During the coronavirus pandemic, the live music industry has taken a significant hit. While illegal raves took off in the summer, iconic venues remain under threat of closure due to lockdowns and social distancing guidelines, and experts have recently warned that UK nightclubs face extinction. With events cancelled or pushed back into 2021, many music industry workers have been left out of work, and often relying on patchy government support to get by.
A new auction, launched Friday (November 27), aims to raise funds to help crew and technicians that are struggling due to COVID-19. Titled #ILoveLive, the prize draw benefits the industry charity Stagehand, and gives fans a chance to get their hands on memorabilia from a range of big name artists.
Among these artists is FKA twigs, who has donated a pair of Commedia dell’Arte masks that featured among the avant-garde looks on her 2019 Magdalene tour. Or, if songwriting is more your thing, Years & Years and Florence Welch have each donated original lyrics (hand-written and hand-painted, respectively).
Elsewhere, musicians – including The Smiths’s Johnny Marr and Liam Gallagher – have donated signed instruments and other equipment. Nick Cave offers a guitar and pedal signed by himself and bandmate Warren Ellis. The Chemical Brothers have donated a synth, while The xx are offering up an Akai drum machine used live by Jamie xx (and pre-loaded with samples used to perform “On Hold” and “I Dare You”.
Check out the #ILoveLive auction – which runs until December 17 – here. Stagehand will consider any UK crew worker who is working in the live music sector to be a recipient of its grants, which will be prioritised for those struggling to keep up with rent or put food on the table.