Do you remember your first gig? I do. Adam and the Ants at the Glasgow Apollo. Stand and Deliver! Just amazing.
So, when I looked around at my little charges, all 25 of them, dancing in the aisles, their wee faces wrapped up in the music, well, it brought it all back. We were among the lucky people who had managed to get tickets for one of the schools concerts in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, as part of the Celtic Connections festival.
When the musicians Mairearad and Anna appeared on stage, the weans were mesmerised by the instruments - three- and four-year-olds playing air accordion is truly a sight to behold. They danced and swayed to fast and slow songs alike, encouraging us oldies to join in, too.
The next act was Rura, a Scottish folk band. They were wonderful - no surprise to hear that they’d won live act of the year at the 2015 Scots Trad Music Awards. Their music fired the young audience up even more.
We began to worry about them suffering heat exhaustion, as we attempted to get them to rest and have a wee drink - no chance! These weans were on a mission to enjoy every moment of the show and bop till they dropped.
Three- and four-year-olds playing air accordion is a sight to behold
Amid all the buzz and excitement, thank goodness for the parent volunteers who’d come along to help. How magical for them to get to see their own kids having a ball like that. The concert had definitely opened the door to a new, exciting world that would develop skills for life - maybe there’s even a wee Martyn Bennett or Julie Fowlis (pictured, above) in our nursery class.
The bus journey home was fun, too - singing our versions of the tunes we’d heard. Guitars, bodhráns, pipes, all improvised a cappella.
Mums and dads waiting at the school gates were overwhelmed by the explosion of enthusiasm that poured off the bus. Little people shouting about music and singing and instruments and dancing and the “big stage”, and exhorting “go again please, Mummy?”
Over the next few weeks, our music corner was the place to be seen in. The percussion instruments had never been so popular.
The children made their own versions of instruments they had seen and we had Celtic music playing on a loop most days.
Our parents were delighted with the reaction of the children to their first gig. Attending live music has been truly inspirational. Children have used lots of expressive language and are eager to share their experiences, to convey how the music made them feel.
I’m sure they’ll remember it as vividly as I remember Adam Ant.
Margaret MacRobert is a nursery teacher at South Park Primary School in East Kilbride. Celtic Connections 2017 finishes this weekend
