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All Tomorrow's Parties - Preview
Friday, January 09, 2009
An eclectic festival in a beautiful location. By Brian Wise
All Tomorrow’s Parties
Mt Buller, Victoria
January 9 & 10
At first it might seem strange to have such a renowned festival as All Tomorrow’s Parties at this remote location in the Victorian High Country but this festival has made its name overseas partly on offering some interesting locations along with an eclectic bill. So in the UK you might find yourself in a holiday camp, in the US on the Queen Mary docked at Long Beach, Calfornia, and in Australia on top of a mountain, at Brisbane’s River Stage or on Sydney’s Cockatoo Island.
As my summer holiday is usually spent at Thredbo – and often at the blues festival - the switch to Mt Buller, saving at least four hours drive, was easy. We arrived yesterday afternoon, which seemed to be an excellent idea as we have avoided queues and had a chance to settle in and check out the layout. I like the idea of a self-contained festival and here they have really enforced that idea. Unlike Thredbo, you cannot come onto the mountain and into the village without a pass. As the venues are all outdoor this is a fairly essential dictum.
You can stay on the mountain, as we are, or utilise surrounding accommodation down below and catch the shuttle up each day – though I reckon the late night drive back might be a bit hairy! The best thing to do seems to be to get a group to share accommodation. Our apartment accommodates four people, which makes it quite affordable and there are plenty of places to rent from $50 - $70 a night each, depending on numbers.
One thing that will be interesting to experience is the weather, which at the moment (Friday morning) is glorious sunshine but can be changeable. The temperature plummeted after sunset and I reckon that sitting outdoors late could be a little chilly. I rode my motorcycle up here the other week to check out the venue and realised that even in the afternoon sun the wind can be bitter. This time I have brought with me a jumper, two jackets and a spare blanket. Last night the ABC ran a documentary on the problems climbers have on Mt Everest. I hope that is not an omen.
The other feature of the festival is that, although there is a director, the event has a guest curator – in this case Nick Cave. Other curators have included Sonic Youth, Mogwai and Matt Groening. This makes for an eclectic mix of acts and a bill that you are unlikely to see at any other festival in Australia this summer. There is an art exhibition featuring the paintings of Louis Wain and a film festival (including some of Cave’s own work).
I am here to see The Saints perform I’m Stranded in its glorious 32-minute entirety, guitarist James ‘Blood’ Ulmer, The Laughing Clowns (featuring Ed Kuepper), Robert Forster, The Reels, Bill Callahan, Harmonia and, of course, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, whose album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!! was easily one of the best albums of last year. The other acts should be a bonus.
We are about to head off to the art show and get ready for the festival. I’ll let you know tomorrow morning how the first day went.
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