The description included on the official website reads, “The #ILoveLive memorabilia prize draws were arranged to support the unsung heroes of the live music industry – the people behind the scenes that make the magic happen, the crew and the technicians. Most of these people are self employed and no shows means no income. Although Government support has helped, there are still many that have slipped through the cracks and need our support.”

Artists who donated prizes for fans to win via donation include Sam Smith, Radiohead, Robbie Williams, Melanie C, FKA Twigs, Foals, The Cure’s Robert Smith and many more. Prizes were incredible memorabilia such as Smith’s Schecter ‘Fibonacci Sequence’ UltraCure guitar, hand-painted lyrics by Florence and the Machine, Melanie C’s jacket worn on the Spice World Tour in 2019, and even FKA Twigs’ Commedia dell’Arte masks.

Friday I’m in love … https://t.co/RaA2vjgl84

— Stagehand (@StagehandFund) December 12, 2020

The founder of Stagehand Andy Lenthall told NME, “There are people who have been able to get alternative work, and there are people can survive on self-employment income support, and there are people who have been furloughed – but we’ve lost  lot of people due to redundancies and 20% of our self-employed crew have fallen through the cracks and had nothing.” As well as the money raised, GiftAid gave an additional £10,882 (estimated), bringing the total up to £546,722.

The livestream event was broadcasted by the Cosmic Shambles Network. The entirety of the livestreams’ donations will be split equally between charities Doctors Without Borders, Turn2Us, Mind and Kings Place Music Foundation. 

Established in France in 1971, Doctors Without Borders is an international humanitarian non-governmental organisation that executes charitable projects in conflict zones and countries affected by endemic diseases. Turn2Us fights UK poverty through donating financial hardship funds.

Mind is a British programme that reaches out to individuals suffering with mental health problems, meanwhile the Kings Place Music Foundation partners with music and arts organisations around the UK to deliver learning and participation activities to the local community.

Although the event took place last night, fans are still able to donate to the Nine Lessons and Carols For Curious People Crowdfunder page. More information about this can be found here. 

Hosted by Robin Ince, Smith performed the songs M, Play for Today and In Your House for the charity livestream. M, Play for Today and In Your House are all taken from The Cures’ second studio album, Seventeen Seconds, which came out back in 1980. 

A socially distanced performance, of course, Smith sits alone and barefoot in what looks like his home studio. Accompanied only by his drum machine, the Just Like Heaven hitmaker’s heavenly croon fills the studio as it would for an intimate Cure gig. Smith’s mesmerising performance was also shared to YouTube, the video in question obtaining over 13,000 views. 

Meanwhile, The Cure have stood up and shown support for the struggling live music industry in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Taking part in the #ILoveLive campaign, Smith donated his beloved black UltraCure guitar.

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The Cure announced their participation in the #ILoveLive campaign via a post to Instagram. Sharing a photograph of Smith playing the legendary guitar, The Cure wrote in a length caption: “Robert is giving away his schecter ‘fibonacci sequence’ black UltraCure guitar – played at every show in 2016 – to benefit UK music.” Fans were clearly happy with the news, as the post received over 49,000 likes. 

Fans can enter the prize draw by following a link in the bio of The Cures’ official Instagram page. The #ILoveLive prize draw will take place tonight.

Back in September, Smith revealed that he had dedicated most of 2020 to “finishing off” a brand new album with The Cure, along with a solo record. When chatting to NME, Smith divulged that the band had been plugging hard on “two new albums and an hour of noise.” Hopefully, The Cure won’t keep us waiting too long for their next masterpieces!

The auction agendas are to curate funds for music industry workers financially struggling from the Covid-19 pandemic. The fate of much of the music industry is undecided at the moment, thus the public support by the likes Twigs and Gallagher is vital.

The first auction is a one-off event for The Music Venue Trust (MVT), a charitable organisation focused on preserving and maintaining music industry artists, particularly independent venues. The MVT was behind the huge #SaveOurVenues movement, a national campaign that has since generated over £1m.

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The second auction is entitled #ILoveLive. The proceeds of the #ILoveLive auction will go entirely to the Stagehand charity. Stagehand is a hardship fund for workers of live industry events.

After hearing of “a former stage manager who woke up in tears after realising she had £10 in her bank account”, Stagehand selected the worker for a series of £500 payments. Stagehand said: “It wasn’t much but it showed that someone cared.” Both FKA Twigs and Gallagher gave signed guitars to the #ILoveLive auction. Tahliah Debrett Barnett, aka FKA Twigs, bequeathed some of her famous stage masks too. 

Eric Clapton, Elbow and Nile Rogers also partook in the #ILoveLive, each gifting a signed guitar. Other artists that got involved were Florence Welch, Ellie Goulding and Robbie Williams, who gave the personal gift of handwritten lyrics. Meanwhile, The Chemical Brothers donated a signed synth, and Craig David gave away a signed mixing desk.  

Steven Wilson, singer, songwriter and founder of progressive rock band Porcupine, donated personal memorabilia for the MVT auction. Wilson donated a box set containing a Grammy nomination certificate, an unreleased song, and other surprises, all worth over £10,000.

 

 

 

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A post shared by Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher)

David Stopps, music manager and founder of the Stagehand draw, spoke on the Covid-19 pandemic, and how the mental health of many industry workers have been negatively affected. Stopps said sadly: “When I heard about the 10th suicide attempt among road crew I thought, I’ve got to do something.”

Tom Bailey, a client of Stopps and a former member of the Thompson Twins, donated the guitar that he played at Live Aid back in 1985. Meanwhile, Nile Rogers, originally from Chic, gifted a special replica of his iconic Stratocaster guitar. The “hitmaker” replica was the driving force behind several Chic tracks, and more recently serving on Daft Punks’ Get Lucky.

Rogers showed his gratitude for music tour workers amid the donation. Rogers meditated that “A Chic show would not be possible without our incredible crew who have been deeply affected by the pandemic, as have all the crews. They’ve had such a tough time this year with no work at all.”

The need for financial action towards the music industry at these present times is immediate and pressing. Although the UK government has given furlough schemes and grants for industry workers, but it is not enough. Freelance workes such as sound and lighting engineers and tour managers have been left by the wayside during the Covid pandemic. Hopefully, the auctions are a step in the right direction for saving the music industry as we know it.