Muse release limited edition t-shirt in aid of Exeter venue The Cavern Club

Muse have announced the release of a limited edition t-shirt which will see its proceeds donated to Exeter’s The Cavern Club.

• Read more: Matt Bellamy tells us about going solo, Muse’s next move and “embracing the simple life” of lockdown

The band’s gesture comes after hundreds of music venues, festivals, arts spaces and culture organisations in England are celebrating after being awarded part of a £257million grant in the first wave of funding from the government’s Cultural Recovery Fund in order to help weather the storm of being forced to close due to coronavirus restrictions.

The Cavern Club, where Muse performed during their early years, was awarded £50,000 as part of the fund, and now Matt Bellamy and co. are looking to offer some more financial assistance through the sale of a new piece of merch.

“We are happy to announce that a very special t’shirt has been added to our store: The Cavern Club tour date tee,” the band wrote on Instagram.

“The Cavern Club, Exeter, is where we cut our teeth as a band, playing there numerous times in our early years,” they continued. “This t’shirt lists all the official shows that we performed there, both supporting and headlining.”

The post concluded: “All sales proceeds will go directly to The Cavern Club, helping to keep it open and to support new artists and bands.”

View this post on Instagram

We are happy to announce that a very special t’shirt has been added to our store: The Cavern Club tour date tee. The Cavern Club, Exeter, is where we cut our teeth as a band, playing there numerous times in our early years. This t’shirt lists all the official shows that we performed there, both supporting and headlining. All sales proceeds will go directly to The Cavern Club, helping to keep it open and to support new artists and bands. Link in stories. All the best Matt, Dom and Chris

A post shared by MUSE (@muse) on Oct 12, 2020 at 8:13am PDT

The Music Venue Trust, who have been fighting to stop grassroots venues from being lost forever since they were forced to close their doors back in March, welcomed the news and thanked music fans for getting behind the hugely successful #SaveOurVenues campaign.

“There’s so much good news out there, with dozens and dozens of key venues now guaranteed to survive through to April,” MVT CEO Davyd told NME. “That’s an absolute game-changer. It’s come about three or four weeks past people’s tolerance levels, but it’s incredibly positive. That’s over 200 venues funded just in the first round, and we’ve got the opportunity to save more in the second round.

“We’ve got the Welsh funding announcement coming later this week or early next, some Scottish money has already gone out with more to come, so the main pressure falls on Scotland and Northern Ireland now to see what they do.”

You can visit the Save Our Venues website to donate to the campaign or buy special new gifts and merchandise.

Meanwhile, Matt Bellamy has confirmed that he has started working on a new Muse album.

The frontman said that the early stages of the follow-up to the trio’s 2018 album ‘Simulation Theory’ have been inspired by “the protests and all the chaos” that have “kicked off” around the world in 2020.

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