Courtesy of NIVA/YouTube MusicArtists including Foo Fighters, Rise Against and Dave Matthews are performing during the newly announced Save Our Stages Festival in support of the National Independent Venue Association and its efforts to assist independent music venues struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The three-day virtual event, dubbed #SOSFest for short, will take place October 16-18, and will air via the NIVA YouTube channel.
“The smaller music venues and the ones that are really struggling are not only culturally important, they are emotionally important,” says Foo frontman Dave Grohl.
Other performing artists include Brittany Howard, Finneas, The Lumineers, Nathaniel Rateliff, Portugal. the Man and The Revivalists, as well as pop stars such as Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato.
The announced of #SOSFest comes just days after President Donald Trump declared that he was ending negations with Democrats regarding additional COVID-19 relief until after November’s election.
In a statement in response to Trump’s announcement, NIVA director of communications Audrey Fix Schaefer said, “We have been sounding the alarm since April that if our members don’t get emergency assistance, they will go under forever — and it’s happening. This is real. We need help.”
“We urge Congress and the White House to continue negotiations and reach a deal quickly or there will be a mass collapse of this industry,” the statement continued.
By Josh Johnson
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