Chart-topping musicians and performers are joining forces and voices to help fight poverty in the North West.
Led by James guitarist Saul Davies and his partner Vanda Guerreiro, more than 15 artists will perform for MUSIC FEEDS LIVE at O2 Apollo Manchester on Tuesday February 27 to raise money for anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust.
Artists include James’ Tim Booth, Jim Glennie and Saul Davies, north west post-Britpop band Starsailor, Liverpudlian outfit The Farm, dance music hitmaker Chicane, Manchester rock band Slow Readers Club, indie rockers Lanterns on the Lake, and British Poet Laureate Simon Armitage with his band LYR. Also on the bill are Tom A Smith, Liam Frost, Idol Giants, Cetty, The Reads, Rosellas, First Breath After Coma, Assa and Batfunk and Ellen Beth Abdi.
Football legends Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher will host the event alongside Radio 6 Music presenter Chris Hawkins, while the acclaimed Joe Duddell Orchestra will collaborate with guest stars throughout the night.
Tickets go on general sale at 9am Friday from cuffeandtaylor.com and ticketmaster.co.uk
MUSIC FEEDS LIVE follows the hugely successful Music Feeds two-day online festival held during the lockdown in 2021 which saw a massive £1m raised for food charity Fareshare and cultural support organisations Help Musician and Stagehand, as well as providing 2.4m school meals, in conjunction with The Co-Op. Artists performing for the live stream included James, Liam Gallagher, Fontaines DC, Sam Smith, Blossoms and Beverley Knight.
And now, working with Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor, Saul and Vanda are looking forward to opening the doors to their first ever live Music Feeds show.
Saul said: “Music Feeds Live is about positivity and solidarity. We are giving artists an opportunity to use their voice to generate much needed funds and show support to people living with disadvantage.
“Our aim is to raise £150k for foodbanks across the North West and with the help of the public we can do that. We have a brilliant line-up already, but we also have more names to add to that with some very special guests to be announced soon.”
Dan O’Brien, Network Lead for the North West at the Trussell Trust added: “One in seven people in the UK face hunger because they don’t have enough money to live on. That’s not the kind of society we want to live in, and we won’t stand by and let this continue. Every year we are seeing more and more people needing food banks, and that is just not right.
“Rising hunger and hardship have devastating consequences for individuals and our communities, damage the nation’s health and hold back our economy. People in work, as well as people who cannot work, are increasingly being pushed into debt and forced to turn to a food bank to survive.
“We are grateful to Saul, Vanda, and all the artists and celebrities involved in Music Feeds Live, as well as all of the music fans who will attend the event, for their support. Together, we have roots into hundreds of communities, and while someone facing hunger can’t change the structural issues driving the need for food banks on their own, thousands of us coming together can. We must end hunger across the UK so that no one needs a food bank to survive.”
For more information and tickets go to cuffeandtaylor.com and ticketmaster.co.uk