ATP The Aftermath: Day I

Killer times. ATP ruled like I know it would. Heavy on the vodka, Belgian beer and Burger King. Oh..and the music was good man, it was goooood so let me do a quick round up for day one.

Seeing Nurse With Wound in the bingo hall like Centre Stage was ludicrously surrealistic. Started off with 'Dead Side of the Moon', David Tibet joining in complete serenity and three other guys (among them Colin Potter) doing awesome things with awesome things. There's no other way to describe it, actually, plastic bottle wizardry and subtle throat flanging might fit as well. Really good. The second bit was a bit flakey though, I know Stapleton likes to ride the absurdist train but the bass parts were downright funky, nothing really surrealistic about the whole thing and a tiny bit of a letdown.
Hive Mind next and expecting a thousand ton bees invading my ears. Got just a tiny swarm of normal sized ones. I loved the sound, it was almost warm and cuddly but I don't think Greh was aiming for warm and cuddly. He should've upped the volume man, oh the regrets. While people were running to see Melvins hit the centre stage I was forced by the gods to catch noise's love duet: Dead Machines. They don't hit the European shores that often while Melvins will be here in the year two million. Fucking brats. Dead Machines' Tovah Olson got the cute thing going as well, so that helps. And every noise fetishist gotsta love John Olson, if you don't like his songs, you might dig his comedy. Announcing every song as a fuckin' cover, man. Dedicating shit to Aaron Dilloway and the All Tomorrow's Players. Also props for having a Prick Decay cover, 'Urine Popsicle', made extra saucy with his lengthy explanation on how to make such a wonderful thing (includes urinating on hand and freezing it). And they made sure it covered you alright. Very thick and meaty slabs of underground scuzzdrones, noise for romantic assholes if you like. Just loud enough to make it bounce back and forth against your domes while Olson's upping of fist made him look like a damn shaman. Righteous.
Didn't plan on seeing Islaja but Deerhoof were playing the Red's stage and Iggy was causing queues as long as the Chinese wall across the whole fucking arcade tent centre of pleasure. And she did surprise me with a raucous set of pretty hard edged material for her doing. Nice enough. Bardo Pond did it for me on this first day though, my first hallelujah moment. I needed them to be awesome but being one of my favourite alltime bands I was somehow preparing myself for a letdown. Not necessary. At all. I was floating during the whole fucking thing, they did 'Every Man' and it hit me harder than when I first heard it. Isobel Sollenberger's completely gorgeous too, the finest mermaid ever to grace the filthy shores of underground porn. She and her flute made my legs melt while the twin guitar attack pulverized every clueless soul in the building. So beautifully exhausting that I just about managed to see the Dead C setting up and destroying expectations with one hour of psychedelic feedback. Too much for some, I kinda liked it though. It got under my skin and I stood glued to the bingo hall carpet while thinking I should really check out Prurient while at the same time thinking it couldn't be better than his show in Hasselt, last may. kept that thought. Later that night, more beer, vodka and frankfurters...

Too much man, day 2 tomorrow..