Following in the footsteps of Jarvis Cocker, Patti Smith, David Bowie, and Ornette Coleman, this summer award-winning musician and co-founder of Talking Heads, David Byrne will curate the 22nd Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre.
“This is going to be exciting!” says Byrne, ”I plan to invite performers I’ve seen – and I do get out – and others I’ve missed or have dreamed of seeing. It’s going to be a bit of fun puzzle-solving I imagine – seeing who’s interested, who is available and what venues at Southbank Centre are appropriate. I really hope to find things that take this beyond sit-down concerts as well – but of course I’m speaking way too early as I’m still working on my wish list.”
With eight solo albums under his belt, plus collaborations with Brian Eno, St Vincent, Morcheeba, and more, on top of his life-long success with Talking Heads, Byrne is an obvious choice to curate what looks set to be one of most exciting Meltdowns to date. It also marks Byrne’s return to the South Bank, where his award-winning musical Here Lies Love ran at the National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre from September 2014 through to January 2015.