The Bristolian punk-rock band IDLES have announced their partaking in Music Venue Trusts’ #saveourmusic campaign, a fundraiser aiming to support grassroots music across the UK. In support of the cause, the band are offering up one of the Hwaitt amps used in their recent Abbey Road ‘Lock-In’ live sessions, as well as a Hwaitt guitar head. Both donations will be prizes in the campaigns online raffle, which fans can enter for £5 until the 26th November. With the purchase of a ticket, fans will also receive a code to join a listening party for the band’s recent ‘Live At Ramsgate Music Hall’ live album, which they released in June in support for the Kent venue.
This announcement follows Music Venue Trust’s recent highlighting of 30 grassroot music venues at risk of closing, due to receiving little to no support from the first distribution of the £1.57billion Cultural Recovery Fund implemented to culture venues across the UK. Venues added to the list include The Lexington in London, Dryad Works in Sheffield, The Boulevard in Wigan, and the Waterloo Music Bar in Blackpool, amongst many more.
Playing in a number of grassroots venues on their rise to stardom, IDLES have pledged their unwavering support to the campaign. “We would have been in the middle of gigging season right now, where grassroots music venues and musicians make their bread and butter, they need your support now more than ever.” Guitarist Mark Bowen commented in a corroborated statement with the fundraiser.
“Grassroots music venues are where music progresses, they are the places where future festival headliners start out, its where the music on the fringes gets an opportunity to grow and turn into popular music of the future, they are places of escapism and to speak to our times, make us think of the world around us. They are our culture.” The IDLES member also commented on impact the government has had on these struggling music venues. “Our government derides independence in culture and especially the music industry, this short-sighted view of culture and its economy will be all of our undoing’s. Support an independent venue/artist/movement where you can.”
The fantastic @idlesband are raffling off an extra special @HiwattOfficial amp head and cab in aid of raising money to prevent the closure of Grassroots Music Venues.
Entries close at 6pm, Thursday. Have you entered yet? https://t.co/8xJMZUnkeI pic.twitter.com/JaRrfHV2C2
— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) November 24, 2020
Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd has also reiterated the importance of the campaign, warning the public of the consequences that will occur if venues aren’t given enough support.“If we don’t act to save them right now, we do expect a large number of them to be permanently closed – it’s as simple as that. Unless a significant movement is made in the next four weeks, we should expect them to start closing in the middle of December,” he told NME in a recent article.
“Without the public and artists getting behind the #SaveOurVenues campaign, 500 venues would already have closed since March. The fact that we’re now looking at over 400 being safe is a remarkable achievement. If everyone comes back with the same support, we could genuinely save these 30 venues. If people want these local venues to still be there when this is over there is a very clear call to action: choose a venue, get donating, get writing, get calling, get organised. Save them all. Reopen Every Venue Safely.”
You can enter the IDLES’s raffle here.
