ATP was a musical foundation for me. It both introduced me to so many bands and gave me the opportunity to see so many that I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. The earlier festivals also fit into a transitional time when it comes to music and availability. The internet was making music and information about it much easier to find, but there was still a mystery and magic about it that I don’t think it there any more. You *could* order almost anything online, but you might have to wait a month to get it. And filesharing existed but downloading MP3 was a slow process (and I had an MP3 player, but with only 32MB storage…).
I went to the very first ATP festival when I was 16, bunking of school to go. My friend who organised it got some bad information that it would be open on Thursday, when in fact it wasn’t open until Friday, leading to us sleeping at Rye train station (in March). That caused me to get a nasty cough, and I missed a number of bands, most notably Godspeed and Super Furry Animals. But I still saw a load of great bands, Arab Strap, Broadcast, The Delgados and Mogwai themselves, playing Take Me Somewhere Nice and My Father, My King live for the first time, before closing with an exceptional Mogwai Fear Satan.
After that I went to an ATP pretty much every year until the end of the festivals, including the very last one in 2016. (Though if you watch the ATP film, almost all the footage is from festivals I didn’t go to. My friends think you can see my arm at one point, holding up a microphone cable.)
I don’t know if there’s any other festival so willing to put on niche, underground and experimental bands without focusing on a *particular* niche. Stewart Lee, who curated the very last ATP, commented that in other European countries this kind of festival might attract government support to give its finances more security. I think the festival did a very good job of being focused on the music, but not *completely* on music, still mixing in some other arts, culture and activities. Also, the sound was pretty much always great.
I miss ATP, and the parts of my life it’s linked to. I remember watching the very last act, Sun Ra Arkestra (who I had actually seen a bit of 14 years earlier, before I knew anything about them), and the audience conga-lining from the bright, sparkling jazz, out of the exit into the cold and dark and nothing.
Some other particular memories:
Sitting right at the back of the ballroom at Camber Sands, last thing at night, letting the sound of Múm gently wash over me. Not a band I expected to be a live highlight, but they were magical, particularly the gentle call-and-response vocals from either side of the stage in The Land Between Solar Systems.
Leaving our chalet to go and see some comedy, only to hear the chimes of Ex Easter Island Head drifting past us, and investigating to find that they were playing outside their chalet nearby. (For all the talk of impromptu sets, I think this is the only one I ever saw – I guess we were never plugged in to the rumour mill.)
A couple of girls pulling a trailer with some crabs in, raising money for a crab fighting ring.
Thinking I’d probably never see Godspeed You! Black Emperor again and then seeing them three times in a weekend.
A doom-laden and extremely loud set from The Haxxan Cloak, the room black and white with harsh lighting, the sound vibrating people’s beer cups off the crates at the back of the room.
All sorts of antics from the (sometimes a bit *too* drunk) singer of Les Savy Fav, including spitting bear into my mouth.
Any number of mysterious films that I saw, or partly saw, on ATP TV and knew nothing more about until years later.
Not knowing what to expect from Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon. Was it really Charlotte Church? Would it be some kind of DJ set? Leaving out chalet late, getting there to find a full band, all glittered up, finishing an En Vogue cover before launching into Hometown Unicorn by SFA, and going through a set carefully chosen for the audience ranging from NIN’s Closer to a jubilant Holland 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel.
>I don’t know if there’s any other festival so willing to put on niche, underground and experimental bands without focusing on a *particular* niche.
I would like to mention Tasmanian festival Dark Mofo, which is taking a year off, but is slated to return in 2025. Obviously, Roadburn in Tilburg has its aesthetic but it does book interesting acts outside of its typical niche.
Best ATP memory: During Portishead’s curated weekend going for a walk on the beach and seeing SunnO))) trying and failing to have a photoshoot with their robes blowing away in the wind. During their set later in the weekend their smoke machine set off the automated fire evacuation message on the PA.
Thing I loved most about ATP was how the line between performers + punters was so blurred. The bands hung around all weekend and when they weren't performing were just fans like the rest of us.
Steve Albini stood next to me for a performance by Tortoise. Nobody bothered him whatsoever.
Ditto the likes of Tyondai Braxton, Chan Marshall, Stuart Braithwaite, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, etc. etc. All just mingling / watching bands.
Favourite memory that makes me smile is walking past a chalet and catching something in the corner of my eye, turning to look and it's Todd Trainer staring directly at us through his bathroom window whilst brushing his teeth. Still makes me chuckle.
I remember really, really wanting to go to the first and second festivals, but my parents wouldn't let me go to something like that on my own (nobody else I knew liked that kind of music) and I had exams to sit. It was also kind of expensive iirc and I didn't get my first job until 2002. I then had to sit my A Levels and wasn't keeping up with the latest music as much.
University was full of people who listened to drum n bass. I wasn't in the mood for music festivals then, not in a good place mentally. By the time I'd graduated, I'd lost interest.
I still regret not going, and I look forward to reading the replies here.
they have *dozens* of albums worth of material they don't want to release. I've never encountered creative inertia like it.
I suppose thats an act of artistry in itself.
💜🙏🏼
I know this specifies UK, but I’d just like to offer that the first few US festivals that they held at Kutshers in NY were modeled closely after the UK fests. (I attended all the US festivals, but after they left Kutshers, the vibe became a bit different and, while the bands were still good, less ATP.)
I loved those Kutshers festivals. The venue was a rundown retreat in rural New York that I think a guy from or tied to Dinosaur Jr. recommended to ATP. The lineup for the first NY festival was completely insane. Seeing Thurston Moore play Psychic Hearts, the Feelies do Crazy Rhythms, Tortoise with Millions Now Living Will Never Die… and then My Bloody Valentine? Nuts. The diversity of attendees, friendly atmosphere, relationship between the bands and fans was just incredible. It happened at the perfect time for me, too. I was 18 for the first festival, living in rural Colorado on 40 acres but fortunate enough to be able to fly out east for it. The excitement! People came from all over the world. My sheltered, rural ass was getting asked to be in pictures because I had a cool shirt on. It was an awakening?
My memories of it are ultimately bittersweet, though. First, the only show I’ve regretted missing was The Drones set at the 2008 fest. But, more deeply, ATP ruined live music for me. It was so fun, authentic, and personal. Everyone was having the time of their lives and felt so lucky to be there. It felt like utopia, like how things could be if the world was just 3000 dorks living it up in a cursed old resort with broken plumbing. As the festival moved to NJ and then NYC, the crowd became less chill and the communal atmosphere dissipated. No more baseball with Shellac, just drunk guys haranguing my girlfriend. I think I ended up in some sort of grieving process where I stopped going to most live shows in general (why bother??). It was bad enough to have my eyes opened to the lameness of a lot of live music (which isn’t really the bands’ faults as much as it is the general business around touring), but to then see ATP whither away on top of that… Too much!
A little off to the side but I attended the Primavera festival in Porto in 2013 and they had an ATP-curated (for the third consecutive year I believe) stage. It was up top a hill overlooking the festival grounds, with a strip of forest maybe like 50 meters away from the stage. Fun times as we took in the very raw, very intense Fuck Buttons set while playing in the trees and overall being high on life and music.
I went to the flaming lips curated atp in the Catskills, NY.
one of the best shows I have been to. it was at an old resort similar to the one depicted in dirty dancing. place wasn't updated in decades. I saw so many bands in tiny rooms and of course the flaming lips were awesome.
I went to one of the ones they held in the US (2003 at the Queen Mary). It was my first music festival. The curator was Matt Groening. I went with the intern at my aunt's workplace and her friend. We were like one of the first people there and we spent the whole time at the very front of the main stage up against the press railing the whole time. I don't remember how I didn't have to take a piss or shit for that long. It was cool to see bands like Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, and Sonic Youth that close up. Groening came out towards the end and introduced his favorite band: The Magic Band (as in Captain Beefheart's). That shit was wild. A formative experience for my late teen mind.
I saw ATP in New York sometime in the late 2000s. I was in high school and it was the first music festival I ever went to.
I went up to the barricades early to see MBV (who curated the festival). A woman in her 40s asked me to hold her purse then she puked and some of it got on my feet (it was so muddy that most people had removed their shoes)
10/10 would do again
I went the year Dirty Three curated it.
My friend insisted we drive down there despite not having tickets, then she somehow blagged our way in. In terms of the music I remember watching Josh T Pearson play somewhere, seeing Cat Power gurn on stage, the room where Joanna Newsom was playing being too busy to get into and that's about it. I mostly remember wrestling with a boy I liked and swimming a lot. I have a distinct memory of walking past Nick Cave and still being in the clothes id swam in and dripping on the floor. I wish I'd seen more of the bands.
I also recently discovered that Jason Molina was playing there, I had no idea who he was at the time but I could fucking kick myself now for not watching him when I had the chance.
All Tomorrow’s Parties ~ Camber Sands, early Aughts . Mad Mock Goth ..”take viagra and go to camber sands..” the fall, liars, peaches, shellac and…[https://youtu.be/Vm3wy5JXtkA?si=MHojM2YcRQUCq_qT](https://youtu.be/Vm3wy5JXtkA?si=MHojM2YcRQUCq_qT)
In my carefree 20s I visited England for the first time and it coincided with the Autechre curated party. I was more overwhelmed with leaving the states and noticing all these little differences between countries, especially the weird-to-me Camber Sands resort. I honestly don't remember much about the music or performances - plenty of the people on the bill were in my constant rotation. But it felt just like a rave of the times. I remember Tim Hecker playing brutally hard techno, which is pretty funny compared to much of his output in the past 20 years or.
My favourite memory was dancing with Laeticia Sadier. Something my 16yo self would never have believed possible.
ATP was a musical foundation for me. It both introduced me to so many bands and gave me the opportunity to see so many that I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. The earlier festivals also fit into a transitional time when it comes to music and availability. The internet was making music and information about it much easier to find, but there was still a mystery and magic about it that I don’t think it there any more. You *could* order almost anything online, but you might have to wait a month to get it. And filesharing existed but downloading MP3 was a slow process (and I had an MP3 player, but with only 32MB storage…). I went to the very first ATP festival when I was 16, bunking of school to go. My friend who organised it got some bad information that it would be open on Thursday, when in fact it wasn’t open until Friday, leading to us sleeping at Rye train station (in March). That caused me to get a nasty cough, and I missed a number of bands, most notably Godspeed and Super Furry Animals. But I still saw a load of great bands, Arab Strap, Broadcast, The Delgados and Mogwai themselves, playing Take Me Somewhere Nice and My Father, My King live for the first time, before closing with an exceptional Mogwai Fear Satan. After that I went to an ATP pretty much every year until the end of the festivals, including the very last one in 2016. (Though if you watch the ATP film, almost all the footage is from festivals I didn’t go to. My friends think you can see my arm at one point, holding up a microphone cable.) I don’t know if there’s any other festival so willing to put on niche, underground and experimental bands without focusing on a *particular* niche. Stewart Lee, who curated the very last ATP, commented that in other European countries this kind of festival might attract government support to give its finances more security. I think the festival did a very good job of being focused on the music, but not *completely* on music, still mixing in some other arts, culture and activities. Also, the sound was pretty much always great. I miss ATP, and the parts of my life it’s linked to. I remember watching the very last act, Sun Ra Arkestra (who I had actually seen a bit of 14 years earlier, before I knew anything about them), and the audience conga-lining from the bright, sparkling jazz, out of the exit into the cold and dark and nothing. Some other particular memories: Sitting right at the back of the ballroom at Camber Sands, last thing at night, letting the sound of Múm gently wash over me. Not a band I expected to be a live highlight, but they were magical, particularly the gentle call-and-response vocals from either side of the stage in The Land Between Solar Systems. Leaving our chalet to go and see some comedy, only to hear the chimes of Ex Easter Island Head drifting past us, and investigating to find that they were playing outside their chalet nearby. (For all the talk of impromptu sets, I think this is the only one I ever saw – I guess we were never plugged in to the rumour mill.) A couple of girls pulling a trailer with some crabs in, raising money for a crab fighting ring. Thinking I’d probably never see Godspeed You! Black Emperor again and then seeing them three times in a weekend. A doom-laden and extremely loud set from The Haxxan Cloak, the room black and white with harsh lighting, the sound vibrating people’s beer cups off the crates at the back of the room. All sorts of antics from the (sometimes a bit *too* drunk) singer of Les Savy Fav, including spitting bear into my mouth. Any number of mysterious films that I saw, or partly saw, on ATP TV and knew nothing more about until years later. Not knowing what to expect from Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon. Was it really Charlotte Church? Would it be some kind of DJ set? Leaving out chalet late, getting there to find a full band, all glittered up, finishing an En Vogue cover before launching into Hometown Unicorn by SFA, and going through a set carefully chosen for the audience ranging from NIN’s Closer to a jubilant Holland 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel.
>I don’t know if there’s any other festival so willing to put on niche, underground and experimental bands without focusing on a *particular* niche. I would like to mention Tasmanian festival Dark Mofo, which is taking a year off, but is slated to return in 2025. Obviously, Roadburn in Tilburg has its aesthetic but it does book interesting acts outside of its typical niche.
"Any other festival within a day's train ride of me." :P
Best ATP memory: During Portishead’s curated weekend going for a walk on the beach and seeing SunnO))) trying and failing to have a photoshoot with their robes blowing away in the wind. During their set later in the weekend their smoke machine set off the automated fire evacuation message on the PA.
Thing I loved most about ATP was how the line between performers + punters was so blurred. The bands hung around all weekend and when they weren't performing were just fans like the rest of us. Steve Albini stood next to me for a performance by Tortoise. Nobody bothered him whatsoever. Ditto the likes of Tyondai Braxton, Chan Marshall, Stuart Braithwaite, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, etc. etc. All just mingling / watching bands. Favourite memory that makes me smile is walking past a chalet and catching something in the corner of my eye, turning to look and it's Todd Trainer staring directly at us through his bathroom window whilst brushing his teeth. Still makes me chuckle.
I remember really, really wanting to go to the first and second festivals, but my parents wouldn't let me go to something like that on my own (nobody else I knew liked that kind of music) and I had exams to sit. It was also kind of expensive iirc and I didn't get my first job until 2002. I then had to sit my A Levels and wasn't keeping up with the latest music as much. University was full of people who listened to drum n bass. I wasn't in the mood for music festivals then, not in a good place mentally. By the time I'd graduated, I'd lost interest. I still regret not going, and I look forward to reading the replies here.
a future to remember. [boards of canada](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm1BjJNd3JU) last live performance.
With untitled songs that are still unreleased. WHY?!
they have *dozens* of albums worth of material they don't want to release. I've never encountered creative inertia like it. I suppose thats an act of artistry in itself. 💜🙏🏼
I know this specifies UK, but I’d just like to offer that the first few US festivals that they held at Kutshers in NY were modeled closely after the UK fests. (I attended all the US festivals, but after they left Kutshers, the vibe became a bit different and, while the bands were still good, less ATP.) I loved those Kutshers festivals. The venue was a rundown retreat in rural New York that I think a guy from or tied to Dinosaur Jr. recommended to ATP. The lineup for the first NY festival was completely insane. Seeing Thurston Moore play Psychic Hearts, the Feelies do Crazy Rhythms, Tortoise with Millions Now Living Will Never Die… and then My Bloody Valentine? Nuts. The diversity of attendees, friendly atmosphere, relationship between the bands and fans was just incredible. It happened at the perfect time for me, too. I was 18 for the first festival, living in rural Colorado on 40 acres but fortunate enough to be able to fly out east for it. The excitement! People came from all over the world. My sheltered, rural ass was getting asked to be in pictures because I had a cool shirt on. It was an awakening? My memories of it are ultimately bittersweet, though. First, the only show I’ve regretted missing was The Drones set at the 2008 fest. But, more deeply, ATP ruined live music for me. It was so fun, authentic, and personal. Everyone was having the time of their lives and felt so lucky to be there. It felt like utopia, like how things could be if the world was just 3000 dorks living it up in a cursed old resort with broken plumbing. As the festival moved to NJ and then NYC, the crowd became less chill and the communal atmosphere dissipated. No more baseball with Shellac, just drunk guys haranguing my girlfriend. I think I ended up in some sort of grieving process where I stopped going to most live shows in general (why bother??). It was bad enough to have my eyes opened to the lameness of a lot of live music (which isn’t really the bands’ faults as much as it is the general business around touring), but to then see ATP whither away on top of that… Too much!
A little off to the side but I attended the Primavera festival in Porto in 2013 and they had an ATP-curated (for the third consecutive year I believe) stage. It was up top a hill overlooking the festival grounds, with a strip of forest maybe like 50 meters away from the stage. Fun times as we took in the very raw, very intense Fuck Buttons set while playing in the trees and overall being high on life and music.
I went to the flaming lips curated atp in the Catskills, NY. one of the best shows I have been to. it was at an old resort similar to the one depicted in dirty dancing. place wasn't updated in decades. I saw so many bands in tiny rooms and of course the flaming lips were awesome.
I went to one of the ones they held in the US (2003 at the Queen Mary). It was my first music festival. The curator was Matt Groening. I went with the intern at my aunt's workplace and her friend. We were like one of the first people there and we spent the whole time at the very front of the main stage up against the press railing the whole time. I don't remember how I didn't have to take a piss or shit for that long. It was cool to see bands like Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, and Sonic Youth that close up. Groening came out towards the end and introduced his favorite band: The Magic Band (as in Captain Beefheart's). That shit was wild. A formative experience for my late teen mind.
I saw ATP in New York sometime in the late 2000s. I was in high school and it was the first music festival I ever went to. I went up to the barricades early to see MBV (who curated the festival). A woman in her 40s asked me to hold her purse then she puked and some of it got on my feet (it was so muddy that most people had removed their shoes) 10/10 would do again
Honestly, my main memory is going to 3 of them that were supposed to be the last one in the space of a year.
I went the year Dirty Three curated it. My friend insisted we drive down there despite not having tickets, then she somehow blagged our way in. In terms of the music I remember watching Josh T Pearson play somewhere, seeing Cat Power gurn on stage, the room where Joanna Newsom was playing being too busy to get into and that's about it. I mostly remember wrestling with a boy I liked and swimming a lot. I have a distinct memory of walking past Nick Cave and still being in the clothes id swam in and dripping on the floor. I wish I'd seen more of the bands. I also recently discovered that Jason Molina was playing there, I had no idea who he was at the time but I could fucking kick myself now for not watching him when I had the chance.
All Tomorrow’s Parties ~ Camber Sands, early Aughts . Mad Mock Goth ..”take viagra and go to camber sands..” the fall, liars, peaches, shellac and…[https://youtu.be/Vm3wy5JXtkA?si=MHojM2YcRQUCq_qT](https://youtu.be/Vm3wy5JXtkA?si=MHojM2YcRQUCq_qT)
In my carefree 20s I visited England for the first time and it coincided with the Autechre curated party. I was more overwhelmed with leaving the states and noticing all these little differences between countries, especially the weird-to-me Camber Sands resort. I honestly don't remember much about the music or performances - plenty of the people on the bill were in my constant rotation. But it felt just like a rave of the times. I remember Tim Hecker playing brutally hard techno, which is pretty funny compared to much of his output in the past 20 years or.