 | | Setting up the stage |
Aimhigher is Rochdale council’s programme to encourage young people to stay on at school and go on to higher education. Yet when Aimhigher co-ordinator Maric Boranski looked down the list of what was going on over the summer earlier in the year, he noticed something was missing. "We thought there was a gap when it came to performing arts, particularly in rock music. I sought out a Higher Institute who could put on a specific rock music event. We went straight to the University of Salford because we knew they were up on popular music." | "If I’d have gone on this course when I was a kid, it would have been mayhem, schools fighting each other, but these kids are really keen to play." | | Martyn Walsh is impressed by the commitment of the teenagers |
That’s how the week-long rock school came into being. Four tutors, each of them with experience in the music industry, took a random pick of some of the 15 students and helped them work towards the production of one cover version and one original song for a show at the end of the week. The concept was a simple one, but not everything began by going to plan. "At the start of the week, when the young people came in, we had to rearrange things according to what instruments we had," said Nicola Spelman, the course co-ordinator, "and it meant that the tutors played with the bands, so we were nervous as to how it would go. "By the third day, we knew we’d turned a corner and realised we could get to that end point of the performance, and that it would be of a standard that everyone could be proud of."
 | | Rehearsing Holiday |
But the course wasn’t just about playing rock music. There were morning sessions on breathing, writing lyrics, establishing a sound and setting up a band amongst other things, as well as warm-up session led by the legendary Manc dance collective Troupe’s choreographer, Amanda Griffiths. The idea was to give the young people a real experience of higher education, and it wasn’t lost on them. As Jess, a 15 year old singer who’d come from Matthew Moss High School put it, "it’s been a learning experience. It helps us cope with being chucked into a situation with people we don’t know."
 | | Mike in action on guitar |
It’s that feeling that passed through all the performers and the feeling of unity was easy and encouraging to see. As course tutor and Inspiral Carpets bass player Martyn Walsh put it, "if I’d have gone on this course when I was a kid, it would have been mayhem, schools fighting each other, but these kids are really keen to play." Jess’ schoolmate at Matthew Moss, Mike, says that the reality is halfway between the two. "I love playing so it’s great. It’s a new experience playing with people I don’t know and songs that I’ve never heard. It’s been an all-round good week." But what of the concert? Well, credit to the tutors and the students where credit is due. The four bands (The Ooze, The Jams, Middle 8 and The Red Stripes) were all remarkably good, when you consider that they’d had about eight hours to rehearse and play together, and their twisted takes on the likes of Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and Manic Monday were great.
 | | The Ooze in performance |
Better still was the confidence that bounded out from everyone on stage. They all played like they’d been together much longer and, when you top the whole thing off with a pair of samba-style percussion pieces and an acapella version of Green Day’s Holiday, they can all feel very proud of their achievement. Not that that is what most of those present were bothered about. As much as they enjoyed playing, the week has been about more for those involved. Put simply, when asked what the worst thing about the week had been, Mike simply leant into to the table and replied that it was "going home, because you don’t get to see people then." You don’t get much better marks of success than that. | 
