I WONDER IF I'M FREE THAT NIGHT? OH, YES I AM.

Always a delight to hear from Matt T:
The word "Curate" now seems to have been redefined as "take over every bloody thing."

Haven't seen this on your site yet - apparently, Patti Smith is curating Meltdown this year, but whats astonishing is quite how many times she has seen fit to put herself on the bill. See below...


* Yoko Ono (Queen Elizabeth Hall, June 17)
* Rachid Taha with special guest Patti Smith (Royal Festival Hall, 17)
* Songs Of Innocence, Protest Songs and Lullabies, Feat. Patti Smith, Beth Orton, Sinead O’Connor, Kristin Hersh plus more (Royal Festival Hall, 18)
* Billy Bragg (Queen Elizabeth Hall, 18)
* Steve Earle and Patti Smith (Royal Festival Hall, 19)
* The Coral Sea 0 Text: Patti Smith Music: Patti Smith, Kevin Shields, Cat Power (Queen Elizabeth Hall, 22)
* A homage to Bertolt Brecht. Feat. Patti Smith, Antony, Dresdon Dolls, Marc Almond, Neil Finn, Tim Finn, London Sinfonietta and more (Royal Festival Hall, 23)
* Antony And The Johnsons (Queen Elizabeth Hall, 24)
* Patti Smith performs Horses with Special Guest John Cale (Royal Festival Hall, 25.)
* SONGS OF EXPERIENCE The work of Jimi Hendrix and the music that inspired him Feat. Patti Smith, Jeff Beck, Flea, John Frusciante and more (26)

Apart from anything else, I don't think I've ever seen so many teeth grindingly awful bands in one place. (Apart from the ever wonderful Dresden Dolls.)

Well, to be fair, it is her Meltdown. But it does have an air of a local radio station with only one star spreading them as thinly as they possibly can. Surely Patti must have some phone numbers of other people?

music festivals meltdown patti smith