Class reunion of the music industry: For the third time on Thursday in Hamburg, well-known artists and newcomers drummed up donations for the culture industry, which was so badly hit by the Corona crisis, with a streaming concert lasting several hours.
From late afternoon, Revolverheld, Bosse and Alligatoah, among others, performed on a specially designed stage in Tim Mälzer’s “Bullerei” restaurant to draw attention to the financial worries of cultural workers across the country.
The performances at the “AllHandsOnDeck” benefit concert, which were broadcast free of charge on the live stream video portal Twitch.tv, were the first live performances for most of the acts since the pandemic began. “We haven’t played in front of a normal audience that wasn’t sitting in cars or beach chairs for two years,” said Johannes Strate (42), singer of “Revolverheld”. While his band got through the pandemic well, in many places artists did not know how to feed their families. “So it’s great that this initiative is now taking place for the third time.”
At the last two benefit concerts in May 2021 on the houseboat of the artists Olli Schulz and Fynn Kliemann and in December 2021 in Hamburg’s Barclays Arena, more than 250,000 euros were already collected, which were then donated to musicians and concert staff were distributed. An amount that – as “AllHandsOnDeck” co-initiator Salome Agyekum said – is needed almost more urgently today than at the beginning or at the height of the pandemic.
“Despite easing and falling incidences, we are far from over the mountain,” she said. Bad ticket sales are a big problem because many fans have now lost faith that concerts can actually take place. “In addition, many event helpers have changed industries due to financial bottlenecks, which inevitably leads to staff shortages. The infrastructure is simply idle,” said Agyekum.
Moderator Steven Gätjen and Wincent Weiss again led through the concert marathon, this time supported by musician Nessi and Twitch star Jens “Knossi” Knossalla. He always created a good atmosphere on stage, for example as the initiator of a painting competition among the moderators, the result of which could then be voted on online, or as a support act for the rapper “Afrob”, with whom he performed on stage together.
In addition to artist aid, humanitarian aid was also on the agenda this year in view of the war in Ukraine. Part of the donations collected will therefore be used to support the “Arthelps” initiative, which has been active in eastern Ukraine for years, creating spaces for children and young people there in which they can process traumatic experiences through art and creative work. “That fits perfectly with the mission of “AllHandsOnDeck”: that we tackle and help in the crisis quickly and unbureaucratically,” said co-initiator Illy Korda. (dpa)