Imaginary Concerts curates whimsical and humorous gig line-ups from 75 artists

Imagine your dream concert line-up. Heroes you never got to see, bands from far away countries that never seem to tour, or just your absolute favourites you could watch time and time again. It’s an amusing task personally, but also fascinating to hear what your friends or idols would choose. This was the brief for Peter Coffin’s book, Imaginary Concerts published by Printed Matter and Anthology Editions. The publication features line-ups of 75 artists, curators and musicians.

“At the artist’s invitation, each contributor submitted a fictitious concert line-up they’d like to one day see take place, regardless of how unrealistic or unrealisable,” explains Printed Matter. Contributors who provide a secret insight to their record collections and gig experiences include Lizzi Bougatsos, Genesis P-Orrige and Charlemagne Palestine. The result is a book that “spans across generations and musical genre to fulfil some individualised fantasy”. Each line-up was handed over to Adam Turnbull, a designer who typeset the billings in the house style of Colby Poster Printing Co., an LA-based print shop, “which famously churned out iconic show print posters for nearly 65 years before closing their doors in 2012”. Each poster is set on a background of three colour gradients, “suggestive of LA’s smog-lined sunsets”.

“The far-reaching mashups — sometimes whimsical or humorous — are also revealing of the profound impact that the concert experience has had for many,” explains the publishers. “Accessing the musical history (even as a fabricated one) through the varied and expansive knowledge of the contributors gives us something that feels deeply personal, driven by nostalgia and remembrance as maybe music is uniquely suited to do.”