Words: Jade Dadalica
Just a few months ago, concerts were the beating heart of the UK’s live music industry. But then Corona came and with it a pandemic that, from one day to another, put everything on hold. Ever since then, the music industry has been struggling more than ever, with venues having to close down and gigs getting cancelled nearly every day. In order to help the industry stay afloat, the Passport: Back To Our Roots campaign in line with beloved musical acts Pet Shop Boys, KT Tunstall, Russell Watson, and Passenger, just to name a few, have come together for a series of small intimate live shows to raise money for grassroots music venues struggling to survive the COVID 19 crisis.
Passport: Back to Our Roots is a regional series of one-off intimate gigs from some of the UK’s most well-known artists, promoting the independent grassroots venues that form the foundation of the live music scene of the UK. This announcement followed the news that £75,000 had been raised from the first prize draw for entry to concerts by Elbow, Public Service Broadcasting, Everything Everything, The Slow Readers Club, and Ash.
Fundraising campaigns for each event will be available for two weeks, with all proceedings going to venues that are currently struggling. To be part of the campaign and for a chance to attend the intimate shows, which will take place as soon as gigs can safely happen again, awaiting fans are asked to make a minimum contribution of £5 to the campaign. Among others, Pet Shop Boys will be performing at Camden’s Electric Ballroom, Russell Watson at Manchester’s Stoller Hall, Passenger at Brighton’s Komedia and KT Tunstall will be playing at two venues–Windmill Brixton and PJ Molloys in Dunfermline.
Entry to the shows will be via a prize draw which will run for three weeks from Monday, September 14th until Monday, October 5th. Click the link down below to be entered into the prize draw, or simply make a donation to keep our amazing music industry alive and get our heart beating again.
LDN Music Magazine 