Charles Hayward x LCO
Charles Hayward is a drummer, singer and composer, and was a founding member of the experimental rock groups This Heat and Camberwell Now. Since then, his experiments haven’t stopped.
For this show he’s joined by the London Contemporary Orchestra for a new collaboration.
Hayward's live set is a heady mix of drums, voice and electronics. There is music of physicality and fire alarms; lyrical collage of slang, catchphrase and defiance; ;strong beats, stark textures, simple tunes and controlled chance.
No two performances are the same, and yet everything is structured and geared towards electric song. As he says: ‘I’ve been making this music all my life. It keeps changing in front of my ears.’
Hayward played with early European improv group Mal Dean's Amazing Band and gigged and recorded with Phil Manzanera in Quiet Sun as well as a short stint with Gong.
Since the late 1980s he has concentrated on solo projects and collaborations, including Massacre (with Bill Laswell and Fred Frith), Albert Newton (with Pat Thomas and John Edwards) and About Group (with Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor.
The project This Is Not This Heat recently completed a three-year series of performances in UK, Europe, US and Japan.
Throughout a nearly 50-year career Hayward has developed idiosyncratic attitudes and insights into a wide range of soundwork, spanning improvisation, song and sound as sound, using order and chaos as creative energies.
He curates a six-monthly series of performances, workshops and installation called Music is Social Space for Albany Theatre.
Dates & times
Price
- Standard entryFrom £15*
- Concessions25%**
* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.
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** Limited availability. Read about concessions.
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Venue
Purcell Room
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More information
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Get an overview of the seating layout of the Purcell Room by downloading our seating plan.
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An accessible toilet is located in the foyer.
A Changing Places toilet is located on Level 1 Royal Festival Hall next to the JCB Glass Lift, for the exclusive use of disabled people who need personal assistance to use the toilet.
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Purcell Room is located in Queen Elizabeth Hall. For step-free access please use Royal Festival Hall JCB glass lift to Level 2 and enter via Riverside Terrace.
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Please bear with us while we update our access map to reflect the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall’s Level 2 foyer spaces. The step-free routes remain the same.