COVID-19 has resulted in many of the UK's most hard-working underground touring acts being forced to cancel or reschedule tours - resulting in loss of income, and other financial losses due to non-refundable bookings and other expenses.
Each tour cancellation also represents any number of Tour Managers, Sound & Lighting Engineers, Stage Techs and Drivers left without any income for the foreseeable future.
In response to this, a group of us have created 'The Tours That Never Were' - a non-profit fundraiser to benefit independent and underground UK-based bands and crew, and various charities.
We have partnered with Awesome Merchandise and Aled Philips (Deputy Art Director at Kerrang! Magazine) to create a range of products featuring bands and artists who have had to cancel or reschedule shows between March and May 2020.
Bands / Acts / Crew included in the design are - AA Williams, Black Peaks, Cassels, Conjurer, Cruelty, Cultdreams, Delta Sleep, Dinosaur Pile Up, Dream Nails, Employed to Serve, Haggard Cat, Holding Absence, False Heads, Gender Roles, Ithacha, John, Lizzy Farrall, Nordic Giants, Orchards, Palm Reader, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Polar, The St Pierre Snake Invasion, Sugar Horse, We Never Learned to Live.
All profits from the sale of the below items will be split equally between the artists signed up and their respective crews, to use as they see fit.
Thankfully, while reaching out to artists to be included in this fundraiser a number of the bands / acts noted that they have faced minimal financial hardship as a result of cancellations, and will opt to donate their split of the proceeds to charities of their choice (including NHS Together, Music Venue Trust and domestic abuse charities to name a few).