All Tomrorrow's Parties

Originally scheduled to take place last March, the second installment of the Los Angeles version of the rock festival All Tomorrow’s Parties went ahead as (re-) scheduled at the Queen Mary Park in Long Beach, California, over the weekend.
After many false starts, cancellations and the heart-breaking suicide of scheduled act Elliot Smith, ATP seemed to be nothing short of cursed. As the rain clouds brewed Saturday afternoon, the outdoor fest appeared to have fate working against it.
Fortunately, it didn’t rain and, for the most part, the bands justified the steep ticket price and the poor organization of the event itself.
Curated by Simpsons creator Matt Groening, the lineup consisted of the many of the usual suspects (several of the bands had been at 2001’s ATP fest). On the plus side, in addition to some bonafide Rock Gods, the bill included many interesting bands you’re not likely to hear on the radio. However, a major shortcoming was the fact that there were no hip-hop or dance artists. Their presence could have made things even more eclectic.
The main stage was on the shoreline, and offered a splendid view of downtown Long Beach. Here, New Mexico’s the Shins conquered some sound problems to deliver a whimsical set featuring an equal number of tracks from their two albums. Highlights were James Mercer’s outstanding vocals and keyboardist Marty Crandall’s playful sense of humor.
A reunited Magic Band (minus the reclusive Captain Beefheart) was certainly the oldest act on the bill, and they tore through some avant-garde blues-rock culled from such classic albums as Trout Mask Replica.
Boise, Idaho’s Built to Spill played a tight, focused set spotlighting guitarist Doug Martsch’s excellent fret-work. He closed their set with a Heatmeiser song as a tribute to Elliot Smith.
On the second stage, located on the Queen Mary itself, Austin, Texas’s Spoon injected some Southern boogie to the typical guitar-based indie-rock sound.
San Francisco’s Deerhoof was among the more experimental groups of the first day, but their technically challenging music did little to stir the audience.
In another semi-reunion, the Minute Men’s Mike Watt and George Hurley played as a duo (Minute Men guitarist/singer D. Boon was killed in a car crash in the 1980s; the set was dedicated to his memory). These songs haven’t seen the light of day for 20-some years, and hearing them live was a real pleasure. They closed with an extended instrumental jam.
The first night’s headliner was venerable NYC art-rockers Sonic Youth. Newbie Jim O’Rourke (splitting his time between bass and rhythm guitar) added further dynamics to the band and allowed lead guitarists Lee Renaldo and Thurston More to punish their axes more, even playing them with drumsticks. Bassist-singer Kim Gordon shone on her tracks, especially “Paper Sun.” Their one-and-a-half-hour set mostly consisted of tunes from their latest studio album, Murray Street, and some brand new songs, punctuated by unnecessary (and no longer interesting) feedback/noise sessions.
Day two was heavier on the experimental bands, with the barely-there minimalism of Jackie-O-Motherfucker and the avant-garde Eastern sounds of Terry Riley, backed by space age bassist Stefano Scodanibbio. Meanwhile, reunited ‘80s group James Chance and the Contortions hammered out some fine new wave free-jazz/funk on the main stage.
St. Paul, Minnesota, soul man Har Mar Superstar, fresh from a six-month stint in London and Ibiza, Spain, seemed tired but looked surprisingly in shape. He offered no new songs (save a track from Hair), but still won the crowd over with his striptease and foul-mouthed sense of humor. He closed with his sincere cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.”
Austin, Texas’s American Analog Set played mellow indie rock that carried a slow-burn intensity. Critics’ darlings Cat Power, who came on a half-hour late, stuck to the slower songs of their catalog. Many were beautiful and artful, but mostly the effect was sleep inducing.
In place of Elliot Smith, Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow led a brief, but touching, tribute to the late singer/songwriter. Backed by Smith’s band, Barlow did a commendable job of honoring his friend. The Minders, one of Smith’s favorite bands, also came on stage to play a few smart pop tunes.
Another reunited band, Boston’s Mission of Burma, played the main stage. Their characteristic melodic post-punk still sounds great on record, but they sounded sluggish live. Their new songs played as if they’d been written in 1982, and their set-closing “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver” sounded haphazard instead of thrilling.
Texans the Mars Volta (from the ashes of At the Drive-In) energized their young audience with an admirably eclectic set of punky prog-rock that spent too much time vamping and not enough time delivering the goods.
Such was not the case with headliners Iggy and the Stooges. Though the reunited band (plus the ubiquitous Mike Watt on bass) played Southern California at last year’s Coachella Festival, this was still the big ticket for the entire ATP weekend. Tearing through most of their first two albums (plus some new songs from Skull Ring), the Stooges kicked out jams like “No War,” “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (twice!) and “1969” like it was, well, 1969. Front man Iggy Pop just keeps getting better with age, and he obviously still enjoys mugging for the audience. He was in complete control that night. The only shortcoming of their set was the absence of “Search and Destroy.”
Rock fests are, by nature, hit and miss, so it was a pleasant surprise that the poorly organized All Tomorrow’s Parties panned out as well as it did. Minor complaints aside, it was a rousing weekend of rock ‘n’ roll.
– Dave Lewis
– Photo by Napolean vonKennel

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