Friday review

With the first version of the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, originally named ‘the Bowlie Weekender’, taking place in April 1999, this weekend’s festival marked the first festival in celebration of its 10th birthday.

With the first festival question headlined by Belle & Sebastian, the festival has always been about bringing great talent together in one place, and since then, the festival has gone from strength to strength, renaming in 2000, and the putting together some fantastic line-ups, with the likes of Mogwai, Sonic Youth and Portishead all curating events, and continually selling out.

This weekend’s festival was like no other, and certainly started the celebrations with a bang.

Opening up on the main stage on the Friday were ‘Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks’, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Malkmus, front man of the recently reformed 90s alternative rockers ‘Pavement’, took to the stage to a great reception, with many, like myself, already excited about the reformation shows next year.

For many people, Malkmus is quite simply a genius, and his solo stuff is definitely of a high standard, carried further by a really talented backing band. Treating the audience to a selection of hits, such as ‘Gardenia’ and ‘It Kills’, along with ‘Dragonfly Pie’, by the end of the set, the thought of the Pavement shows in May seemed too far. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks were outstanding in their set, really showing why they’re so popular. It’ll be great to see where Malkmus takes his solo career after the reformation shows have ended.

Taking to the centre stage following this were J. Macsis & the Fog, the side-project of the Dinosaur Jr front man J. Macsis, seeing him take his place behind the drum kit, instead of his usual front of stage position.

Having seen the band the previous weekend at the ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ All Tomorrow’s festival, I knew exactly what to expect, and having been impressed by the band then, they only went further to impress with this set, providing a lesson in the art of American grunge rock.

Playing a similar set to the previous weekend, including ‘All the Girls’ and the Iggy & the Stooges like ‘Sameday’, really showed the growing crowd what they were capable of, impressing anyone that came simply on the pretence that Mascis was a member of Dinosaur Jr.

The headliner on the main stage on the Friday was New York trio, the ‘Yeah Yeah Yeahs’, a band for whom 2009 has been very kind on.

Having played the event on previous occasions and even curating a day at the festival, the band are no strangers to the set-up, and after a year which saw them ‘break into the big time’, it’s great to see that the band haven’t stopped playing at the smaller, and independent festivals.

With their latest, and third album, ‘It’s Blitz’, released earlier this year, coming out to great acclaim, it was only ‘Zero’ their biggest single that made into their set, with the band choosing to play their debut album ‘Fever to Tell’ in full, with ‘Date with the Night’, ‘Pin’ and ‘Maps’ going down with the sizeable crowd.

However, their set started on a sour note with the band arriving on site late, pushing back their start time bald half hour, leading to sections of the audience booing, however, this was quickly forgotten as the band kicked into the set.

After their set finished, it was back over to the centre stage for the fantastic ‘Mum’. The band, who are often overshadowed by their fellow countrymen ‘Sigur Ros’, delivered a fantastic set, showcasing the experimental, electronic music, to a large crowd.

Having seen the band the previous weekend, I was aware of what to expect, but in their set this time round, their seemed to be a little more beauty in their music, with the band clearly enjoying the response they were gaining.

Showcasing songs from their back catalogue as well as new album ‘Sing Along to Songs You Don’t Know’, the band seem to be consistent in what they perform, and at the level by which they perform, with songs such as ‘Moon Pulls’ really showing what the band are all about.

Following on from Mum, were one of the bands of the weekend, and of the year, the brilliantly named ‘Fuck Buttons’.

With the release of their latest album ‘Tarot Sport’ this year, the band have been touring constantly since, to great acclaim. Their brand of post-rock electronic music crosses the boundary between Mogwai and Aphex Twin, a winning combination, and when performed live it’s something of a spectacle, especially with set-opener ‘Surf Solar’, a slow building wall of noise song, which really makes the hair on the back of stand-up.

Closing the day’s events were ‘Tortoise’, the influential post rock band from Chicago, highly regarded for their ability to cross genres with the music, mixing rock with jazz and krautrock with relative ease.

The band released their sixth studio album this year, ‘Beacons of Ancestorship’, to mixed press reviews, but the band clearly seem very proud of their latest effort, with much of their set concentrating on this, with ‘Prepare your Coffin’ and ‘Minors’ impressing the audience, and offering a good close to the first day of the festival, but on a day filled with talent, and especially after Fuck Buttons, the band always had an uphill task to impress.

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