The ATP Diaries // Weekend 1

When The Line Of Best Fit asked me to write a blog from ATP I agreed instantly. All Tomorrow’s Parties is one of the highlights of my year. It’s basically just a chance to get really drunk, go on some waterslides and watch loads of amazing bands with your friends, maybe not in that order. So when my editor told me this blog didn’t need to be done until after the festival I was even happier. Who wants to be running around looking for wifi when bands like Boredoms, Iggy, and Ponytail are playing? Exactly.

The only problem is, by midday Saturday I couldn’t really remember what had happened the night before. Now it’s Wednesday morning and every conversation, concert and trip to the Crazy Horse has kind of blurred into one, so please forgive me if this is a little rambling. I’ll try and keep it coherent.

I drove to Minehead from Cardiff on Friday afternoon, arriving a bit late after an hour sat on the M5 in deadlock traffic next to a Ford Fiesta full of lads who never seemed to tire of incomprehensively yelling at every single other driver. I stopped in Tesco to buy some supplies, well, beer and vodka.

I had a press pass for ATP. You get to see all the bands and all the other stuff that comes with attending the festival; you just don’t get a chalet to sleep in or a kitchen to cook in. But I was prepared. I had pita bread and hummus in the glove compartment and a duvet on the backseat. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve slept in my car.

Shonen Knife

At Butlins Minehead there’s three different stages; Centre Stage is a gloomy, carpeted bar upstairs. Reds is a gloomy carpeted bar downstairs, and the Pavilion stage is a giant cavernous hole in between the two. Walking into the Pavilion for the first time I spotted a familiar face sat in Burger King; Samuel Bing of LA pop band Fol Chen.

I’d completely forgotten that Samuel plays live guitars in Liars so I went over to say hi. We had a chat about his new album (which is awesome) and watched Built to Spill. He said I could sleep on his sofa. Twenty minutes into the festival and I had somewhere to sleep. This is why I love ATP.

We left Burger King and headed up to Centre Stage to watch Cold Cave. I love Cold Cave. Love Comes Close was my favourite album last year so I was pretty, pretty excited. They played as a 3 piece with a live drummer. Last time I saw them it was just Wesley, Prurient and Caralee (ex-Xiu Xiu) so I’m not sure how long they’ve been playing with their line up. Also, I don’t think the girl on stage was Caralee but I couldn’t tell, it was really dark up there*. At times it sounded a little like they were still getting used to playing together; ‘Love Comes Close’ didn’t have the power of the recorded version, but tracks like ‘Theme from Tomorrowland’ felt huge and encompassing and showed just what an amazing band Cold Cave are.

*Wikipedia just told me it was in fact Jennifer Clavin, formerly of Mika Miko.

Iggy Pop

Next up it was Iggy and The Stooges in the Pavilion, or as we *hilariously* called them, Mike Watt and the guy from the insurance adverts. I met up with my friend Jason from Glasgow and we made that joke for about half an hour. We really are funny people. Iggy was great, writing and fleshing about the stage. It got a tiny bit panto with all the stage invaders, especially at 9pm when it’s still awkwardly light outside and you’re playing in a loosely decorated Butlins, but no one really cared as soon as the riff for ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ dropped.

I’m not really sure what happened next. I think I went back to Jason’s chalet and his Glaswegian friends gave me Amaretto. We definitely ate curry at some point, and then went to watch Shonen Knife. I probably danced about and told everyone how much I wish BO-PEEP would come and play in the UK. Then it was time for Liars who were, to put it bluntly, fucking epic.

After the show I took my slightly sweaty body backstage to see Samuel and help carry guitars. Then we went back to their chalet where everyone sat around chatting. Moses and Josh from Deerhunter were there and a guy from The Fresh and Onlys. We talked about the election and stuff and I’m pretty sure I made some very ill informed and ridiculous statements.

I felt like a bit of an intruder so at 3am I decided to head to the Crazy Horse for a dance. It was empty. To tell the truth, this ATP was pretty quiet. I think they only sold about half the tickets. The car park was half full and lots of the arcade games had been switched off and stowed into corners. Added to this was the fact most people had stayed up stupidly late the night before watching the election unfold. Everyone was in bed. And so by half three I was wrapped in a duvet, falling asleep on Liars’ sofa amidst Summer Heights High impressions.

All the sofas at ATP were made of that gross faux leather so I woke up in the morning kinda hot and sticky. Angus made me a cup of tea (you’ll be pleased to know he left the teabag in a good amount of time) and then I threw my duvet back in the car and left on a mission to find a shower.

The first band of the day was Hello Saferide who sing really great indie pop songs but with smart, self-deprecating lyricism. And then it was time for Boredoms. Just watch this…

They were performing ‘Boadrum’ and had 6 or 7 drummers on stage including Kid Millions and Zach Hill. It was a sensory overload like nothing I’d seen or heard before. I was at that point in my hungover state where you start to feel all floaty and emotional. I may have cried a bit.

Watching Danielson straight after was a mistake. They failed to impress, but I’m guessing that was in contrast to the previous hour. I was awestruck and could barely speak. We went and got chips instead.

Both Lightning Dust and Deerhunter were excellent. Josh from Deerhunter is a dude. He just stands in the middle of the stage playing his bass looking like the most satisfied guy in the world. He’s brilliant. And then it was time for She & Him.

Boredums

Now let’s be honest, She & Him aren’t great. Their records are cute and stuff, but the main reason for going to watch them is simply to stare at Zooey and wish that you could own/kiss her face. I met up with Lauren to watch the show. Lauren was reviewing the festival for this very website. She had a notepad and took actual notes, reminding me how real journalists should work.

I managed about 20 minutes of She & Him. Zooey Deschannel is really fucking annoying. It was exactly like watching 500 days of summer: some awful pastiche of ‘indie’ but with a vaguely good soundtrack. I mean the things she said; “Wow… are we in a mall? Are those butterflies, or giant floating bows?” Is she really like that in real life? I suppose Keanu was always as wooden when playing in Dogstar but this just felt a little thin.

The Residents, now a 3 piece, were creepy as fuck but completely entertaining. I couldn’t be bothered with the massive queue for the Konono No. 1 secret show thing so my friend Louise and I went and drank in my car instead. Thee Oh Sees were rad, and Ponytail caused me to use the classic line “Hold my bag, I’m going to a have a mosh.” Amazing.

She and Him

I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about The xx. They’re so overhyped and every time I’ve seen them I’ve been a little underwhelmed. Although those times were all at outdoor festivals and I think that’s the difference. Watching them on Centre Stage through a decent soundsystem in a dark room with proper lights, it was a little bit special. That was until someone knocked a pint into Louise’s lap and we had to go find dry clothes because it looked like she’d wet herself.

After pintgate we caught the end of James Chance who was brilliant and kind of as oddly eccentric as I’d hoped, and the middle of Panda Bear who was a bit dull. Or I was a bit drunk. Probably the latter.

All my friends had fallen asleep by 3am so I went to the Crazy Horse to find new ones. It was White Heat DJs. It was like 2006 again. All of a sudden sleeping in my car seemed like a great idea, but then LCD Soundsystem ‘All My Friends’ dropped, closely followed by The Walkman’s ‘The Rat’. Seriously, why spend all night playing dull, bland, blank electro-shit when you have records like those in your collection.

Deerhunter

Then I remembered that I had the address for a Diesel chalet party so my new friends and I headed there. Apparently there was a free bar. Sadly the chalet was full of art students, the bad kind who’ll wear a piñata on their head and read Super Super Magazine.

No matter how much you dress up a chalet at ATP, no matter how many lights or DJ decks you have, nothing can change the fact you’re at Butlins. Especially when some drunk tit in the corridor keeps switching on the light in your rave room every 30 seconds to be annoying. Hiiiiiiiiiiiiya.

Sunday was quiet. I hung out with my Glaswegian friends and ate at Pizza Hut. I didn’t watch Boredoms again for fear it wouldn’t be as good and I might be sick on myself.

Spiritualized

The first music I saw was Daniel Johnston. Louise and I had met him the night before en route to drink in the car and he was in a good mood then. He seemed all right on stage, maybe a bit shaky. It was good though.

Spiritualized was pretty empty which is a shame. Last time I saw them it was quite dull, but with a huge array of musicians and backing singers, Ladies and Gentlemen… sounded epic. The reason it was so quiet? Everyone was in a giant, snaking queue for Joanna Newsom whose soundcheck ran late. I wasn’t blown away by her performance either, it was pretty dull; a lot of new material and not much else. People seem to keep comparing her to Kate Bush but I just don’t think she has the same impacting character.

Also, her slow soundcheck meant The Raincoats had to wait around for half an hour before they could play. They spent the last 15 mins on stage with awkward banter like this…

They were fantastic once they started playing, as were Trash Kit who filled the stage with fluid basslines and half of East London. I finished the evening watching the half of the The xx’s set I’d missed the night before. They are so good. So delicate and captivating and totally romantic; they’re the kind of band you want to watch with a pair of arms wrapped round your waist. Being single was the only thing that sucked about their set.

And that was it. I had to pull over on the drive home on Monday because I thought I might be sick. I had a nap in a service station. I got sent home from work. Bring on ATPavement. I’ll try and keep notes.

Live photographs by Leah Pritchard

Joanna Newsom