Primary Entry: 12:30
Doors open for general admission: 13:30
Last entry: 21:00
Curfew: 22.30
Great Oak Stage
The Cure 20:10 - 22:20
Interpol 18:35 - 19:35
Goldfrapp 17:15 - 17:55
Editors 16:00 - 16:45
Slowdive 14:50 - 15:30
Pale Waves 13:40
Barclaycard Stage
Ride 19:25 - 20:10
Lisa Hannigan 17:55
Twilight Sad 16:35 - 17:15
This Will Destroy You 15:20
Summer Stage
Kathryn Joseph 17:55
Kaelan Mikla 16:35 - 17:15
PG Lost 15:20
Update (June 30th, 2018): Some updates to the schedules...Allthingsmata and Gallops have been removed. End time for The Twilight Sad added. Kaelyn Mikla and Kathryn Joseph have switched spots, so no more conflict between the Sad's set and Kathryn's set.
Meltdown Festival
June 24th, 2018
Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre
London, England
Twilight Sad set: It Never Was The Same, VTR (new), The Arbor (new), There's A Girl in the Corner, And She Would Darken the Memory, Keep Yourself Warm (Frightened Rabbit cover).
CURÆTION-25 set
Set 1 (From There to Here): Three Imaginary Boys, At Night, Other Voices, A Strange Day, Bananafishbones, A Night Like This, Like Cockatoos, Pictures of You, High, Jupiter Crash, 39, Us or Them, It's Over, It Can Never Be The Same.
Set 2 (From Here to There): Step Into The Light, The Hungry Ghost, alt.end, Last Day of Summer, Want, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Disintegration, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, Sinking, Shake Dog Shake, One Hundred Years, Primary, A Forest, Boys Don't Cry.
Note: Faith was listed on the official setlist, but was not played. Primary took its spot in the set.
"Curator Robert Smith closes the 25th Meltdown festival with an exclusive show at Royal Festival Hall, with support from The Twilight Sad.
He is joined onstage by four of his curious friends – and other, imaginary accompanists – to perform special interpretations based on a very particular selection of songs he has sung throughout the years."
Psychedelic Furs - India
Placebo - The Bitter End
65daysofstatic - Radio Protector
Vessels - Radiart
Alcest - Kodama
Eat Static (with Robert) - In All Worlds
Suzanne Vega - Small Blue Thing
God is an Astronaut - Shores of Orion
Death Cab For Cutie - The New Year
Maybeshewill - Sanctuary
Kiasmos - Drawn
MONO - Halo
The Libertines - Heart of the Matter
The Notwist - Boneless
Manic Street Preachers - A Design for Life
Deftones - Anniversary of An Uninteresting Event
NIN - Every Day Is Exactly the Same
Low - Point of Disgust
Kristin Hersh - Crooked
My Bloody Valentine - Blown a Wish
Frightened Rabbit - I Feel Better
Mogwai - Batcat
The Cure - The Same Deep Water As You
Thought it might be useful, or at least interesting, to compile the full list of Meltdown events here. If I missed anything, please let me know. And to everyone going, whether to one event or all of them, have a fantastic time! It's an amazing lineup, and if I could be there, I'd be at every show possible. Excellent job of curating, Robert! Congratulations on such a superb event, and best wishes on everything running as smoothly as possible with the minimum amount of hassles. Cheers!
Royal Festival Hall Sunday Surprises
1-1:30 PM False Advertising
2-2:30 PM De Rosa
3-3:30 PM Is Bliss
4-4:30 PM Midas Fall
5-5:45 PM The Penelopes
6:15-7 PM Kagoule
Queen Elizabeth Hall Frightened Rabbit and Pumarosa
"We are deeply saddened by the recent loss of Scott Hutchison. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and the band at this difficult time.
In agreement with their management, we have decided not to replace Frightened Rabbit for the forthcoming show on 19 June as part of Meltdown. That night, out of respect to Scott and Frightened Rabbit, Queen Elizabeth Hall will stay dark. All ticket holders will be fully refunded.
Pumarosa, who were due to support Frightened Rabbit, will now perform on our riverside stage during Meltdown on 24 June, free to the public.
7:30 PM Mental Health and the Music Industry
The music industry has seen a number of devastating losses of life in recent years, and ever-increasing numbers of musicians are speaking out in the media and in their songs about struggles with mental health.
Musicians Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses), Stefan Olsdal (Placebo) and Dizraeli, along with mental health professionals from Help Musicians, discuss the current state of mental health in the music industry. The conversation is moderated by clinical psychologist Dr Jay Watts.
This special event replaces the cancelled Frightened Rabbit performance in Queen Elizabeth Hall on 19 June.
Anyone waiting for e-tickets for Meltdown:
'We identified a glitch in
our system which meant that not all e-tickets were generated as
expected. We’re in the process of rectifying the issue, They’ll come in a
separate email from no-reply@southbankcentre.co.uk. Some email providers often move these to your spam/junk folders. If for
whatever reason they don’t arrive by the day of the show please bring
your confirmation email with you to the ticket office and we’ll happily
print these onto physical tickets for you there." Thanks, @mattsmudge.
A very few tickets left for these Purcell Room shows in June: extraordinary JOYCUT Fri15th/ incredible JAMBINAI Sat16th/ breathtaking EMMA RUTH RUNDLE Mon18th/ glorious VEX RED Tues19th/ astonishing PG.LOST Thurs21st/ kaleidoscopic THE SOFT MOON Sun24thhttps://t.co/6ZlxQP5MDx
A few tickets still left for the Meltdown Concrete Lates - happening in The Front Room Queen Elizabeth Hall 11pm to 2am Only £15 for the fabulous KIASMOS Fri15th / Only £15 for the awesome VESSELS Sat16th / Only £15 for the genius EAT STATIC Sat23rdhttps://t.co/6ZlxQP5MDx
…TRUST ME - EVERY ONE OF THESE SHOWS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH MORE THAN WONDERFUL!!! And remember - tickets sometimes become available at the last minute - so if you really want to see a Meltdown artist not mentioned above - please keep trying… you never know! SEE YOU THERE! RSX
Another new interview with Robert, this one in Time Out London. Some excerpts:
Let’s talk about Meltdown. Have you been to Meltdown shows as a fan before?
'I came to see Bowie when he put on his Meltdown [in 2002]. I saw all his [Meltdown] shows, actually. And I saw Tricky one year. I think the curator was… Oh, I’m terrible. Reggae bloke, wears a tinfoil hat.’
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry?
'Yes! I saw Tricky at that festival. It was one of the weirdest backstages I’ve ever been to in my life – you could cut through the smoke with a knife. So yeah, I’ve been to a few over the years, and it’s an honour to be able to put it together.'
Does it feel weird doing something like this solo, not as The Cure?
'I’ve never done anything this public where it’s just me. It wasn’t how I intended it at all – it was going to be The Cure’s Meltdown. But this big Hyde Park show came up at the same time and they were very iffy about exclusivity, so it became my Meltdown. It’s actually a good thing, because it would have been utterly impractical to have a five-piece curating a festival. We can’t even agree what to listen to on a tour bus.’
A lot of the bands you’ve picked are from the same sort of era and genre. Was that deliberate?
'I wasn’t trying to be everything to everyone. I listen to loads of stuff, and none of it’s suitable for Meltdown – if I started to bring it all in, it’d be a right hotch-potch. So I limited it to bands that were really great live bands. I’ve always been drawn to more emotional music, and they all wear their hearts on their sleeve.’
They’re major acts too.
'I went on Wikipedia and looked at everyone else’s line-ups and thought: Right, I’ll just aim ridiculously high. So my first invitation was to The Rolling Stones. They knocked me back,
but my next shortlist of acts all said yes, which I was incredibly honoured by.’
You announced Frightened Rabbit for the line-up a month before the tragic death of their frontman Scott Hutchison. How did that make you feel?
'It’s awful. They were one of the bands that I was really, really looking forward to seeing. I’ve been listening to them for ten years. I’ve never met him, but I feel I know him because of his voice.’
I’ve heard that you want to watch every single band at the festival. Is that possible?
'Theoretically it’s possible. I’m not sure if it’s physically or mentally possible, but I intend to try. How I will feel by day six, I’m not sure.’
And what are you planning for your own show: Curætion 25?
'The show that I’m constructing for the final night is utterly different to anything we’ve done for a long time. There was something on the website saying the audience is encouraged to stand. I was like, hold on! I’m putting together a show that is utterly morose! Hyde Park’s a big festival vibe, Meltdown’s going to be two hours of doom and gloom. We probably won’t be playing the big singles.’
Did you expect to still be playing shows at all, at nearly 60?
'No. If I had ever been intent on being the number one band in the world and was still relentlessly banging my head against that particular wall, I would hopefully be dead – and if not, I would just be a moron. The process was what I enjoyed: to be an artist, if I want to be poncy about it. Everything The Cure’s ever done is purely selfish. I’ve only got one life, and I should really be doing stuff that brings me satisfaction. Anyway, one day my hair will all fall out and I won’t look gothic any more. So just wait for that.’
