Courtesy of Abducted by the 80sA bevy of New Wave artists from the 1980s MTV era are coming together, separately, for a virtual online concert celebrating doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, first responders and others working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Back to the Basement event will premiere on Facebook Live on Saturday, June 13, and will feature never-before-seen at-home performances by A Flock of Seagulls, Wang Chung, Naked Eyes, Cutting Crew, Animotion and others, as well as special appearances by Tiffany, former MTV VJ “Downtown” Julie Brown and more.
The concert will be shown twice on June 13, and the participating artists also will take part in an online chat with fans during the screenings. The show will then be made available for viewing on-demand on YouTube.
Limited-edition event t-shirts will be sold to benefit the Direct Relief organization’s COVID-19 Relief program. The nonprofit seeks to “improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergency situations by mobilizing and providing essential medical resources needed for their care.”
A link also will be set up where people can donate directly to the charity. In addition, some participating artists will be selling limited-edition merchandise to help them financially during the coronavirus crisis.
The lineup also includes Nu Shooz, Bow Wow Wow singer Annabella, When in Rome‘s Clive Farrington, The Vapors, and Spoons.
“We are pleased to be part of this event and to have the chance to make our Chungy type contribution towards those suffering the COVID-19 crisis around the world,” say Wang Chung’s Nick Feldman and Jack Hues in a statement, “and also in the process to help raise funds for the amazing and heroic first responders in this crisis, through Direct Relief.”
For more details, visit Abductedbythe80s.com.
By Matt Friedlander
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.