London, Monday 27 February 2012, The O2 — Sundance Institute and The O2 today announced that musician, producer and actor Tricky will reunite on stage with vocalist/musician Martina Topley-Bird for the first time in 15 years to perform his award-winning debut album Maxinquaye in its entirety on Friday, 27th April, 2012 at the first-ever Sundance London as part of the four-day festival’s music programme. Tickets will go on general sale on Thursday 01 March 2012 online.
Sundance London takes place 26 – 29 April, 2012, and will feature the UK premieres of films fresh from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival which took place in January 2012 in Park City, Utah. Daily live music performances, discussions, panels and other public events will round out the four-day festival.
On performing as part of Sundance London, Tricky said: “It’s an honour to play the first Sundance London. To me, Sundance is like the opportunity Island and Chris Blackwell gave me; a chance for an artist to make their art without compromise for commercial reasons.”
As a performer, Tricky is probably best known as a trail blazer in the Bristol trip-hop scene of the early 1990s, and his album Maxinquaye helped define ‘The Bristol Sound.’ Tricky first came to the public’s attention performing and co-writing on three tracks from Massive Attack’s critically acclaimed and multi-platinum debut Blue Lines LP (1991).Expanding on the sonic template of his fellow Bristolians, and featuring then-girlfriend Martina Topley-Bird on vocals, Maxinquaye is a dark, mysterious album featuring a combination of hip-hop, soul, dub, rock and electronica. Alison Goldfrapp also featured on the track Pumpkin.
Signed to Island Records, Maxinquaye proved a UK top 3 album success, selling in excess of 500,000 copies worldwide. The seminal album was also a critical success being ranked number 1 on NME & Melody Maker’s Top Albums of 1995 and shortlisted for the 1995 Mercury Prize. In addition, it was placed highly in Q’s 100 Greatest British albums, Mojo’s 100 Modern Classics and Rolling Stone’s “Essential Recordings of the 90s” amongst others. Tricky would later go on to collaborate with musical dignitaries such as Bjork, PJ Harvey, Mos Def, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, Grace Jones and Yoko Ono.
Aside from his various solo music projects, a number of Tricky’s tracks have appeared on film soundtracks and he himself has acted in various films and TV productions, including the Thirteen Ghosts and Queen of the Damned soundtracks. His on-screen credits include starring alongside Gary Oldham in Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element and a brief cameo in the John Woo-directed action thriller Face/Off. Tricky has also directed his own short film Brown Punk which cast Tricky and Elliot Gould in screen roles.
Passes and packages for both the film and music components of Sundance London are now on sale. Further additions to the Sundance London music programme will be announced.
For press accreditation please register via sundancelondon@premierpr.com.
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Media Contacts:
Stephen Farmer
AEG Europe – The O2
+44 (0) 20 8463 2573
stephen.farmer@aegworldwide.co.uk
Casey De La Rosa
Sundance Institute
001 310 360 1981
casey_delarosa@sundance.org
Robert Redford
Robert Redford is an Academy Award-winning actor, director and producer, a passionate advocate for the arts and a leading environmentalist. He serves as President of the non-profit Sundance Institute, which he founded 30 years ago to foster independence, discovery and new voices in American film and theatre. Mr. Redford also founded the Sundance Channel, Sundance Resort, Sundance Catalog, and Sundance Cinemas and the non-profit Redford Center. Though very different in their activities and independent in their operations, all of Mr. Redford’s Sundance entities share the same core mission he has always held dear: a passionate connection to new artists, new voices and new perspectives.
www.sundancegroup.net
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. It owns or operates some of the world’s best arenas and theatres, numerous sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and LA Galaxy (MLS), and a collection of companies dedicated to producing, promoting and presenting world-class live entertainment.
In May 2005, AEG Europe announced that it would transform the former Millennium Dome and the surrounding area into the UK’s most exciting and technically advanced music, sport and entertainment destination. It was renamed The O2 and opened in June 2007.
The centrepiece of the multi-million pound development is the 20,000 capacity indoor arena, the most popular music arena in the world. There is also a live music venue – indigO2 – with a capacity of 2,350, The O2 bubble – a state of the art exhibition space that is host to the British Music Experience, a permanent, high-tech, interactive music museum, an 11 screen cinema complex, and a vibrant ‘Entertainment District’ featuring a variety of bars, restaurants and leisure facilities.
The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.
AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.
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