If you’re struggling to accept the fact that the Melbourne leg of All Tomorrow’s Parties “I’ll Be Your Mirror” is over, fear not: just as the ringing in your ears has subsided, ATP co-founder Barry Hogan has revealed that they’re keen for “more things in Australia.”
Speaking to Billboard last week, the British promoter described pushing ATP and its sister event “I’ll Be Your Mirror” in the USA as “an uphill struggle.” First appearing in California in 2002, the American concerts have been curated by the likes of Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, and even The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening, and featured performances from Explosions In The Sky, The Shins, and Frank Ocean to name a few.
However, Hogan states that “the market is quite soft there (in America) at the moment. It doesn’t seem to be firing.” That means good news for Australia, as he also teased “there are so many other exciting places in the world to do things than in NYC. I’d rather look at South America and Europe, to be honest. Or more things in Australia.”
Exact details of a return are still unconfirmed, but 2014 is the current goal, as Hogan told The Music Network. “Maybe 2014. We’re looking around. We keep getting the question, why don’t you go back to Buller? I’ve actually discovered a number of other places. We’d like to do more stuff here.”
“Australians embrace the music scene, especially in Melbourne. They’re so positive about everything.” – Barry Hogan, ATPAdding that he likes the enthusiasm that Melbourne audiences bring: “Australians embrace the music scene, especially in Melbourne. They’re so positive about everything.”
The first Australian ATP event took place in Mt Buller in 2009, curated by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, yet wasn’t overly successful. According to Hogan, “we lost money. Quite a lot of money, actually. For various reasons. We learned a lot. Mount Buller is a very expensive place. It was a challenging spot to put on an event, as great as it was.”
With that in mind, a location for a future Australian ATP event hasn’t been decided either. Hogan has praised such local festivals as Meredith and Golden Plains, noting the effort that goes into choosing a lineup and the way they’ve built such a loyal fanbase. With the number of festivals calling it quits lately, he is determined not to drop his game. “The key thing for us is that if we keep putting on quality line-ups, and people want to keep coming, then it’ll work out.”
Game-dropping certainly wasn’t evident last weekend at Altona’s sports and leisure centre at Melbourne’s inaugural I’ll Be Your Mirror festival, the sister event to ATP that takes place in cities rather than holiday resorts, so that punters don’t have to camp.
Curated by ATP on Saturday and The Drones on Sunday, audiences were treated to shoegaze royalty My Bloody Valentine, a terrifically loud set from Swans, Thee Oh Sees, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and many more over two sweaty, sold-out days.
Described as “a surreal and truly enjoyable weekend” by our reviewer, there is little doubt that the return of ATP to Melbourne, or at least Australia, will be awaited with baited breath.
Check out the full review of ATP Melbourne I’ll Be Your Mirror 2013 here and our photo gallery here.
