3 min read
Pet Shop Boys, KT Tunstall, Russell Watson and Passenger have pledged to play gigs for ‘Passport: Back to Our Roots’, the campaign to raise money for grassroots music venues at risk of closure.
Classical singer Russell Watson said: “Grassroots venues were crucial in the development of my career. I spent almost nine years in the working men’s clubs in the North West of England before my touring career as a recording artiste. It’s heart-breaking to see so many of these venues – which are the fabric of our communities, where people gather to drink, procrastinate and be entertained - under such huge financial strain. Entertainment is essential to the U.K. It’s fundamentally crucial in driving a large part of our nation’s economy but also in the employment of hundreds of thousands of incredibly talented people - from lighting engineers to prima donnas. This is a time for us all to reflect on just what the entertainment industry means to us and to keep it alive during these most unprecedented times.
I’ve chosen Manchester’s Stoller Hall, a small but beautiful and intimate venue, to perform a free concert in aid of Passport: Back to Our Roots. Please come and join me.”
Fran Healey, General Manager of The Stoller Hall, said: “I can’t wait to welcome Russell Watson back to Manchester, as soon as live music returns to our stage and our lives. Hearing such a special voice in our acoustically perfect, spine-tingly intimate venue will be something to remember for a long time. There is no finer venue in the country to experience choral and classical chamber music than The Stoller Hall, so to have closed our doors this year has been heart-breaking… but to all our classical and choral music lovers, we’re as excited as you are!”
Entry to the shows will be via a prize draw which will run for three weeks from Monday September 14th until Monday October 5th via crowdfunder.co.uk/passport-back-to-our-roots. For a £5 minimum donation to the campaign, music fans will be entered into the draw to win passes to the show of their choice for themselves and a guest.
This announcement follows the news that £75,000 was raised from the first prize draw for entry to concerts by Elbow, Public Service Broadcasting, Everything Everything, The Slow Readers Club and Ash.
Sally Cook, co-founder of Passport: Back to Our Roots said: “We’re blown away by the incredible response to the first block of fundraisers, and want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated, and to every artist who pledged to play a grassroots venue show. The outpouring of support (we read all the comments!) just proves how important grassroots venues are to the UK’s music fans. £75k is an amazing start and will help make a real difference to the venues involved and the sector as a whole, but we’re not stopping there. We are really excited to be announcing this new group of artists this week.”
