ATP Festival @ Cockatoo Island, Sydney
After years of events overseas, All Tomorrow’s Parties finally staged a series of events around Australia this month. Here in Sydney, the ATP Festival was presented as part of the Sydney Festival and was held on Cockatoo Island yesterday and today (same lineup both days). I attended ATP on Saturday with only two big acts on my Must See list (SPZ and Cave) and a whole bunch of acts I was eager to discover.
Before I get to the music I need to say some things about ATP Festival as an event. This was probably the best run festival I have ever been to (not an easy feat considering the only way to get to the event was by ferry). The combination of ATP and Sydney Festival organizers worked a charm: this festival was douche-free, had an eclectic lineup (although food was TOTALLY pigeonholed into easily identifiable genres), and was a pleasure to attend all day. It was easy to get around and the food/bathroom lines ranged from manageable to non-existent.
I guess it was mostly the slightly leftfield lineup (Afrirampo! Psarandonis! James Blood Ulmer!) but the people attending this festival actually wanted to listen to the music. Big Day Out this was not. Over the course of the day I saw people at the festival reading the Sydney Morning Herald and drinking cappuccinos. And I thought the selection of wines was a classy touch. So for future event organizers, a few quick tips for keeping your festival awesome:
1. Hold it on an island
2. No Presets fans
See how easy it is?
Alright, about the music. Here are some quick notes I took yesterday on the acts I saw (except SPZ and Nick Cave who will each get their own posts later on). My photos from the day are here. In chronological order…
Hunter Dienna
- Intriguing
- Good sized crowd for first act of the day
- This Barracks Stage is awesome
The Stabs
- Pretty sure these guys are a Jonny band
- Dirty, dirty, dirty guitars
- They look awesome
Bridezilla
- I am the last person “involved” in the Sydney music scene to see them
- Playing WAY beyond their years
- Very, VERY impressive
- Instrumentals…good sign from a young band
- Violin player is chaotically excellent
- (My favourite performance of the day excluding SPZ and Cave)
Beaches
- Another awesome group of women on stage
- three guitars but not messy
- Kim Gordon (credit: Dan)
- Am I starting to get sunburned?
Conway Savage
- FULL of people
- A Bad Seed
Afrirampo
- WTF
- Japan’s musical exports don’t do much to diminish the Japanese Are Crazy stereotype
- We want a party. At Nick Cave’s house. In Melbourne. With family.
- Fun? Yes. Good? Not sure.
Dead Meadow
- Power trio…circa 1974?
- Seriously, the drummer has clearly discovered time travel
- Not bad…more psychedelia would be cool
Harmonia
- The first of a few legendary, influential bands back from the dead
- Three old German dudes
- Kraftwerk but not Kraftwerk
- Enjoyed what I heard but maybe more of a CD band for me
Laughing Clowns
- Another “legendary” band I know nothing about
- Ed Kuepper’s first of two performances today
- Too much sax
- Am definitely sunburned
Robert Forster
- The legends keep coming
- Classy, playful
- An understated showman
- Great songs
Spiritualized
- My review/setlist is here
The Necks
- Improv
- Great music to just zone out to…which is what I want at the moment
The Saints
- More “legends”
- Don’t shoot me…but they seemed uninspired bar a few songs
- OK, Kuepper is on his game though
- But the singer…make an effort and get out of your pyjamas before performing
- Smoking whilst performing =/= Punk
- (I’m) Stranded was pretty cool
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
- My God. My review/setlist is here.
Fuck Buttons
- Impossible to follow Nick Cave
- Kind of generic electronic music with some cool moments
- But 15 minutes in I’m on a boat
So a great day. Bridezilla a total highlight. Nick Cave was unbelievable. Too much sun. As far as I’m concerned the ATP Festival was damn near the perfect music festival.
January 18th, 2009 18:34
Seconded. Nick Cave is just wow. And the festival was just so well organised. Apart from the merch desk, who opened really quite late. Had eftpos issues amongst other things, I think.
And you’re not the only person who got sunburnt. Damn.
January 18th, 2009 22:50
I think I was stuck to the only douche at ATP during Nick Cave. That said, at least there was only one of him and I was able to mostly enjoy Nick Cave.
Was a great festival with lots of good acts (though I wish I could’ve seen Michael Gira and Psaradonis as well). I spent a fair amount of time at the Barracks stage. My only real complaint is that the merch stand was very badly organised but that can be easily solved in the future.
No Fuck Buttons?
Now I just wonder who they would get to curate it next year.
January 18th, 2009 23:32
Ha! I actually saw about 15 mins of Fuck Buttons before getting on a boat. Wasn’t thrilled with them. Will add them in above.
January 19th, 2009 04:17
You’re dead right about the Presets fans. Laneway ’08 was pretty fantastic in line-up and would have been amazing if those bastards hadn’t talked ALL THE WAY THROUGH Gotye and Feist. Seriously.
January 19th, 2009 10:02
LOL – as far as I’m concerned Chris can wear whatever he wants – I love his cool attitude!! Agree tho – fab show! Nic reigned, Ed was running hot! and Louise, CS, DM all rocked !!
January 20th, 2009 16:06
Also, you’re probably already aware, but… http://www.liveguide.com.au/Tours/619061/Gareth_Liddiard_The_Drones/Gareth_Liddiard_Australian_Solo_Tour
January 21st, 2009 22:43
Glad you enjoyed it Sean!
I caught the Buller and Brisbane shows, and the Fuck Buttons sideshow. Both festivals were quite exceptional; the FB show was more of a last minute afterthought, mainly to see Dead Meadow, who I missed at Buller.
Buller review: http://www.last.fm/user/NiteShok/journal/2009/01/13/2ebuw2_all_tomorrow%27s_parties_@_mount_buller_ski_resort
Brisbane review: http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/16619/All-Tomorrows-Parties–Riverstage-Brisbane-15012009.htm
Also, props to Jim (above) for mentioning the Liddiard tour!
January 23rd, 2009 12:35
Yes, thank you Jim. I’ve been away all week so I needed that info! Got my ticket already.
January 24th, 2009 14:42
No problems – good to hear you didn’t catch it too late.