In the midst of all the stress and panic of coronavirus and lockdown there are also some positive things going on in the world.
Over this period, many people may have had concerts planned, that they’d been very excited about, which have now been cancelled or postponed. In response to this, some artists have been doing live streams on apps such as Instagram and Facebook where they can reach out to their fans and help in some way to get people through this strange time that we are living in. During these livestreams many are also raising money for chosen charities so viewers can donate and also give something back. An example of some artists who have been doing this are Hozier and Frank Turner.
On Friday (27th March) Hozier performed and raised money for ISPCC Childline. His reasoning for this choice was “as we are being told to stay home, children who are in precarious or dangerous situations have Childline to talk to. Childline’s calls have tripled since the beginning of this (lockdown)”. Over the next week there are other artists who will also be streaming on Instagram. These include Danny O’Reilly, Wild Youth, Kodaline, Dermot Kennedy, Picture This and Gavin James. These live streams may later be posted on YouTube by viewers so they’re available to watch if you missed it.
Frank Turner, whose albums include: Positive Songs For Negative People, Tape Deck Heart and many more, did a livestream raising money for Nambucca. Nambucca is a live music venue that in times like now will be losing money due to temporary shutdown. This is significant to Frank Turner as the album he performed in his stream (Sleep Is for The Week) was mostly written in and around Nambucca. This ‘mini gig’ was held on the 26th March, the same date that people around Britain went outside to clap for the NHS. At 8pm Frank paused his home concert to send viewers outside to participate in #ClapForNHS.
As well as musicians streaming gigs, there are quiz masters streaming quiz nights to keep people entertained. Simple acts like this help to lift people’s spirits in this time of distress. Other acts of kindness that people have been participating in include doing shopping for neighbours, specifically vulnerable ones who can’t get out themselves. People have also been putting teddy bears and rainbows in windows which people on their daily walks or runs can spot. While there is a lot of concern, we are also getting to see positivity and resilience.
