BBC Proms: Self Esteem shines as Sage Gateshead hosts festival

The BBC Proms they are a-changing; and no more so than here in the North East.

Sage Gateshead is hosting the programme's first ever festival weekend, outside of London.

And where else would you get pop powerhouse Self Esteem performing a stripped-back set with Royal Northern Sinfonia? The audience wolf-howling instead of waving a Union Jack.

As Friday's opening night proved, the spirit of this fine British tradition filled the vast space set on the banks of the Tyne - where the seats were removed to allow the audience to "prom".

Self Esteem clearly loved every minute of her set. With Royal Northern Sinfonia as her band who could blame her? She joked to her manager from the stage, she only wanted to perform with an orchestra from now on.

The collaboration turned out to be the fastest-selling gig in the concert hall's history.

It was the culmination of months of work by conductor and composer Robert Ames, who has worked with the likes of Radiohead, Philip Glass and Taylor Swift.

Along with friend Matt Rogers, he arranged 13 of the Mercury Prize and Brit award-nominee's songs especially for the night.

So how would he describe the new variations of some of Self Esteem's best-loved tracks from album Prioritise Pleasure?

"Multicoloured, visceral and pretty glamourous sounding songs I would say," he said.

"And I think it is the first time Rebecca's performed with an orchestra."

The Rebecca in this case is Rotherham-born singer-songwriter Rebecca Lucy Taylor, the real name of Self Esteem.

Fresh from supporting Blur at Wembley Stadium, only a few days ago she was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Sheffield for her success in the music industry, and championing inclusivity and diversity.

The world's greatest classical music festival has certainly broadened its horizons and is now no longer the sole preserve of the Royal Albert Hall.

For the first time in its 128 year history, the Proms includes a mini festival on the banks of Tyne - just a handful of other UK locations outside of London.

Also performing on Friday - broadcast live on Radio 3 - were clarinettist extraordinaire Arun Ghosh - who's rendition of Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero, was a nice touch - followed by the high priestess of Arabic jazz, Yazz Ahmed.

The bar has been set pretty high.

Curating a weekender that appeals to a wide range of tastes, ages, diversity and pockets has been the responsibility of a team led by Sage Gateshead's Creative Director, and former Prefab Sprout member, Wendy Smith.

There has been a concerted effort to replace the traditional image of the Proms to become something more inclusive.

"We are trying to make sure that there is something for everybody and it is really creative," Smith added.

"With Self Esteem, she had been here in March and performed and it was such a brilliant euphoric gig.

"It's Pride weekend at the same time and we wanted a really strong woman artist to headline the first night."

She added: "We want somebody who is LGBTQ-identifying and we also know Rob Ames, who is a brilliant conductor, composer, arranger.

"So we put those two things together here in the North East and created a unique, stripped-back concert that is Self Esteem without her band but with our orchestra."

But while the face of the Proms has changed, its orchestral backbone remains the same, according to the Director of Royal Northern Sinfonia and Classical Music, James Thomas.

"It's a really exciting time for us," he said.

"For the Proms to be here two years in a row is really special and also to build on what was achieved last year - to go from one Prom to six across a weekend is really brilliant.

"I think the Proms is probably the highlight of most orchestral years. Most orchestras are really keen to be there but the fact that we are doing it on our home turf in Gateshead is really special.

"The fact that we are doing three concerts in one Prom season is quite unique as well."

BBC Proms at Sage Gateshead runs until Sunday.

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