Yoko Ono has invited the winner of Liverpool’s GIT Award 2013 to support her Plastic Ono Band at Meltdown 2013 – the 20th anniversary of the Festival.
Ono; artist, peace activist, musician and widow to John Lennon, has invited the winner of the GIT Award 2013 to play at her Meltdown-curated festival at London’s Southbank Centre.
The winner joins Yoko’s personally curated festival bill which includes Iggy Pop, Siouxsie, Patti Smith, Marianne Faithful, Boy George, Savages and the Plastic Ono Band who will play John and Yoko’s Double Fantasy with special guests – the first time the album will be performed live.
The winner of the GIT (Getintothis) Award, will be revealed from the carefully selected 12-strong shortlist of exciting emerging Merseyside acts on Friday April 19 at Leaf on Bold Street.
The shortlist of Liverpool’s premier music prize is: Baltic Fleet, Barberos, By The Sea, Nadine Carina, Clinic, Conan, Dan Croll, John Heckle, Jetta, Tyler Mensah, Stealing Sheep and Wave Machines.
Yoko, who celebrated her 80th birthday this year, and joins previous Meltdown curators David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker and Nick Cave, said: “One of my hopes for Meltdown is that people will discover new musicians and artists – the GIT Award artists represent artists of the future. And of course I was very keen to have a new artist from Liverpool!
“You could say I’m biased but I believe that music from Liverpool and other Northern cities has often shaped our future. John was a great example of this. I look forward to hearing some great new music from Liverpool and to seeing one artist on the bill for Meltdown. It’s the future!”
Meanwhile, the comperes for this year’s GIT Award showcase at Leaf on April 19, are artist, musician and culture guru Jayne Casey and film-maker and the voice of the Anfield Wrap, Neil Atkinson.
Casey is co-founder of Cream, musician with the likes of Big In Japan and Pink Industry, and the artistic director for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture.
Atkinson, director of indie short ‘Pro’ and co-founder of the Spirit Of Shankly, is the voice of the Anfield Wrap; Britain’s second most popular podcast which specialises in football, culture and music.