James Announced As Headliners For London’s First Post-Lockdown Gig
James have been announced as the headliners for the opening night of Heritage Live’s run of summer gigs, which will mark the first major outdoor concert since lockdown and the pandemic began.
James, who formed in Manchester in 1982, will be playing at Kenwood House in London’s Hampstead Heath on 24th June. They are supported by Feeder, Maximo Park and The Snuts. Restrictions on large social gatherings are set to be lifted in England on 21st June, three days before the event.
Kenwood House will also host Rag’N’Bone Man on the 25th, as well as Culture Club on the 26th and David Rodigan’s Outlook Orchestra on the 27th. Nile Rodgers & CHIC are set to play in August 2022.
Elsewhere, other Heritage Live gigs will take place, including Supergrass in Berkshire in July and both James Blunt and Van Morrison in Essex on separate dates in August.
A survey carried out by LIVE found that 75 per cent of music fans in Britain would be happy to attend a live music event that is covid secure. The survey, which asked 25,000 people and was conducted in April this year, found that more than half of people were happy to make an immediate return to seeing live music. Another 25% on top of that would be happy to see covid safety measures in place, including temperature checks, one way systems and hand sanitiser systems, though 41% of people would be put off attending if they were required to wear a face mask.
“After a devastating year for the live music industry it is fantastic to see the strength of feeling from fans across the UK who are desperate to get back to live music events,” Greg Parmley, CEO of LIVE, said. “The industry has worked tirelessly to ensure that we can return as quickly and safely as possible.
“It is notable that fans are willing to live with short-term mitigation measures in order to get back to live music as quickly as possible, with three quarters saying that they would be happy with a COVID-certification system as part of those measures.”
fifty five per cent of music fans surveyed had apparently already purchased tickets for upcoming live music events and 85 per cent of people surveyed were intending to go to as many, if not more, live events than they had done before the pandemic. The survey has been described as “the most detailed research yet on the attitudes of UK music fans towards the return of live events”.
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