The Live Music Hour - 30/07/2010

The mighty Sonic Youth, performed live at the Royal Festival Hall for John Peel's Meltdown Festival in 1998, and the BBC captured the evening on tape for prosperity. John curated the two-week-long celebration of contemporary arts, which gave him the chance to plan his own programme, resulting in a line-up of Peel favourites including Atari Teenage Riot, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Delgados and Cornershop. Meltdown coincided with the 1998 France World Cup, which meant that one night, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci had to wait until after 11pm to take the stage whilst England lost to Argentina. (Nonetheless, Peel was happy because Liverpool's Michael Owen scored, so the match wasn't all bad!) Also on the show, Bleeding Hearts, recorded for the Friday Night Rock Show, and the ethereal All About Eve, recorded by 'Auntie' in October 1988.