Bluedot Festival has announced Steve Davis, Beth Orton, The Membranes, Tim Burgess, Stephen Morris, Nzca Lines, I Like Trains, Shaun Keaveny, Una Bombers, DJ Cheeba and many more to it’s line-up.
Taking place 22-24 July at Jodrell Bank, the Cheshire observatory at the cutting edge of humanity’s quest for knowledge, bluedot has revealed a host of new live acts, DJs and cultural happenings.
Heading the latest additions is green-baize legend and six-time World Snooker Champion Steve Davis AKA DJ Thundermuscle. It’s no secret that Steve has reinvented himself as a techno god but his set is no joke and has been well-received by the electronic cognoscenti. Just don’t ask him to play the theme tune from Pot Black…
Also joining the line-up is folktronic singer/songwriter Beth Orton. Receiving plaudits for her new album Kidsticks, her sound is returning to more of a beat format overseen by Fuck Buttons’ producer Andrew Hung.
Post punk icons The Membranes also feature with a festival first – a performance of their acclaimed Dark Matter/Dark Energy album complete with a 25 piece all female choir. The rockers will also be debuting tracks from their forthcoming album of collaborative remixes including Manic Street Preachers, Killing Joke and Reverend and the Makers.
Other acts added are spellbinding synthpop duo Bernard+Edith, dance-rock fusionists Pumarosa, four-piece all-girl rockers The Big Moon, surf-pop maestro Olivier Heim, feted Mancunians Mother, synth sci-fi outfit Nzca Lines, post-rockers I Like Trains, soulful synthpoppers Actor, neo post-punks Cabbage, experimental electronica purveyors worriedaboutsatan, indie four-piece The Spills and cinematic sounds from Phoria.
The festival has also revealed a brand new stage – Roots – that will be located in the bucolic setting of Jodrell Bank’s establish arboretum. A diverse line-up of folk, world and acoustica has been assembled including Mi Mye, award-winning folk artist Blair Dunlop, glitchy instrumentalism from Cambio Sun, Sam Brookes, Steve Parker, Musaic, The Lion & The Wolf and haunting folk from Alter Hanglands.
Gracing the electronic bill are everyone’s favourite party selectors the Unabombers playing a special cosmic one-off as the Lunabombers, tearaway turntablist DJ Cheeba, space-synth-psyche leviathans Space Cassette ft Henge, Age of Glass & Paddy Steer and Algorave – the clubnight often referenced as the future of dance music – where coders create live computer generated electronic music.
Joining the cultural programme is The Charlatans front man Tim Burgess talking about his new book Tim Book Two with BBC 6 Music’s Shaun Keaveny. Shaun will also be appearing on the comedy stage performing a stand-up set.
Stephen Morris from New Order, one of the first bands to ever play live at Jodrell Bank, will also be in conversation. BAFTA-winning director Kieran Evans will be talking with Erol Alkan and Richard Norris from Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve about And So The Sleep, the collection of short films they have made to accompany their album The Soft Bounce, before an exclusive screening of the films.
Bluedot is supported by the UK Space Agency and the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), Europe’s largest interdisciplinary science meeting taking place for the first time in Manchester 23-27 July 2016.
Full weekend camping and day tickets are now on sale.
Weekend tickets start from £129 and day tickets start from £35. Boutique camping starting from £495 & seven course menu provided by Michelin star chef Aiden Byrn in ‘The Restaurant at the end of the Universe’ from £69.
The full bluedot programme will be announced in the coming weeks.