All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) was a UK organisation based in London that promoted
music festivals
A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
, concerts and records throughout the world for over 10 years. It was founded by Barry Hogan in 2001 in preparation for the first All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, the line-up of which was picked by
Mogwai
Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...
and took place at
Pontins,
Camber Sands, England.
Named after the song "
All Tomorrow's Parties" by
the Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...
, the festival exhibited a tendency towards
post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...
,
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
,
avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elem ...
, and
underground hip hop, along with more traditional rock fare presented in smaller venues than typical stadium performances. It was at first a sponsorship-free festival where the organisers and artists stay in the same accommodation as the fans.
It claimed to set itself apart from festivals like
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
or
Glastonbury
Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...
by staying intimate, non-corporate and fan-friendly.
Another difference was the line-ups being chosen by significant bands or artists, resulting in unorthodox events which often combined acts of all sizes, eras, and genres.
Locations and artists
The festival took place in the UK, US, Japan, Iceland and Australia, and was curated by the following artists:
Deerhunter
Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lockett Pundt (guitar, vocals, ...
,
TV On The Radio,
Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
The National,
The Drones,
Greg Dulli (
Afghan Whigs),
Jeff Mangum (
Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed by Jeff Mangum in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1989. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psy ...
),
Battles,
Caribou,
Les Savy Fav,
Amos,
Animal Collective,
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock collective that originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation Records (Canada), Constellation, an in ...
,
Jim Jarmusch
James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician.
He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...
,
Pavement,
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...
,
The Breeders
The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ( ...
,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Mike Patton,
Melvins,
My Bloody Valentine,
Explosions In The Sky,
Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...
,
Portishead,
Psarantonis
Antonios "Antonis" Xylouris (; born September 6, 1937), nicknamed Psarantonis (), is a Greek composer, singer and performer of Lyra (Cretan), lyra, the bowed string instrument of Crete and most popular surviving form of the medieval Byzantine ly ...
,
Fennesz,
Dirty Three
Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis (musician), Warren Ellis (violin, keyboards), Mick Turner (electric guitar, organ and bass) and Jim White (drummer), Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their ...
,
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...
,
The Shins,
Sleater-Kinney,
Dinosaur Jr.,
Devendra Banhart,
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...
,
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the ban ...
,
Vincent Gallo,
Slint
Slint was an American Rock music, rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986 after the dissolution of two local bands, Squirrel Bait and Maurice. It initially consisted of guitarist-vocalist Brian McMahan, guitaris ...
,
Jake & Dinos Chapman,
Stephen Malkmus,
Mogwai
Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...
,
Tortoise
Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...
,
Shellac
Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female Kerria lacca, lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Chemically, it is mainly composed of aleuritic acid, jalaric acid, shellolic acid, and other natural waxes. It is processed and s ...
,
Stewart Lee,
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...
,
Boards of Canada,
Autechre,
Modest Mouse,
Cowboy Junkies, and ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' creator
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...
.
History
The festival had its origins in the
Bowlie Weekender, curated by
Belle & Sebastian at
Camber Sands in April 1999. Artists, usually musicians (but sometimes visual artists like
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...
, whose line-up featured in the Observer's list of the ten best festivals of the year, or
Jake and Dinos Chapman) were asked to curate the festival by inviting their favourite performers to play. The idea was that it was akin to dipping into the curator's record collection, or as founder Barry Hogan described it, "ATP is like an excellent
mix tape".
In 2001 rock band Shellac was convinced by Mogwai to play in their line-up. Frontman
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...
praised the festival, saying "They completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one."
Since then, Shellac had a longstanding involvement with ATP and were often referred to as their 'House Band'.
Shellac were the curators of ATP at
Camber Sands, UK in 2002 and 2012, co-curated in 2004
and also played at several other editions of the festival including its final UK holiday camp event in 2013.
Albini said;
Also in 2001, the organisation spawned ATP/Recordings, a record label originally created to bring out compilation albums related to its festivals. However the label eventually moved on from just doing compilations for the festival to sign and release singles and albums from artists including Threnody Ensemble, Bardo Pond, The Magic Band, Deerhoof, White Out, Death Vessel, The Drones, Fursaxa, The Scientists, Apse, Fuck Buttons, Alexander Tucker, Sleepy Sun, Spiritualized, Built To Spill, Autolux and most recently Tall Firs and Tennis.
At the end of 2007 ATP/R launched series of double 7" singles called Custom Made, which would feature bands choosing four songs; one something old, one something new, one something borrowed (a cover version) and one something blue (artists were free to interpret this as they feel). Artists to release singles in this series were Australia's The Drones, Britain's Alexander Tucker and America's Deerhoof.
In 2002, the festival expanded to the US, and several events took place there in subsequent years. The organisation also became involved in booking stages at the
Pitchfork Music Festival
Pitchfork Music Festival was an annual music festival in Union Park (Chicago), Union Park in Chicago, Illinois, organized by the online magazine ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork.'' Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris ...
and the
Primavera Sound Festival in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Spain. In 2008, ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' ran their first East Coast USA festival, which took place at
Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club,
Monticello,
New York.
In January 2009, the festival took place for the first time in Australia, with events in Brisbane, Sydney and
Mount Buller
Mount Buller is primarily a resort town on the slopes of Mount Buller (Victoria), Mount Buller, within Mount Buller Alpine Resort, an unincorporated area of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located approximately n ...
(in Victoria) all curated by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
The organisation that put on these festivals also promoted concerts in London and the rest of the United Kingdom, curated the yearly
Don't Look Back concert series and ran the record label
ATP Recordings.
All Tomorrow's Parties, as with a number of modern festivals, embraced a variety of artistic genres. Most festival events featured art exhibitions and cinema programmes (in the US, ATP collaborated with Criterion to present cinema highlighted by appearances from Paul Schrader and Jim Jarmusch), and others featured spoken word performances, stand-up comedy, and book clubs.
In 2007 the curators allowed festival-goers to pick the line-up by organising a voting process for all ticketholders in the months running up to the event, and this was repeated in May 2009. The 2007 festival took place at
Butlin's Minehead. In the years before 2013, when ATP announced they were ceasing to hold residential festivals in the UK,
the festival took place up to three or four times a year in the UK (in May and then in December for the 'Nightmare Before Christmas'). UK festivals were planned to recommence in 2015, moving to Pontins Prestatyn.
In 2009,
Warp Films released a feature-length documentary about the festival named ''
All Tomorrow's Parties''. It premiered at the
SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
Film Festival, and then premiered in the UK at Edinburgh in June. In October 2009 the film was screened at a number of 'one night only' UK theatrical screenings also featuring live music from
Les Savy Fav, who feature in the film and have long been mainstays of ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' line-ups.
In 2010, ATP announced "I'll Be Your Mirror", a series of events to take place in cities around the world named after the B-side to the original 1966 "All Tomorrow's Parties" single by the Velvet Underground. These events still involved a curator choosing all the music and films that play at the event, but without the holiday resort accommodation. The first event took place in Tokyo, Japan in February 2011.
Significant past performances at ATP festivals include the reformations of The Magic Band, Television, The Jesus Lizard, Sleep, and Slint amongst others. All Tomorrow's Parties also presented the return of
My Bloody Valentine with a series of worldwide live performances throughout 2008, the London concerts of which were named
Time Out London's Gig of the Year.
Financial difficulties
In 2012, the company running the events was put into
liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...
, owing £2.6 million to its creditors.
The company's directors set up a new firm, Wilwall, but this also experienced difficulties, filing late accounts, incurring significant debts, and was subject to court judgements related to debt.
A concert at
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
from the rock band
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
was cancelled, as was its urban festival, Jabberwocky, the latter only 3 days before the event was due to take place.
A festival hosted by
Drive Like Jehu was to be held in
Prestatyn in Wales in 2016, but this was moved to
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in England, before being cancelled. A few months later the company went in
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
, and its scheduled festival in Iceland was cancelled.
See also
*
List of electronic music festivals
*
List of music festivals in the United Kingdom
* ''
All Tomorrow's Parties'', a 2009 documentary film
References
External links
All Tomorrow's Parties Official SiteDon't Look Back Official SiteAll Tomorrow's Parties Film WebsiteJabberwocky FestivalATP Iceland
{{DEFAULTSORT:All Tomorrow's Parties
Music festivals in East Sussex
Music festivals in Somerset
Rock festivals in the United Kingdom
Electronic music festivals in the United Kingdom
Music festivals established in 1999
Albums with cover art by Matt Groening