Like many other South Africans, performers and artists have been hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown regulations. Unable to perform, their only form of income has dried up.
In order to keep their heads above water, artists are looking at ways to reinvent themselves.
Shuling and Patrick Lindoor now perform live on Facebook. They have attracted so much attention that donations have come in to feed the needy in their community.
Entertaining their fans every other night has now turned into a feeding scheme. It supports the vulnerable in Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape.
They perform four times a week and raise enough money to feed 50 families per week.
Patrick Lindoor says they have lost a total of 19 gigs due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
“We lost a lot of gigs; gigs at the boardwalk, gigs at Bingo Royale Cleary Park, weddings, private gigs, corporate functions; in total 19 gigs we lost. And she was wondering what we are going to do and I said ‘let’s do one to two songs every night to help people cope with this corona and lockdown thingy.’ Pre-lockdown, we decided to get some artists together and have a pre-lockdown show and people responded to this positively and said you must do this more often.”
Their fans from Dubai, Germany and New Zealand are the ones donating to the needy.
With public gatherings prohibited, the Lindoors are ensuring that they abide by all the rules.
“So we prepared 50 food parcels and they have identified the families for us and they obviously adhere to the COVID-19 regulations as you can see with the social distancing and mask wearing. They work very nice with us and very appreciative,” says Patrick Lindoor.
An admin page has been created by fans to manage the donations. This allows the Lindoors to focus on what they do best, performing. Louis Scheepers of the admin team says the shows could continue post coronavirus.
“Indoors with the Lindoors’ has a very bright future even post COVID-19. We’ve got a commitment from the artists to continue during lockdown with the shows and live stream it. In my opinion, even post corona this the way artists will show off their art to us the public. Partick and Shuling are trail blazers.”
When not feeding the poor, the Lindoors are kept busy with private bookings for virtual performances for anniversaries and special occasions.
In the video below, artists re-strategise amid COVID-19 outbreak:
