The second edition of the Five4Five online festival took place with two separate shows on Friday 18 December and Saturday 19 December, both available to watch in full at the official YouTube channel. The virutal gates opened at 19:30 GMT both days with exclusive live stream being broadcast worldwide for free. The festival saw the likes of Yonaka, Holding Absence, Vukovi, Normandie, Hacktivist, Nova Twins and many more perform in support of the Music Venue Trust’s Save Our Venues campaign.
Symbolic tickets were available as donations to the campaign, alongside raffle tickets for exclusive prizes offered by the participating bands. Although the festival itself was free and it is available online, everyone can still head up to their official website and donate to the noble cause and enter the prize draw until 28 December. The organisers have shared the following statement found on the About section of the website:
“The past, present and future of the UK music industry relies on grassroots, independent music venues. We at Five4Five can’t stand by and watch as our venues are left to weather the Covid-19 crisis on their own. We’re proud to partner up with the Music Venue Trust to help ensure they can reopen safely, so we can go back to the loud and sweaty spaces where it all begins. In the meantime, we’ve gathered some of the finest acts to enjoy from the comfort of your own sofa. We hope you enjoy and donate if you can.”
If everyone watching across all platforms donated £5 at https://t.co/3b3Fx5Ik9c right now we would instantly raise £2,500 to help grassroots music venues from closing forever. Please give if you can, stay safe, chins up #545Fest
— five4fivefest (@five4fivefest) December 19, 2020
The first edition of the virtual festival took place earlier this year, in the midst of the first nation-wide lockdown. Enter Shikari and Don Broco acted as the symbolic headliners of the inaugural event over 15 and 16 May, delivering special sets recorded from home. Similarly, the first shows encauraged donation and raffle tickets in support to the NHS Charities Together and managed to raise over £50,000.
The second Five4Five fest selected Brighton rockers Yonaka and Welsh outfit Holding Absence as symbolic headliners across the two days. The Friday show saw official support from The Dangerous Summer, Vukovi, Lizzy Farrall, Delaire The Liar, Rob Lynch, Holiday Oscar, Snake Eyes, Weatherstate, Tally Spear and Paper Mill, with aftershow by Zoe London. The Saturday evening performances included Normandie, GCWCF, Hacktivist, Nova Twins, Chapter And Verse, As Everything Unfolds, The Rhythm Method, Stay Free, Anavae, Haggard Cat, followed by DJ set by Tasmin Taylor.
A wide range of exciting one-of-a-kind prizes are still available with raffle tickets starting from £5 and available until the random draw on 28 December. Most participating bands have offered exclusive items and bundles including a special merch pack from Holding Absence, sweatshirt and poster from Yonaka, Normandie’s ‘White Flag‘ jacket, an EP by Hacktivist, and many more. In addition, there are also limited prizes by previous headliners Enter Shikari (signed drumskin) and Don Broco (the last ever Rob Bot action figure), as well as a lucky dip for Architects’ merch and a shoes bundle by official partner Vans.
As confirmed in the Terms & Conditions: “Please note, when purchasing a raffle item, you are paying £5.00 to enter with the chance of winning the item. Think of it as your entry fee to the festival, and you might go home with an exclusive prize!“. All donations and purchased raffle tickets “will go directly into helping grassroots venues stay open.”
Goes without saying that gigs couldn’t possibly come sooner. Hope you have enjoyed the next best thing this weekend.#545Fest
— five4fivefest (@five4fivefest) December 19, 2020
