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Sing, sing, sing!
When the world is feeling miserable, it’s time to raise your voice
February 11, 2025 17:59
When the world is feeling miserable, it’s time to raise your voice
February 11, 2025 17:59It's a damp Sunday evening in north London - proper curl-up-on-the-sofa-in-front-of-a-film weather.
So, what do 400 Jews decide to do? Sing, of course.
Packed into a large conference hall (but at least there was free parking), we were here to sample the joys of Koolulam.
A play on the Hebrew words "kol", meaning “voice” and "koolam", meaning “everyone”, Koolulam, was founded with the aim of bringing people together and breaking down barriers through collective singing.
Given the blurb, I did have a fantasy of one big peace-loving, multi-cultural sing-along, but, for some reason, the memo for the night had predominantly gone out to Jewish WhatsApp groups in north London. So, the fulsome praise from organisers that we had "stepped out of our comfort zone to sing with complete strangers" was taken with a generous scoop of salt.
Led by the irrepressible and charismatic Inbar, who, for an hour and a half, kept us all in check from the stage, we were putty in her hands. Stand up. Sit down. Turn to the right. Turn to the left. Speak to your neighbour. Say, "hello" to someone you don't know. Stop talking. (Okay, so the last one wasn't so easy).
After warming up our voices with a popular musical hit, which entailed lots of “aaahs” and “shhhs”, Inbar slickly worked the crowd, dividing us into two groups for the big number ( which I won't give away, but you are going to like it).
Words were on the big screen or handed out on paper for the benefit of those short in sight or short in stature, and musical instruction was as simple as it could have been. It didn't matter if you couldn't read music. In fact, it didn't matter if you couldn't even sing as several hundred voices conveniently drowned you out.
Inbar had strategy as well as style - whenever we started chatting or energy levels began flagging, she would fire up the band with a schmaltzy Elton John/Paul Simon/John Lennon number, and within seconds, we would be under her spell once again.
And, even if, by the end of the evening, I felt like I had sold my soul to the cult of Koolulam, it was worth the sacrifice. We may not make it into the charts – possibly Koolulam’s promotional video if we’re lucky - but boy, did it remind me why singing is one of life’s best medicines.
The tickets weren’t so cheap - and I did go along wondering if dinner would be included - but to spend an evening with a fantastic band, feeling like a popstar, while the world outside is a pretty miserable place right now...I don't think you can put a price on that.
Koolulam will be in Manchester on February 12. For this and future events, click here