Arctic Monkeys are aiming to raise £100,000 in order to help The Leadmill and other independent grassroots music venues across the UK affected by Covid-19, with the band selling raffle tickets to a prize draw where you could win frontman Alex Turner’s Fender Stratocaster guitar, which he played during their early gigs.
Entries have been open since 12pm BST on Tuesday 11th August 2020 and will close at 6pm BST on Tuesday 25th August 2020. Costing £5 minimum to enter, the competition is open globally to anyone over 18 years old. The winner of the raffle will be randomly chosen and notified via email by Friday 28th August 2020.
The band said: “The impact of Covid-19 has been devastating for all music venues and particularly those independent venues who have provided a stage for countless artists at the very start of their careers.”
All entrants will also be given access to an exclusive viewing of Arctic Monkeys’ 2006 Reading Festival performance, which will be shown at 8pm BST on Wednesday 26th August and remain available to view for 24 hours.
The Leadmill is Sheffield’s longest-running indie venue, hosting many notable bands and artists over the years, including Coldplay, Muse, Oasis, and Stone Roses to name just a few. It was home to Sheffield legends Arctic Monkeys regularly during their early gigs. Having rescheduled and cancelled over 120 events since closing, the venue has no certain reopening and its future is unknown. Empty since March, the 900-person venue is in dire need of funding to make sure it can open its doors to audiences once more.
All funds raised will go to the Music Venue Trust to support The Leadmill and other independent venues, with Crowdfunder even waiving its usual platform fee to allow all donations to go directly to the cause. To enter the raffle, go to the Crowdfunder page at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/arctic-monkeys-leadmill.
Words by Martha Lily Dean
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