On Saturday, May 30th, over 70 artists and thousands of fans came together for Quarantine Comes Alive, a virtual music festival that raised money for a litany of charities via the comprehensive PLUS1 COVID-19 Relief Fund.

The 15-hour livestream marathon featured new contributions by an array of amazing artists from around the world. It was a lot to take in and you surely missed at least a few of the many performers, so we’ll be rolling out the individual segments over the next few weeks to highlight each of the individual performances.

Closing out the primetime, 7:00 p.m. block was the Ardmore Music Hall Family Band, following performances by Railroad Earth, Circles Around The Sun, Neal Francis, Maggie Rose, The Motet ft. Jason Hann, and The Ghost of Paul Revere. Made up of the staff of Philadelphia-area independent venue, Ardmore Music Hall, the family band provided the QCA audience with a symbolic cover of Cake‘s “The Distance”. The quarantine-style video depicted over a dozen members of the AMH staff playing a variety of instruments. Some sang while others played guitar, bass, banjo, keys, horns, drums, and percussion, each from their separate quarantine locations.

Before the music began, however, the Ardmore Music Hall Family Band shared a message to Quarantine Comes Alive’s global viewership compelling fans to support the National Independent Venue Association, whose mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live music venues and promoters throughout the United States.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the U.S., independent venues were the first to close their doors. After more than three months of quarantine, many venues across the country remain closed with no end in sight. The venues, promoters, and staff are struggling to survive in these difficult times and need all of the help they can get.

The AMH talent buyer Chris Perella explained in a statement,

Team Ardmore was super proud to team with L4LM in representing the cause for the National Independent Venue Association, fighting for small independent clubs like ours to get the legislation passed and support needed to survive and to support our staff for the long haul. Once the idea to tie our AMH segment to NIVA was established, it was only natural to turn to our own in-house talent – a dozen Ardmore Music Hall staff members- to produce some awesome content. We’re proud that our venue family is not just one of the best and most accommodating in the country, but that there’s tons of creativity being fostered within that family and lots of musical skill. We wanted to celebrate that and emphasize for fans that when you support NIVA and support independent venues in the weeks and months ahead, you support people just like you- music fans, aspiring musicians, hard-working beautiful people.

Quarantine Comes Alive has been an inspiring force for our team in Ardmore to get creative and excited again, brainstorming about some fun virtual and audience-free programming that we can bring to fans during this strange temporary lull. The past 3 months have been difficult to get in gear, with so much uncertainty and heaviness. I’m thankful that both our Ardmore and Everyone Orchestra efforts, stemming from the L4LM team’s invitations to the festival, have gotten a jolt of energy as a result. It’s also amazing to see the financial success of the event because artists and venues alike are out there looking for new ways to generate revenue and income, and it’s heartening and emboldening to see that the fans and the live music community are ready to support all of us who have an entrepreneurial spirit. (Going) “The Distance” by Cake was a perfect song for the Family Band to play- aside from being a JAM, it also tells our story. We’re going the distance, and we’re in this for the long haul, so stay engaged and figure out what you can do to join in our fun and to support all the artists out there hustling until we can all be together for a big dance party once again.

If you enjoyed the performance, the AMH staff asks that you make a donation to the Equal Justice Initiative. Watch the Ardmore Music Hall Family Band perform “The Distance” at Quarantine Comes Alive below:

Ardmore Music Hall Family Band – “The Distance” – Quarantine Comes Alive

[Video: Live For Live Music]

Presented by Live For Live Music in partnership with PLUS1 and Nugs.TV, Quarantine Comes Alive was conceived as a way to celebrate and support musicians, provide fans with unique musical experiences from the comfort of their couches, and raise money for comprehensive COVID-19 relief during this time of uncertainty. The $160k+ in donations raised from the event will be split evenly between the artists on the bill and the PLUS1 COVID-19 Relief Fund, which works directly with leading non-profit organizations like Sweet Relief, MusiCares, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, World Central Kitchen, Partners In Health, Trans Lifeline, and Backline to provide aid where it’s needed most. For more information, head here.