Old Souls surprise audience onstage with Young@Heart at April Fools Show

We waited until late in the show to bring them out. The movie screen came down at the Academy of Music and a great video by Micky Bedell played to introduce the Prison Project. We decided not to publicize that 5 of the inmates from the Northampton Prison chorus would be there. We didn’t want to hype it, and we weren’t 100% sure we could pull it off.

But when the video ended and the curtain came up, the whole crowd knew exactly what was going on. All 5 of them lined up in front of Young@Heart decked out in black Y@H hats and shirts. Chris, Tony, Sherod, Gregg, and Danny stepped up to the mic and seized the moment, delivering their best performance yet. 6 songs. 3 standing ovations. Unheard of.

“My Girl” by The Temptations (1968)

“Help Me” by Johnny Cash (1973)

“Waiting Room” Fugazi (1988)

“Holla If You Need Me” by Trey Songz (2009)

“Express Yourself” mash-up by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (1970) and N.W.A. (1988)

“Forever Young” by Bob Dylan (1973)

It’s hard to describe what happened. When the first song ended, the entire audience stood and roared. Onstage it felt like a great wave of energy, positive, uplifting, healing. Unbridled love.

Dane Kuttler, who attended the concert, in a letter to the editor of the Daily Hampshire Gazette wrote “it seemed like the whole town took to its feet and raised their fists in the air, cheering for five men who might have otherwise been invisible. Five men, standing with a crowd of elders — another group of people who, too, have been made invisible. Whether the nursing home or the prison, we keep them out of sight and out of mind. Certainly out of our ears.

The men sang like elephants — wild and triumphant and so very, very visible. So seen. And the crowd replied with their ecstatic trumpet: you are seen. You are seen. You are loved.

I tell you, if you’d been there, you’d have felt like singing.”

We filmed the concert so at some point we will post video. For now, we have stories and a photo by Jason Picard of Tony, Gregg, and Danny rockin’ the mic.

Here’s a wonderful article from March 24th about the Prison Project by Hunter Styles for the Valley Advocate.