Fringe event hits the net with online showcases
ARTISTS have felt “loss, isolation and a disconnect” during the Covid pandemic, according to singer Becci Wallace.
She’s one of the headliners of online festival Plugged In & Wired – created by Southside Fringe in Glasgow as a temporary replacement to its annual live festival.
More than 50 artists from music, comedy and cabaret will perform.
It takes place online next Friday and acts including comedian Viv Gee, poet Sean Wai Keung and rock outfit Cloud of Starlings have pre-recorded performances.
Becci performs songs from her new album, Present Tense at the Ice Box.
She said: “I think I speak for most artists when I say there has been a palpable and shared sense of loss, isolation and a disconnect from not being able to practise, rehearse and develop our craft in public.
“To some, the arts perhaps seem less vital or immediate during this time – but our Netflix, YouTube and Spotify subscriptions tell a different story.
“Artists have a compulsion to create and for the Southside Fringe to provide an infrastructure that accommodates our needs and the public is fantastic.
“It was truly uplifting to get a chance to perform and record my music on an actual stage with a full PA and the power of the songs behind me.”
Southside Fringe co-founder and organiser Corinna Currie helped set the festival up in 2013 and it had become a much-loved part of Scotland’s arts circuit.
After last year’s festival – scheduled for its regular slot in May – was cancelled, about 200 artists and 26 venues lost income. And with no or little Government help, many performers struggled financially and mentally. While many other events have already thrown in the towel in 2021, Corinna decided to create Plugged In & Wired.
She said: “Many of us have fragile mental health these days. Being a part of something this special has already positively impacted all involved.”
Plugged In & Wired, which has paid the performers, has helped restore confidence in the worth of artists.
Becci, who is married to Record columnist and rapper Darren McGarvey, said: “I tended to my mental health during lockdown by making sure I was connected to a larger community of musicians and creatives. To see these networks beginning to resurface as live events is such an important and satisfying pay-off.”
To view Plugged In & Wired, go to www. southsidefringe.org.uk