David Byrne to Curate Electric Orchestra for ‘There Will Be Blood’ and ‘Planet of the Apes’ Screening
This summer’s Meltdown Festival is showing two classic blockbusters paired with live electric and orchestral soundtracks. For Talking Heads fans, it will be a must-see event, as David Byrne himself is curating the festival.
On August 19th, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award-winning film, “There Will Be Blood” will screen alongside Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood’s score, as performed live by the London Contemporary Orchestra. Conductor Hugh Brunt will lead the orchestra, as Greenwood will be performing on one of the first ever-electronic instruments, the ondes Martenot. This ridiculous instrument is the cherry on top of what already promises to be a one of a kind performance.
The second film accompanied by a live soundtrack this season will be Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1960s epic, “Planet of the Apes,” which promises to show Charlton Heston on the silver screen as never seen before. Conducted by Robert Ziegler, the BBC Concert Orchestra will perform the film’s soundtrack live during its screening at Royal Festival Hall. If you are in London on August 28th, find out for yourself if the new rendition holds a candle to the original (and critically acclaimed) score by Jerry Goldsmith.
London’s Meltdown Festival started in 1993 at the Southbank Centre. It is an annual week-long event that prides itself on the fact that seminal artists sign up for one-off performances hosted by legendary artists themselves. It’s track record includes David Bowie, Patti Smith and Nick Cave.
Meltdown famously inspired The New York Dolls to reunite for Morrissey, and played stage to Jeff Buckley’s final UK show. Meltdown is the kind of magical place where even Grace Jones and Pete Doherty sing Disney songs with Jarvis Cocker.
