We were thrilled to have been invited to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Proms in the Park event titled: Pop Orchestra Symphonic Smash Hits: The 90s concert at Meyrick Park, Bournemouth. This was the concluding part of the BSO’s ever popular two day Proms in the Park Bournemouth event.
The previous evening welcomed audiences to a selection of classical greats with Now That’s What I Call Symphonic Music, ending with a synchronised firework display. I’m sure this would also have been equally enjoyable, but we were really excited about the prospect of spending the evening partying like it’s 1999.
A Picnic in the Park
After spending the afternoon buying up half the deli counters in a Bournemouth supermarket, we popped everything into a cool bag, gathered together a couple of folding chairs, a picnic rug and backpack, and off we went to Meyrick Park.
Gates opened at 6.00 p.m., two hours before the start of the concert, and when we arrived at around 6.30 p.m. I couldn’t believe how crowded it already was. Getting in was very well organised though as we simply needed to have our tickets scanned. Pre-booked standard adult tickets were £37, rising to £41 on the door which I thought was excellent value for an entire evening’s top class entertainment.
Luckily, we found a perfect gap to lay out our picnic blanket and set up our garden chairs. By the time the concert started at 8.00 p.m. there must have been at least 6,000 people in the park. However, there was still plenty of room for everyone and it didn’t feel overcrowded.
Glancing around, other concert-goers had really gone to town with their Proms in the Park picnic set-ups. There were tables decorated with fairy lights, ice buckets and even candelabra making our own humble arrangement seem not quite up to the mark! Nevertheless, we feasted on pork pie, quiche, salad, salmon and cucumber sandwiches, hummus, and yoghurt, not to mention sharing a bottle of chilled Chardonnay.
Most people seemed to eat their picnics before the performance got under way, but we bucked the trend by not starting until the concert began, which we thought was a good plan.
90’s Pop Classics with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
The concert got under way with the full orchestra alongside four top West End vocalists getting the audience in the mood with a superb rendition of Robbie Williams’ iconic Let Me Entertain You — and that’s exactly what they did for a full two and a half hours. The sound quality was excellent too, and I liked the way they had big screens on either side of the stage, allowing the audience to get a closer look at the musicians and singers. Conductor Pete Harrison, resplendent in his bright orange jacket, certainly looked the part as he expertly led the orchestra through an evening of 90’s pop classics.
As darkness fell, we were treated to a brilliant selection of 90’s favourites, from the Spice Girls to Cher, Simply Red and Robbie Williams. There was ample room in front of the stage for people to get up and dance and, as the evening wore on, most people, including us, simply stood up, swaying to the music around the seats.
Bournemouth’s Ultimate 90’s Singalong
Following a 20 minute interval, it had gone completely dark and the huge stage looked even more spectacular. The party spirit ramped up another gear as the performance moved into high octane dance-pop, followed by some wonderful back-to-back Brit-pop singalongs. Who doesn’t love singing along to Oasis’ Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back in Anger at the tops of their voices on a Saturday night out in Bournemouth?
There was encore after encore, and just as the evening had begun, so it ended with another Robbie Williams classic, Angels, definitely another crowd pleaser. The entire audience was swaying with their arms outstretched in the air, phone torches in hand, casting a golden glow over the evening’s entertainment.
A Brilliant Night at Proms in the Park Bournemouth
What an evening we’d enjoyed! We were so elated and happy as we headed off out of the park at the end of the concert that we didn’t even notice the weight of our chairs and bags.
BSO’s Pop Orchestra Symphonic Smash Hits: The 90’s at Meyrick Park had been everything we’d hoped it would be, great music, a fantastic atmosphere, plenty of nostalgia and a huge audience all joining in the fun. My son was only born in the 90’s but he recognised most of the songs and adored the concert just as much as me. What a talented orchestra the BSO are. We can’t wait to do it all over again next year and perhaps by then we might even have upgraded ourselves to a swish picnic table set-up.
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra offer a full season of both classical and pop music concerts along the south coast and you can discover more by following the link to their website.
We were guests of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and as always, all views and opinions are my own.
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