While the coronavirus pandemic itself is far from positive, there is still good good news to be found and powerful initiatives happening in response to the virus.
From kindness campaigns to shops giving NHS workers free hot drinks, there are plenty of schemes reminding us of the power of the human spirit.
The most recent initiative comes from The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess, who has announced he will be running an album listening party all of this week. The virtual party will take place on Twitter, celebrating some of the best music out there.
In a bid to connect people in the face of social distancing and isolation, the album party started last night (23 March) at 10pm with ‘Some Friendly’, the 1990 record from The Charlatans.
It will continue every evening this week at the same time, covering Franz Ferdinand’s debut self-titled album on Tuesday, Blur’s ‘Parklife’ on Wednesday, Ride’s ‘Going Blank Again’ on Thursday and ‘Definitely Maybe’ by Oasis on Friday.
Album Party schedule
Monday (23 March): Charlatans, Some Friendly
Tuesday (24 March): Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand
Wednesday (25 March): Blur, Parklife
Thursday (26 March): Ride, Going Blank Again
Friday (27 March): Oasis, Definitely Maybe
Each evening, the album party will be accompanied by tweets from each of the band members, with the likes of David Rowntree and Liam Gallagher getting involved.
The idea of the album party is to keep those who are self-isolating and social distancing entertained in their own homes, especially when a slew of concerts and gigs have been cancelled due to the outbreak.
Burgess is just one of a number of musicians who are doing everything they can to keep spirits up during the pandemic. U2’s Bono and Coldplay’s Chris Martin are among the artists who have live streamed performances from their homes in the last few weeks.
As well as setting up an album party, Tim Burgess has also said that when the pandemic is over the guest-lists of his next tour will be reserved for NHS staff.
"I get an allowance for a decent number of guests at each show that we play, if/ when my tour gets re-scheduled, all the guest-list places will be set aside for NHS staff," he wrote on Twitter. "Now, I know that’s not much with everything that’s going on right now but I’m trying to feel more useful."
It’s acts of kindness like this that are making all the difference.
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