AWARD winning Sound City festival returns next year reworking their model and bringing it back to the core of the city where it all began.
Taking place on May 5 and 6, the event will take over a new location offering an intimate experience with the chance to discover new artists and experience headline acts from a number of spaces.
The new venue will be revealed in the next few weeks.
Early bird tickets go on sale 9am on Friday, September 29.
As ever Sound City 2018 will deliver the best of breakthrough acts and major names from the UK and abroad as well as a host of independent record label parties and showcases.
The programming for the 2018 extravaganza will be curated by special guests including Glastonbury’s Silver Hayes, Kendal Calling, Bluedot, Greg Wilson and Domino - plus many more.
Previous years have seen the likes of Ed Sheeran, Royal Blood, Jungle, Jake Bugg, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Bastille, The Kooks and The Human League perform.
Artist applications for Sound City 2018 will be open soon for anyone wishing to perform in May 2018, with more info from the festival to follow next week.
Chief operating officer at Sound City Becky Ayres said: “We delivered three hugely ambitious and successful years of Sound City on the north docklands of the city.
"Sound City was the first to shine a beacon on this neglected area of the city and, by doing so, we’ve even encouraged Everton FC to relocate to our former festival site.
“We now feel it is time for us to come back to the city centre and embark on the next stage of our journey.
"2018 will all be about re-establishing new links and a new feel.
"This will also lead us into the hugely ambitious plans that we have for 2019, which will be revealed over the coming months.”
Along with their return to the city centre, festival bosses have also revealed a new model - Sound City Satellite which will take the event to towns between Manchester and Liverpool.
Sound City chief executive David Pichilingi said: “If there’s one thing that Brexit taught us, it’s that there is a sense of social disenfranchisement between the significant suburbs that lie between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, and along the M62 corridor.
"This should not be the case when you consider that this great region has been responsible for some of the most important pieces of pop culture over the past 50 years.
"Going back further, the region has been responsible for some of the greatest innovations of the 20th century.
“Sound City Satellite is a hugely ambitious project. It strikes right at the heart of what we originally set out to do: to champion emerging business and artistic talent from our region and give them the belief that they do not need to move away in order to fulfil their potential and run successful businesses.
"The aim will be to foster a spirit of inclusion. That we are all in this together.
"It is not meant as a snub to London, but it is meant to help people view the bigger picture as well as encourage artists and businesses to stay in the North and build a real business economy outside of the capital.”
Sound City main festival and Sound City + Conference tickets will go on sale Friday, September 29 at 9am.
For more information visit www.soundcity.uk.com
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