MUSIC RETURNS TO AT-RISK VENUES 

A host of British artists, including Elbow, Everything Everything and Public Service Broadcasting, have announced a series of gigs in the U.K. to raise money for grassroots venues. The events will take place when social distancing measures have been lifted.

The gigs are part of the Passport: Back to Our Roots campaign that will raise money for music venues at risk of closure. Those mentioned above, as well as The Slow Readers Club, will be playing one-off, intimate shows on dates to be confirmed.

Elbow will return to Night & Day in Manchester three decades after they first performed at the venue and Everything Everything will play Esquires in Bedford. Public Service Broadcasting will be performing at The Amersham Arms in New Cross and The Slow Readers Club will be playing at Hebden Bridge Trades Club.

The project is the brainchild of Sally Cook, Director of Operations at Band on the Wall, and Stephen Budd, creator of War Child’s Passport: Back to the Bars and Passport: to BRITs Week series. Eighty percent of all money raised for the Passport: Back to Our Roots campaign will go to the Music Venue Trust, who will distribute half of the amount to the host venue with the remainder going into their Crisis Fund, benefiting all venues in need of financial support.

The remaining 20% will go to Inner City Music, the charitable organization that operates the not-for-profit historic music venue Band on the Wall in Manchester, which is responsible for the administration of the project and will cover its overheads.

Entry will be via a prize drawing that will run for two weeks beginning 8/17. For a £5 minimum donation to the campaign, fans will be entered into the draw to win entry to the show of their choice for themselves and a guest.