Queen Of Punk Patti Smith To Host Meltdown

Punk goddess Patti Smith is to be crowned artistic director of  London's 13th Meltdown music festival this June.

Smith, whose iconic album 'Horses' is 30 years old this year, will arrange a series of concerts and events at the South Bank Centre.

The New York rocker is usually seen as a recluse, so it's something special that she's coming out of the darkness to host the mighty event, which saw Morrissey wearing the 'Director' hat last year. 

She explains, "I want to touch on all aspects of our culture, perhaps with readings from Genet, and I have an idea for Jeremy Irons to read Proust,' she said.

"It is important we explore the new, but we should also salute the best art there is, aesthetically and spiritually."

She wants the super-cool fest to be a response to these 'material, exploitative and greedy times'.

'I never think in terms of labels. I just see rock as a raw art form that belongs to the people, but has the possibility of merging with poetry, politics, the spiritual and the revolutionary.'

The festival which runs from 11-26 June, is sponsored by Observer Music Monthly.

I, personally, will be elbowing old ladies out the way for a ticket. (Better check first to make sure it ain't Patti I'm elbowing, of course...)