London’s unique music and arts festival kicks off July 19th 2009
Southbank Centre- Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX July 11, 2009, 12:38 PM Views: 252
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 This summer a host of bands and solo artists come to London for a series of special gigs. From folk to alt-rock via indie and post-punk, new artists and established names are set to perform at London’s Southbank Centre. The diverse line up includes special shows and takeovers from Laura Marling, Marianne Faithful and The National to name a few. Summer Highlights kicks off Saturday 19th July with art collective United Underground. Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a 21-acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is home to the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and The Hayward as well as The Saison Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. The Royal Festival Hall reopened in June 2007 following the major refurbishment of the Hall and redevelopment of the surrounding area and facilities. SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS- MUSIC LISTINGS:
Taking over the venues and spaces of Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall building and hosted by Riz MC, British Underground and Ctrl.Alt.Shift, United Underground will be a unique mix of cutting edge street culture, club music, artwork and design set against a backdrop of new-school activism. With live performances from a range of guest artists – spanning day into night. AN EVENING WITH GREG DULLI AND MARK LANEGAN + Duke Garwood + Ours (Greg Gnecco acoustic) Sunday 19 July, Royal Festival Hall Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age) and Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs) come to Southbank Centre for a very special gig at the Royal Festival Hall. EMMY THE GREAT Sunday 19 July, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.45pm, Tickets £12.50 One of the great new hopes of British music, Emmy The Great, returns to London to perform songs from her debut album, the deft, determined and thoroughly enchanting First Love and from her upcoming Edward EP. MARIANNE FAITHFULL Monday 20 July, Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm, Tickets £25 £20 Singer, songwriter and icon Marianne Faithfull performs a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall to mark the release of her new album, Easy Come, Easy Go (out March 2009). As well as songs from the new album, Marianne Faithfull performs hits from her extensive back catalogue. THE HERITAGE ORCHESTRA PLAY THE MUSIC OF THE CLANGERS Monday 20 July, Queen Elizabeth Hall Through the inter-planetary powers of Johnny Trunk the Heritage Orchestra has been given unique access to Vernon Elliot's inimitable Clangers score, and has devised the first ever Clangers musical show. Originally created by the genius team of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin (Bagpuss, Ivor The Engine, Pogle's Wood), the Clangers still manages to captivate viewers 40 years down the line. On this occasion expect a mixture of music, narration, sound and sights, that in some way will remind us of a small blue cratered planet covered in metal lids, the Soup Dragon, Glow Buzzers, and a race of highly civilised, small, bright pink, long-nosed mouse-shaped persons which stand upright on big flappy feet. If that isn't enough, the orchestra has hooked up with the legendary Russ Garcia (Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr, Duke Ellington) to re-orchestrate and produce his classic 1959 album in all of its electro-orchestral glory. 'Fantastica: Music from Outer Space' remains the gold standard by which all outer space exotica records are judged, the album is a marvel of sound and structure, brilliantly evoking the music of the cosmos via revolutionary studio techniques, cinematic arrangements, and innovative electronic elements. It bears little resemblance to conventional earthly music with titles such a 'Goofy People of Phobos' and 'Monsters of Jupiter', and sweeps between traditional instruments and sine-wave generators like a Clanger on heat. A space gig like no other. GURRUMUL Tuesday 21 July, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.;30pm, £17.50 £15 Gurrumul is perhaps the most important Aboriginal voice of his generation. Born blind, his music and words are like nothing you have ever heard before. He performs a rare London concert. BLACK BOX RECORDER + MADAM Thursday 23 July, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.30pm, Tickets £15 Black Box Recorder first came to national prominence in 1998 when their debut album England Made Me garnered rave reviews, before their second album The Facts of Life became a hit in 2000. MARY GAUTHIER + Special guest Eliza Gilkyson Tuesday 23 July, Purcell Room, 7.15pm, £20 Folk singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier performs a special London gig, featuring tracks from her acclaimed back-catalogue. A unique lyricist, Gauthier possesses an extraordinary gift for creating beauty out of some of life’s darkest moments. 'The beauty of Gauthier’s country noir lies in the humanity of her characters, and in the sweet yearning of her gruff Louisiana drawl.' (Entertainment Weekly) BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE + SPECIAL GUESTS Tuesday 28 July, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.30pm, Tickets £20 £18 Since being voted Billboard’s ‘Best New Artist’ for her very first album in 1964, Buffy Sainte-Marie has been hugely celebrated as a music icon, and recognised as having virtually invented the role of a Native American international activist pop star. Performing tracks from her latest album, Running for the Drum, she comes to London for a rare performance. THE NATIONAL + Broken Records Monday 10 August, Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm, Tickets £20 £17.50 US band The National creates songs about love and war intertwined with songs about money and office life, covering everything from country pop to indie. LAURA MARLING AND FRIENDS Tuesday 11 August, Royal Festival Hall, 7pm, Tickets £15 £12.50 Mercury Music Prize-nominated Laura Marling performs with special guests at the Royal Festival Hall. With comparisons to folk heroes Joni Mitchell and Carole King, Laura Marling performs songs from her much-heralded debut Alas I Cannot Swim and showcases material from her eagerly anticipated next album. MAGAZINE Tuesday 1 September, Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm, Tickets £27.50 £25 Magazine, one of Britain's most influential bands, are to reconvene at the Royal Festival Hall this September to continue where they left off in 1980, and more recently, in February this year, when they played a select few dates to huge critical and popular acclaim. EMILIANA TORRINI Sunday 13 September, Royal Festival Hall, After her critically acclaimed 2008 album Me and Armini (Rough Trade), Emiliana Torrini plays a hugely anticipated gig at Southbank Centre ADDRESS: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX TICKET INFO Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0871 663 2538 / www.southbankcentre.co.uk WEBSITE www.southbankcentre.co.uk http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/festivals-series/summer-gigs
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SIREN FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES INITIAL LINEUP! SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2009!