Doorstep Gigs during Lockdown

The Doorstep gigs is an intitiative created by Jack Drum Arts in response to the lockdown measures with the idea of bringing live music to doorsteps so people could enjoy music and theatre from the safety of their own home.  Runaway Samba youth band were part of the programme and definitely a huge success not just in terms of the benefit it had on the community but also the boost in confidence and self esteem being involved had for the young people who were part of the performance team. My role was to help facilitate the young musicians in the development of the show which was loads of fun as we all bounced ideas off each other and made the show fun and exciting.  When the show was ready we performed for key-workers, care homes, shielding individuals, families and vulnerable people across County Durham and Newcastle.  In total over a 6 week period we have performed just shy of 20 gigs.

The feedback from the people who saw us play was fantastic, people danced, clapped and smiled in every show even if they had to remain indoors. Some people even gave us donations for our performances. One person commented “the enthusiasm and professionalism of the performers was outstanding” which is so good for all of the band members to hear as often samba bands and in particular young people are viewed as disengaged and not interested in supporting their community. The reaction from the care homes was also hugely positive as we didn’t expect older people to love it so much; assuming older people wouldn’t like the loud drums and shouting.  However, they probably enjoyed our performances the most. One staff member from a care home said “everyone was impressed with some residents and staff saying they’d rather have you come to perform than a singer” even adding that “these young people are amazing, makes me tearful and emotional”. 

Doorstep Gigs has had a huge impact across County Durham as many of our performances were for people who had been shielding, we did one gig in Newcastle for Mary, a woman who had been shielding since the start of lockdown and had missed her weekly dance classes with her friend George, when we started playing outside her house she started to dance with her friend George behind us and the whole street came out to watch, dance and cheer them on - the community spirit we witnessed whilst out and about has been massive.  One young member of Runaway Samba had been shielding since March so we made a visit to his doorstep playing outside his window whilst he sat indoors with him mum and sister.  His mum said "Runaway Samba made James' day, week, months year and he will never forget it."  whilst James said “The best drum band ever”.

The fact we brought some joy to these peoples lives in quite a depressing time was so uplifting for all of us who were involved. There was a huge impact for the parents of the young people who had to help transport us around the county. They watched as our confidence grew and witnessed the impact it was having on peoples lives. One parent said “It has been so wonderful to see the elderly residents thoroughly enjoying themselves. Well done young folk. You make me very proud”. Some of the parents even had the chance to see their child perform just outside their homes as we did 4 gigs for the families of the drummers which often gathered quite a crowd of neighbours. This also boosted the young people’s confidence with one young person saying “I especially enjoyed playing outside my house, where I could show off my skills to my entire family and the estate where I live”. 

The impact on the band members musicanship has been huge, their confidence has grown and we all started to become closer as a group. One young person said “I loved every minute and I’m so thankful for the great opportunity as I now have life-long friends and memories”.  The power of this project has been huge and the impact that the music has had on our community and the people we have performed for with huge restrictions because of the Covid 19 pandemic will be remembered for a longtime by all of us. The social aspect of the gigs helped improve but also retain our social skills in a time when people were often isolating. Musically each of the young band members has progressed with each of them now knowing the set of the band inside and out with another young person stating that “I can play them all confidently, even if I am the only snare player”. As a leader it’s been great to see them all become more and more professional and tight as a group as by the end I barely had to do anything and could give really short signals which meant I wasn’t distracting the audience from the show. All these gigs also fed into our Darlington Drum Festival Online performance where we recorded the set in for a live recorded music video so each and every one of the young people had to not only play really well but also learn to perform for the camera. Without the Doorstep gigs this netx step of making and directing our own music video wouldn’t of happened. 

I think it’s also worth a mention that the doorstep gigs provided a chance for the band to really set its roots in our local area with the band itself actually growing in membership during lockdown. This in turn also meant more and more people were exposed to Afro Brazilian music. A young person even said “positive knowing that we brought joy and entertaining Brazilian music to hundreds of people”. 

So overall the Doorstep gigs have been personally amazing for the people who made it happen, while it has had a lasting impact on the local community in which we are based and has shown people that community music can bring jso much joy to people.  We might have had small audiences but the impact has been huge.