There is nothing like fear

Performing music can be terrifiying.  And there is nothing like fear to bring people together.

Last night there was a moment when I realised the whole thing was going to be a complete disaster.   The rapper for the opening song was running late, the drummer hadn’t turned up, the other performers were all over the place, no one was concentrating and no one seemed to care.  I wondered if I could just do a runner.

Myself and my wife Sally run My Pockets.  My Pockets is an arts organisation, based in Hull that works with young people to give them the skills to be creative, express themselves and tell their own stories.  We support people in making films, art and music about their own lives.

Last night we were running a final performance of a Youth Music project working with 9 groups of teenagers in Hull to write songs about a day in their lives.  When I realised it was all going wrong  I did what you have to do with teenagers sometimes – shout at them and tell them you believe in them.

A remarkable thing happened that I didn’t see coming.  Not only did they start to get their own act together, but they started supporting all the other groups in the project.  I don’t mean that they just clapped and patted each other on the back.  No, they cheered, whistled, stamped their feet waved their hands and hollered their support.

There were young people who are British, Polish, Congolese, Syrian, Afgani, primary school kids, secondary school kids, teenagers who have been excluded from mainstream education and young people facing many challenges in life.  It was what you might call a diverse crowd.

And suddenly they realised that they were all in it together.  The cheers electrified the performances, the audience arrived and each group gave a show that even the My Pockets Team did not expect from them.  It was a fantastic night.  I have nothing but pride for the young people who took part and Hull should be proud of them too.  Although the drummer never did turn up- next time!

To hear the songs and see more about the ‘Our Day’ project visit – mypockets.co.uk