BAND HEADLINES BID TO SAVE GRASSROOTS MUSIC VENUES
BAND SIGN UP FOR FUNDRAISING DRIVE
ELBOW are among the bands who are set to give performances in aid of a campaign to raise money for grassroots music venues.
The Bury band will be joined by Everything Everything, Public Service Broadcasting and The Slow Readers Club to give concerts in aid of the Passport: Back To Our Roots fundraising initiative.
The bands will play one-off, intimate gigs at grassroots venues once performances are allowed with no social distancing measures in place.
Lead singer Guy Garvey said: “This is a simple way of looking after the very roots of British music and will result in some powerful, joyous shows when we can at last see each other again. I’m very proud to be involved.”
Tickets to the concerts can be won via a prize draw which runs from August 17 for two weeks. Tickets for the draws for each show can be bought for a minimum £5 donation to the campaign.
Elbow will perform at Night & Day Cafe in Manchester, while Public Service Broadcasting will play at The Amersham Arms in New Cross, London. Everything Everything will play at Bedford Esquires and The Slow Readers Club will play at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
Sally Cook, co-founder of the Passport: Back To Our Roots campaign, said: “It’s incredibly exciting to see artists supporting the grassroots venues that form the foundation of the UK’s live music industry, acknowledging their importance and celebrating the unrivalled experience of watching your favourite bands up close and personal, surrounded by friends and united in appreciation for live music in all its loud and sweaty glory.”
The Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents grassroots music venues, will receive 80 per cent of the money raised. The remaining 20pc will go to the Inner City Music charity, which operates the not-for-profit Manchester venue Band On The Wall.
Last month the MVT warned that large numbers of grassroots music venues will be forced to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The government has previously announced a £1.57bn support package for the arts which will be used to help organisations including music venues, theatres, museums and galleries.
● Tickets for the draw will go on sale at crowdfunder.co.uk/passport-back-to-ourroots.