Central Hall Westminster provided the backdrop for the nation’s New Year’s Eve revelry when great British pop band Madness took to the stage in the venue’s Great Hall for the BBC One’s annual concert to mark the start of 2019.
This was the sixth year running that the iconic central London conferencing and events venue hosted the channel’s New Year’s Eve concert in front of a live audience of over 2,000. With a peak audience of 13.3million tuning in on BBC One, the New Year’s Eve celebrations attracted one of the biggest audiences of 2018 across all television channels in the UK.
The event kicked off with an introduction by Strictly Come Dancing stars, Stacey Dooley and Joe Sugg on the venue’s balcony with its view of Westminster Abbey and the London skyline before moving into the Great Hall with a lively and highly entertaining performance by Madness. The London-based band were also joined by the Kingdom Choir, best known for their unforgettable performance at the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Following a medley of popular songs including ‘House of Fun’ and Wings of a Dove’ which had the audience up out of their seats and dancing, the action cut to London’s famous fireworks display which lit up the night sky over the River Thames as Big Ben struck midnight. The action then switched back to Central Hall Westminster for an unforgettable second set of well-loved classics from Madness from ‘It Must Be Love’ to ‘Baggy Trousers’.
Paul Southern, Managing Director of Central Hall Westminster, commented: “This was a truly spectacular evening and we were incredibly proud to be part of London’s New Year’s Eve celebrations on BBC One for the sixth year running. This was the culmination of a fantastic year for us at Central Hall, with a number of high-profile concerts taking centre stage. Madness put on an incredible show and we were delighted to welcome this London-based band to our venue as well as the fabulous Kingdom Choir.”
