On Monday I went along to Refugee Week Scotland’s opening concert at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow. I had a brilliant night, filled with music, dancing and genuine celebration. What a fantastic way to kick off a week of great events.
A night of music and more
We were treated to fantastic musical performance by the eclectic Randolph’s leap who bring together an uplifting combination of instruments and put on an energetic performance.
Some of their lyrics really stuck out for me and allowed for a moment of reflection in among the festivities:
“I’d create false memories from garbage I’d misheard” – this powerful line made me think about the problems caused by misinformation and the effect this has had on public opinion of our asylum seeker and refugee communities.
“How can you tell what’s real anymore when you’ve got no ceiling and you’ve got no floor” – this reminded me of those asylum seekers in Glasgow who have been made destitute by government policy.
A celebration…
However, the tone of the evening was upbeat and celebratory and I was reminded of the positive spirit of Refugee Week Scotland. The band put on a brilliant performance – I know I’ll be buying their EP when it comes out – as did the Pictish Trail and King Creosote.
…and dancing
The evening came to a fantastic finale and the overall theme of spirit was encapsulated perfectly by the sight of a group of young teenage asylum seeking boys, from the Guardianship programme , dancing the night away to King Creosote – clearly revelling in their first experience of live Scottish folk music!
The Spirit video was shown in between performances.
I loved it, my favourite scene features four little girls chanting “we all love Scotland” then giving us a great rendition of a Scottish fling!
If the launch is anything to go by I have a lot to look forward to in Refugee Week Scotland 2012, I’ll be keeping the blog updated with events I attend and make sure you check out some of the events lined up!
