WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2017 lifestyle MUSIC & MOVIES Dancing in the 'gods': A haven for UK concert lovers t's a world apart from the polished atmosphere of tradi- Dancing with the music tional classical music concerts. Way up near the roof of A few meters back from the railing, lying on a blanket, Erica ILondon's Royal Albert Hall, spectators at the summer-time Seo and her partner have made the opposite choice. They lis- Proms soak in the music without worrying about the conven- ten to Robert Schumann's "Violin Concerto" with their eyes tions. "If you're sitting in a seat, you have to sit with your back closed, each one lost in their own thoughts. "It is just like straight all the time and you can get a bit uncomfortable," said being in the living room, but much better music, because it is Lisa Beecham, a 38-year-old teacher from London. "But up obviously live, and you get really a feel of the detail, you can here you can lie down, you can walk around, you can move feel the pulse," she said. "Usually we would sit there and watch position." She is among the tens of thousands who flock every it more closely, but today we wanted to be a bit relaxed." Jane year to the Proms, the world's biggest classical music festival Smith, 61, is attracted by the "anything goes" ambiance. staged at the 5,500-capacity venue. Barefoot and swinging with the rhythm, she is a regular who Only a minority of them experience the concerts from the comes several times a year-and always to the Gallery. Gallery, right at the top of the circular, domed 1870s Italianate "Sometimes, on the top, I can dance, but it has to be the masterpiece on the edge of Hyde Park. The Gallery is a unique right music. I haven't danced this year. Oh yes, I danced once," place to experience the BBC Promenade Concerts, which run she said, with a smile. "And I can go the toilets whenever I annually for eight weeks between July and September. The want." Standing by the access stairs, the ushers are relaxed circular corridor, more than 250 meters (820 feet) long, rings towards Gallery-going Prommers. "It's kind of a special area the top of the auditorium and offers a striking view from because generally it's supposed to be standing, but it's like a beneath its high arches. Up here in the Albert Hall's highest tradition for each person to do their own thing," said Albert reaches-an area referred to as "the gods" in British theatres- Hall employee Ruta, 21. there are no padded red seats or numbered rows. "As long as they don't make much noise, it's not a prob- Prommers stand where they like to best appreciate the lem," she said. Some groups of friends make a mini-picnic out music floating up from the philharmonic orchestra on the of it, sitting on the floor munching sandwiches, with plastic stage a dizzying distance below. Leaning against the barrier, glasses spread out around them. The "unpretentious, relaxed" with a clear view down to the musicians, Matthew Knight said atmosphere pulls in a "much more diverse" crowd than other he prefers standing. "You feel more part of it than if you were London classical music concerts, said Sarah Legrand, 33, who just sitting down," he said, marking the tempo with his right came with a friend. "Here you can see students, young people hand. "You get more concentration, you get more of the music with their kids," she said, looking around. "In other normal because you're not just sitting comfortably." Knight, who indoor classical music venues, most people are retired." The works at London's Southwark Cathedral, comes to around a diversity is fostered by the cheap ticketing strategy. Gallery dozen concerts each year. tickets are sold on the day for £6 ($7.75, 6.50 euros). Seats cost "It is the best festival in the world," he added. Like him, from £7.50 to £100. Purists lament the end this year of the tra- most concert-goers in the Gallery lean against the railing to ditional colorful queue outside for tickets-which has, like so see the stage, some with binoculars to follow the conductor much else, moved online. — AFP close-up. If it gets crowded, elbow room is at a premium in order to see the orchestra. This file photo shows the crowd and stage during the last night of the Proms at The Royal Albert Hall in west London. — AFP Foo Fighters follow 'Adele' blueprint on return A reptilian tail? A runge veterans the Foo Fighters are channeling their "I thought: 'Oh boy, we're getting weird quick!' This "All my friends that were in the know had it and it was solar eclipse: Taylor inner Rick Astley with a bold new record the record we really took extra leaps and bounds, sonically." just something that would be on the stereo at parties." But GAmerican rockers describe as their "weirdest" yet. Due out next month, the new Foo Fighters album combines after a turbulent 2015 when Grohl broke his leg after plung- Swift teases fans While their DNA is rooted in the Seattle grunge scene of the thunderous guitar riffs with lush, harmonic textures. Tracks ing off the stage and they were forced to cancel a tour, early nineties, the band told AFP that turning to British pop such as "La Dee Da" and the Donald Trump-inspired single rumors persisted that the group were set to split. "It would diva Adele's award-winning producer Greg Kurstin for their "Run" rock out, but the Foo Fighters shift gears on the be so dumb for any band to break up," insisted guitarist Pat ninth studio album, "Concrete and Gold", brought a fresh dreamy "Dirty Water", while the title track is a slow-burner Smear, who also used to tour with Nirvana. "You just look dimension to their sound. In an interview before headlining that features Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman. Beatles legend stupid when you get back together." the Summer Sonic festival in Tokyo-where they invited Paul McCartney also plays drums on one track among sev- Shiflett believes the secret of the band's longevity lies Astley on stage for an improbable mash-up of the eighties eral other guest turns, including Alison Mosshart of The in not taking themselves too seriously, pointing to a spat pin-up's "Never Gonna Give You Up" and Nirvana's "Smells Kills. with Coldplay, who took offence at a mischievous bumper Like Teen Spirit"-Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett said: sticker joke in a 2011 Foo Fighters video. "I remember at "People think it's a really weird choice for us to work with Bootleg tape the time Chris Martin got super offended and actually got a pop producer but it made perfect sense. There's so much "Paul McCartney is a fan of music," said Shiflett, nibbling into it with Dave at a kids birthday party or something," more to Greg and his love of music and knowledge base on vegetable sticks in between photo shoots. "He only did he said. "It certainly wasn't meant to offend anybody. I than just the pop stuff." Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, two passes at the song, which he had never even heard don't think this band could ever take itself too seriously." the former Nirvana drummer, chose him to replicate the before. Then he just wanted to noodle around so we just Jaffee agrees. "Not taking yourselves too seriously-all oth- alchemy he has with Adele, this time with a gnarly rock jammed on a bunch of other stuff." The Foo Fighters shot to er bands take note," he said. "It's a very important thing to band. "We weren't getting Greg for Adele's sound," said key- fame in the late nineties with hits such as "This Is A Call," keep in check and I'm sorry, Chris Martin, but all our wives boardist Rami Jaffee, previously a fan of Kurstin's indie syn- "Monkey Wrench" and "Learn To Fly" and have sold more love you!"— AFP thpop duo The Bird and the Bee. "The Greg we had in the than 30 million records worldwide. "I didn't join the band studio was definitely the more adventurous soundscape until '99 but I remember a cassette tape bootleg of the first File photo shows Taylor Swift arrives at the guy-he brought more of that stuff," he added. album way before it came out circulating," said Shiflett. iHeartRadio Music Awards in Inglewood, Calif. — AP ho can eclipse an eclipse? Why, Taylor Swift. Just days after going dark on social media, the Wpop star put out another clue Monday leading to a possible song drop on the same day as the big solar eclipse. And if the lyric-sharing site Genius was to be believed, the tune is titled "Timeless." The title was teased there but taken down later Monday. As for the video clip that appears to be a twitchy rep- tilian tail, well, we're not sure how that might play into Swift's anticipated sixth studio album that all of her social media shenanigans seem to be leading up to, possibly in October to coincide with the anniversary of the release of her "1989." The tail may or may not have something to do with all the snake emojis that took front and center last year on Swift's social streams, including when anti-Swifties used them in Instagram comments after Kim Kardashian West released audio recordings she said proved Swift gave West's hubby, Kanye West, the go ahead for a Swift reference in the song "Famous." Swift wiped her Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and website on Friday, the third anniversary of the release of her "Shake It Off" single.