Music has been a part of my life since my earliest moments. As a kid I was surrounded by it. My sister and I both took piano lessons. My family had season’s tickets to the symphony. My dad had an extensive collection of classical music that he played regularly. In high school music became an even bigger part of my life as I played in the school band, had a music hall locker, and even was on the executive of the music council. My friends were similarly musically inclined and added to my musical education by introducing me to bands such as U2, Radiohead, and the Matthew Good Band. Near the end of high school I took up the guitar and that became the outlet of my musicality throughout university. Sadly music has become less and less a part of my life in recent times as a lack of money, not to mention inspiration, has meant that my music collection is largely the same now as it was in the first year of university. This past weekend however music once again took centre stage in my life and I was reminded of just how much I missed it.
Perhaps I should explain a bit. Every year in September, the city of Birmingham puts on Britain’s biggest free arts festival, unartistically dubbed “Artsfest”. Artsfest is an opportunity for the artistically inclined locals to put on a show and more importantly, for the general populous to have the arts exposed to them in a way that they seldom experience. All the arts are represented, with drama, film, music, painting and even fashion design on display. As Jenn and I are relatively artistically inclined ourselves, and free sounded just too good to pass up, we spent a good portion of our weekend touring the attractions. We watched a fashion show, learned how to salsa dance, and even were accosted by a theatre group performing an on the run addition of Peter Pan, but by far the thing that stood out to us the most was the music.
Artsfest began on Friday night with a historically inspired concert in the abandoned remains of what was once a bustling railway station. The performance was inspired by Birmingham’s industrial past and featured the open air sounds of steam whistles, percussion and other train like noises. The performers stood on the old station platform behind giant barrel drums that were suspended over roaring fires. The performance space extended from one end of the platform to the other where a giant projection screen occasionally splashed the old station building with images of old trains. As if to backdrop this amazing display, the modern mainline ran just behind the “stage” meaning that real commuter trains flew past throughout the performance. It was a musical experience unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It was loud and abrasive at times but also calm and beautiful and really did make one feel uncannily like they were standing in a railway station at the turn of the century. Unfortunately, being outdoors, it was also bitterly cold so we left before it even finished.
The next night, more prepared this time for the elements, we made our way to the city’s central square for a concert equally mesmerizing but for completely different reasons. The concert was called “Classical Fantasia” and featured the city’s symphony orchestra, ballet company, and opera stars in a combined show. The square was filled with people from all walks of life. Although it was apparent that some in the crowd were used to this type of entertainment, others just stopped and watched the performance on the big screens as they passed. Being that the square was on the street with the busiest nightlife in the city, this was a lot of people. Occasionally the performance was disturbed by talking children, passing young people, or even the nearby merchants selling bird calling devices much to the ire of the crowd, but all these disruptions merely added to the ambiance. As the orchestra played famous piece after famous piece I was struck by how fond my childhood memories of attending the symphony in Toronto had been. Towards the end of the show the music was accompanied by a spectacular light show that included blazing torches, fireworks, and other dazzling lights all alit perfectly in time with the music. Being that we were on the very edge of the crowd the fireworks were close enough we could smell them. Instead of the endless beat of a base drum to symbolize artillery fire in the 1812 overture we had actual explosions. Pomp and Circumstance was accompanied by fire torches which shot several meters in the air and illuminated the entire crowd. It was in a word: spectacular.
With the operatic sound of Carmen still playing in my head, we made our way to yet another musical event on Sunday. We were heading to see the Fillmore Gears, a band fronted by one of our new friends from TimePlan. Although we didn’t really know what to expect, I was quite excited as an indy rock concert like this one reminded me of the many Bobo the Guava King concerts I went to in high school in support of my friends. I was Bobo’s one true fan and often found myself at some dingy bar in downtown Toronto with few friends but those on stage. The concert was quite good and I was really impressive with Pete’s stage presence. It sounded professional to me, not like some high school band performance and there were quite a number of people who stopped in the square and watched. The stage was built into the cascading fountain in one of Birmingham’s main squares. As the band played several teenagers decided it would be fun to join the naked female statue (locally known as the “Floozie in the Jacuzzi”) and threw each other into the ice cold water. Jenn said: “that is why I don’t want to teach high school.”
Although these random musical wanderings might not seem like much, they brought back priceless childhood memories long forgotten over the years. I found that I missed music and am sad that I haven’t brought more of it with me to England. It also made me reflect on the importance of those symphony visits I found boring when I was a kid, as they’ve helped shaped my awareness of music and the world. Listening to the Fillmore Gears, I thought of my high school friends many of whom I haven’t seen in years and was sad that we have lost touch. Most importantly however, Artsfest provided us with something we have sorely been missing: free entertainment, and for that I am truly grateful.
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