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All Tomorrow's Parties - Review
Monday, January 12, 2009
Let's get high - at Mt Buller. The inaugural ATP is a resounding success. By Brian Wise
All Tomorrow’s Parties
Mt Buller, Victoria
Friday January 9 & Saturday January 10
The inaugural All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival would have to be declared an unqualified success and a credit to its organisers. With an imaginative line-up, spectacular setting and excellent organisation and facilities, the festival gathered universal acclaim from the punters.
It was kind of weird being at a festival on a Friday that was not a holiday but this is de rigueur for a lot of overseas events. It is difficult to estimate crowd numbers but by my reckoning there were at least 3,000 at the opening day and maybe another 1,000 for day two. Hopefully, organisers are happy with 4,000 all up and see it as a launch pad for the future. I think it is a marvellous achievement for a first time event, three hours from a major city and on a mountain top!
There has been some bad press recently about the failure of Melbourne to sustain it own ‘roots’ music festival, the Point Nepean festival having been canned after two years. Three previous festivals in the city failed to attract the desired numbers, despite substantial State government funding. But ATP has proven the ‘field of dreams’ theory – build it and they will come. Guess what? Put together an attractive bill (of any genre) and people will even go to the top of a mountain to enjoy it!
The inaugural ATP was skilfully curated by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. There was a mix of old and new, familiar and unknown, accessible and adventurous. In my case, it offered a chance to see many bands I otherwise would not catch in a club setting.
There were two main stages at opposite ends of the village. Near the centre of the ski resort’s main square was the small Amphitheatre, a brisk walk
(or a chairlift ride)
up a steep hill took you to the massive Bourke Street stage, which would not have looked out of place at any other major rock festival. The one thing missing was a video screen, made obsolete by the fact that everyone could get a good view of the stage on the expansive ski slope. 
The Main Stage from the chairlift.
The undoubted highlight of the first day was the appearance of The Saints (in near original format) who closed the day with a mighty performance that highlighted their classic debut album I’m Stranded. If you didn’t think it was one of the greatest ever Australian albums before, then this show would have convinced you. Chris Bailey is one of the most charismatic front men we have ever had and this evening he proved to still have that charisma.
Some reunions and comebacks can strike fear into your heart: many just don’t work, especially those motivated by cash. But this is different. The Saints sounded as vital as in their heyday and, musically, were probably even better.
I am not sure that Bailey fully understands the importance of the band and its heritage; sometimes his on stage demeanour and chatter seems to belie his status. Nevertheless, whether he cares or not, The Saint’s contribution to our musical history cannot be understated.
With Ed Kuepper’s guitar propelling the band and Ivor Hay’s drumming providing the backbeat, The Saints raced through much of I’m Stranded (not necessarily in order) and more. The album’s title track was delivered in appropriately ragged fashion. Then again, ‘Know Your Product,’ featuring a powerful horn section was also a delight. The group sounded awesome, Bailey’s timing impeccable.
The encore of ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ was a sensational and capped off a brilliant one-hour set that will live on for a long time in the memories of those who witnessed it. They were awesome.
The Saints closed what had been a brilliant day that started around lunchtime with the Holy Sea at the Amphitheatre Stage. This was followed by a powerful set from Hoss by which time the main stage had fired up with American psychedelic rockers Dead Meadow (who drew a large crowd) and Bill Callahan, who made everyone wonder why he is not better known. Here his unforgettable voice was augmented by drummer Jim White and guitarist Mick Turner from The Dirty Three.
The Primitive Calculators, yet another reunion in a weekend of them, adequately displayed why record company exec Roger Grierson is quoted in the program as saying ‘nobody in their right mind’ would ever have been interested in working with them. They presented one of the more challenging sets of the weekend and a snapshot of how diverse the Melbourne music scene was in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.
Legendary guitarist James ‘Blood’ Ulmer offered a solo set of electric blues that was sincere and touching but which didn’t connect with much of the audience who were maybe expecting to see a band. As The Age’s Patrick Donovan pointed out, Ulmer was the only ‘roots’ act on the bill – depending on your definition of ‘roots – and it is to be hoped that people will search out his work. His low-key set was perhaps out of key with the other acts but still powerful.
James 'Blood' Ulmer
The ‘Mystery Act’ for the first afternoon turned out to be Grinderman and set the scene for Cave’s appearance throughout the weekend. He appeared later with The Dirty Three playing keyboards and could be seen wandering through the crowd checking out various acts. The ‘mystery’ turned out not to be a well kept secret and Cave’s Grinderman persona was certainly let loose in this raucous set.
As the sun set, the mountain cooled and the full moon had a ring of cloud around it. The Dirty Three were the perfect band to usher in the dark with a haunting set of tunes from Ocean Songs.
Warren Ellis prowled the stage spraying bursts of melody from his violin as the music built to a crescendo. The mood was interrupted only slightly when Ellis was informed the group only had ten more minutes and stated that they would abbreviate the set, adding ‘that’s probably what we should have done in the first place.’
No doubt the appearance of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds was the drawcard for the second and final day of ATP but there was plenty of interest throughout the day. Robert Forster played songs from his acclaimed solo album The Evangelist but also revisited some of the Go Betweens catalogue, a palpable reminder of the brilliance of the Forster-McLennan song writing partnership.
Dave Mason headed a version of The Reels and gave us a reminder of just how many great songs he recorded (the group’s own and the covers). The hits just kept on coming: from ‘Shout and Deliver,’ ‘Prefab Heart,’ ‘Live Will Find A Way,’ ‘After the News’ and ‘This Guy’s In Love With You’ (reminding us that Mason rediscovered Burt Bacharach long before Elvis Costello did). 
The Reels headed by Dave Mason
It was amazing to see the German trio of Harmonia – Michael Rother, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius – formed from three legendary bands. Proving that they really know their music, the audience flocked to the Amphitheatre for what was probably the biggest crowd for that venue for the weekend.
Harmonia
If Nick Cave and the Dirty Three were the busiest musicians of the weekend, Ed Kuepper was not far behind. Having powered The Saints to an unforgettable performance he regathered the Laughing Clowns (including saxophonist Louise Elliott back from London). Nearly 30 years on from its heyday the band’s blend of free jazz and rock seems to have been almost prescient. Nowadays, the music seems even more acceptable to this knowledgeable audience than it might have done to an ‘80s crowd.
As the Dirty Three had done the night before, Jason Pierce’s Spiritualized played in the sunset with an inspirational show replete with huge guitar riffs, soaring harmonies and an ethereal presence. It was another superb programming decision.
Spiritualized
By the time Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds arrived on stage to close All Tomorrow’s Parties, everyone was pretty much agreed that it had been a superlative event and had started making plans to return next year.
Cave seemed almost relieved that the event had gone so well, thanking people for coming al the way up the mountain and then adding, with a twist of sardonic humour, ‘I wouldn’t have.’ 
Nick Cave
Cave is a powerful presence, one of the greatest performers in contemporary music. Sure, he has the ability to roar and bluster but his ballads are also stunningly good and his voice remarkable. Also remarkable is his band, which can take the music in any direction Cave chooses.
Warren Ellis is one of rock’s most memorable sidemen but the more reserved Mick Harvey (guitar/keyboards) also offers superb, if less noticeable, support. Ellis is a real entertainer, veering across the stage and at one point playing his guitar while squatting and occasionally rolling around the floor. I think even Cave wondered if Ellis was going to be able to get up. It was like watching some demented chimpanzee in the zoo. But in the end you got the feeling that Ellis was merely revelling in the whole performance.
While the set highlighted Dig Lazarus, Dig! including fantastic versions of the title song and ‘We Call Upon The Author,’ they also threw in ‘Henry Lee,’ ‘Deanna,’ ‘Red Right Hand,’ ‘The Mercy Seat’ and ‘Love Letter.’ 
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Where a night earlier The Saints had convinced everyone of the greatness of I’m Stranded, Cave and The Bad Seeds convinced us of their own place in the Pantheon of Australian rock.
It was a magnificent way to end the inaugural ATP festival – an event that everyone is hoping will return here next year.
Some Footnotes:
It would have been nice to have had some stage MC’s to introduce bands and relay information. Apart from that everything ran like clockwork.
The audience for ATP proved themselves to be exceptional. Music fans who understood how special this experience was. Add to this numerous local musicians also there as fans and you had a really knowledgeable crowd. This created a good vibe throughout the festival with absolutely no trouble (that I could see). The main preoccupations of the security staff seemed to be that no one brought any glass to a venue or used a camera with a zoom lens. (In fact, the latter seemed their biggest concern). Almost everyone picked up their own rubbish and deposited in bins, leaving little cleanup to be done. That seems exceptional in itself.
There was talk that some of the lodge and apartment owners were reluctant to rent out their accommodation this year, hopefully that will change for next year. Surely, the traders who were here would have been ecstatic and will pass the word to everyone else.
For a first event, the organization also seemed to be exceptional. There appeared to be few problems with the ticketing system and no complaints about delays getting through the gate and on to the mountain. Parking was well organised and the numerous shuttle buses ferried people from car park to site efficiently. In fact, even though buses to Mansfield had apparently been all booked out, I witnessed the drivers organising some special trips to make sure a few punters without pre-booked tickets got to Mansfield. That’s pretty impressive. For an inaugural event it gets tops marks.
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