This summer Birmingham hosts a huge rock concert for people from all backgrounds to come together to sing and play in a community experience like no other.

Organised by Moseley-based charity Misfits Music, Brum Rocks Live takes place on 14 July at Forum Birmingham - and there is still time for everyone, no matter their level of musical experience, to join in the fun.

“Brum Rocks Live is the finale event for our Brum Rocks project,” says Misfits Music development manager Rosie Penny. “We’ve been delivering workshops across the whole of Birmingham and Sandwell for adults who play or sing any instrument to any ability to come together, create music with other people, make friends and practice some rock songs.

“Brum Rocks Live is a mass rock extravaganza where we are bringing together hundreds of amateur musicians and singers to perform together in a massed rock gig to celebrate the project, to celebrate Birmingham and to celebrate the city’s music heritage.”

The July event is open to all – with people able to choose whether to come for the day to rehearse and then perform in the gig or whether to simply attend the concert in the evening. People don’t need to have attended any of the workshops, which were funded through the National Lottery Community Fund People’s Project.

“We are hoping to fill the room and get the energy of being together,” says Rosie. “We’ve got two categories for people to come along on the day. There are participants who will arrive earlier in the day and will do a rehearsal with us and then who will perform in the gig.

“And then we also have audience who are coming towards the end just for the evening. They will obviously be invited to sing along but they won’t have been part of the longer process of rehearsing. Everyone is welcome to sing along and we will have the words up.”

People who want to join for the day and rehearse an instrument need to bring their own instrument and, Rosie says, they don’t need to be virtuosos.

“As long as you can play something we will make sure you play it at the right time. If you have no musical background then everyone is welcome to come along and sing and play percussion but if you have some level of skill on your instrument we can get you involved.”

The event also features the world premiere of a song by Birmingham Poet Laureate Jasmine Gardosi, Brummie Steel, which has been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“It will be an Anthem for Birmingham, our celebratory jewel in the crown for Brum Rocks Live,” says Rosie. “Jasmine attended some of our groups to see how we normally work. She’s also been working with Jez Collins, founder of the Birmingham Music Archive, and they’ve been on a bit of a magical mystery tour of Birmingham.

“That was an opportunity for Jasmine to delve into the archive and explore more about Birmingham’s musical heritage which has been the inspiration for the song. She created the content and then has been working with our team to facilitate it to become a fully-fledged song.

“The song that Jasmine has created, Brummie Steel, is incredibly catchy so I think the audience will be singing it, whether they like it or not. We’ll put up the words for all the songs, including Jasmine’s, and I do think people will be singing along.”

Brum Rocks Live aims to follow in the footsteps of city-wide celebrations including the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival and Birmingham 2023 Festival in offering an event which unites people from across the city.

“After the Commonwealth Games we were keen to have something new which we could be excited about, to come together for and to feel proud of because a lot of the news recently has been doom and gloom,” says Rob Jones, co-founder and artistic director of Misfits Music.

“We want to be flying the flag and saying good stuff happens here and we’re still here for you and there are great ways to be involved in the city. It’s been a big team effort to get Brum Rocks Live to how it is now but I think it has come together really well and it’s going to be an amazing day.”

Misfits Music was founded by composer and saxophone player Rob with composer and percussionist Reuben Penny with the aim of creating opportunities for group music-making activities to unite people. Brum Rocks is the latest in a series of projects across the wider Birmingham area in recent years. And the concert is all about encouraging people to enjoy music together, Rob explains.

“Brum Rocks Live is incredibly immersive, especially in a group setting which is key to everything we do, it’s all about togetherness. There’s something about being together totally immersed in making music or in a performance that is unlike anything else. It’s that kind of focused group dynamic of making something together which is so good for people’s wellbeing.“

The team are remaining tight-lipped about the songs being performed but Rob is convinced both musicians and singers will be familiar with them.

“We’re not announcing the programme, we think it’s more fun that way, but they are very well-known songs,” he says.

“We talked to our members and put out a survey and asked which songs would you like to play, and then we made a selection based on the ones which were most appropriate for this event. It comes from them, we’re not top down, we’re bottom up.

“And we’ve been very careful about the repertoire we’ve chosen to make sure it’s specifically appropriate for this event. None of the songs are particularly challenging and they will all come together nicely, we’ve been very deliberate about the way we have done that.

“So people will find it is very accessible from the song choices, through the way we rehearse it, and the event at the end of the day.”

Tickets for Brum Rocks Live on 14 July at Forum Birmingham are available at misfitsmusic.org.uk/brumrockstickets

By Diane Parkes