United Visual Artists launch Meltdown with Volume, a field of 8ft luminous columns with sounds provided by Massive Attack.
So here's a confession. I've never actually been to a Meltdown gig before. But Massive Attack are the kind of 'serious musicians' I like. Disclaimer - I'm a huge fan and they're the first band I ever interviewed so I couldn't wait to see what they were going to do as curators of this year's Meltdown, a word that sums up what they've been trying to do musically for the last two decades.
True to form, the opening evening of this year's festival was an odd delight. It kicked off with a light and sound installation outside the Royal Festival Hall that looked as if it came from the set of Doctor Who - you hopped onto a small stage and weaved between flashing pillars to a disco soundtrack. But since this was on the Southbank no one batted an eyelid.
The Silent Disco was even better despite the technical teething problems that delayed the start of Daddy G's set for an hour. Two crazy Dutch DJs entertained us in the meantime, interrupting the tunes to celebrate Holland's Euro 08 thrashing of France.
The great thing about a silent disco is the soundclash you can create on your headphones, switching between DJs, so while Daddy G was spinning Leftfield's Inspection (Check One) to mass beery delight, the Orange man on the other side of the stage was leading a Hen party singalong version of 'You're The One That I Want'. The other entertaining thing was trying to spot who was dancing to what at all times. Every so often I'd find myself dancing completely out of sync to the people next to me. But, hey, what's wrong with Grease anyway?
