Musicians and industry professionals across the country are still reeling from last week’s news that the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill—which President Donald Trump signed into law on Sunday—would include the Save Our Stages Act. With $15 billion earmarked for independent venues and theaters across the country, millions of people have cause to celebrate including Dave Grohl.
The Foo Fighters frontman posted a message to the band’s social media accounts on Monday expressing his sincere gratitude to everyone involved in making the Save Our Stages Act a reality. While many venues will remain closed until it is safe to gather en masse again, Grohl notes that the Act, “brings us one step closer to sharing that feeling [of connection] again, one that I hope we can all experience very soon.”
Grohl has emerged as an ardent supporter of Save Our Stages over the pandemic, as well as the organization that helped bring it into existence, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). Over the past nine months, Grohl and his bandmates have participated in NIVA’s Save Our Stages Fest as well as other fundraisers to help keep shuttered venues afloat.
Grohl wrote on Twitter,
The preservation of America’s smaller, independent venues is not only crucial to the millions of concert goers whose lives are bettered by experiencing their favorite artists in the flesh, but to the future of music itself, as it gives the next generation of young musicians a place to cut their teeth, hone their craft, and grow into the voices of tomorrow.
Scroll down to read the full statement from Dave Grohl on the passage of the Save Our Stages Act.
Thank You. #SaveOurStages @nivassoc pic.twitter.com/kD95iUmanw
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) December 28, 2020