Steve Tromans, “Directions In Music”, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham,1/10/2011 (part of Harmonic Festival)

I witnessed another unique and enjoyable performance at the Harmonic Festival which was held at the MAC which is situated on the edge of Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham.

Pianist and composer Steve Tromans wanted to deliver a performance that was uncapturable by traditional means. To listen you had to obtain a wireless headphone system from reception. This enabled you to explore the theatre and its surroundings whilst listening to an attempt at an eleven hour piano marathon. Some have compared the experience to that of the increasingly popular “silent disco” phenomenon.

When we first arrived Tromans was setting himself up in a space between the theatre bar and the café. We were due to dive into a ticketed gig straight away and initially had no opportunity to listen. However as we emerged from the gig one of the MAC staff passed us a headset and invited us to have a listen and immediately I was captivated. It was strange to be able to hear the music but not see the performer. Ian immediately went to reception to organise a headset for us and meanwhile I went to watch Steve play. It was equally strange to watch him hammering away at the keys of his electric piano but to hear no sound. He was wearing a headset himself and seemed to be quite oblivious to those watching him. By this time there were a number of people sat at tables and on sofas in the immediate vicinity listening on their headsets.

A lot of the time that I was listening I wasn’t actually watching him play. It was such a glorious day that I chose to sit in the outdoor area at the picnic style tables with my head bobbing away to the music. There were other listeners out there and we acknowledged each other with a knowing smile as if we were sharing something secret. Goodness knows what the other people using the park thought of us but I was enjoying the music far too much to feel self conscious.

We were in and out of gigs all day whilst Steve continued to play but I listened as often as I could, even having the headset playing while we were waiting for gigs in the theatres to start. At one point I was sat on a bench, swinging my legs in time to the music when Steve looked up, caught my eye, and smiled right back. It was as if we were in a secret world, there in the middle of a busy theatre complex with someone I had never spoken to before, a very bizarre feeling.

Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end and after the final ticketed event of the day I went back to to the area that Steve was still playing in, almost eleven hours after he had started, to catch the final moments of his marathon. He seemed to stop quite suddenly which rather took me unawares. The people who were still there broke into a spontaneous round of applause and Steve just said “it seemed right to stop right there”.

He must have been exhausted but had provided some excellent entertainment for those who were listening whilst at the same time receiving some very strange looks from people who had just wandered in from the park.

I would just like to mention the MAC itself, what a super venue with a lovely park on the doorstep,  a café serving good food at reasonable prices, and staff that are genuinely interested in you and keen to ensure that you enjoy your time there. 

Thanks must also go to Steve Tromans for producing a marathon performance that was consistently enjoyable.

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