Live music is part of the fabric of Eastbourne

Of all the restrictions and deprivations imposed by the government’s Covid-19 measures, one which hits home very hard is the cessation of live music performances.

Before the onslaught of the pandemic, live music constituted a significant part of the cultural fabric of our town, whether it was rousing performances of block-busting musicals in our theatres or uplifting recitals such as those frequently given at St Saviour’s Church and St John’s Church, to name but two.

I very much applaud initiatives such as that shown by Eastbourne College, as reported in last week’s paper, to use platforms like Facebook and YouTube to present its virtual show ‘Live Lounge 2021’, show-casing the song-writing and performance skills of some of its pupils, and in the process entertaining many music lovers.

But while virtual performances go some way to filling the live music void, they do not alas offer the social interaction which is so sadly lacking in most people’s lives at the present time.

We have fleets of supermarket vans delivering essential food to feed the body, but we also need to feed the mind and the spirit. In this regard, I am reminded of the short verse written by the 19th century American poet John Greenleaf Whittier who expresses this latter point so well:

‘If thou of fortune be bereft

and in thy store there be but left

two loaves, sell one, and with the dole,

buy hyacinths to feed thy soul’

Typically, it is only when we can no longer enjoy such facilities as live music that we are able to truly evaluate the role they play in enhancing our lives.

As and when ‘normal’ life resumes, it is hoped that live music, as so many other aspects of our pre-pandemic lives, will be taken very much less for granted.