RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
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
MEMORABLE: The Psychedelic Furs
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
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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