Live Gigs Return to Brighton Dome in Support of Grassroots Music Venues
Live Is Alive! Brighton Music Re-takes the Stage
Brighton’s music venues are joining forces to programme a series of live gigs to support and protect the city’s vibrant music scene. Live Is Alive! will take place in Brighton Dome and via livestream over four consecutive Saturday evenings from 17 October to 7 November 2020. Each event will feature local emerging artists and bands, programmed and presented in collaboration with grassroots music venues.
Brighton Dome will host the small-scale performances in its iconic Concert Hall, open to audiences for the first time since closing in March 2020. Tickets are limited to 250 each night, presented in a cabaret-style seating format, as well as offering a live stream for viewers to watch online. The venue has received the ‘Good to Go’ mark with enhanced safety measures in place throughout the building to support a socially distanced audience.
From jazz fusion to punk, electro-pop to beat poetry, the events will nurture young creative talent, help support a collective solidarity and raise awareness of the financial plight venues have faced since the coronavirus pandemic forced them to close their doors. Venues and artists will benefit from fundraising opportunities through ticket sales and donations.
The Live Is Alive! collective of partners said:
“Live Is Alive is what happens when a city comes together in a crisis - a unified force pulling each other forward towards awareness and survival. It is the joining of Brighton’s live music venues under the beacon that is Brighton Dome. We want these events to represent hope and resilience and to reignite our cherished music industry for the venues, the staff and freelancers, as well as the up and coming artists, musicians, bands, the gig-goers and music lovers.”
Since social distancing measures were implemented, the live events industry has faced a huge challenge. The #SaveOurVenues campaign has highlighted 400 grassroots music venues in financial crisis in the UK, with many facing imminent closure. The live music sector brings £4.5bn to the UK economy and supports 210,000 jobs, with millions of fans coming together to enjoy their favourite artists. Brighton & Hove’s live music scene is one of the city’s great success stories, generating an estimated £112m per year for the local economy and plays a key role in its position as a creative, cultural and tourist destination. Venues can reopen but most are unable to operate as sustainable businesses under the current government guidelines.
Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Dome added:
“We are delighted to be able to work together with the city’s grassroots music venues, to offer a place for emerging artists to play, and support the venues that aren’t able to open at this stage. These events will be our first step towards bringing live performances back in a safe format and we hope audiences will feel confident and excited about returning to one of the city’s most treasured spaces.”
