Throughout the day on Saturday, October 3rd, Live For Live Music, in partnership with HeadCount, brought together music and civic action through Democracy Comes Alive, an empowering, one-day virtual music festival filled with performances and in-depth conversations around the importance of voting in America. With such a critical election this November, the event emphasized and successfully promoted active participation in democracy through voting—where the fight for change begins.

Democracy Comes Alive is proud to share that the event raised upwards of $40,000 for HeadCount and participating artists, garnering over 207,000 viewers and guiding 5,000+ to take action via HeadCount’s “Check Your Status” platform.

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“Democracy Comes Alive succeeded in bringing incredible music and insightful conversation to the virtual roundtable with hundreds of thousands of viewers watching, and so many others actively participating in the conversation from home, registering to vote, and donating to HeadCount,” reflects Kunj Shah, founder of Live For Live Music, Democracy Comes Alive, and other virtual events like Justice Comes Alive and Quarantine Comes Alive. “The current level of excitement to get out the vote this November and participate in democracy is something I haven’t yet felt in my lifetime.”

HeadCount founder Andy Bernstein has long understood the powerful combination of music and democracy, and expresses how empowering the event was for him as a voter. “Democracy Comes Alive was the best sort of rallying cry for civic participation,” Bernstein shares. “Whether you watched one segment or marathoned it for hours, you couldn’t help but feel in touch with your power as a citizen and amped up to vote.”

In addition to new performances from 50+ nationally-touring artists, the 11-hour streaming event featured stimulating discussions about the importance of voting from members of beloved bands like Phish, the Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band, Gov’t Mule, the Allman Brothers Band, and more. During his interview with host Ari Fink of SiriusXM, Phish drummer Jon Fishman, himself a former elected official in his Maine hometown, summed up the imperative for democratic participation, explaining, “You have to participate. This applies to any election cycle in any year throughout history: the lower the participation, the greater the apathy. … Less participation always benefits the powers that would want to take democracy away from you.”

Democracy Comes Alive required fans to check their voter registration or make a donation to HeadCount in order to receive a streaming link for the show. HeadCount is a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters, reaching both young people and music fans where they are to inform and empower. Since 2004, they have signed up over 600,000 voters through their work with touring musicians like Ariana Grande, Dead & Company, and Beyoncé, to name a few, at events like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and more.

Special thanks to our partners HeadCount, Nugs.net, Plus1, Liberty Cannabis, AEG Rocky Mountain, Relix, Brooklyn Bowl, The Capitol Theatre, Jam Cruise, Boulder Theater, The Fox Theatre, Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, Big Hassle Media, Crown Jül, Summer Camp Music Festival, CashOrTrade, iamavl, and littlstar.

Don’t forget to VOTE on November 3rd. For more information on your polling places, early voting, mail-in ballots, and more, head to the HeadCount website.