It costs $10 for a bottle of water at Coachella, while in Leeds you have to pay to find out what time the bands are on. No wonder people love a festival where you can play poker with the artists
Indie professor, will you please explain the appeal of this May's ATP ? I'd love to know your take on that festival.
HurricaneEdward
Destination music festivals with their interchangeable lineups have left space in the market for boutique events. Many festivalgoers are becoming increasingly annoyed with overcrowding, corporate sponsorship, high-priced merchandise, perceived organiser indifference, and vendors attempting to squeeze every pound, euro or dollar from them. At Leeds, you have to buy a copy of the lineup to find out what times bands are playing. And for those who feel depressed about not going to Coachella, imagine how it feels paying $10 for a bottle of water. You probably won't feel so bad.
All Tomorrow's Parties has been able to present itself as a brand that doesn't feel like a brand. It has done so by adhering to stringent values of independence. It is a point of pride that the festival doesn't have sponsors nor does it try to maximise profits at the expense of the fan. ATP is a deliberately small festival. For example, at their site at Butlins in Minehead, the venue capacity is 10,000, but they sell only 5,000 tickets. Upon arrival you get a booklet with set times and the information about special events such movies or a pub quiz.
One of the festival's specifications is that the price is all-inclusive. Everyone who comes to the festival stays onsite, including artists. This egalitarian approach produces a communal atmosphere where artists and audience members are treated equally: no VIP area, no tiered ticketing. The housing is the same for everyone. Artists can be seen walking around, watching other bands play, even partying with festivalgoers. The ability to meet some of your favourite artists is particularly valued: playing poker with Steve Albini, trying to win on the quiz machine with John Cummings of Mogwai, or having Kelley Deal teach you how to knit, sets ATP apart from festivals where the closest you get to an artist is having water hurled at you from a stage protected by barricades and security guards.
This intimacy extends to the promoters themselves. Unlike most festivals, the promoters are not faceless. Barry, Deborah and other members of the small ATP crew personally respond to emails. They sign their names, give contact information and tell fans to come to them if there are any concerns. ATP fans feel like they have full access to promoters, artists and other festival attendees. The experience is the antithesis of being a faceless consumer feeling exploited or disrespected.
ATP has been successful in making each festival seem special. This is quite a feat when you consider that there are at least four ATPs each year in the UK. ATP chooses kitschy locations that are evocative of the past and childhood, tapping into the nostalgia that is redolent within the indie community. Each festival has its own special twist. Festivals are guest curated, generally by a highly regarded ATP band, like this year's Animal Collective, but curators have also included cartoonists, film-makers and music producers. The festival has instigated bands to re-form and play classic albums in their entirety. This idea has spawned a trend of re-formed bands touring cult albums.
In some ways, ATP itself is a curator. By consistently choosing some of the most avant garde and artistically minded artists, fans have a general idea of what an ATP band will be like. They trust the promoters to put together something they will appreciate. This makes ATP a throwback to the era of independent record labels such as 4AD, Creation or Factory, where people would buy records without ever hearing the band just because of the label. Fans feel ATP is a seal of approval for a specific style of music.
ATP has used the values of the independent community: anti-corporation, artistic integrity, intimacy, and equality for their commercial enterprise. The boutique festival makes participants feel like they are part of a small, egalitarian community, having a distinctive experience. All Tomorrow's Parties has created a successful alternative to the mainstream destination festival.
If you have a query for the indie professor about the music industry, indie or anthropology please leave a comment below, email her at theindieprofessor@gmail.com or inquire via Twitter @indiegodess
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/apr/27/indie-professor-all-tomorrows-parties
No comments:
Post a Comment