It’s festival season, and whether you’re walking around in warm and muddy wellington boots or trying to find the port-a-loo with the shortest queue, music is probably the thing at the top of your mind. It’s on Selfridges’ too, as it gears up to launch a fully-fledged music moment for the fans, whatever sound you’re into. Throughout July and August, the department store invites you for a slice of sonic heaven presenting its Summer of Sound activation. Subsequent to last year’s Summer of Sport, which transformed the space into a venue for games on every floor, a sports bar and a plethora of ways to connect with prime sporting personalities, Summer of Sound is set to be your one-stop shopping destination for music merch and more all season.
Kicking off July 14, all three of the department store’s UK locations – London, Manchester and Birmingham – will spotlight live performances, engaging conversations, listening parties and karaoke sessions taking attendees on a sonic journey marked by “major comebacks, favourite throwbacks and diverse music events act”. Accompanying these, Selfridges’ Oxford Street store gets a refresh with its famed windows becoming ‘deconstructed gigs’. Channelling the emotional resonance of live music in its many forms, everything from larger than life cassettes to Glastonbury-style placards pepper the displays, filling the high street with an undeniable sense of nostalgia.
Intending to reflect the sound of our cities, a plentiful group of talents will also help Selfridges to orchestrate unexpected musical experiences. Nightlife mainstay and cultural producer Nadine Noor, for one, has programmed DJs to play joyous and uplifting sets blending a mix of “new, niche and next genres”. In addition to this, the Chicago based global performance platform Elevator Music – which is renowned for creating intimate and exclusive experiences – will come to London for three days in August to programme an off-beat line up of performances in the lifts within the Oxford Street store. Yes, you read that right. Taking the shopping experience to a whole new level – literally – the lifts will become miniature nightclubs in their own right. Who can say they’ve raved their way to the fourth floor? After this? Every Londoner with a taste for something sonically singular.
Tour and music merch have always been at the heart of fan bases and in the thick of Oasis’s sell-out comeback tour, Selfridges’ is also releasing a 16-piece capsule collection featuring three exclusive styles, including two black T-shirts with the iconic Oasis logo and a hoodie that celebrates key dates in the brand’s history. Long-term Reselfridges partner Not/Applicable will also come in strong with band and tour tee’s; think Prince, The Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath.
It’s the summer of sound and Selfridges is hitting a high note, so what are you waiting for? Ditch your burdens, grab your girlfriends and head down for a quick gig in the lift or a refresh of your old Oasis merch. And while you’re there, make sure to stop off at the Cinema at Selfridges for a quick karaoke session – it’d be rude not to.
Photography courtesy of Selfridges.
