Back from a mini tour of Yorkshire and Stockport and cheering for supporting act Indignation Meeting
Robert Smith's memorable Meltdown
The Cure legend is in charge of this year's festival and it got off to a very impressive start, says MIK SABIERS
Furs
ALISTAR FINDLAY is mesmerised by this multiple ‘Visions of Scotland’ assault on the audience’s eyes and senses
The Star's critics ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MICHAL BONCZA reviews I Am Love, The Penguin Lessons, Freaky Tales, The Thicket
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
Meltdown
South Bank, London
THE SOUTH Bank’s annual Meltdown Festival is a celebration of music, art and performance that allows one artist to not just make their mark but show their influences and inspiration.
For the special 25th anniversary celebration this year, and following in the footsteps of such luminaries as John Peel, Patti Smith, David Bowie and Yoko Ono, the curator is none other than the enigmatic Robert Smith of goth legends The Cure — he of the smudged lipstick, eyeliner and birds-nest hair.
Over 10 days Meltdown is hosting a wide roster of bands and events, all under the watchful eye of Smith, with post-punk rockers the Psychedelic Furs opening the festival to a packed house at the Royal Festival Hall.
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