For only the second time in 16 years I think it was, I managed to be able to watch the Last Night of the Proms on the television last night: this programme marks the end of the Henry Wood Promenade musical concerts that have been held over the summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London for 109 years or so now. It all felt a bit flat I have to say. They had the old favourites in there with our rousing, rattling sing along tunes and songs: Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia and so on; but there was something not quite right. I think it was down to what appeared to be a lack of sponteneity in the audience and some poor camera direction. In the old days the audience at the last night always seemed to be manned (or should that be personed?) by lunatics with a love of music. Now I think that the audience comprises some of those lunatics and some people who are joiners in for the experience and they seem to lack that je ne said quoi that the old timers had. Do you remember that tall chap who always managed to get himself in the middle of the front row and who used to conduct the orchestra and chorus along with the real conductor? He never seemed to be a full shilling to me but he added character. Remember when the singer soloist was a friendly chap or chapess who had some rapport and badinage with the audience or who used to do something wacky during his or her performance? There was no soloist during the mass sing along last night. Do you remember when the conductor used to berate the audience in pantomimic style with something like "Henry can't hear you"! when he felt the sing along element could have been improved on? Leonard Slatkin simply applauded last night's audience after their efforts last night: even though there were the usual encores, there was no real pantomime. There is a new element, too, the Proms in the Park. The Proms in the Park are a good idea in that they set up stages in Hyde Park, Swansea, Belfast and Glasgow and thousands of people flock to them to join in with their own programmes and with the main event in the Albert Hall. All good stuff and there were 40,000 in Hyde park and many thousands of people elsewhere. This is a good and interesting initiative but I think it detracts from the main event. Could be that I've reached an age, a sense of detachment and a level of deafness that militates against my enjoyment of this event now. Either I have to become more intimately involved in the whole process by going to the Last Night or I have to buy a CD of the last night of 1987 or something similar. Ah nostalgia: it's not what it used to be! DW