Produced By Trevor Horn - Wembley Arena, 11/11/04

The numbers are impressive: 25 years of hits, 6,500 in the audience, 13 acts and one royal. Add to that the pomp of a full orchestra and the personal touch of song-by-song commentary by Horn himself and you have a unique night.

Trevor Horn’s anniversary testimonial for the Princes Trust was presented more or less in chronological order. Which meant that Buggles opened the show, followed by Dollar, ABC, Yes, Propaganda and then Belle & Sebastian. After the interval (presumably for a royal toilet break), Pet Shop Boys, Lisa Stansfield, Seal and tATu brought the story up to date, before Frankie Goes To Hollywood closed the show with a bang.

The house band were a key element of this concert. Lol Creme, various members of Yes, Art of Noise and Buggles’ Geoff Downes were the ones that allowed such a variety of performers to work together seamlessly. The crowd didn’t work together half as well. Disappointed Simple Minds fans (Jim Kerr pulling out after an ear complaint) sat alongside 80s enthusiasts there for partially reformed and, it has to be said, butt-kicking ABC and Frankie, who in turn sat alongside long-haired Yes-sers and shaven-haired Pet Shoppers

So it was the artists with true charisma that got everyone in the arena on their feet and dancing together. Grace Jones did it first, dominating the stage for a stunning Slave To The Rhythm. And Seal followed through, jumping off to deliver most of Killer from within the crowd.

Horn hardly left the stage for the whole evening – singing back-up or playing bass, or darting around playing host. “I’m going to vanish back into the studio for the next 25 years,” he said at the end. But I’m not sure I believe him.