Five care homes in five hours
Band spreads cheer
A Blantyre band were back on the road at the weekend with a special string of performances for the elderly in the community.
Alternative rock outfit The Naked Feedback hit the right notes playing live to five care homes in five hours – lifting spirits of residents and key workers.
The band say it was vitally important to spread some cheer to those who have been more isolated than others during lockdown, as well as getting back to some normality in their first performance together since February.
The band – made up of Dean Anderson (vocals/guitar), Jack Oliver (vocals/bass), Derek Whiteford (drums) and Callum Anderson (guitar/vocals) – were delighted to get the go-ahead for the gigs around Blantyre which included Victoria House Care Home and Calderglen Care Home.
“We went all across Blantyre,” bassist Jack explained. “We couldn’t obviously go inside anywhere so we brought a show to the residents outside at the front doors and played their favourite songs.
“The residents that were able to would come outside and dance along to their favourite songs. It was great to see.
“A lot of the residents will not have any contact from family really, as nobody has been allowed in the care homes, so it can be quite lonely. Even for the carers as well, it can be a really hard time for them.”
Songs from Elvis Presley and The Beatles proved big hits with the community’s elderly who cheered and clapped along. And there was even some music dedicated to the carers themselves.
Jack continued: “We have the opportunity to sit back in our houses and take furlough but these carers can’t, they need to work and there’s more pressure on them so we wanted to give them a wee bit of relief too.
“We know how hard it can be. It’s hard for us not having anything to do but it’s worse for the residents not being able to communicate how younger ones do online. We wanted to just bring that bit of happiness.
“We played a lot of 50s and 60s, the residents loved The Beatles and Elvis and our favourite was playing It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones. And we played some David Bowie and Queen which the carers enjoyed too.”
Plans for The Naked Roadshow had been brewing for a long time as the band were in talks with Police Scotland for permission, as well as ensuring their equipment was good to go, which was helped by local youth centre Terminal One.
Jack added: “When we first had this idea it was a long time ago. It’s just taken so long because of the different stages of lockdown. We’ve had to discuss with Police Scotland to plan how we do it in a safe manner, and after that we spoke with Terminal One youth centre who have been great to us over the years.
“We raise a lot of money for them doing charity events. They provided the van, generator and PA centre so it was great for them to help them.
“It was great to get out on the road and for the four of us to play together for the first time since February really. Everybody has written songs in their homes and now that we’re getting together we can show them off to each other and now we’re just waiting on recording studios opening again.”
The band have been active on social media over lockdown playing live streams for different charities and hope to do a similar live event in the near future – you can look out for this on The Naked Feedback Facebook page.