Gee muses

Nick Cave

It was dubbed the festival for people who hate festivals. It was much more. All Tomorrows Parties, curated by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, brought to Australia a laidback, devilishly cool, trippy day out in an almost perfect venue with extraordinarily good sound on all four stages and an exquisite line-up. Not a snotty little faux rapper, pop teen or kiddy punk in sight, this was really music for adults only - and it was celebrated with such flair and brilliance. There were no bad acts at All Tomorrows Parties, only good, gooder and goodest. The latter two words, of course, don’t exist but I’m saving the superlatives.

To the bands then: Young duo (augmented to a four-piece) Hunter Dienna opened proceedings. They need to relax. All earnest sombreness. It’s okay to smile guys. Their dark music is a little predictable but they are young and growing.

The Stabs are a knockout. The Melbourne garage fuzz quartet rocked hard and offered a keen sense of humour. Easy to see why Detroit likes them.

Sydney mostly girl quintet, Bridezilla, were a revelations. Still not out of their teens, this little lot are so obscenely talented it’s scary. They even got legendary actor Jack Thompson to play harp on one song. Their music is a beautiful cascade of equal parts folk, jazz, and edgy pop driven by a sax/violin frontline. They jam, they groove, the vocals are sublime. They are Kate Bush in the fifth dimension.

The five women who make up Melbourne’s Beaches are well into their 30s (I think) and their roots show. L7 meets The Dandy Warhols and Sonic Youth. Fun.

Joel Silbersher’s hard rocking Melbourne outfit, Hoss, delivered good old-fashioned Australian pub rock. And got an A+ for crowd banter.

Dead Meadow, the LA-based Washington trio, were one of the bands of the day. A stunning mix of 60s psychedelia and boogie and ’90s grunge. Awesome. Could have been San Francisco circa ‘68/’69. Ground control to …

Japanese pop eccentrics Afrirampo are The White Stripes on helium. High-pitched - and I mean high! - vocals. Thundering wild pop madness from two crazy girls.

Harmonia were a huge hit with the crowd. Legendary German Krautrockers Michael Rother (Neu!, Kraftwerk), Dieter Moebius (Cluster) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster) created polyrhythmic perfection as they revisited their classic work as Harmonia from 1974-76. And they were sooo German!

Ed Kuepper had a busy day. Part one was the first Sydney gig by the fabled Laughing Clowns in 24 years. It attracted the second biggest crowd of the day and was splendid. As Kuepper said it was like they’d never gone away. Jazzy, funky, rambunctious rock fusion.

Robert Forster. The man. Even without Grant his songs, his prescence, his stature, his dry sense of humour are sublime.

Getting close enough to see the legendary avant jazz guitarist now bluesman James Blood Ulmer was nearly impossible. No wonder. His solo set of urban folk blues was sensational.

Ladies and gentlemen we were truly floating in space with the incredible Spiritualized. Space rock of the highest order. J Spacemen and friends lived up to their reputation. Second best band of the day.

The reformed Saints with originals Chris Bailey, Kuepper, Ivor Hay and long-term bassist, Archie Larizza, were reason alone to be at ATP. When they did I’m Stranded - arguably the best Australian song ever - the crowd went bananas and I couldn’t speak … Know Your Product, No Time, The Prisoner, Chameleon, an emphasis on the Prehistoric Sounds album. Just great - although the sound could have been louder.

Finally then to the headliners Cave and his Seeds. Some superlatives: peerless, blindingly brilliant, the band of the day. And so heavy! Even The Weeping Song was turned on its ear and pulverised. Mercy Seat was a monster, Red Right Hand, Dig Lazarus Dig, a twisted Tupelo. Nick was on fire and the band was the best I’ve heard them in ages. Just jaw-droppingly superb.

How cool was ATP then? Well put it this way. Between acts on the main stage the PA played Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Can’t wait for next year.