I never quite got why "All Tomorrow's Parties" named itself after a Velvet Underground song and never much cared because it was never in nyc. The high cult, heavy duty, famous curated fest began its life in the UK and has been exported everywhere but the closet it got to us was Asbury Park last year when the bloke from Portishead was the programmer.
But the band added a gig at the Hammerstein and I passed.
this September it will be at Pier 36 and here is the line up: the Afghan Whigs (whose singer, Greg Dulli, is the programmer); Philip Glass with Tyondai Braxton; the Roots; Lightning Bolt; the Make-Up; Godspeed You! Black Emperor; the Dirty Three; the Antlers; Chavez; and many others.
Dulli is certainly getting enough out of his second coming and more power to him, but I personally don't see anything here that would get me to a festival. Even Phillip Glass: who wants to see him play intricate symphonies from 50 million miles away?
If those are the big names how many tix do they think they're gonna sell? Sell out Bowery Ballroom for three days? Sure. Sell out Pier 36? How??? Organizer Barry Hogan had this to say to the New York times: "The events are great but we never get quite the amount of ticket sales we need to make it cost-effective. The climate is tough.”
Really? It is the climate??? The truth of the matter is, he who lives by the Godspeed You! will die by the Godspeed You! I consider my tastes a bit out there but why the hell would I spend $200 for a buncha ABC No Rio rejects. At least last year they had a killer calling card with Portishead, who hadn't played locally in a decade.