The English rockers Black Midi have released two Christmas classic covers of Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms and What Christmas Means To Me by Stevie Wonder. The proceeds will be going to The Windmill Venue, says the band in a social media announcement, in an attempt to keep its doors from closing indefinitely. Venues have been suffering in the Covid-19 pandemic, it is projected that over 80% of music venues will close permanently if measures, like Black Midi is demonstrating, are not taken now to save them.
In a statement on Black Midi’s social media announcement of the releases, they stated that they, recorded a couple of covers of our favourite Christmas tunes at our rehearsal room and then added some bells an whistles at home. The London rockers go on to explain their special relationship to the venue, saying they would usually do some fun one off covers shows at the Windmill around this time of year so hopefully this goes some way to fill the gap. The covers are the bands way of continuing their ongoing Christmas cover tradition, however remotely.
The covers were released today and are only available for streaming on Black Midi’s Bandcamp, available to listen here. The band also pleaded for fans to go directly to The Windmill Venue’s fundraising site, saying that if fans were available pay what you want on @windmillbrixton bandcamp, link in bio
all donations go to the save the windmill brixton fundraiser. The crowdfunding site for The Windmill Venue has so far acquired £50,677 with a 70k goal, thanks in large part to Black Midi fans.
The Windmill Venue stated We’re one of 30 venues identified by Music Venue Trust as being at risk of permanent closure inside 6 months. We want the music to continue. In the MVT’s ranking, The Windmill is currently in the Red category, meaning that if it closes then it will be very soon and it is likely never to open again. The Windmill Venue’s crowdfunding site is available for charitable donations here.
The Windmill will be hosting a Christmas themed livestream for their stage, the venue said on Instagram that it’s truly humbling and amazing what people are doing to #savewindmillbrixton. The next big thing is this superstream. The livestream will be held on December 29th, 2020 and tickets are going for 10GBP, available to order now. Black Midi will feature as one of the bands to perform this special concert.
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