In as few sentences as possible, in order of appearance, no DJ's included, with five star rating system.
Yuka Honda: Good keyboardist, weak vocalist, and mild show, w/ Lennon Jr. switching around on instruments. (I'll still follow her recordings though). **
John Spencer Blues Explosion: a burning hott hybrid of Otis Redding, the Yard Birds and Sex Pistols, but mo' tight & dirty. *****
Thread Pulls: Hard-Emo Snoozers. I might've been impressed had I not heard the same sound done ten-times better in California last weak at the Oslo show. **
Lydia Lunch: This punk beat poet was running on empty. **
Afrirampo: Take hard and multiply it by weird, then add the squreroot of cute. These two japanese hotties put all the other kooky-girl-noise bands to shame. *****
Peaches: Personally, not a big fan - but her show is raunchy, rude, and undeniable fun. Everyone else's favorite performance. *****
Women and Children: was literally putting me to sleep. *
Buck 65: Brits say "brilliant!", yanks say "i miss g-love". Not enthralled by the sensitive, down-temo KidRock. **
Money Mark/Kid Koala: I had huge expectations, but without his band there was no comparison to the sound on his live album. Sadly, Kid Koala wasn't given the chance to save the day with more of his own numbers. **
John Foxx: This synthpop veteran really had his act together. ****
PJ Harvey: her vocals and guitar sounded great, but I think you need to be familiar with her songs more to fully appreciate the stripped down solo versions. ***
Vincent Gallo/Sean Lennon: I want everyone to know that I (and the rest of the audience) were giving this person every chance in the world to turn us around. We waited patiently in that hot and crowded room, while he became the first act of the weekend to come on much later than scheduled. After an eternity of tuning and checking Sean did one solo song, and it was nice enough. Then VG took more time tuning, etc. Later they started to kind of play something (noodle, noodle) interspersed by VG requesting they turn up his mic or bass, which was ridiculous considering he wasn't doing a thing with them. Noodlenoodle. Noodelnoodle. About half the crowd and myself left after 10 minutes. That little troll had some balls to treat an audience that way, while standing on the same stage as artists.
Suicide: If you just try to imagine it was 1978 and these guys are blowing your whole mind, then it was really strange and enjoyable. But try not to snap out of it and realize you're watching a couple of artifacts doing the same retarded routine for thirty years. ****
The Tints: These kids have a lot going for them. Their music isn't one of them. Much like a good high school band, which they are (sans virtuosity). **
Ted Curson: Easy like a Sunday morning. A brief window into the under represented world of musicianship. *****
Jayne County: She's holding up wonderfully. Awesome encore cover of California Uber-allies, w/ new lyrics dedicated to Arnold. ****
Gang Gang Dance: Suck Suck Bore. What's the motherfucking hype? *
Magic Markers: Only saw a couple "songs". No opinion. 2 ghost stars.
James Chance and The Contortions: Owned it, fucked it, and killed it. *****
Prefuse 73: Some of the best translation from studio to stage I've heard in the electronic genre. Some very exciting moments, but it did get repetetive. ****
The Zombies: I walked in just before "She's Not There" plus two encores. Perfect harmonies, keys, and backing. One of the best rock&roll performances in history. *****
Yoko Ono: Gallo, Honda, and Lennon backed while Ono squaked, hollered, and cackaled along for a bit. Frusciante and Afrirampo came out at the end to jam. She gave out little flashlight keychains as party favors so that all the people can share her message of love, in the (blinkblink) language of ONOCHORD, a primitive morse code. Can you feel the love? *
Sorry to have missed: Nikoli Haas, I am Kloot, Merzbow, Vitamin B12, Autolux, Olivia Tremor Control, John Frusciante, and Leslie Winer.
The Winner is: Afrirampo by a mile.
Additional Notes: An ongoing theme seemed to be women freaking-the-fuck out. (afrirampo, peaches, lunch, ono). The DJs get four stars for not playing house music all weekend. Making all the shows was a serious hussle, and took real endurence. The video programming on the cable channels in the rooms were underutilized (by the curator and the attendees). Suprised to see no other visual arts at all (besides the Brown "%^&*$ Bunny). The overall vibe with people was great. Nearly everyone we met were super-friendly and completely silly. We made a bunch of friends instantly. The "chalets" were more like dorm rooms, but the area of Camber Sands and Rye is lovely and the weather was perfect for the first couple days. Lots of people were taking pills throughout the weekend, but zero weed was to be found, and hash won't do for this cali-kid (Yes:it makes certain shows much more enjoyable, especially here). I did appreciate the insane partying going on twentyfourseven. These limeys are off the other end of the handle! But someone really should have warned me that the girls have no ass here. I wasn't prepared for that.
The wole experience: ***** (I'll be back!)
Shouts to: H, Amy, Debi, Jill, Ericka, Lotti, Anna, Hiacynth, Sarah, Garreth, Greg, Adam, Pheobe, Kemrexx and Jeff.
― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 11:21 (twenty years ago)
and hash won't do for this cali-kiddude, it's the arse-end of the south of england! what do you expect? :)
as a veteran of four ... five? i forget ... ATPs (though not this one: i went to the slint one instead), i can honestly say that crappy hash is as integral a part as hot-dogs, 99p burgers, broken electricity meters and a freezing cold walk along the beach.
glad you enjoyed it, though. it is an experience unlike any other.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 11:36 (twenty years ago)