SINGAPORE: Music and arts festival Neon Lights cements its return to the Singapore for its sophomore year with the announcement of 17 more names to its 2016 lineup.
Joining the previously announced headliners Sigur Ros and Foals will be Canadian indie-electro duo Crystal Castles, Swedish alt-folk hero Jose Gonzalez and the original Godfather of Funk himself, Detroit’s George Clinton, who will be performing the best of material from Parliament and Funkadelic.
Billed as the region’s ‘music lovers’ festival, Neon Lights 2016 will be held over two days (Nov 26 to 27) and six stages at Singapore’s Fort Canning Park. More than 10,000 fans attended the inaugural festival last November, which featured a multi-genre line-up of homegrown and international music acts like Damien Rice and CHIC featuring front-man Nile Rodgers.This year, festival-goers will be treated to the likes of Canadian neo-funk star Neon Indian, English folk-songstress Lucy Rose, British electronic producer Gold Panda, Canadian jazzhiphop fusion from Badbadnotgood and English instrumental electronic band 65daysofstatic.
Some of the other featured acts will be playing in Singapore for the first time, including new stars such as English singer-songwriter-producer Shura, Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes, who has written for Florence & the Machine, The Chemical Brothers and Kylie Minogue), Swedish singer-songwriter The Tallest Man on Earth and New York Hip-Hop pioneers The Sugarhill Gang.
The Singapore contingent will be represented by 22-year-old singer-songwriter Joel Tan, better known by his stage name Gentle Bones. The indie darling of the Singapore English music scene and fresh from two sellout shows at Esplanade Theatre last month will be entertaining the home crowd alongside singer-songwriter Linying and electronic dance rock quartets Cashew Chemists and Disco Hue.
Said Neon Lights’ festival director Declan Forde: “We feel we’re upping the ante with the range and quality of music acts in this year’s festival, with a strong mix of international acts who proven audiences in Singapore alongside the best new stars from the Singaporean indie scene.”
Neon Lights is an all-ages event, with tickets for children under 12, accompanied by adults, starting from S$25. A limited number of early bird tickets for adults remain available, starting at S$120 for a single day pass. Tickets start from S$135 onwards after that. Tickets can be purchased from www.neonlights.sg, www.apactix.com or in any SingPost branch.