Patti Smith to play virtual New Year's Eve gig via London's Piccadilly Circus billboards

30 December 2020, 10:28 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

(Patti Smith)

Patti Smith will ring in the New Year by hosting a virtual performance screened on London's Piccadilly Circus electronic billboards.

As Dazed notes, Patti Smith's virtual takeover is a collaboration with digital art platform Circa, and will see the punk legend perform a 15-minute virtual set at midnight, which will be available to stream via Circa's YouTube.

Smith will pay tribute to the 100 NHS and healthcare workers who have died from COVID-19 this year, as well as reciting a new poem penned by climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Prior to Smith's 15-minute gig, Circa will screen ONE - a "new 10-minute commission by the winner of the Venice Art Biennale 2017, Anne Imhof using footage filmed at the Tate Modern during the artist’s large-scale installation and performance in 2019."

Dazed also reports that Smith's New Year's Eve performance is the start of a residency with Circa, which will see Smith appear on the Piccadilly Circus billboards at 8:21pm GMT on every night of January 2021.

Circa's New Year's Eve presentation by Anne Imhof and Patti Smith will start at 11:45pm GMT tomorrow (31 December).