The Jesus Lizard reform(!) for May ATPs curated by Breeders, The Fans & All Tomorrow’s Parties ‘emselves
By: Thomas Hannan
[THE JESUS LIZARD]
As if the fact that we're off to The Nightmare Before Christmas edition of All Tomorrow's Parties next weekend (curated by The Melvins and Mike Patton, and featuring everything from the Butthole Surfers and Squarepusher to Stockhausen) wasn't exciting enough, ATP have more than whetted appetites for the upcoming May instalments of what we still think are the finest festivals in the world by unleashing these already killer early line ups.
The first event will take place, as they seem to all do now, at the Butlins Holiday Resort in Minehead from the 8th to the 10th of May 2009. Entitled The Fans Strike Back, it's a repeat of the ATP Versus The Fans event of last year in which the festival themselves picked half the line up and left the rest up to you, the audience. It resulted in one of the finest running orders in ATP's history, and is already shaping up a treat once again. Pioneering new wave post punk lot Devo, Spiritualized, Sleep performing Holy Mountain in its entirety, Antipop Consortium, Grails, Sleepy Sun, Young Marble Giants giving us every last note of Colossal Youth, and The Cave Singers are all there, yeah. Oh, and a band called The f**king Jesus Lizard (OK, so we added the f**king), who will play their first gigs in ten years with the original line up of David Yow, Duane Denison, David W. Sims and Mac McNeilly before re-releasing all of their albums re-mastered by Bob Weston and Steve Albini and playing a brief tour culminating in their hometown of Chicago later in the year. Why should we care? For precisely THIS reason. Get yourself a ticket and you could vote for your own favourite bands to be added to the line up - may we suggest someone gets Pavement and the Dismemberment Plan to reform next, please?
As for those Albini and Weston characters, their band Shellac - contractually obliged to play every ATP event ever and, if you ask some members of the Rockfeedback staff, themselves the very pinnacle of music - have been roped in by curators and friends The Breeders to be the 'house band' at their event, which occurs the following weekend (15-17/5/08). Whether this whole 'house band' business means Weston, Albini and drummer Todd Trainer will be playing a billion sets throughout the course of the festival or providing backing to a series of guest vocalists remains yet to be seen, but we're bloody excited at either prospect. Equally thrilling is the rest of the line up - Gang of Four, Throwing Muses, Bon Iver, Teenage Fanclub, Holy F**k, Kimya Dawson, Pit Er Pat and Deerhunter are the other as-yet-announced names on what was always going to be a big 4AD love in of a roster, and is all the better for it.
Tickets, which include plush chalet accommodation (think about it - a shower! Your beer in a fridge! Sleeping in AN ACTUAL BED!) are on sale NOW from www.seetickets.com, www.stargreen.com, www.wegottickets.com, www.gigantic.com and www.lastminute.com. Room Only accommodation is available in 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 berths and offers either double, single or bunk beds with private bathroom and TV, but no kitchen facilities or lounge, more like a hotel room. (£150 + booking fee per ticket). Self Catering accommodation is available in 4, 6 and 7 berths and offers private bathroom, full kitchen facilities and separate lounge area with TV. (£160 + booking fee per ticket)