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Lewis Capaldi, Celeste and Cate Le Bon are all set to play special livestreamed gigs this Friday (October 9) to raise funds for struggling grassroots music venues.
The gigs will take place as part of Amazon Music’s Amazon Prime Day Live event.
Capaldi will play a gig in Scotland, while Celeste will perform in England and Cate Le Bon in Wales. All the shows will stream from 7pm to 9pm BST on Friday, and will be available to view via Twitch and the Amazon Music app. Donations during the shows will go towards struggling grassroots venues across the UK.
Mark Davyd, founder of the Music Venue Trust, spoke about the importance of the gigs, saying: “Many of the UK’s iconic grassroots music venues remain at significant risk of permanent closure, which is not just catastrophic for everyone associated with each and every venue, but for UK music culture in general.
“Amazon Music was one of the first donors for our COVID-19 Crisis fund earlier this year, and we’re excited they are continuing their support through this Prime Day Live event to help us raise awareness of the plight of venues and help drive much-needed donations to keep them open.
“Every penny helps, so we are also hugely grateful for Amazon’s donations and any further support from the public.”
The live music sector remains in danger with two thirds of the UK’s grassroots music venues still unable to go ahead with socially distanced gigs and hundreds still fighting for funding in a bid to survive COVID closures.
After UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced details of the government’s new Winter Economy Plan for the next six months last month as the furlough scheme comes to an end, the music industry hit back for its lack of support for the many musicians, self-employed and the staff within venues that have been forced to close due to COVID-19.
The government’s £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund has also been delayed for a week, leaving some potential grassroots music venues and arts industry professionals at further risk and without much needed emergency financial support.
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