Florence + the Machine stun at the BBC Proms with orchestral 'Symphony of Lungs' [Review and Gallery]
When The BBC announced that Florence + the Machine would be returning to the stage for their one and only live performance in 2024 at the BBC Proms (69), we knew it would be something unmissable. Last night’s spectacle proved us right, and a whole lot more!
Photo: Andy Paradise / BBC
Set at the Royal Albert Hall (a venue Florence + the Machine have played twice before for the Teenage Cancer Trust, last in 2012), the band took the audience - both in-person and on BBC Radio 3’s live stream - on a whirlwind of nostalgia.
Florence herself noted the throwbacks the band had lined up for the gobsmacked audience:
“So many of these songs were written when I was a teenager or in my very early 20s… we threw so many good songs off the album and they became bonus tracks!”
She also stated the incredible range of the album, and we witnessed this first hand through the gentle plucking of an acoustic abridged version of ‘Hurricane Drunk’, to the swelling violin and organ of ‘Blinding’, and power of ‘Howl’.
Photo: Andy Paradise / BBC
At many occasions, the audience just couldn’t stay seated any longer - ‘Rabbit Heart’ saw most of the hall leap to their feet, ready to receive Florence’s offering as she raised it (and the roof) up. ‘Dog Days’ and ‘You’ve Got the Love’ received equally energetic receptions. Even as songs came to their close, there were several standing ovations as tears were brought to the eyes of many of the onlookers; the gentle ebbs and powerful flows of Jules Buckley’s orchestral arrangements heightening an already hard-hitting album.
Not only did Buckley’s orchestra so poignantly and carefully reimagine the entirety of ‘Lungs’ with medieval undertones, they also stepped up to the challenge of some special treats, including ‘Bird Song’, ‘Hardest of Hearts’, ‘Swimming’ and ‘Falling’ - many of which Florence had not played since 2010. A treat to behold.
You can listen to the full performance now on BBC Sounds.
The video version will be available to watch at the conclusion of the Proms on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two, available for 1 year.
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'Drumming Song’
‘My Boy Builds Coffins’
‘You Got the Love’
‘Bird Song Intro’
‘Bird Song’
‘Swimming’
‘I’m Not Calling You a Liar’
‘Kiss With a Fist’
‘Howl’
‘Girl With One Eye’
‘Hardest of Hearts’
‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’
‘Blinding’
‘Hurricane Drunk’
‘Cosmic Love’
‘Between Two Lungs’
‘Dog Days Are Over’
‘Falling’
