WHILE many events were cancelled this year, one couple found a way to keep music fans dancing in the dark.

Hannah Summers and Jon Beck, who live in Hastings, are Bruce Springsteen superfans.

Three years ago they started Hungry Heart UK with friend Thom Elliot. It is the world’s only club night solely dedicated to playing music from The Boss.

After a series of sell-out runs at nightclubs across the UK and Ireland, the couple had a packed calendar filled with Springsteen sessions until the coronavirus pandemic put a wrecking ball through their plans.

Determined to carry on, the couple started hosting live streams from their homes to give fans the opportunity to listen to their hero and stay connected.

Hannah said: “We had a very sort of unsettling period and then we started the live streams and they have just been amazing.

“The response we get to them and the messages that we get from people saying how much they are helping them through this time is really amazing.

“One of the main impacts of this year is that people have lost that connection which is essential for us as humans. It’s not the same, but on our live streams there is a chat channel, which allows people to virtually get together and they stay chatting all night.

After interest in their online events kept rising, Hannah and Jon decided to hold a charity 24-hour Springsteen mega marathon, playing well-known hits, acoustic tracks and live recordings.

The event raised £32,000 for Childline, Trussell Trust, Barts Trust, Age UK and Hospice UK.

Hannah said: “The response was amazing. We had people dragging their mattresses into the living room and staying up all night.

“We thought there would be this really dark period during the night when there would be about five people online but there were hundreds still and I think it was just an amazing thing for us to do.

“We wanted to come out of this whole situation feeling like we had done something productive, obviously not really knowing how the year was going to pan out and we just thought we would go for it.”

The pair are hoping that they will be able to return to their glory days next year and host more in-person events.

Hungry Heart has dates in Leeds and Belfast planned, alongside an appearance at the music festival Bestival on the Isle of Wight. Find out ore at www.hungryheartevents.com/