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Written byNick Trethowan
The Izzit Productions team have created an incredible offering that not only gives us so much, but helps provide a much-needed fund for struggling South African musicians and performers.
Unexpected surprises are one of life’s true delights.
Finding some forgotten change in a pocket? Awesome! Old friends ambushing you out after months or years away? Fantastic. A weekend of music and performances from SA’s range of iconic talent in a supportive effort to save our stages and her artists? Absolutely priceless.
SAVE OUR STAGES is the biggest live streaming event this country has ever seen in a 3 day live event featuring 36 local music acts and a variety of comedians hosted online (with more information at www.saveourstages.co.za) Instead of asking the public to purchase tickets, they decided to do away with a paid platform, but instead offer easy options to donate towards the Save Our Stages fund if you would like to. It will be a weekend of online entertainment and industry support like we’ve never seen before in this country. This is more than just a show, this is a fund with a future.
The complete line-up includes Prime Circle, Majozi, Early B, The Plastics, The Zionruts Family, Steve Newman, Diamond Thug, Martin Bester, Albert Frost, Vusi Ma R5, a special reunion performance from Taxi Violence and so much more.
Having started yesterday, Friday 23 July, it runs through today Saturday 24 July 10:00-20:00, and tomorrow Sunday 25 July 10:00-17:00.
From amazing home competitions to a huge range of different acts, the Izzit Productions team have created an incredible offering that not only gives us so much, but helps provide a much-needed Fund for desperate and struggling South African musicians and performers.
It is ABSOLUTELY FREE (but donations are welcome)
“The curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope.” – Nelson Mandela
“Mandela’s words ring true across the liberated South African tapestry and beyond. Today, even more so than in the decades of his influence, South Africa sits in a dark and even more polarised place thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Socially and economically the situation looks dire and the light at the end of this tunnel is but a dim sliver of hope for the live performance industry. Save Our Stages aims to raise funds during a free-to-view live 3-day event with a fantastic line-up of diverse local talent, and we invite everyone to join us for a weekend of fantastic entertainment. Instead of asking the public to purchase tickets, we decided to do away with a paid platform, but will instead offer easy options to donate towards the Save Our Stages fund if they would like to.”
“It will be a weekend of online entertainment and industry support like we’ve never seen before in this country. This is more than just a show, this is a fund with a future. Save Our Stages will be available to stream live online from the 23rd to the 25th of July 2021. This 3 Day lineup will include everything from live music to stand-up comedy, with opportunities for shout outs, prizes and the chance to be part of the live event via our interactive social media channels. Artists on the line-up are announced on the Save Our Stages Facebook page, and these include acts such as Prime Circle, Majozi, Early B, The Zionruts Family, Steve Newman, Diamond Thugs, Martin Bester, Albert Frost, a special reunion performance from Taxi Violence and more. Comic talents such as Schalk Bezuidenhout, Rob van Vuuren, Dyllan Oliphant and many more will feature as hosts, and the event is streamed live from Stellenbosch and Gauteng. For more information please see our social media or feel free to contact the Izzit/SOS team at the contact details provided below.”
“We are using the donations raised during this event to fund a trust that had been set up to support local artists who are in severe distress due to the lockdown loss of work (Applications will be entertained by the SOS Trust’s guardians – industry professionals tasked with weighting each application to assist with careful oversight in providing relief where needed most). Mail and Guardian are quoted as saying that 41% of local artists have sold some of their instruments and equipment to make ends meet during SA’s hard lockdown on the arts. Musicians are at their wits’ end, Hope is dwindling and assistance from corporate citizens and government has been woefully poor. A further function of this project is to employ and engage with consummate veterans of our industry to nurture dialogue, create training spaces and discuss how to empower the local performer post-lockdown AND in the current Covid-19 situation – how to become self-sustainable, understanding the local music industry and to workshop the processes around submissions and claiming of royalties. Save Our Stages is an initiative funded and produced by Izzit Productions.”
“41% of local artists have sold some of their instruments and equipment to make ends meet during SA’s hard lockdown on the arts”
We want to encourage everyone to support this amazing initiative, as we at The CCC believe that we are so much Stronger Together. During this time of crisis, so much of our creative community has taken a blow – as has much of the world. We believe that it’s now more important than ever that we show our support and join together. So get yourself comfortable, set up your speaker system and sit back and enjoy some of the best bands and comedic acts South Africa has to offer.
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