.

Speaking to 6 Music about the Electric Proms before the show, The Street's wordsmith said: "It's just great to be involved with the heritage of the BBC and all of its associations that my father loved for many years.

"It's the BBC isn't it? You can't really go wrong."

I quite like the idea of the juxtaposition of the nice, well behaved orchestra and the not so well behaved Mike Skinner The Streets frontman Mike Skinner on the BBC Electric Proms

He explained his performance plans: "Apart from the usual show, which is pretty raucous anyway, it just seemed obvious to really expand the musicianship because virtually I had a lot of musicians playing on the new album, and obviously I couldn't afford to pay for it myself.

"It's a licence to do anything you want to do. I think the way tours are put together, they have to fall within certain constraints, but this is giving an artist an event that they can focus on and live out all their wildest fantasies.

Everything Is Borrowed is more philosophical and optimistic than Skinner's earlier songs

"You'd have thought it happens more, but it doesn't happen really. That's the beautiful thing, it's an event you can run wild with."

Pre-show, Skinner revealed: "I quite like the idea of the juxtaposition of the nice, well-behaved orchestra and the not-so-well-behaved Mike Skinner."

This was a statement the frontman lived up to, engaging the crowd in a number of activities; leading everyone in a collective freeze frame, getting the audience to crouch down before jumping up simultaneously and culminating the show with a topless crowd surf back to the stage.