All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival – April 23rd, 2005

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Photo by Roberta Accetulli
Photo by Roberta Accetulli

Date: Saturday, April 23rd 2005
Venue: Camber Sands Holiday Park, Rye, UK
Attendees: Unknown
Audio/Video: YES | YES
Photo Albums:
Screencaps

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  1. Time Runs Out
  2. Beat Down
  3. Carvel
  4. Been Insane
  5. The First Season
  6. The Days Have Turned
  7. I’m Around
  8. Low Birds
  9. We Are Going Wrong (Cream Cover)
  10. Control
  11. Fallout
  12. Untitled #11
  13. Dying Song
  14. So Would’ve I
  15. How High
  16. Untitled #3
  17. Havana Affair (The Ramones Cover)
  18. World’s Edge
  19. Leave All the Days Behind
  20. Representing
  21. Song to Sing When I’m Lonely
  22. Time Tonight
  23. The Will to Death

* Formerly also known as “Lou Bergs”, “Purity” and “Penetrate Time’, but definitely called “Low Birds” according to a photo of John’s original setlist for the evening

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The Event In Brief

All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival 2005
Curator: Vincent Gallo
Website: here
Performers: John Frusciante, Vincent Gallo & Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono, The Tints, Autolux, Women and Children and many more.

http://atpfestival.com/memories/wp-content/uploads/2005/04/2005-Vincent-Gallo-Programme.jpg

Related news items

how it all begun
the confirmation
date speculation
first update
second update
third update
an interesting rumour

Overview

Sometime in December 2004, it was announced that John’s good friend, Vincent Gallo, is going to be the curator of the 2005 All Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP) festival, held at the holiday resort Camber Sands in UK. Naturally, many fans figured out that John is probably going to be one of the performers and they were not wrong. In February 2005, John’s appearance at the ATP was confirmed.

John performed on Saturday, 23rd April 2005, at 20:30 h on the smaller stage, in a warm and emotional atmosphere of about 2000 people. The crowd was singing along to his songs and they also sang backing vocals for “Carvel”. Those who were there surely treasure such a beautiful moment in time and those who were not there probably hit their heads against the wall for not having witnessed such a special event.

On the final evening of the festival, Sunday, 24th April 2005, John joined Sean Lennon, Vincent Gallo and Yoko Ono on the main stage for a jam.

According to the reports, John was very approachable, friendly and sweet to his fans throughout the event:) Many devotees had a chance to meet him and exchange a few words with him, as well as with Sean Lennon who was hanging out with him during the most of the weekend.

Photos of the event on this site:

by Isabel
by Alex Van Hamlin
by Michelle
by Kim Holloway
by Hurley

A review of the 2005 ATP festival by Michelle

Well I just got back from ATP….a day early, but I kind of ran out of stamina this afternoon after watching The Tints. What an amazing weekend!

So John performed last night (Saturday) and it was amazing, the best live show I have ever seen and one of the most special hours of my life

He was due to come on stage at 8.30 and perform for an hour on the ‘downstairs’ stage. There were two venues – the larger upstairs one with a big stage and loads of space in the room, and the more intimate (and pretty tiny) room downstairs which was used for most of the acoustic acts. I guess John chose the smaller venue because of its cosy and intimate feel, and there was less pressure on him with a smaller crowd. On before him was Vincent Gallo and Sean Lennon and at that time the room was packed. They went down well but the crowd were really hot and squashed, and they were running late because of problems with set up. So John actually came on nearly an hour late by which time the room was about half empty because his set now clashed with PJ Harvey performing upstairs. I think this worked out really well for John because it meant he played to a really appreciative crowd consisting of his fans and people who were generally really interested to find out what he was about

He got a great reception as he walked on stage and took his seat to play Time Runs Out – I think that was his first song but I’m rubbish at remembering songs played and in which order. At the end of the song he got up again as his setlist had not been brought on stage for him but he seemed really chilled and was in high spirits. He seemed generally moved by the crowd’s reaction and after the first two or three songs, he told how he hadn’t gone out and performed all these songs when he made the records and he would never do that again as the songs mean so much more once they’ve been performed. He said he was ‘connecting the songs’ with us and that we were ‘the other half of the songs’

I don’t remember all of the songs he played or in which order, but he definitely played:

Carvel – great reaction from the crowd
Time Tonight – absolutely beautiful
Song To Sing When I’m Lonely
I’m Around
Control
Usually Just A T Shirt – great reaction
The Will To Death – one of the last songs he played, and the highlight for me. Just so beautiful, really emotional
Fallout
He played another one from Niandra but I can’t remember which

He also did a cream cover (I’m sure someone else will confirm which one) and said he wanted to watch a Cream show over here in a couple of weeks but as they’re recording the new RHCP album now, he could only come over for these shows. He said we should go see Cream or buy one of their old records

He also peformed a song from the Brown Bunny soundtrack, saying it was a great movie. The song was beautiful – I have to get that soundtrack!

He did Havana Affair as someone had requested a Ramones track – John gave us a choice of two for him to perform

A couple of other things he said / did:

When he was setting up his echo machine and practicing with ‘uh uh uh’, some of the audience were giggling so John said ‘don’t make fun’ but not in an annoyed way

Towards the beginning of the set his microphone squeaked (the technical people / equipment were not the best during most of the festival) and I thought John – being such a professional – would be annoyed, but he just laughed

He seemed to be enjoying himself so much and I think did a slightly longer set than he had planned so at one point he asked ‘you guys have anywhere else you need to be?’- so considerate

Towards the end he said something like ‘I would do requests but I only rehearsed the songs on the setlist and remembering my other songs is questionable.’ He said he had been rehearsing the new Chili Peppers songs right up until he left LA so he could only remember those

He looked so happy and healthy – for those who want to know, his hair was neck length and he seems to have ended up with shorter bangs at the front. It really suited him, and he looked lovely. He was so at ease with the performance, the songs and the crowd and it was pretty much note perfect

It made me feel so emotional to see him looking so completely happy with his place in the world and he just seems to constantly improve as a musician. Hearing some of the songs from the Record Collection albums live last night was amazing. Imo in some cases the performances were better than the CDs. The only live solo video performance of John I have is a bootleg of a show at the Roxy in 2001 which I bought from the fanclub. It’s great, but compared with how he was last night I feel he has just improved by about 100%, musically and in confidence

I can’t wait for some of the others to come back and confirm set lists and post photos (the ones I took are really crap and blurred.) There’s probably loads of other stuff to tell as the show went by in a blur so I’ll let the others fill in the gaps.

Reading through some of the ATP threads and listening to the audio from the fansites, I was thinking about John’s show and how it compared to my expectations before I went:

I was expecting an intimate acoustic performance but…
I wasn’t expecting John to play on the downstairs smaller stage
I wasn’t expecting such a small crowd (but I think this was mostly due to the show running late and therefore clashing with PJ Harvey)
I wasn’t expecting people to start arriving for the show at 1.30 – I guess I had under-estimated the commitment of the Fru fans when I got to the venue at 5.30 and there were already plenty of you lined up in front of the barrier
I was expecting the set list to be based more around the later releases especially Curtains (but I’m not complaining)
I wasn’t expecting John to appear nervous at the start of the performance
I knew he’d get a great reaction from the crowd but wasn’t expecting him to be so completely overwhelmed and emotional because of this. Not to say I didn’t think he’d be happy about getting a good reaction, but I’ve never seen an artist be so blown away by the audience’s reaction
I wasn’t expecting the guy standing next to me to tap me on the shoulder and say ‘Is this John Frusciante?’
I wasn’t expecting to get so close to John – I thought I’d end up at the back of the venue (which in my head was much larger) and I’d be peering over everyone’s heads. I think it was the shock of him being so close in front of me that made my eyes fill with tears as soon as he came on stage
I was expecting some John Frusciante merchandise to be available.

I had high expectations of John’s set, but the atmosphere and performance were so much better than I could have anticipated. I’m still wearing my wristband and every time I look at my wrist it takes me back to the show and I can just see John singing his heart out.

P.S. Also check out the photos Michelle took at the festival here

A review of the 2005 ATP festival by Alex Van Hamlin

Right, well I thought I might aswell say a few words about my experience seeing John at this years ATP Festival.

After the late, disappointing, but strangely packed event that was the Vincent Gallo/Sean Lennon set, a lot of people started to leave the fairly small and intimate room, in which John was about to appear. Bar the semi circle of hardcore fanatics pressed up against the barriers, there weren’t massive amounts of people cramming to see our favourite guitar legend. But isn’t that just what we wanted?

Right from the off, John received an exceptionally warm welcome from all of us, which helped him blast into the set with such emotion, I could feel hearts jumping. He obviously felt the same and mentioned how great it felt to play his new songs live, and how he has decided to tour with greater regularity in the future. In terms of his playing, it was near perfect, even if his hands were obviously shaking from the unexpected warm welcome each of the songs got. He really does feed off the crowd! The sound was great 99% of the time, allowing his acoustic guitar sounded crisp and fresh throughout the whole show.

During the show, John even decided to share a nugget of knowledge with us.
“Did you know, the water in your tears comes from your heart”. A perfect intro to yet another emotion packed song.

The set consisted of favourites from all of the albums.

It just got better and better, nobody wanted it to end. He was happy playing, and we were more than happy to listen. “Are you sure you guys haven’t got anywhere you need to be?” he said at one point. Nope 🙂

– Alex Van Hamlin.

P.S. Also check the photos Alex took on this page

A review of the 2005 ATP festival by Isabel

The main reason or first reason I should say, for me to go to the ATP festival was to see John. When I heard about the possibility of him playing (which I did in December) I directly secured a ticket in a chalet of eight people. At first I was sure I wouldn’t end up buying it, I kept telling myself it was nothing but a dream and that I, Isabel, would never dear to do such a thing. Flying by myself, meeting people I’d never met and going to a festival. After four days of consideration I finally decided to go. I figured that the only reason I wouldn’t go was ‘FEAR’, fear was the only thing keeping me. I then decided that ‘FEAR’ itself never should stop you from doing anything, especially not if it’s something you really want to do.

Ok, cutting through the facts I was suppose to write about John’s concert’ Not everything else.

John was due to play downstairs at 8.30pm. One of my chalet budies got a spot by the barrier at 1pm and stayed there ever after. I only went to get a good spot some minutes before Money Mark and kid Koala played. To be honest I can’t really remember if I got there earlier, but I don’t think I did.
Money Mark and Kid Koala were really good. I really enjoyed their music.

After their performance it was time for Vincent Gallo and Sean Lennon to play their ensemble. However, the set up took quite some time and they didn’t start playing until 8,45pm. I guess Vincent was the person taking up most of the “set up” time’so Sean asked if he should play a song while we were waiting for him to sound check his guitars. Sean did so, and sang a really beautiful song, HOWEVER, he didn’t fully get to finish. When Sean were about to take the second last chord Gallo cut him off by putting his synthesizer on, which I think was very rude. Vincent was not what I would call the best musician, he was ok I guess, but overall the performance was a disappointment and I could not stop thinking about John being the one playing after them. However, I must say that Sean Lennon was brilliant. What a musician he is! I’m not even gonna try to describe his performance and what a fantastic soul he has.

Anyways’ Sean and Vincent’s show was over and they started to clear the stage. While doing so Dave Lee (John’s guitar manager) came onstage and started to fix with John’s things. He put a chair, right in front of me, and a table where he put a towel, bottle of water and one of these sound altering thingys.

Before John came onstage we were told that he didn’t want any pictures to be taken during his gig which I respected, but felt a bit bitter about ’cause I’ve always wanted to have ‘personal’ pictures of John from a gig that I saw myself. I mean, I can watch pics on the net with John on, from his gigs, but I’m not emotionally attached to them. I can’t think “I was there”. Also, I basically stood in the first row. Nina and Yvonne stood in front of me but left me with a total view. I saw every little inch of John all the time. Amazing.

John came onstage and sat himself down and started to play. I was amazed.
When he started to play the first song I could hardly believe it. I love that song.
I thought I would cry, out of amazement, out of joy.

I just stood there and looked at him. (Apart from the time his playing was too amazing and I just had to either close my eyes or watch his fingers steadily)
I was amazed by how different he looks in real life. I mean, yes, it’s John, he looks like he does in pictures. But still. Not. His face tends to look much rounder in pictures than in real life. I was also amazed by how small he is. I expected him to be so much taller and ‘larger’. Don’t ask me why. But he didn’t seem to be much taller than me. He is kind of boyish but VERY proportional. He looks very good indeed.

He looked very happy and you could tell he wasn’t prepared for such an encounter by the fans. I honestly think we were one of the better crowds he’s ever performed for. It was such a laugh. The crowd sang along with him in the songs and he was blown away by that. Especially in ‘Carvel’, when the crowd sang the harmonies. When he entered the third verse the crowd sang “come back, come back, come back, come back” and he was so taken aback that he smiled and laughed and nearly stopped singing. John then continued playing with the people in the crowd by changing the vocals and tunes. He tricked us at various times and smiled and looked very happy with himself when he succeeded.

When he later started to do something with that ‘voice altering’ thingy, which would cause an eight second reverb to his singing, he told us to wait 8 seconds and when his voice then bounced back at us there were people copying the “uuuh” and “aaaah” ‘s. He then said “Don’t make fun” in a very funnyish way. He clearly was amused by it.

After every song he sang I was blown away. He had basically decided to play every song that I love, The songs I would hand pick on an own “favorite John songs” cd. The only song I probably wouldn’t have picked would be “The Days Have Turned” but that’s it. I can’t believe he sang “Been Insane” “Low Birds” and “Dying Song”. They, along with a few others, are my absolute favorites of John’s. I truly love them.

When he sang “Time Tonight” he quickly said, “Except for this one little lady”, in a very dark and comic way, before singing “why, is there no one in my life?”

John didn’t speak too much during the songs, but the few things he said were all very true and very nice. They all came from his heart. He must have spotted some of the people who were crying and he then said that “you know all the tears you’re crying, they are originally water/tears from your heart”. (I don’t remember it in the exact way he said it, but it was something similar to that)

He seemed to be a bit stressed while playing, he basically ran off stage as soon as he finished his last song. He did so ’cause, as he said “Sorry, But I have to see PJ”.

Seeing John’s gig meant a lot to me. It was hard to understand that a person who I look up to as much as I do, sat two arm lengths away from me, smiling and playing/singing for me and all others in there. I am blessed to have seen him play live.

I wish all fans of Johns will get to be at an event like the ATP festival while John is there. Being there and seeing John walking around as a “free” person, like any one of us was a great feeling. Kind of a relief to see that people left him alone at most of the time and also to see how relaxed, happy and down to earth he was.

P.S. Some of Isabel’s beautiful photos from the backstage of the ATP festival can be found here

A review of the 2005 ATP festival by Kim Holloway

FRIDAY: THE ARRIVAL

I’m going to write this about the weekend in general, not specifically John’s appearances. Mainly because other people have already documented the set list and things that happened on stage.

Friday morning started out beautifully – the sun was shining and the traffic Gods looked upon me favourably. I made it to Camber Sands by 1115. I had anticipated arriving around noon. I joined the check-in queue and was the only person standing around on their own. Most people arrived in groups so I felt a little odd standing there all by myself. But I wasn’t alone for long, others started arriving early afternoon. The organisers had put together beautiful programs and guides for everyone attending – and it contained the all important schedule of events, including confirmation of a Saturday night performance by John, immediately after Vincent Gallo. This was great for me because these were the two I came to see and it would have been awful if they clashed.

Friday afternoon was spent familiarising myself with the layout of everything – particularly the room where John was going to be playing. I also discovered that we were pretty much cut off from the entire world: no internet access and virtually no mobile phone reception. If I balanced my phone on the window sill, above the kitchen sink in the chalet then I could just about get a reception. If I moved it to type a message then I lost reception. It was quite nice to be cut off from the world in our own little Frusciante-land. My 4th D t-shirt was hanging proudly in the window of our chalet for all passers-by to see, along with a Gallo t-shirt.

As the day progressed I bumped into more and more Frusciante fans – many that I only knew by their online name. It’s quite weird to introduce yourself with a real and online name. I’m bad enough with names as it is without having to learn two names for every person. As soon as I arrived at Camber Sands and had a look around I really got a feel for the venue and the festival in general. I think the concept is fantastic and I loved the way you can just wander in and out of the rooms, deciding who you want to see. I will seriously consider returning to ATP – John or no John.

I didn’t see many bands on Friday night – I had friends arriving and I had to meet up with them because they couldn’t get in the gates without the tickets but you can’t check in on Friday unless you have all the tickets with you. Bit of a silly setup, but I guess they have to control things as best they can.

It was quite funny in the chalets at night – if you left the door open for any length of time complete strangers would invite themselves in for a chat. At one point this bloke walks in, plonks himself on the sofa bed and starts watching TV. All very funny really. Earlier in the day two of us were treated to a tour of some Scottish blokes chalet – he was quite impressed because it was about as close to the pub as you can get.

The chalets were cold as hell on Friday night. They hadn’t been used all during winter and there was this musty mouldy smell about them. Although we had the heater going it seemed to take ages to warm up properly. Having consumed a few glasses of wine, I spent the early hours of the morning chatting with friends in the chalet. It’s so great to be able to talk about John non-stop to people who actually understand what you are talking about.

SATURDAY:

Saturday arrived with much anticipation and I wandered over to the venue around 1pm to just have a look around. I had originally planned to go stake out a spot for John’s show around 4ish, but by the time I got there a small group had already appeared. I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to be front row for the show so by about 1.30 I had made the decision to go sit in front of the barrier. I was just off centre, slightly to John’s RHCP side (if you get my meaning). Only 7 and a half hours to wait for John! I was keenly waiting for Vincent Gallo’s show too which was scheduled around 7.30pm. Because I changed my plan I had no food and drink with me but a couple of friends (who weren’t there to see John) went and bought some supplies in for me. I was there for the long haul.

A few more people arrived and decided to get a spot, one of whom was wearing a 4th D t-shirt. The music was due to start around 3.15pm but unluckily for us it started early. I say unlucky because instead of the scheduled 45 minutes of pure ear shattering crap, we got 2 hours of it. The first band was a 12 piece experimental band who used all sorts of gadgets and toys to ruin the sound their instruments should be playing. They did one song and it went on for 2 full hours. I thought it would never stop. The songs would start to slow and we’d get excited about them finishing, then they’d pick up the pace and carry on. It was a huge relief when they started to pack up. I cheered politely when they finished – they had slaved away for 2 hours and they obviously enjoy what there were doing. Unfortunately I didn’t.

Just before Woman & Children came on Vincent Gallo came and sat in the very small photographers pit, just to the left of me. He was very chatty and he has the most beautiful piercing eyes. I managed to ask him who else would be onstage with him and Sean and he told us that it would be Yuka Honda. Vincent was also very surprised that all his t-shirts had sold out. He only made 25 and they must have sold in a flash. Unfortunately my position on the barrier meant I couldn’t go and buy one so I had missed out. I asked Vince if he could whip up a few more overnight but I think he had other plans 🙂 That would be the only time I spoke to Vincent all weekend – I’m a huge fan but I don’t find it easy to just approach someone and start talking. He was very approachable all weekend though.

SATURDAY: THE BANDS

Here are the bands we heard downstairs on Saturday:

Vitamin B-12: a 12 piece band playing experimental type music. Each person seemed to be doing their own thing although there was probably a theme there somewhere. They used brushes, spanners, toy instruments, toys etc to distort the sounds. The keyboard player looked a lot like Geoffrey Rush and he was certainly enjoying himself – he was very animated. The one directly in front of me had a bag full of kids toys and kept using them the produce various sounds – most of which I couldn’t seem to hear. They were due to do a 45 minute set but came on early and played for 2 hours. It was a tough two hours – it really wasn’t my sort of music. But hey, they seemed to be enjoying themselves and we all applauded their efforts at the end.

Women & Children: I really liked this band. They are a 4 piece – three guys and a female singer. Piano features heavily in their music and it was haunting and beautiful and it really appealed to me. I have just this minute ordered their first CD – and they have another one due out soon. These guys were a real find for me.

Money Mark and Kid Koala: Another surprisingly good act. Kid Koala spins vinyls on 3 or 4 turntables and opened with a great version of Moon River after someone requested the song by scratching the words “Moon River” into a banana. Seriously! Money Mark was also great, singing a beautiful song about his son called Black Butterfly. Once again, acts I’ve never heard of who really impressed me.

Vincent Gallo/Sean Lennon: I’m a huge Gallo fan and saw him perform songs from his “When” album at Royal Festival Hall last year in London. That show was amazing, the acoustics in that venue really did justice to the music. I don’t think Pontins Holiday Centre really is the right place of some of Gallo’s more mellow pieces. It was horrible to hear people chatting in the quiet spots of his songs. The up tempo songs were great though – when they got the guitars going it was fantastic. I just don’t think a venue with a bar is the best place for some of Gallo’s music. Vincent and Sean had not done a soundcheck so their setup on stage was taking quite a long time. Some of the crowd started to become restless which I became really uncomfortable about. To me it seemed quite rude to start slow clapping or booing because it was taking a little longer to setup. Sean tried his best to keep the show afloat by making some jokes about Vincent and eventually singing us a song whilst Vincent kept tuning his guitar. Sean later sang another song of his “Dead Meat” which was beautiful. This performance by Sean completely won many of us over. His humour and cheekiness, and most importantly his talent, completely won us over. He played guitar, drums, keyboard, vocals – very talented man. After their set was over Sean kindly handed us bottles of water they hadn’t used, after we asked for them. It was hot as hell in that room and we are all sweaty, hot and very thirsty by that time.

Vincent and Sean were dressed in matching jackets, vests and ties – Vincent kindly pointed this out to us onstage, although by that time we had figured it out for ourselves. They looked great, but the jackets didn’t last long. It was like a sauna in that room.

John Frusciante. Just perfect. Nothing else to say.

SATURDAY: AFTER THE SHOW

Once John had finished and I had peeled myself off the barrier we stood around for a little while and eventually a few of us ended up sitting in the corner. We had just finished discussing how big a surprise Sean Lennon was when who should walk by but Sean himself. He recognised us from the front row and we all tagged along to the pub with him. Eventually we all ended up sitting on a table outdoors – this one guy was sitting by himself at a table drinking Pepsi when all of a sudden Sean Lennon and six girls come and sit down at his table. He was a bit surprised by it all. This was where the band ‘The McCoys” were formed, which is basically Sean and the 6 of us. We were supposed to rehearse the next day but I think we all slept late 🙂 The name McCoys comes from the packet of McCoys crisps that were on the table.

Some of us wanted to go watch the screening of The Brown Bunny but there was no space left so we ended up going back to the chalet and just talking non stop about the day. Everyone was super hyped up. I think it was about 3am before finally going to sleep. Saturday night was also the big party night, and people were hanging about outside their rooms. They were also knocking on doors inviting you over or in fact just inviting themselves into your chalet for a chat or the use of your toilet!

SUNDAY:

We heard rumours on Saturday about John going onstage with Vincent at the end of Yoko’s show. Wasn’t really 100% sure if the rumours were true but it was too risky to ignore them. So the plan for the day was to be at the front of the stage again. This meant another long day of sitting/standing in the one spot. Luckily for us The Tints were onstage first so we had something to look forward to right from the start.

SUNDAY: THE BANDS

The Tints: They were first up and for 3 sixteen year olds they are pretty good. I was really surprised at how much strength Clara had on the drums – she was a powerhouse and the backbone of the band. I guess they were only on for half an hour, but they did a good job.

Jayne County: This was an interesting mix of punk rock and entertainment. The 3 band members wandered onstage first and it all seemed a little odd as they looked nothing like the picture in the program. I thought perhaps that the schedule had been changed – but then the singer arrived and it all fitted into place. Jayne County is a “transsexual performer” according to the bio on the ATP website. I loved the band, they rocked big time. Jayne had some interesting songs and lyrics and certainly knew how to entertain.

James Chance and the Contortions: I didn’t care much for this band. There was something about James Chance that I just didn’t like, from the moment he stepped on stage. I can’t tell you what it is because I don’t know. The music didn’t have the right tempo or beat for me. However there was one amusing thing from this act ; James Chance’s hair. After he had jumped around a bit it started to resemble a Flock of Seagulls hairstyle. It kept me amused throughout the show.

The Zombies: One of those bands you never though you knew, but you end up knowing some of their songs. These guys were certainly the grand daddies of the festival – hell, these guys were older than me. There were some Zombies fans behind me during this show but I couldn’t quite understand why they spent half the time shouting at the tops of their voices to each other. They were talking about being drunk and hungover etc., yet they were there specifically to see this band. It all just seemed a little odd and their loudness was really starting to tick me off. Thankfully they eventually disappeared or shut up completely.

Yoko Ono: I can honestly say I had no clue what to expect with this one. Sean Lennon was setting up the stage and seemed to be in control of everything. At one point before the show began John was in the photographer pit area and sat dead smack in front of me. My heart stopped and I just stood behind him, silent and still. It seemed the right thing to do. Of course we had been hearing rumours of John’s appearance since Saturday but was never quite sure – until we saw John talking to Sean at the back of the stage – pointing to where the guitar would be. Yoko made a very theatrical entrance on stage and although her voice didn’t do much for me I absolutely loved the music that accompanied her. She had Sean onstage with her, along with Vincent Gallo. It was great to see. But the best was yet to come.

John’s Jam: This was what a lot of us had been hoping and waiting for. The day was running behind schedule and one again we’d been standing for many, many hours. When John appeared on stage the whole place went nuts. Yoko only had a “no flash photography” rule so it was still ok to take pictures providing you didn’t use a flash. My camera takes movies so I made it look as though I was taking photos and managed to record some bits of it. Sadly my memory card ran out and I didn’t realise until it was too late. I remember John going nuts, the audience going nuts – it was so damn amazing.

SUNDAY: AFTER THE SHOW

Lots of hugs and screams all around once everything was over. I don’t think any of us could have ever imagined just how great the festival could be and no one wanted it to all be over. By the time Yoko’s show had finished it was getting on a bit and I had to be up at 6am the next day to drive to work. But I was so hyped up that I just couldn’t even contemplate going to sleep. As soon as we got back to the chalet I immediately downloaded my video’s and pictures to my Mac and we just sat there watching and listening to them. Once again it was about 3am before I went to bed. When the alarm went off at 6am the next morning I was pretty damn shattered, but still high as a kite on pure adrenaline.

RETURN TO THE REAL WORLD

It was so hard to go to work the next day. Apart from the fact I had little sleep all weekend, I was still hyped up to the eyeballs on adrenaline and sugar. All I ate for most of the weekend was chocolate and coffee. No time for proper meals. My colleagues were actually interested in what I had to say about the festival so I got to talk a little bit about it. Ramparts and 4th D were my salvation – there was a real need to just talk about the weekend and keep the memories alive. I found myself unable to concentrate during the week – I spent more time reading Ramparts and 4th D than I did working. I was distracted and disinterested in anything other than ATP. It really is hard to describe what this weekend was like. I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be anywhere as good as it was. It was just unbelievable.

THE THANK YOUs

I just want to say a huge thank you to all those people that I met over the weekend. One of the things I will always remember about this weekend is sharing it with people who I knew by name but not by sight. Some people I’d emailed or PM’d in the past, some I had maybe a small conversation on Ramparts and some I just knew by their posts. But we all had one thing in common and that bonded us throughout the weekend.

ROCK ON!

P.S. Kim’s photos of the final jam can be found here

A review of the 2005 ATP festival by Sarah

I have been trying to think for days how I could sum up the weekend I just had, but I am still kinda lost for words and completely overwhelmed! I managed to get my way into the ATP gig – I had no ticket as i only found out on the Friday John was playing (computer has been poorley!) All of Friday afternoon I rang the venue and the organisers etc and had no luck, so early Saturday morning I drove to Camber and met some ace ATP people but still had no luck. I was not going to give up so I rang the organiser and left her messages all afternoon until she called me back! Luckily this fabulous woman realised what a huge fan of John I was and gave me a weekend pass!!!

I got there in time to watch Vince Gallo and Sean Lennon and then managed to get about 5 lines from the front for John. I couldnt believe it when he walked onto the stage – I couldn’t believe I was actually there. I never imagined that I would ever be able to get to see John play in such an intimate venue. I have seen pics on the net from small gigs he has played before and never ever thought I would get the chance to be at one of them. The set he played was fantastic – just him and his guitar and occassionally an echo machine (which both he and the crowd laughed about when he was testing it out!) It was excellent to see so many people there who were obviously fans too – people singing along, and feeling exactly the same way I was feeling-complete happiness. John was so into the crowd too, he spoke to us all the way through, it was so different to anything I have ever been to before. When he said things like his fans make the other half of his music etc it was so warming – I really felt like part of it, rather than just someone watching a show.

I think my hi-light was when John sang ‘Carvel’ and as he sang ‘Have you gone, have you gone, away already’ some of the crowd (inc me!) all sang the backing of the track by singing ‘come back, come back, come back, come back’, and the look on John’s face was awesome! I can see from the set list that he was on for quite a long time, but it felt like 10 mins to me – it seemed to fly by, but I know I will never ever forget it. Right now I feel like the happiest and luckiest person in the world – my dream of being at a performance like that came true and i still can’t get over it, can’t stop thinking about it.

He played with Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono and Vincent Gallo on the Sunday night. Before they played, a man in hat, scarf and glasses came on the stage and looked at the guitars that were set up and I instantly recognised that it was him. When he came on for the last part of the show the crowd went wild! At first he kinda played along with Sean and Vince, but after about a minute he went into his own sound and they followed him – It was truly fantastic to watch! After, my brother started chatting to this dude who was from ATP and he managed to get my ‘Shadows’ cd signed by John-I am so chuffed!!

P.S. Also check out the photos Sarah took at the festival here

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