'Runaway Samba' play at the European Parliament, Brussels
On Monday 13th July ‘Runaway Samba’ and ‘Arcanum’ embarked on a trip to Brussels, Belgium, to play at the European Parliament. Yes, The European Parliament!
On Monday 13th July ‘Runaway Samba’ and ‘Arcanum’ embarked on a trip to Brussels, Belgium, to play at the European Parliament. Yes, The European Parliament!
The trip was sponsored by the North East Labour MEPs office and supported by Julie Ward (MEP for the North West) and her amazing staff core - Haydn Hammersley, Julia Pouply, and Omri Preiss. The group enjoyed a tour of Parliament, including an introductory talk and an opportunity for a Q&A session with our local Labour MEPs Judith Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen.
Over the course of their stay, the band teamed up with Brazilian samba master Moises Lamas (http://www.afrokata.com/) at Pianofabriek Arts Centre to learn new grooves and styles of performance. Music broke through all cultural and language barriers - Moises donned his ‘Runaway Samba’ cape and played right alongside us at the heart of parliament. It was a pleasure to meet such a great musician and fantastic new friend. Next stop Brazil!
The performance was stellar – mixing our familiar grooves with our new-learned rhythms. Parliament staff were dancing in the aisles and we have it on good authority they could hear us on the 10th floor. That’s easily an unwitting audience of over 7000. Bingo! But all good things must come to an end, and all good performers have to be dragged kicking and screaming off the stage. The people of Parliament are very busy and important and apparently had quite a lot of work to do running the EU. They drifted back to their offices, but not before thanking the young musicians for an ‘unforgettable event’. ‘A breath of fresh air’ they said. ‘The first of many, we hope’ they wished. ‘A bloody nuisance’. You can’t win em’ all.
After the show the band were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of MEP Julie Ward’s office (including the loo) where they promptly took over the fate of the North West for 10 minutes until chaos was quashed and normal service resumed. The session that followed gave an insight into the daily life, purpose, and function of an MEP, how they can work for us, and how we as individuals can get involved in international politics.
A MASSIVE thanks to everyone who worked to make the trip possible. Our young musicians (and not so young musicians) returned to the UK more informed, more enthused, and ready to use music as a tool for activism, politics, and social change.
[N.B. In their very limited downtime the young people took in the sights and sounds (and smells, oh the delicious smells) of glorious Brussels. They also walked on cycle paths 5 abreast, clogged up tram doorways, didn’t have correct change, couldn’t read train timetables, lost their luggage / passports / socks, and had a brilliant time in the process. Brussels didn’t. Sorry Brussels.]