All Tomorrows Parties is one of the best inventions ever. Sure, there are a ton of festivals going on around the country but theres nothing like ATP. For their first trip stateside since ATP Pacific in Long Beach in 04, they took over a sixties style resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York and brought in My Bloody Valentine to help curate the weekend. If this is already sounding amazing, its because it was. Imagine an old time resort with a few dozen bands, a lake, golf course, hundreds of rooms for guests, a dilapidated mini putt-putt course, indoor pool, poolside bar (The Deep End) and a bunch of other cool knick knacks Im forgetting. Oh.. I didnt even mention that Steve Albini was pit boss and dealer in the poker room and that Criterion Collection hosted movies the whole weekend with directors often discussing their films.
The first festival we ever gave ice cream away at was the last ATP in Long Beach at the end of 2004. We had no idea what we were doing. Ignorance truly was bliss. We had a great parking spot for Bessie where we could see the stage and we sold enough ice cream to give away half of it to the crew, staff, and artists without really losing any money. And, at the very end, Wayne from Flaming Lips announced from the stage that we had free ice cream at the truck and we got cleaned out of everything before dancing the night away. Couple three ATP Pacifics with two trips to ATP in the UK earlier this year and you can understand how much we love their festival format and why we want to be a part of as many as possible.
ATP New York was a bit tricky for us because the weekend before we were slinging at Red Rocks outside of Denver for Monolith and, the week after ATP, we needed to be in Austin. I had originally thought Itd be a good idea to drive to New York and back but quickly realized the better decision was to drive from Denver to Austin with Knife then fly to New York, pick up cream and our push cart at Kool Man, then rent a truck to drive out to Monticello. Thankfully Blue Bunny was donating all the cream and after picking up a Penske truck I was able to head over to Marina Ice Cream in Brooklyn and load up a couple thousand treats for the weekend. The only problem was that I didnt have any where to store all the ice cream so it was stacked in the back of the truck with some dry ice on top and covered in a drop cloth to try to keep it cool. Lucky for us, Ernesto at Kool Man was able to loan us a couple freezers for the weekend and we crammed as much as possible into our push cart and the freezers then split.
Its only a hundred miles from Brooklyn to Kutshers Resort just outside of Monticello, NY but it took us three and a half hours to get there.three of us sitting in the cab that had two bucket seats. Dave, who was shooting all weekend wanted to see Bardo Pond perform their album Lapsed in its entirety almost as much as he wanted to see My Bloody Valentine. Unfortunately, there was no way we were going to make it for their set. We did get to catch some of Tortoise performing Millions Now Living.. and the headliner that night, Built to Spill doing Perfect From Now On. Im a pretty big Built to Spill fan (meaning I own all their albums) and this was something I had been waiting for quite some time. I had said earlier in the month when they did the same thing at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland for the Nike shows during MFNW that I thought I might be able to sing from memory every word to Perfect From Now On (for the record I tried while Knife and I were driving through New Mexico and I didnt make it that far). The sound for the main stage was good overall but something was off a bit for Built to Spill and I wasnt blown away by the whole set, just most of it. Listening to the album right now its hard to believe anything couldnt have sounded great but the vocals seemed a little hollow or something.
The absolutely wonderful people at ATP have really taken care of us this year. We were supposed to sling a ton of cream at both the ATP vs Pitchfork and the Explosions in the Sky ATP earlier this year but our budget fell through at the last minute. I had considered not going to England and ATP but Debrorah said I should come check it out anyways. We did end up slinging some cream at both but it was in the dozens and not the hundreds or thousands like wed wanted. At least we got a couple kick ass reviews to show for the weekend. I felt a li’l bit guilty from the UK debacle and wanted to be sure to come through in New York.
After breakfast on Saturday we started organizing our plan of attack. There was a big lake right outside our window that had a nice pathway around it so we decided wed load up on goodies then sling some around the lake and also at the playground which was near where we were parked. It really couldnt have worked out much better. The push cart was far more effective than trying to sling out of a truck. And.. it made it far more relaxing for us because we could go to the people instead of waiting for them to come to us. Needless to say, in the perfect weather, the Jolly Rancher Bomb Pops, Strawberry Froz Fruit, Big Dipper Cones, and Cookies and Cream bars were a big hit.
Up until Les Savy Fav, the only music I saw on Saturday was about 45 seconds of F\_ck Buttons which was extremely loud and quite enticing. I woulda stuck around for more but the set was over and I needed to get back outside to help Kate with the cart. Les Savy Fav were great again and, the more I see them, the more I end up listening to the band instead of following Tim around the audience. Dont get me wrong, Tim is one of the best front men for a band ever, I just think, if LSFs music wasnt solid, I wouldnt still be coming back to see them.. for the fourth time this summer. Which reminds me of a funny story you should ask me about the next time you see me.
Shellac was on after LSF and they were prolly my favorite band, outside of MBV, that I saw all weekend. Musically the show was wonderful but what really put it over the top was the Q and A sessions between songs. Steve Albini and Bob Weston would go back and forth answering audience questions in rapid fire succession. Everyone was in good spirits. That coulda been because you could bring your own booze to the show. We took a brief break afterwards but then found out that Lightning Bolt was playing on the floor and they didnt need a set break. A couple hundred people were gathered around the right side of the floor and the drummer had a huge convex mirror above his head that allowed you to get a better idea of what was going on down there. Ive been wanting to see Lightning Bolt for a while and this abbreviated set wasnt enough to really get into it.
We had a few priorities to take care of on Sunday and one of them was golf. We obviously werent going to play 18 holes but we did get to the driving range to hit some balls and also played some mini putt-putt next to the empty outdoor pool. I hadnt hit range balls for a decade and had multiple drives that flew passed the 200 yd marker. I know this prolly isnt a big deal for most avid golfers but it was one of my favorite moments all weekend. Hopefully I dont get hooked on golf cuz its not like I have a bunch of extra time nor money on hand right now. Ill stick with Frisbee golf for the time being, thank you very much.
We had anticipated we would need to take the cart out four times during the weekend to unload all the ice cream but, after two loads on Saturday, it looked like wed need three runs on Sunday. People always think its quick and easy to give away free ice cream but it still takes time. Unloading the first two carts took about three hours and we were a bit anxious to wrap things up. We loaded the last round then headed toward the entrance/exit for the main stage right as EPMD was finishing up. Once strategically placed, we opened up the top of the cart and so began the free-for-all. I cant say Ive ever seen anything like it. I took some pics but I wish I woulda got some video. It had taken us an hour and a half to clear out before and we did it this time in less than ten minutes.
Kate and I had donated our meal tickets to Bill and Dave and since the food selection was pretty meager we decided to drive into town to the local diner. When we returned to Kutshers Dinosaur Jr. was on. The final three bands on the main stage on Sunday were Mogwai, Dino Jr. and My Bloody Valentine. I doubt there has ever been three bands in a row that are as loud as these three. Outside of a show by The Ponys I saw at Empty Bottle a couple years back, theyre prolly the three loudest bands Ive seen. The times Ive seen Dinosaur Jr. this year theyve been playing more than just the songs J, Lou, and Murph recorded together. Its great to hear Bug and some of the new stuff but Ill never get tired of hearing The Wagon and Feel the Pain both of which they played.
The crowd was bustling with excitement for MBV and most of the people werent willing to move much after Dino Jr. for fear of losing their spots. For the record, there was room for everyone. It was crowded but definitely not over-crowded like you might expect. They were supposed to go by 11:30 but didnt end up taking the stage ’til at least 12:30. Ive had a long history being a fan of MBV and waiting a few more minutes to finally seem them live just built up the anticipation. I had tried to purchase Loveless the week it came out during the senior year of high school in 1991 but it was sold out. It took me another week or two to finally get a copy and it quickly became our soundtrack music while playing pool after school. I didnt get to see them back then so this set had been a long time coming.
I felt like a kid in a candy store with a perma-grin attached to my face as they kicked things off with I Only Said. This was their first show in the US in over 16 years. There are really only a few songs I know the name off and possibly fewer I could actually sing along too but I snagged the setlist via Brooklyn Vegan and you can check it out below. Im sure there are a ton of Youtube videos out there to. The whole set was memorizing and beautifully loud. Outside the venue they were handing out free earplugs and telling people My Bloody Valentine wants you to wear ear plugs. Usually you go to a show and pick out a couple highlights to write about. For this it was pretty much the opposite. There were a couple songs that didnt blow my socks off but the rest were stunning. MBV is legendary for finishing their sets with You Made Me Realise and including some noise at the end of it. I expected a few minutes of this but it went on for fifteen or twenty minutes and a lot of people couldnt take it. I hung around for most of it but eventually had to use the facilities and track down Kate because we had to drive back to Brooklyn that night.
This was the first real ATP in the US and Im glad they did it proper with a band as legendary as My Bloody Valentine. As far as I can tell, everyone had an amazing time and there are already plans for another ATP at Kutshers in 2009 during Labor Day weekend. You can book your tickets now and save a few bucks. Id be shocked if they didnt sell out next year just based on how awesome this one was and word of mouth. Maybe theyll bring the Beatles back from the dead or something to top MBV, Im not sure who else could beat this weekend.
Thanks to everyone at ATP for allowing us to be there and to Kutshers for allowing the festival to happen. Thanks to Blue Bunny for the cream and to Dave and Peter for shooting. Thanks Kate for helping sling and everyone who came out to make the weekend a success all around. I have a feeling, once Im done with Ice Cream Man, Ill still be trying to find a way to hit as many ATPs as possible
01 “I Only Said”
02 “When You Sleep”
03 “You Never Should”
04 “When You Wake”
05 “Cigarette In Your Bed”
06 “Come In Alone”
07 “Only Shallow”
08 “Thorn”
09 “Nothing Much To Lose”
10 “To Here Knows When”
11 “Blown A Wish”
12 “Slow”
13 “Soon”
14 “Feed Me With Your Kiss”
15 “Sue Is Fine”
16 “You Made Me Realise”
