FAN FAIR
Warp Films’s documentary about legendary British music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties will be screened for free on Saturday in the by:Larm Teltet at 1915.
Ten years ago an ambitious Englishman called Barry Hogan, who at the time was working in a London club called Dingwalls, was asked by friends in Belle & Sebastian if he could help them put together a special one off festival, curiously named the Bowlie Festival after bowl haircuts. They wanted it to take place in a British holiday camp, a form of seaside resort that offered accommodation, entertainment, food and drink and which had become popular as an out of season location for Northern Soul Weekenders, parties that celebrated the mod revival of 1960s soul music. The Bowlie Weekender event was a rousing success, and Hogan realised he had a formula on his hands. He kept it alive and called it All Tomorrow’s Parties.
Since then, Hogan has gone on to promote countless of these weekend bacchanalian events, their line-ups chosen by curators such as Sonic Youth, Vincent Gallo, Slint or Simpson’s creator Matt Groening. They offer a sense of camaraderie absent from most festivals, and despite having grown in size Hogan’s initial intent remains intact: musicians and audience live side by side, corporate sponsorship is rejected, and the indie purist dream remains alive.
All Tomorrow’s Parties: The Film documents the festival in typically democratic, almost DIY form. The fans are credited as directors – they provided most of the footage from mobile phones and cameras – with contributions from Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation) and Vincent Moon. The result is a unique and surprisingly high quality (given the source material) insight into what has made this event such a success. There’s also the chance to see rare footage of Grizzly Bear, Patti Smith, Portishead, Battles, Iggy Pop, Shellac, Grinderman and more. It’s the only thing that comes close to actually being there, and as the many fans who keep on returning will tell you, it’s a place you want to be…
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