Happy Friday, everyone! If ever you’ve needed an excuse to reach for another office donut, throw back that extra “I really shouldn’t” whiskey ginger, or just bust out the black-feathered horses and carriage for a good old-fashioned Cockney funeral, well, boy have I got one for you today! The venerable festival gods at ATP have announced that their winter holiday camp series of festival events will be ringing in their last solstice this year. According to The Quietus, the reasoning behind the decision to stop putting on winter events is to “allow ATP to focus on their growing schedule of city and international based events in 2014 and beyond.”
So goodbye, Butlin’s Minehead weekends of inarticulable bliss. Goodbye nights of unknown pleasures and days of horrible, wretched, vile hangovers at Pontin’s Camber Sands. Since 2000, ATP has hosted the likes of Patti Smith, Matt Groening, Nick Cave, and Iggy Pop whilst they curated/performed at assorted holiday camp festivals by the sea. And now, the last ride on the carousel of good music and bad decisions comes around.
Appropriately/sadly titled End of an Era Parts 1 and 2, the final Camber Sands festivals will take place on November 22-24 and November 29-December 1, respectively. The first weekend, put on in conjunction with Barcelona’s incredible Primavera Sound fest, will be headlined by Television, performing Marquee Moon in its entirety. The legendary New Yorkers will be joined by Thurston Moore’s new project Chelsea Light Moving, Dinosaur Jr, Mike Watt, Dinos Chapman, Les Savy Fav, múm, Oneohtrix Point Never, Hebronix, Forest Swords, The Haxan Cloak, Demdike Stare, Wolf Eyes, BEAK>, Eraa, and more TBA. The following weekend sees neglected English drone rockers Loop reforming for a special weekend with friends The Pop Group, 23 Skidoo, Dirty Beaches, Fennesz, Edan (DJ set), The KVB, Eaux, Hookworms, and Thought Forms. So, tonight, sweet ATP holiday camp festivals, we pour one out for you. RIP, fair festival. And please “grow” your “schedule of city and international based events” to Los Angeles.
• ATP: http://www.atpfestival.com