All Tomorrow’s Parties

So I’m back from the ‘All Tomorrow’s parties’ festival in Butlins… Not the kind of place you usually associate with music festivals, more shitty entertainment and vaguely miserable childhood memories. But you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The entire venue is reserved and dedicated to the festival, no kiddies or tourists, just music lovers and people that are there for the copious amounts of alcohol being dispensed from the corners of literally every room… yes. Room. The whole thing is also situated indoors inside a massive permanent tent-like structure that keeps everybody dry and warm even in the middle of winter. You can spend the whole day inside the sprawling complex watching the different acts from the crowd, or sit back in the nearby cafe or pub and listen from the comfort of your chair with a pint in your hand.

Let’s take a look at some of the acts on display that warrant my attention:

Mûm

The unbelievably pretentious program described them as ‘An Icelandic pop band who push the boundaries of sound with their idiosyncratic style…’ or some such empty arse-water. What I saw was a beautifully atmospheric band that held the audience captivated throughout their set. They were almost hypnotic in their delivery… or maybe that’s because the front women are unbelievably hot.

Afrirampo

A pair of bouncy, energetic Japanese girls playing music that only Japan can seem to get right. Their performance was upbeat, wacky and downright hilarious. I’m not sure how well the music will translate to the CD, but the skill of their music shone through on stage, and considering there were only two of them, that’s saying something.

Modest Mouse

Despite the fact that the lead singer had some kind of Lurgy, he managed to give a good enough performance, they played their music and they cracked the odd joke here and there in between songs. But they didn’t play ‘float on’… so that means they suck!

Explosions in the sky

I watched the Sky’splosions from a distance, drinking a San Miguel. And to be honest, it didn’t make that much difference. The band’s instrumental nature makes me automatically list them as part of the background soundtrack and I inadvertently phase it out. This is not necessarily a bad thing, their music was atmospheric and moving. But I didn’t really pay attention.

The Mars Volta

Now these guys were good. But that’s to be expected of a headlining act. The music was loud and fun to listen to… Not much else to say really.

Crispin Glover’s big slide show.

Now this was a pleasant surprise. The dad from Back to the Future performed a slide show of old books he’d re-cut into insane little acts. It was mental, it was disturbing, and it was funny as hell! If you get the chance, check it out…

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

They came onstage three quarters of an hour late, had the stage presence of a drugged up Chav in a sack of weasels and they sounded like utter shite. Only look into them if you’re already a fan.

All in all, I’d say that All Tomorrow’s Parties was an awesome place to spend your weekend. The acts alone are worth the price of admission considering you can pick and choose which ones you watch at your leisure. But if you remember that you’re also sleeping in a Butlins Chalet, you can sit back from the act and listen in from an adjacent cafe, and if it rains, you don’t notice because you’re too busy rocking out.

And most importantly, you will be in the company of the nicest large crowd of people you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. The closest thing to belligerent behaviour I experienced in the three days was when a girl at the bar took exception to me saying that I secretly hoped Charlie Brooker was me after an accident with a time machine and proceeded to explain to me that ‘he was already doing it’ and therefore I should drop any such notion… she seemed to think journalism ran on the same rules as Highlander… But considering that we were at a music festival, she was probably tripping so many balls they had started to wonder how the concept worked when they didn’t even have any legs, you can’t ask for better than that.

I had an awesome time at ATP, and when the next one in May starts to roll up I’ll be asking around for anyone who wants to come with me.

Tags: all tomorrows parties, Butlins, festivals

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