ATP NBC MBV

Last weekend was the All Tomorrow’s Parties Nightmare Before Christmas event, curated by My Bloody Valentine. I had a fun weekend. The bands I saw were…

Josh T. Person (later dubbed “King of Butlins” by Warren Ellis)
De La Soul (fun party band to start the weekend off proper)
Witch (J Mascis on drums but they all looked a bit like J Mascis)
Yo La Tengo (some people didn’t seem to like this but I did, not as good as they were last time I saw them)
The Tyde (so-so west coast jingle jangles with a Dylan sneer. They got the guy from The Thrills out to do some backing vocals at one point)
The Membranes (John Rob’s punk band. Hilarious)
Sun Ra Arkestra (good but I wasn’t quite in the mood for it, so I went and pumped loads of 2p coins into the penny arcade thing)
The Pastels (this washed over me a bit, don’t really remember it)
J Mascis & The Fog (good stuff, J had a mini colloseum of amps around him)
Sonic Youth (good, but I was a: stood behind a massive pillar, b: drinking the worst ale ever, and c: it was Saturday night and I wanted HITS but they played a fair bit of stuff from the Eternal instead)
My Bloody Valentine (not life changing)
No Age (brilliant, the best I’ve seen them, and they got Bob Mould out at the end)
Chuffed Up (double brilliant)
A Place To Bury Strangers (I’ve seen them 3 times before and it’s getting a bit samey but it’s good enough)
Th’ Faith Healers (this was ok)
Swervedriver (good but not great)
Mum (didn’t stay long, don’t like ‘em)
EPMD (amazing stage banter: “any Puerto Ricans in the house?” and “this for the ladies – all 6 of y’all!” and then a 10 minute obituaries section)
Bob Mould (played a mainly acoustic set, he seemed like a genuinely great guy)
Dirty Three (stage banter > the music)
Lightning Bolt (incredible, was umming and ah-ing about seeing them but so glad I did. Really glad they play on a stage now)

As you might be able to guess from my brief summaries, I’m a bit indifferent to a lot of shoegazey stuff so I got a bit over-egged with that side of things – but that just made me enjoy the other bits more. Had loads of fun with my friends, and that’s always the best bit of ATP – dancing, pile-on, playing the arcade games, talking nonsense in the sports bar, drinking mulled cider in the chalet.

2 negative points – one was the staff not really having a clue what was going on with the wristband exchange thing on Friday, and the second being that Watership Down is the worst film ever to watch if you’re even slightly hungover. But other than that, no real complaints. Yay!

PIZZA SLICE BONUS MATERIAL – had 9 slices of Pizza Hut buffet. Not a bad effort.

I wish I was going to ATP New York

What a line-up!

FRIDAY

The Jesus Lizard / Iron and Wine / Dirty Three Performing ‘Ocean Songs’ / Suicide Performing First LP / The Feelies Performing ‘Crazy Rhythms’ / The Drones Performing ‘Wait Long By The River’ / Comedy Stage hosted and curated by David Cross featuring Eugene Mirman, Jon Benjamin & Jon Glaser and Derrick Brown & The Navy Gravy.

SATURDAY: curated by ATP

Animal Collective / Panda Bear / Sufjan Stevens / Deerhunter / Melvins / Shellac / Boss Hog / Autolux / Dead Meadow / EL-P / Anti-Pop Consortium / Circulatory System / Atlas Sound / Akron Family / Grouper / Sleepy Sun / Bridezilla / Black Dice

SUNDAY: curated by The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips / Boredoms perform 9 drummer BOADRUM / No Age perform Husker Du with Bob Mould / Caribou perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble / Deerhoof with Martha Colburn / Crystal Castles / Super Furry Animals / Boris performing Feedbacker / Low Lows / Oneida Presents the Ocropolis / Hopewell / Black Moth Super Rainbow / Birds Of Avalon / Menomena

The Pizza Slice – Pizza Hut (All You Can Eat Buffet)

As part of the ATP ‘experience’ we went for an all-you-can-eat buffet at the on site Pizza Hut. I’d not been in a Pizza Hut for a couple years, despite being given a voucher at Christmas, and I’d sort of forgotten how little I enjoy it. The cheese is really greasy and the base is so doughy. I know pizza isn’t exactly health food, but these are a step above your usual heart attacks. You just feel the whole thing ooze into your blood stream. It’s definitely the worst of the high street pizza chains.

I was feeling a bit woozy from drinking, a bit proteined from a fry-up I’d had earlier, and so I didn’t eat that much. ‘All I could eat’ didn’t equate that good value for money. I can’t even remember what toppings I got now. One slice of ham and mushroom. One slice of pepperoni. That’s all I can remember. The ham and mushroom was probably the best of the lot, but maybe that’s just because it was the first one I had? Who knows? I doubt I’ll go back to Pizza Hut until the next time I go to an ATP festival. Which will be in December.

I do quite like those little shakers of chilli flakes you get mind.

ATP: The Fans Strike Back

I’ve almost been back from ATP long enough to start forming coherent thoughts now. Here’s some things on bands I saw in a rough order of when I saw them.

Friday

Jeffrey Lewis – only caught a bit of this so no real opinion. He was wearing a Spillers tshirt.
HEALTH – good stuff. Some man complained that they’d been “too structured”. Pardon? 3 members of HEALTH were in the swimming pool the next day. They went “Whoa!” when they saw the slides.
Andrew WK – my lip spontaneously started bleeding. Motivational talks mixed with rock actions, and surreal moments including a man with a balloon on his head.
M83 – caught a bit of this and it was sounding really good but there were some clashes so I couldn’t watch the whole thing.
Devo – set of the weekend? Probably.
Antipop Consortium – I don’t listen to much hip-hop so I’ve not got much frame of reference for this. It was okay I suppose.
Jesu – This wasn’t really my kind of thing from what I remember.
Fuck Buttons – new stuff sounded good. I don’t think I watched the whole set.
Edan (DJ set) – I didn’t even notice this was happening at the time and I barely remembered even being there the next day.

Saturday

Retribution Gospel Choir – I’ve not really heard much Low but this was good. Best heckle of the weekend was “throw a guitar at someone”. Luckily, he didn’t.
The Cave Singers – someone I was with said “this is good music to sit down to” and that was true.
The Acorn – had their moments. Worst stage banter of the weekend; “This place reminds me of Jaws … I guess it’s an average city in England huh?” - Silence
Harvey Milk – they were very loud. I liked it, but can’t ever imagine myself thinking “ooh I’d love to crack on that Harvey Milk album right now”
Beirut – Front loaded his set with all the hits which was annoying because I was getting a beer in a stupid place full of people taking up all the bar-time buying coffees.
Marnie Stern – I liked the fret-tappy songs more than the other ones. Bass Lady had inappropriate stage banter. What would her mother say if she knew?

Sunday

Shearwater – Another good band for sitting down. I do mean that in a good way. Sometimes it’s nice to sit down.
Future Of The Left – weird seeing them on a massive stage during daylight hours. Felt like half of Cardiff was there watching them. Some man in a ludicrous hoodie got berated and Kelson threw sweets at people in a slightly menacing way. I bought a tshirt.
!!! – didn’t watch much of this. If it had been on a bit later I might have been into it more.
Parts And Labor – not quite as good as I remember them being on record (have only heard them a couple times) but I enjoyed it more as the set progressed.
Spiritualized – I sent my friend a text going “I’m watching that drugs band you like” and he replied going “which one? They’re all drugs bands”
The Mae Shi – The perfect band for that precise moment in my life. They Do This All The Time.
The Jesus Lizard – One of them classic bands that I’ve never really ‘got round to’ investigating. This will be remedied.

ATP: The Fans Strike Back - Voting Round 2

I can't really remember who I voted for in the first round, but here are my votes for round 2.

1. Deerhunter
2. Mudhoney
3. The National
4. Dinosaur Jr
5. Liars

I had hoped to vote for the Thermals but they're busy touring in the 'States'.

Here's a live video of Deerhunter I found on YouTube