4 posts tagged “all tomorrow's parties”

It's amazing how chaotic I can get when travelling places and still have everything work out alright. I ended up booking a place to stay at the very last minute in Bristol and was still packing my junk a 1 am the day before I was due to leave. Through a slight miscoordination, I managed to drop my favourite 50mm lens to the floor, which mercilessly broke to bits. That's only the second time I did that :( So no pictures whatsoever, and there won't be any for a while, because I don't really have the money to replace it and for some reason I didn't get the end pay out money from my previous job yet (a pay out of remaining vacation days). I'll probably be getting a 50/1.4 and a 85/1.8 when I do.

The place in Bristol was very basic, but the people were kind. I looked around for a camera shop to replace my lens, but they were so overpriced that I just didn't bother and decided against taking any pictures whatsoever. I did some shopping and ended up buying far more stuff than I needed, including a Paul Smith sweater. What the fuck did I need that for? Whatevah. It's actually kind of simple but nice and washes well and I ended up wearing it a lot over the weekend. Caught up with a friend for dinner, which was cheap and cheerful and went to bed early.

The next morning we got up early to go to the busstation to head over to Butlins, Minehead for the festival. Strangely enough, I ran into someone I know at the busstation. I met this guy about 4 years ago, when I was travelling around the UK to see a couple of Dirty Three gigs. I ended up in the pub with them and they gave me a ride from Leicester to Leeds, along with some musical tips. I think Nina Nastasia was one of the artists they recommended me. An alright guy, but also one that seems to be on an eternal monologue for some reason. He's now a writer for a UK mag and a couple of online mags, and is actually quite knowledgable about music, aside from being a real character.

Anyway, after a rather uneventful busride in a bus full of gothy trippy looking people, we arrived at Butlins, which was something that would feature a prime spot in my worst nightmare. It's something like a run down seashore resort, aimed at families with small kids. Insert Pizza Hut, Burgers Kings, mini golf, 3 different slides in the swimming pool and a huge music stage set up between something called The Puppet Palace, Burger King and a sweet shop, intermixed with slotmachines and fun fair rides, and you get the picture. Very surreal.

The lineup was amazing though. The Dirty Three were curating this version of All Tomorrow's Parties and they did a real good job at making it very diverse. There were really some very highly skilled musicians there, including the usual suspects, eg, all things Nick Cave related (Neubauten, Mick Harvey, Conway Savage, etc). The good thing about an All Tomorrow's Parties festival is that you get to stay in your own little chalet, which means you don't have to mess around with tents and bad hygeine and all that. Very convenient...

The downside is that the smallest chalet I could book was a 2 person's one, and I was only on my own. Through the Nick Cave site, I had found someone who needed a place for a friend, but in the end his friend didn't show up, and I was out of 120 quid, with the guy taking no responsibility whatsoever. I was quite pissed off about that and it ruined some of my Saturday.

Somewhere along the way I ran into my mate Gary with his wife Fiona. I met Gary at a Dirty Three gig at the huge town of Dundalk once, where it basically was just Gary, Christian and me, a little pub, and not much else. Since then, I keep bumping into him at Nick Cave, Dirty Three and somewhat related gigs.

The gigs themselves were amazing though. It was so great to see the Dirty Three again! It's been a while and even though they are touring later this month, chances of me actually getting to see them are really slim. There was also the live premiere of Grinderman, the new Nick Cave band and a really strange Neubauten set, which started at 1:30 am and lasted until 3:30 at which point most of the audience were sprawled around the floor sleeping. Very strange indeed. The schedule was slightly mad and there were some real nasty overlaps, which meant sometimes it was a tossup between two bands I /really/ wanted to see. In those cases, I opted for the bands I had never seen, rather than the bands I have seen plenty of times before. I kicked off with the Only Ones, followed by a Dirty Three set, then Psarandonis (amazing musicians),  Devastations and last but not least Josh Pearson.

Saturday I started off slow, seated on a bench with a coffee and paper, enjoying the sun and the horrendous surroundings. Strangely enough, I was interrupted by Mick Harvey and his kids going nuts at the tin can alley stall.  I went on to see some of Joel Silbersher (small guy, huge voice!), then Felix Lajko, who I've been dying to see for a long time. He's a genius on the violin, but doesn't seem to play in this neck of the woods much. Alan Vega was up next, whose genre has really changed over the years. I rather enjoyed his set. I caught a little bit of Mick Harvey then set off to the Nick Cave/Grinderman stage. The Nick Cave set was alright, then they went off the stage and came back as Grinderman, which possible confused a few people. Frankly, the set seemed a little shaky, and it was clear they weren't used to the new songs as much yet. A nice little bonus was Bobbie Gillespie on backing vocals though. I've never seen him so together before... the last time I saw him with Primal Scream, he was clinging onto the mic stand for life. After that I went on to see Youpi Youpi Yeah, The Drones, Nina Nastasia and the Neubauten as aforementioned. I more or less collapsed after that and fell sound asleep.

Sunday started off much the same way as Saturday with a paper and some sun. A little Roscoe Mitchell (experimental jazz), some more Dirty Three, Mary Margaret, a little Joanne Newsom, then onto Cat Power another Nick/Grinderman set, Tara Jane O'Neill and topped and finished by the Tren Brothers. Mary Margaret's set was interesting. They started off without a bass player and kept asking for someone to join them, if they wanted. Then at the last song, the bass player finally showed up, after having been stuck in traffic. Mary was vaguely disorganised, but it's part of her charm and reminded me of Cat Power in a way. Cat Power, however, has changed. Where she was totally untogether, chaotic and self conscious before, she now takes the stage with a completely different attitude. The new band (including Jim White) works much better I think. The Nick/Grinderman set was amazing. For some reason they got into it much more, and connected with the audience much better who went completely nuts. It absolutely rocked... Finally the audience got moving, and frankly, I got a little hyper myself, which resulted in me playing footie with a beercan and a couple of guys I had never met just before Tara Jane O'Neill was to start.

All in all, I had such a great time, much better than I expected from the first time I saw Butlins. All the musicians and their families were staying at the chalets too, so it just happened that you'd be sitting in the grass outside your little chalet, and have Blixa Bargeld walk by. Or you'd spot Nick sunbathing (I kid you not) outside his (not so little chalet) on your way to the pool, where Josh Pearson would be whooping and hollering down the slides. Just imagine what the filters on that pool must have looked like after all the bearded gentlemen had been through it!

Much time to bask into it's fully glory I didn't really have though, as I started my new job the very next day. Time just flies when you're having fun huh?

The new job is amazing. I spend most of the past two weeks getting up to speed with architectural drawings and getting to know the systems. The atmosphere is much better than in my old job though. The people are younger, for starters, and mostly come from a creative and/or technical background. Of course the company is much smaller which means you just get to know everyone much more quickly. Also their lunch setup is quite cosy with two big tables just dressed up as brekafast tables, with everyone gathering around it. It's quite good as you get to mingle quite a bit. It's also much better foodwise than the last place I worked at, with salads and all kinds of different breads and stuff to put in. There also seems to be a stash of candy just about everywhere and a weekly drinking session on Friday afternoon. Aside from that they're heavily into making their employees happy, which is such a different approach than what I am used to. I'd never have considered having drinks with colleagues before and actually found the colleagues I had quite dull. So upto now, all is good... Hopefully it'll stay that way.

In the meantime I also saw a lot more gigs... Some more Cat Power, The Drones and Moke. Strangely enough, a lot of the ATP bands added another few dates elsewhere after the festival. I meant to go to Low and the Handsome Family too, but just couldn't find the energy to do so. Tonight it's dinner & Interpol, courtesy of Jeroen.

If it hadn't been for the new job, I would now have been at Bowie's Highline Festival, but I pulled out of that, because he said he wouldn't play it anywhere. Some of my Bowienet friends are there though, and their reports are fun to read. I wouldn't mind seeing a lot of them again, but c'est ca. Fun though, is that Bowie is really excited about it and is posting all over the Bowienet forums again. I rather like his enthusiasm about things, even when I don't always share it (Polyphonic Spree?). I really do hope we'll see a bit more of him this year, but that's fairly unlikely, unfortunately.

That's that for catching up. If you made it all the way here... wow, you have stamina!

I really should be asleep. Let's see... Muse. well, I spent 2.5 hours in heavy traffic trying to actually get there and missed the support act, which apparently wasn't a great loss. I weaved my way through the audience and found my mates. Great to see them again, it's been so long! As for Muse... I am not convinced. They have great songs, with brilliant beats and yer man has all the moves and plays guitar and piano quite well, but... he's ust so introvert. He doesn't talk, play with the audience, in fact, barely even acknowledges them. Instead, it's the drummer that occasionally throws in a "thank you". Despite all that, the audience still went berserk, so maybe it's just me having been spoilt the last few months with small venues, musicians that are also entertainers, front rows and maybe even the occasional backstage pass. However, after having been stuck in traffic for another 2.5 hours on the way back, I'm not entirely sure I even want to see them a second time in Antwerp. If it weren't for a couple of friends going that I haven't seen in ages, the decision would be easier. Wait and see, I guess.

And just a couple of mental notes. Jarvis goes on sale December 9. Isobell Campbel and Mark Lanegan goes on sale December 2. Oh, and Cat Power confirmed today for the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Excellent!

Sleepz.

Life is hectic at the moment, and frankly, it's only getting worse. Good worse, but worse nonetheless :)

Thursday and Friday I spent in a course that I'm taking. It's about communication and listening and observing and whatnot, and trying to better yourself. Kind of blah blah blah corporate shit, or... well, that was my opinion of it anyway.  Nevermind that it is (in my eyes) way overpriced. It did end up being quite intensive and a bit of an eye opener though, and actually was a lot of fun. A fun group and while not 100% of the course's subjects will matter to me, I can see how some of it will actually help me personally as well. Even after two days, I have the feeling I am more aware of the way people talk, like you start saying something, and halfway you start becoming aware of how you're actually delivering it and maybe there's a better way. Right now that's a bit of a pain in the ass, because my thoughts run all over the place while I'm talking.

Either way, that's what had me tied up all day Thursday and Friday. Aside from that, I've been putting bucketloads of work in my Halloween costume, which is now finally coming together. About time it did too, because I am flying off to Budapest this Thursday evening and it would be nice if it was finished then. The papier machee didn't turn out as nice as I had imagined it. It seems the wallpaper glue stuff I used just wasn't sticky enough, so the paper feels a little "loose" in places. I sprayed one of my wings yesterday with it's base colour and it looks pretty nifty. Planning to detail it with a little black and silver later today, if I manage to get home while there's still some daylight left.

Saturday I got up quite early and went into town to check out the information day of a photographic academy type, who offer a 3 month part time course (on saturdays) and also the option to take it up a level and do a real, proper education as well, which actually gets recognised as a Proper Education (of which I have none). Downside is that it's pretty expensive, and of course, the time and attention it'll need. I am interested in maybe doing the 3 month course and see how I cope with going to school on Saturdays before taking the plunge. As for the finances, I may be able to deduct the actual course cost from taxes and maybe even scrounge a nifty lens out of it. Need to check up on that.

After that I dropped in at the so called "Halloween Specialist of Amsterdam" and stocked up on some make up, latex horns and ears and lots of mastix. It's all coming together very nicely, methinks. On the way back I took the tram up to the market, where there's a great trimmings, buttons and godknowswhat shop, where I bought... trimmings, buttons and godknowswhat. I want to brighten up the boring grey army typ jacket I got a while back and make it look a little more appealing. I'll post pictures of that too, if I ever come around to it :-]

Sunday was the best. I got up early and went to the stables, hooked up my trailer and set off to the beach with a friend. She really wanted to go, but her mare has never been, so she needed me and Solon as rock solid types to give her mare some confidence. What can I say? Solon was an absolute gem. He was giving me the evil eye because I dared showing up before 9 then didn't even put him out in his field. All that changed the minute he spotted the trailer. His ears perked up and he walked right into it, which would make some horse owners real envious :-] The beach I like to go to is only about 30 minutes away and it has very easy parking. There was a lot of wind, so the sea looked really rough with waves and whatnot, but that also meant it was moderately quiet. This particular beach at IJmuiderslag is very wide, and we'd checked the tides beforehand, so we got on the beach just as the tide was going out, and sand banks start to form. This is great, because you get puddles where the waves are a little less fierce so the horses don't get as spooked from them.

Solon was a great little trooper, plunging right into the deep of a steep sandbank, until he was in about knee deep and started splashing around, which gave my friend's mare the confidence to follow his example. We walked, trotted, cantered, galloped (=race the horses) and got complete soaked because the horses splashed so much. Solon got so into it, he even braved the waves, which rode up and broke against his belly. So Sunday left me with a real proud feeling of how my little boy (he was 2.5 when I bought him) has now grown out to be this rock solid companion. That's quite a neat trick, considering he's only 7 himself. He's grown into a nice little horse, which is pretty awesome, considering that's all my work. Well, my work, and his personality I guess. If only he didn't have those temper tantrums...

In the evening I worked on my Halloween junk some more, sewing together my furry vest, while watching CSI and Bones. I'm no great fan of CSI and Bones type shows, really, because I tend to eat late and all the blood and gore tends to put me off my food. But now I watched with half an eye. The Bones episode was about a boy being killed while trying to pretend to be a superhero or something. It was kind of funny, especially because I spotted the little easter egg. The boy's name being Warren and one of the other characters' last name being Ellis, which must have been a little nod to the comic book writer Warren Ellis, but not the Dirty Three's Warren Ellis. I'm not entirely sure if it was a positive or a negative one, as they then started slagging roleplayer, comic book lovers and geeks in general, and stereotyped the whole lot and mixed them in together, while playing Hard-Fi in the background (I confused them for Bauhaus at first!). I had mixed feelings about that, yanno, having been a roleplayer, geek, liking Hard-Fi, and not so much being a comic book lover, but I do love Neil Gaiman's writing, so I guess that makes me a weirdo too (Neil Gaiman also got a mention on the show). Whatever... it was fun to see they do their research. Someone in their team must be a geek, which makes it alright, I suppose.

Oh yeah, and I also spent 250 quid before breakfast on a twin bed room + festival access to the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Now I just need to find someone who'll want to come with me =) The lineup is starting to look pretty cool. Somehow it reminds me a little of the Liss Ard festival, back in the days.

Now I am unfortunately back in work, installing a server and staving off people who want me to do more work than I have time for and telling them no.

Two things that are worth mentioning.

I came across this interview/article in the Observer by guest editor Jarvis Cocker, which was very clearly bits of conversation from the Came So Far For Beauty group. The shallow reader will probably go "Pah, he's namedropping all over the place", but it is actually a good read about music and the whole process of creating and everything around it. I like this particular Nick quote (yes, him again), which kind of confirms my suspicions. I've always had the feeling he doesn't care much about the full band album touring, but prefers the more low key solo shows. Often he comes across as if his hands were tied during the album tour dates, whereas at the solo shows he seems more loose, more happy to do his own thing.

For me what music is for is very much a selfish thing. All I know is that I have to do it on a regular basis or I don't operate correctly. What happens with the records and the history of the thing: I feel I have absolutely no control over that, and I'm not even interested in it personally

By the way, I totally agree... Jarvis is catchy.

Great read.

The other thing I came across is the pretty fucking awesome news that the Dirty Three will be curating the All Tomorrow's Parties festival next year. That one sounds like a very laid back kind laugh, which I'd love to go to. I'm curious to see what other performers they'll come up with. The one snag to the festival is that it is at the end of April, which means it may possibly interfere with Bowie's High Line festival in NYC next year. I can't for the life of me remember the dates to that one, but it's in May somewhere. The whole things sounds like a really mellow kind of thing.

There's something a bit spooky about me stumbling across this bit of news today though. This morning I kicked some beat-y cd out of the cd player in my car, only to replace it with a Velvet Underground there. I got annoyed with the big scratch on it, which made it skip all through I'm Waiting For The Man, but got over it after Venus In Furs played alright. All Tomorrow's Parties was just playing when I parked the car at work this morning, and it was stuck in my head all day. There's a very strong YOU MUST GO kind of message in there somewhere :-)

Now I just need to get someone mad enough to go with me :-)