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home » festivals » All Tomorrow's Parties » Ten Years Of ATP Festival 2009
Sunday reviewTen Years of All Tomorrow's Parties reviewWednesday 23rd December 2009 With the Sunday meaning both the last day of the festival, and the end of the All Tomorrows Parties festivals for 2009, the organisers put together a pretty special line-up to see out the decade in some style. Feelings of work on Monday were soon dispelled for those who stuck around on Sunday, and those who had to leave on the Sunday were left with distained feeling at the fact that they had to miss the closing day. First up on Sunday were Deerhoof, a 4 piece band from San Francisco, who having formed in 1994 are not strangers to delivering a quality live performance, and they certainly lived up to expectiations. Providing the audience with a highly energetic performance, the band, who were clearly enjoying their time on the stage, rushed through as much material as they could squeeze in from a selection of their albums, including ‘The Perfect Me’, ‘Fresh Born’ and ‘Panda’. With the band having played several All Tomorrows Parties festivals it’s always good to see that they’re playing, as for me personal they are, and always have been something exciting and different to everything else out there, and the nine record releases have always impressed me. Following on from Deerhoof was ‘Devendra Banhart’ and has backing band ‘The Grogs’, over on the main stage, who, for me, delivered the performance of the weekend. Devendra Banhart, the American singer/songwriter, has always been held in high regard by many sections of the music press since he released his first album in 2002 and since then, he has worked on separate songs with the likes of Beck and Phoenix more recently. Having released seven full length studio albums in his time, Banhart is certainly a hard worker, and live, he’s equally as hard working, and it proves to rewarding. Playing a lengthy set, Banhart was able to dip into much of his work and certainly impressed, with songs such as ‘Foolin’, ‘Baby’ and ‘Angelika’, all taken from his latest effort proving to be the highlights in a set full of them. The beauty of Banhart’s work is that it’s crosses between so many genres, so that when it comes to his live show, he can tailor it to suit the audience, as well as offering something for everyone, and that must always result in a fantastic show, as it was on Sunday. Back over on the centre stage following on from Devendra Banhart was ‘Mudhoney’, another Seattle based American grunge rock band, and as with the Melvins who performed the previous day, were a big influence on Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. Mudhoney are certainly an influential band, and the Sub Pop records favourites despite forming in 1988, are still able to pull a large crowd. Delivering a set which featured songs from most of their eight studio albums, ‘Hate the Police’, ‘I’m now’, and ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’, all stood out as highlights, especially, which ensured cheers and from all around the room by the end. Listening to their music today, it’s clear to see how they can still be an influence to any band starting out, but unfortunately they never reached the heights of those that they influenced back in the early 1990s, however, they’re still an amazing band live, a definite recommendation. The penultimate act on the main stage, and former curators of ATP, was ‘Explosions in the Sky’, the instrumental, experimental rockers hailing from Texas, America. Watching their live set was certainly an eye-opening experience and I found it hard to draw myself away from watching what was going on on-stage, and just let the music go straight through me. Almost like a film-soundtrack, the music goes the motions of time changes, and rising and falling moments, and their developed guitar work is definitely worth watching. Having released five studio albums since 2000, they had a large back catalogue to dip into, and didn’t hold back from doing this, with ‘The Birth and Death of Day’, ‘Memorial’ and ‘Day Five’ all really impressing. The headliners of the final day however were The Mars Volta, one of the most exciting bands to come out in the past decade, featuring former members of alternative rockers At the Drive-In. Despite their legendary like past, The Mars Volta are certainly a force to be reckoned with, and the live six piece band, definitely serve up an excellent performance. Their music can be described as alternative, experimental rock, with an almost Spanish tinge to their writing and guitar playing, no doubt down to the fact that they’re based in Mexico. Having released five albums since their formation, they’re definitely a hard working band, and live their equally as hard working, really impressing myself and the large audience that turned out for them. Opening with ‘Inertiatic ESP’, the definite highlight of the set, the band set out as they meant to go on, really showing their energy, especially in ‘Wax Simulacra’ and ‘Cotopaxi’. Proving themselves to be excellent headliners of the festival, and perfect way to close the main stage of the festival. Ending the weekend for me however was Sleepy Sun, the five piece San Francisco based band, who released their debut album ‘Embrace’ to great acclaim this year. Delivering a set full of their album tracks, the band went down very well, with highlights including ‘New Age’ and ‘Sleepy Son’, two real footstompers, and definitely worth a listen. After the end of another All Tomorrows Parties festival, it’s easy to say it’s been another great weekend of music, and successful weekend for those involved. It’s safe to say that with more weekends of a similar calibre, the ATP festivals will continue for another decade. review by Anthony Hetherington
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