Reviewed by Adam Boult
Stars Sonic Youth, Grinderman, Portishead, Belle & Sebastian
Certification UK E | US Not Rated | Runtime 83 minutes
Directed by Jonathan Caouette, All Tomorrow's People
All Tomorrow’s Parties, for the uninitiated, is an alternative music festival held several times a year at holiday camps on the south coast. Rather than go the standard festival route of booking the most popular acts of the day, the organisers instead hand over curating duties to a “significant band or artist;” at the first ATP in 2000 the line-up was selected by post-rock stalwarts Mogwai, and subsequent years have seen the likes of Autechre, the Chapman Brothers, Portishead and Vincent Gallo take the reins.
All Tomorrow’s Parties: The Film is essentially a snapshot of the festival’s first decade. Similar to Beastie Boys concert film Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That!, it’s largely comprised of footage shot by festival-goers using their own camcorders and camera phones, spliced together with professionally shot concert film to create what its makers have laughably described as a “post-punk DIY bricolage.”
While the abundance of amateur video allows viewers to get up close and (occasionally extremely) personal with the festival attendees, it simultaneously distances us from the performers; ironic, given that ATP is renowned for breaking down the barriers between artist and audience. Early on in the film, we hear one festival-goer describe his trip to Butlins as like “Auschwitz with good music” – a moment of outstanding stupidity that’s indicative of the film’s main problem; most of the punters seem to be such remarkable twats, one wonders whether the makers were actually trying to deter viewers from checking out the festival for themselves.
At least there’s the music to detract from all the twattery; there’s some great concert clips of, among others, Sonic Youth, Belle & Sebastian, The Boredoms, Battles, the Stooges, Shellac, and a memorably intimate performance by Daniel Johnston, which on its own stands as a terrific advert for everything that’s good about these festivals.
On DVD this is likely to be an obligatory purchase for much of ATP’s sizeable and loyal fan base. However, for everyone else, it’s 83 minutes with a bunch of massively irritating, hugely self-regarding indie snobs doing their best to ruin some thoroughly great music; much like actually attending the festival then, but much cheaper and far less time consuming.