The Cure's Robert Smith Reveals His Lineup For The Meltdown Festival

(Gibson) Each year the Meltdown festival at London's Southbank Centre builds their festival line-up around curation by a musical legend. Past editions have seen acts like Massive Attack, Nick Cave, David Bowie, MIA, and Elvis Costello all leave their distinct curatorial stamps on the festival.

With 2018 being Meltdown's twenty-fifth year, the event chose Robert Smith of The Cure to assemble his line-up, details of which were revealed earlier this week. In a first-wave of artist announcements, it would appear that Smith has leaned towards a darker, more brooding set of acts, as you'd expect.

The first list features global stars like Nine Inch Nails and Deftones, alongside acclaimed British acts like The Libertines, Manic Street Preachers, Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine, Placebo, The Psychedelic Furs, The Church and 65daysofstatic.

Also on the line-up announced so far: Alcest, The Anchoress, Kristin Hersh, Kathryn Joseph, MONO, and The Notwist. Robert Smith seems to be relishing the process of putting the festival together, saying, "As each invitee confirms, as each shimmering piece falls into place, I pinch myself-this is really happening... and the complete picture will undoubtedly be out of this world!" Read more here.