All Tomorrow's Parties 07: A Blast

April's ATP Featured Nick Cave, Joanna Newsom, Grinderman and Low

May 5, 2007

Leftfield Indie-Fest All Tomorrow's Parties (April 07) Starred Nick Cave, Grinderman, Joanna Newsom, Low, Spiritualized, The Only Ones, A Silver Mount Zion and Cat Power

When six thousand indie kids descended on Butlins holiday camp in Minehead last weekend (April 29-31) for All Tomorrow’s Parties, the result was a surreal gene-splice of Glastonbury and Hi-De-Hi.

ATP is now an established brand, and a haven for the more forward-thinking indie kid. It is an alternative universe where Spiritualized, Joanna Newsom and Nick Cave are superstars, and people queue up to see avant-garde Greek lyra players.

The weekend was curated by instrumental trio The Dirty Three (Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White), moonlighting from their day job as members of the Bad Seeds. As well as their own gigs, they played two sets with Cave, who also found time to unveil his sleazy rock side-project Grinderman.

The reformed The Only Ones, famed for the classic Another Girl, Another Planet, opened proceedings on the main stage. But the band, whose original career was derailed by heroin, was sabotaged this time round by singer Peter Perrett’s comically reedy whine.

Legends have sprung up around Josh Pearson since the wild-looking Texan created one intense, visionary album with his former band Lift to Experience then split for the desert. Half a decade later he’s back solo, creating a wracked, scorching sound from just one mike, one guitar, and an army of effects pedals. Time stood still as Pearson, looking like a refugee from the American Civil War, wrestled with his demons and sang of heaven and hell, redemption and death as the witching hour approached.

Early Saturday afternoon, Magnolia Electric Company’s mid-70s Neil Young-style chug was the perfect way to ease into the day. Over at the second stage, genius violinist Felix Lajko duetted with a colleague for several tracks of seamless, virtuoso improvising.

Back on the main stage, ‘Spiritualized Acoustic Mainline’ saw Jason Pierce going unplugged, with mixed results. Much of the beauty of his music lies in the expansive, often OTT arrangements. Strip these away and many recent tracks sound surprisingly MOR, like Coldplay on smack. But Pierce has also written some gems, and any set featuring Broken Heart and the Spacemen 3 classic Walking with Jesus can’t be all bad.

Nick Cave just gets better with age. He bounces onto the stage full of bonhomie, telling us ‘You sing’em, I’ll play’em’, as the Bad Seeds bash out a crowd-pleasing set. He warms up with the likes of The Weeping Song and The Mercy Seat, before slaying us with perpetual audience fave, the funkily malevolent Red Right Hand, conducting his band like a man possessed.

After a short break, Cave returns with three Bad Seeds (hairy man mountain Warren Ellis on guitar and violin, Martin Casey on bass, Jim Sclavunos on drums) for the first-ever performance by Grinderman. This testosterone-filled garage band recorded their first (and, apparently, only) album in a week: the result is a series of howling, primal, occasionally melodic catharsis featuring one Bobby Gillespie on percussion and backing vocals. It’s a blast for all concerned.

By Sunday, most of us are starting to sag somewhat. But The Dirty Three kick-start the afternoon and lift our spirits, with tunes that start off slow and circling and end up in a frenzied climax. Warren Ellis’s rock god moves show how much he loves being the star of the show for once.

A Silver Mount Zion’s pieces for voice and strings ebb and flow, exploring every nuance of the quiet/loud dynamic. They’re good, but seem to go on forever. The slower, more vocal numbers work best – more of these next time, please.

Cat Power has considerably more star quality. Slinkily beautiful, she possesses the loveliest voice of the weekend, and an off-beam charisma. Her great band plays luminous southern country-soul while Cat treats us to songs from her latest album ‘The Greatest’, and standards such as I’ve Been Loving You Too Long and Satisfaction.

Two more great sets from Cave and Grinderman (the former including a handful of rarities) close up proceedings on the main stage, but the music is still playing elsewhere. We wind down with beautiful ambient torch songs from Tara Jane O’Neill, and the ultra-mellow jazzy improvisations of the Tren Brothers.

As with any festival, it is impossible to see every act. The biggest crowds were for Joanna Newsom, who is now a huge cult star. Slowcore legends Low also got a great reception, as did ex-Suicide man Alan Vega. Plus there was a slew of interesting jazz. Maybe next year…

The copyright of the article All Tomorrow's Parties 07: A Blast in Rock Music is owned by Ben Wood. Permission to republish All Tomorrow's Parties 07: A Blast in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.