All Tomorrow’s Parties is nothing without the people that really make it – the fans, who flock to the festival in their thousands three times a year in the UK, and even make trips overseas to enjoy the experience in foreign climes.
In anticipation of this ATP Week, we (well, me/I) asked the message board hordes of DrownedinSound.com for their favourite memories of the festival that just keeps growing, always exploring new opportunities and presenting mouth-watering line-ups that keep punters coming back time and again.
And here are just a handful of the responses we got…
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* “Peaches’ set at the Vincent Gallo weekend… Completely incredible and I managed to lose my wristband in all the excitement. Seeing Magik Markers for the first time at the same weekend, coming on 20 minutes late, playing for about 15 minutes and completely shredding my face. They’ve never matched that performance since.”
* “Hugging The Thermals while Echo & The Bunnymen played ‘The Killing Moon’ in the background.”
* “First ATP (Mogwai/Shellac/Tortoise) I went to, I got a +1 on the press list, and we got to go in the press entrance and park there. We were unloading all our shit from the car, and I had the door wide open and blocking the next parking bay. My mate shouts out to me, as I’m trying to pull something out: “Dan, shut the door some guy is trying to park!” I shout back: “Tell him to fuck off!” and continue to try and pull this thing out (think it was six bottles of water wedged in). In the end he parks two bays down, gets out, and it’s John Peel! We kind of grin and nod at him red faced. We lock the car and set off with our stuff towards the chalet, and immediately we walk past David Pajo and Bob Weston having a chat. Do the first two minutes at first ATPs get better than this?”
* “Being tipped off that Lightning Bolt are setting up in the corner during Sonic Youth’s set, legging it over just in time, being in the front row and then having 2,000 other fans piling on my back trying to get a glimpse of it as well. Complete chaos but worth it.”
* “Les Savy Fav’s Tim Harrington starting the show with an on-stage haircut, followed by a sweaty performance that includes t-shirt swapping and black face paint, even though the gimmicks are no substitute for the fact that an in-form LSF are as tight as you want your US guitar bands to be.”
* “The Japanese dude dressed as a superhero, who did that funny run on the spot and punch the air dance to every band one year.”
* “The Mars Volta weekend. Amazing. Just amazing. The best time, the nicest people. Oh, The Kills played BUT even they failed to ruin that weekend. Christ, I saw Battles twice and Les Savy Fav. AND The Locust. AND Saul Williams. AND Acid Mothers Temple. I was genuinely depressed when I went home.”
* “While watching Destroyer with a friend who had never heard him before, he said: ‘These are the kind of guys whose favourite Bob Dylan album is ‘Street Legal’’. Ten minutes later we meet the band outside their chalet, they steal my shoe, give me a free CD and admit with not a moment’s hesitation that their favourite Dylan album is indeed ‘Street Legal’.”
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Fancy a trip down memory lane? Click HERE to read the full feedback. Find ATP’s official website – for information, tickets and more – HERE.
More ATP Week content…
* Performers Past and Future – with Super Furry Animals, Grizzly Bear, 65daysofstatic and HEALTH
* Sleepy Sun Interview
* Apse Interview
* Alexander Tucker Interview
* The Drones interview
* Interview with the first ATP curators, Mogwai
* Fuck Buttons Interview
* Deerhoof Interview
* A Brief History: interview with ATP founder Barry Hogan
* ATP: A Beginners Guide
Photo: Copyright: The Line of Best Fit (click to pay them a visit!)
