The Concert Promoters Association in the U.K. has posted a “Let the Music Play” open letter to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in that country, writes Paul Glynn for BBC News, urging support for “venues, concerts and festivals and the hundreds of thousands of people who work in them” whose livelihood is threatened by social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic.
1,500 artists, comedians, venues, and production services have signed the letter, with lots of musical heavyweights in that number: Skepta, TLC, Billy Bragg, Nick Mason, Radiohead, Prodigy, Patti Smith, Bob Geldof, Killing Joke, John Lydon, Chrissie Hynde, Public Image Ltd. There’s some punk signatories like Buzzcocks and The Damned, and even metal acts like Bloodbath, Devin Townsend, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Cave In, and Orange Goblin. The whole list is at the above link.
Check out some other open letters that creative types have signed over the years.
Image: Concert Promoters Association