What I remember about the first All Tomorrow's Parties was that it was one of the first Wire reunions, Shellac and Sigur Rós were playing, and that I was otherwise unthrilled by the lineup. ATP seemed like a good idea, though; let's go to a resort and watch a bunch of bands booked by another band play with 1,000 like-minded souls. Even if you're only hyped on 1 out of 4 bands, you'll probably get stoked on a few more, meet some folks, make out, drink, eat some weird pills, make some memories.
Within a couple years, friends would end up traveling to the UK every spring. The second-hand reports of Mission of Burma playing live, or watching Iggy & the Stooges play on the Queen Mary were mind-blowing. Who would have ever thought you'd get to actually see these bands grown up listening to? Even better was discovering the taste of some of your favorite artists. Yes, it's fun to see who My Bloody Valentine, or Matt Groening, or Belle and Sebastian would want to put into a lineup. Coachella's vibe was always a little more mercenary; this was fantasy camp for indie rock dorks.
So here's Godspeed from the first ATP. I really enjoy that they're not on the "offical" flier. They bookended the original festival series, playing the first and final shows, as well as seven others across the 12 year, four continent series. Any of the shows they played would have been a ripper, although I'll admit to wishing I'd seen them in 2011 in London, when they played in a lineup alongside Portishead, Swans, Beach House, and an Alan Moore/Stephen O'Malley performance. Dope show.
