All Tomorrow's Parties

[5_moves_of_doom 0]

So yes. This weekend, as some of you doubtlessly know, was America's rendition of the All Tomorrow's Parties, this year curated by the indie-fan's-wet-dream-band Modest Mouse. And, well, I went. I have very few people at my school that no anything about music at all, so... well, I figured I'd post some comments on the bands I saw here in hopes of sparking a little stimulating conversation. I must say, first and foremost, that this was probably the best event I've ever been to... and the atmosphere was much more laid-back and fun than your average concert (except during Lou Reed when some psycho 16-year-old girl threatened to gouge out my girlfriend's eyes, and during the headliners as a whole when it became a little more squished than would be considered comfortable.) Everyone sat down very comfortably between each set (up until the last two or three where there were too many people for most to sit,) and most people were very polite. While seeing the Pixies at Coachella was a dream come true (and, of course, Kraftwerk,) I would say that this was just about 100x better atmosphere-wise and the only way I'm going to Coachella next year is if the Memphis Jug Band comes back from the dead or My Bloody Valentine reunites or something. The only real flaw was the major lack of merchandise -- the only thing on sale was some crappy shirt with "ATP" written on the front and circled with some weird symbol. But yes, anyhow... I'd say that of the fourteen bands I saw, only about two could be considered "bad." Here's a rundown of each one, and if you're a fan of any or you've seen any of them live, feel free to contribute your own thoughts. Anyhow... yes, here we go.

 

DAY ONE

 

Wolf Parade

~ Well. Hrm. I must say. I had never heard a single Wolf Parade song and I only knew of them really from a Pitchforkmedia review or two, so I didn't quite know what to expect here. I was very pleasantly surprised. These guys were phenominal and unique. They had two keyboardists, one that looked like Jason Lee and another that looked like John Mayer, and then a very Tom Verlaine-ish guitarist, who traded off vocals with the John Mayer look-alike. Anyway, yes... very solid group, and I'm definitely going to go out and buy an album by the end of the week.

 

Explosions in the Sky

~ Basically a second-rate Godspeed You Black Emporer!, but that doesn't really mean bad. Long, post-rock instrumentals... the bassist was very into playing and the Arab lead-guy started crying in the middle of the set while shredding on his guitar, so an A+ for enthusiasm, but I must say that if they had gone on for much longer than their half an hour, I would have lost interest. But in that time frame, I'd say I enjoyed the set, and props to them for doing their own thing and whatnot.

 

Black Heart Procession

~ At first I thought these guys were really cool because their set started out with the lead guy playing a saw with a violin bow, but the more they played, the more I realized that they were just sort of "samey." Not bad, really... they did a pretty good Tom Petty cover, but just overall sort of bland. Probably the most "eh" set of the day.

 

J. Mascis and the Fog

~ This is of course the famed member of Dinosaur Jr. and Ciccone Youth. Except now he's overweight and his hair is the most gray shade of gray I've ever seen in my life. And his bassist is a gigantic tub who thinks he's in a heavy metal band. I was overall confused by this set, because the melodies and the lyrics pointed towards '80's indie rock, but the virtuoso non-stop soloing and song structure pointed towards metal or noise rock. But he was pretty good at performing and you know... good for him for departing from the Dinosaur Jr. sound and doing his own thing. I met the guy after the show, and since I'm a semi-fan that was pretty neat. Overall though I'd say this was more "fun to watch" or "interesting" than "good."

 

Lungfish

~ As far as post-rock-punk-emo-ish bands with Charles Darwin as a lead singer go, this was phenominal. Someone really needs to explain this band to me. Each song was a single riff repeated over and over very slowly and methodically (not simple riffs Ramones-style... they were pretty complicated and well-thought-out... but still... they played over and over and over...) with this guy who looked like Karl Marx yelling and falling over. It was weird, because the guy looked like 50, but his voice sounded like a 20-year-old's... like the guy from the Walkmen or something. Very entertaining, but I want to know what the band's deal is before I buy a record.

 

The Walkmen

~ I never have and never will like the Walkmen. They're one of those bands that, looking at my musical taste, I really SHOULD like, but... just... don't. Sort of like the French Kicks, only at least I liked the French Kicks' first album. Anyway, they did actually surprise me and entertain a bit, and they had energy, but still. I wasn't too interested in anything more than two or three good songs in the set. Still, I could've been seeing Billy Childish on the second stage, so this was overall "bleh."

 

Modest Mouse

~ My moment of the night was yelling at the stage "Isaac, how are you??" and having him reply with a very long rant... "Well, you know, I've been doin' pretty good, but I mean..." I then screamed at him and asked him why he hadn't asked Tom Waits to play the show, and he said that he couldn't remember if he had asked him or not. I then complimented him on his hat, to which he replied "Oh, thanks! It's 100% cotton." Anyway... they came on 15-minutes late and the mix was terrible and Isaac's guitar went out of tune. We only got like five songs. It was complete and utter bullshit. We were treated to an awesome extender version of "Cowboy Dan," but aside from that, it was "Interstate 8" and like all songs off of the new album, which was terrible. But you know, what was there was very good and I'll definitely see them again just to get the full concert experience. It's a shame they couldn't play any longer since they curated the thing and everything, but still. I saw a set list afterwards and we were supposed to be treated to "Trailer Trash" and "Third Planet," so it was nice to see what we were missing out on. Geh.

 

Lou Reed

~ Lou Reed is the man. He is the man. There is no one cooler in the world. Seriously. He also has the most awesome cellist ever. Anyway, we got a nice rendition of "Venus in Furs" and "Satellite of Love," as well as surprisingly VERY good renditions of "Ecstasy" and two different songs off of The Raven. A few more VU classics, as well, but sadly no "Heroin," as they ran out of time and his the noise curfew. Anyway, he was old and everything, and didn't have the raw energy and power that he once had, but he's still the man, and I was overall content with the set, especially seeing as how the guy's like sixty-something now. Nearly Leonard Cohen old.

 

DAY TWO

 

The Constantines

~ Fine indie rock. Nothing too special, but I was definitely impressed with a few songs. The bassist is the greasiest greaseball ever. That's about all I have to say about them.

 

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

~ Going into this, I thought that I would feel cheated if I didn't get to hear any Pavement songs. But.. well, he played nothing but solo stuff, and still was one of the best sets of the night. On the Pavement albums what you really don't hear is that this guy is like the best guitarist ever. Not flashy virtuoso stuff but his solos are simply perfect -- not a note wasted. Very fun to see him play and one of the most feel-good sets of the entire weekend.

 

The Shins

~ I'm only a fan of their first album, really, as I don't really like the second, but this was a completely and utterly phenominal set. The keyboardist is a funny and fun guy, and the whole band just looked like they were having fun. Good music too, and good stuff all around.

 

Built to Spill

~ I'm an all-right fan of these guys, and they were by no means bad, but they didn't need an hour and were very, VERY samey. A few good songs, but a total lack of charisma wasn't healthy for a crowd that had been on their feet for like five hours. Alright, but nothing special.

 

The Cramps

~ These guys (+ gal) are still just as entertaining as they've ever been. Lux was completely and utterly insane and totally charismatic, and he pointed at my friend and complained about his lice, so that was neat. Heh. He also tore the cork off of his bottle of wine and spit it into the crowd, and my friend caught it, so that was nice. Good set and it kept me in a spritely mood even after such a long weekend.

 

The Flaming Lips

~ Set of the weekend. I had seen them at Coachella but here I was right up front and they managed to play MORE than five songs. They played their usual set of four songs that they play at pretty much EVERY concert (Realize, Yoshimi, Gash, and Race for the Prize... oh, and Fight Test) but they added a MEAN rendition of "War Pigs" (with Peaches!)... their Spongebob Squarepants song (which really wasn't all that good, but it was still neat)... and "She Don't Use Jelly," which was great live. Usual dancing pandas and huge balloons and fake blood and Wayne in a giant inflatable hampster-ball and projector screen stuff, but while it might get boring while they're touring, at concerts they always make it more special than usual, and they really just turned the crowd into a heaving mass of enthusiasm. Wayne and Steven are great to watch and this was just overall phenominal. I'm always a huge Lips fan, but for the next week or so I think I'll be stuff in a state of thinking that they're the most awesome thing in existance. And really, they probably are. Anyway, yes... go see them live. Now.

 

 

 

 

I expect no one to read that whole thing, but I just needed to write down my thoughts for prosperity. Anyway, just to make me feel loved please comment on at least one or two of the bands in there that you're a fan of. Overall it was a great festival, and I'll definitely be going next year.

Edited November 9, 2004 by 5_moves_of_doom

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

I read the whole thing

 

Too bad about Modest Mouse. Seeign Reed is high on my list of things to do before I die, and it's good to know that he can still put on a good show.

[5_moves_of_doom 0]

I read the whole thing

 

Too bad about Modest Mouse. Seeign Reed is high on my list of things to do before I die, and it's good to know that he can still put on a good show.

Yes, it's amazing.

 

But beware. His bassist is a forty-something-year-old gay black man with a bandana and sunglasses with a voice resembling something between Annie Lennox and Jeff Buckley that makes a few of Lou's tunes sound just a bit too "adult contemporary" for my tastes. But it never came to the point where I thought I was at a Sting or Phil Collins show, and hey, he was actually really good at bass, so in the end it didn't matter too much.

 

By the way, does anyone know if Reed plans on putting out another album in the next year? I would think that he's pretty much done, but if he's still got two or three albums worth of material in him, I'd be happy to buy, if not simply out of interest. Hey, The Raven wasn't all THAT bad.