Enter Shikari has announced that they will donate £1 from each arena tour ticket sold in 2024 to grassroots venues in the United Kingdom.
According to the band, independent venues are facing an “existential crisis” as a result of Covid, escalating costs, and gentrification.
“Every time we lose another one, we lose a vital part of our culture,” stated lead singer Rou Reynolds.
This week, the infamous Printworks venue in London hosted its final performance.
Despite being acknowledged as one of the finest clubs in the world, it will soon be converted into an office building.
Since the pandemic, one in five nightclubs has closed, and the Music Venue Trust estimates that up to 30 percent of UK music venues face closure due to spiraling costs.
The Trust, which represents nearly one thousand grassroots clubs and concert halls, has demanded that larger venues and arenas make mandatory contributions to the grassroots sector.
“It is the responsibility of the entire music ecosystem – artists, agents, managers, promoters, arenas, and stadiums – to ensure that emerging and developing artists have a place to perform in their local community,” said CEO Mark Davyd.
“Every musician must have a venue where they can perform the first song they wrote in front of their first audience on their first stage.
The method to ensure that the United Kingdom remains a major force in the global music industry is to ensure that a small portion of the money spent on tickets to major events is returned to grassroots music venues, where every artist begins his or her career.
Reynolds, a member of Enter Shikari, is the trust’s patron and decided to take immediate action after observing the influence of Covid on his own career.
The band released their final album, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible, just as the pandemic began to spread in 2020, and their tour was canceled almost immediately after. Reynolds was unable to compose music for the subsequent 18 months.
In January, he told the NME,
“My brain was basically saying, ‘What’s the point of writing music if you can’t share it in a life experience with others?'”
“My sense of direction had vanished. It was very surreal because we were effectively witnessing the demise of our band, and there was nothing we could do about it.
Only when the live scene began to return did he once again feel inspired, writing a collection of “euphoric” songs that he characterized as “longing for transcendence, creativity, and the ability to connect with people?”
Last week, A Kiss For The Whole World debuted at number one on the UK album charts. This Friday, tickets for their 2024 tour go on sale.
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