Yoko Ono's Meltdown Festival - music preview

The Southbank Centre's Meltdown Festival, this year curated by Yoko Ono, will consist of music, films, talks and, of course, performance art
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17 June 2013

The Meltdown Festival is upon us, with the 80-year-old Yoko Ono joining a long line of venerable guest curators that has included David Bowie, Morrissey and Patti Smith (who appears here on June 21 as Yoko’s guest). There’ll be films, talks and, of course, performance art but the main course is live music by legends and unknowns.

Yoko Ono

The curator bookends the festival with two shows, the first featuring her version of the Plastic Ono Band led by her son Sean Lennon. The second is a performance of John Lennon and Yoko’s 1980 album Double Fantasy, with “very special vocalists” promised.

June 14 and 23, Royal Festival Hall


Reggie Watts

The world’s hairiest comedian is also a fine musician, building songs out of improvised beatboxing and loop pedals.

June 18, Royal Festival Hall


Iggy & the Stooges

Iggy Pop has been active with his old band again for the past decade, although guitarist Ron Asheton died in 2009. They recently released a new album, Ready to Die, which verges on self-parody at times but is still as loud as you might hope.

June 20, Royal Festival Hall


Siouxsie Sioux

Six years after her last album, the Banshees leader makes her first live appearance in London since then and has generated such demand that she’s added a second show.

June 15 and 17, Royal Festival Hall


Boy George

George is becoming a fixture at Meltdown, having performed as part of Antony Hegarty’s festival last year too. He’s recorded a Yoko song, Death of Samantha, for his forthcoming album.

June 23, Queen Elizabeth Hall


Meltdown runs until June 23 at the Southbank Centre, SE1 (0844 875 0073, meltdown.southbankcentre.co.uk)

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