Proms gone

We're going to hear a lot of this sort of thing over the next few years: the BBC has axed the Electric Proms as the government's licence fee settlement doesn't leave the money for them:

[Radio 2 controller Bob] Shennan said: "In the current climate, we are faced with making difficult decisions, including how best to deliver high-quality live music programming throughout the year in light of continuing efficiency savings.

"I feel that Radio 2 can achieve the same impact of the Electric Proms in an alternative, more cost-effective way. I'm disappointed that the lifetime of Electric Proms has come to an end, but very proud of its fantastically rewarding run of creating new moments in music for the past five years."

Radio 2's head of music Jeff Smith has stressed how the network will still be doing lots of live music, just not this.

To be fair, the Electric Proms had become a little showy - what had started out as a range of events with lots of interesting, newer and smaller acts had, by last year, turned into a production number with the sort of names you can see from space. Which must have been a nightmare to organise. I'd suspect that the costs of just lowering Elton John into place could fund an entire month of Friday Night Is Music Night. I'm not sure the Electric Proms will be especially missed, or mourned.

Tickets, please. Please, please, please.

Martin over at Currybetdotnet attempts to buy Depeche Mode tickets from the lovely people at Ticketmaster. It's not a happy experience; it makes you wonder if anyone at Ticketmaster has ever tried to buy things online, never mind from their own store.

On a related note, in the current edition of the BBC's in-house magazine Ariel, an enraged member of staff asks how come SeeTickets was charging not just a £2.50 booking fee, but also a £4.80 "transaction fee" on top of Oasis Electric Proms tickets - the £4.80 to cover "secure delivery" of tickets that, erm, you had to pick up from the venue.

The Official Response from Lorna Clarke, the director of the Electric Proms, stresses how important it was to make sure the tickets didn't end up being sold on eBay or anything (even although the security measures mean that legitimate purchasers are punished by having to jump through hoops to see the event they've paid for) before announcing a "partial" refund.

This misses the broader point about why the gig-goers are being charged at all a separate fee to cover the costs of security for the tickets - it seems to be an odd notion that to avoid people being ripped off and made to pay inflated prices, you, erm, inflate the price but hide it from the headline charge. Why not go the whole hog and slap an extra ten quid 'support band fee' on the transaction?

Beth Orton weekend: Where Do I Begin?

Beth Orton joins The Chemical Brothers for Where Do I Begin at the Electric Proms:



[Part of the Beth Orton weekend]

Kaisers leak own Electric Prom booking

In the course of getting an Australian crowd to record a TV advert, the Kiaser Chiefs have officially outed themselves as being on the Electric Proms bill this year.

Even although they never knew Sir Henry Wood, like.