This Saturday, Music Industry Arts (MIA) grads, Sarina Haggarty and Texas King will take the stage at London Music Hall to kick off a new initiative to support live music.
Saturday’s concert is the first in a series of concerts put on by Revive Live, an initiative created in part by the London Music Office and Tourism London. Each week, local artists will take to the stage at a local music venue. The concerts will be streamed live online for free for anyone wishing to attend.
“Prior to the pandemic, London’s live music industry was growing steadily,” said music industry development officer for The City of London, Cory Crossman. “The live music industry was one of the hardest hit by this pandemic and will be one of the last to recover. Revive Live will jumpstart a portion of the local economy offering support to the live music sector on the road to recovery.”
Fanshawe takes centre stage
Texas King will headline the opening concert of the series, with opening artist Sarina Haggarty. Haggarty and the boys in Texas King met through their connection with Fanshawe College, after MIA professor Dan Brodbeck introduced them.
“I’m happy to call them friends and I’m pumped to open for them,” said Haggarty.
Texas King are well known in London for their fiery live performances, while Haggarty has been hard at work making a name for herself, releasing two EPs since 2016.
Getting back to live
Haggarty said she’s had a difficult year as a musician, adjusting to life without live music.
Sarina Haggarty performs at the Outback Shack in November, 2020. (Photo credit: FSU)
“It’s been hard because I miss live music, I’ve had the chance to still, you know, perform,” she said, explaining how she’s still made good use of live streaming during COVID-19. “And I’ve been working in the studio lot. So it’s still been lots of fun. And you know, I haven’t been wasting as much time as in 2020. At the beginning, I just watched so much Netflix. It’s crazy. And I wasn’t inspired, but I’m slowly getting inspired to write a lot.”
Haggarty said she misses many of the venues she used to call home, especially the Aeolian Hall and Rum Runners.
“Rum Runners, I miss it, because I did a lot of shows there,” she said. “Lots of opening act kind of gigs. And then I also went there every Friday for shows. So I really miss going out every Friday. So it’s also going to be nice having a show, finally, on a Saturday night.”
Haggarty added that her stint at the Music Hall will feature a full live band, and a few surprises (hint, we recommend having a bottle of Tequila on hand.) While nothing can replace the feeling of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a crowd at a concert, Revive Live hopes to rekindle the experience of live music from home.
Haggarty said that’s worth tuning in for.
“We should all be proud Falcons and support each other,” said Haggarty. “And I think it shows how cool [MIA] is and how amazing it’s been to go to it and to graduate and the people you meet from it.”
The opening concert of Revive Live will be broadcast online this Saturday at 8 p.m. from the London Music Hall.
For more details on upcoming shows and how to watch them, visit Revive Live’s webpage.
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