‘It Wouldn't Have Been Done By Anyone in Their Right Mind’ – Oral History of ATP

[holyzombiejesus]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg8dw8/all-tomorrows-parties-oral-history

Really enjoyed this. I know some people on here, a couple in particular, have a real downer on Barry Hogan/ Foundation but I think the tone of this (out of his depth but well-meaning) is about right. There seems to be a bit of a hint about a possible return; would you buy a ticket? Seeing as I feel like shit after 4 pints now, I'm not sure I could hack it but it would be nice for them to go out on a high (and for Barry to pay his debts).

[sevendaughters]

yeah I'd probably go given a decent line-up but it's hard to read this as anything other than Barry's mates attempt to rehabilitate Barry's bad name

[Brundle-Fly]

It's interesting for all the so-called integrity of anti-rock and roll, alternative music artists with the right trouser cut, they still behaved like entitled divas, meatheads, predators, drunken party animals and greedy bastards. Well, some of them.

[Goldentony]

There seems to be a bit of a hint about a possible return; would you buy a ticket?

Nah, Barry's a lying, self serving prick who's been allowed to just fuck off and rinse cockends for giant pewter statues of Iggy Pop and the cunt off the oHSEEs. Hasn't learned fuck all, never will, stupid voice, and a wanker.

EDIT - also I think Safe As Milk and maybe another? tried to do this kind of thing in the aftermath of this squeaky cockney tit and his bollocks and they both had to be fucked off because noone wanted in?? does anybody recall this?????????????????

[Goldentony]

gig offers come in

who off

that guy who left Roky Erickson parading up and down a welsh high street like a spare tit

[Vitamin C]

I don't really understand the level of anger against ATP. Went to some, had an incredible time. Would love to do it again. I do get that people were pissed off when later gigs went wrong etc, but throwing a brick through the window of the guy who was trying to set it up? Was it really that bad?

[Goldentony]

I don't really understand the level of anger against ATP.

people working for nothing as the guy involved continues to take the piss

[sevendaughters]

quite aside from the Hogan factor, you have to admit that ATP was starting to be a thing for bald men and emeritus acts

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg8dw8/all-tomorrows-parties-oral-history

Interesting article, ta for sharing it.

[Goldentony]

I was supposed to go to the RFTC one so everyones in tact barnet was checked upon buying the ticket

[non capisco]

I don't really understand the level of anger against ATP. Went to some, had an incredible time. Would love to do it again. I do get that people were pissed off when later gigs went wrong etc, but throwing a brick through the window of the guy who was trying to set it up? Was it really that bad?

The Jabberwocky debacle, with that fake ticket company he pulled out of his arse and his complete inability to refund anyone or even let them know what was going on, cemented Barry Hogan in my mind as a grifting rip-off cunt no matter how he started out. I couldn't believe he carried on trying to put on festivals for a while after that little episode.

[The Mollusk]

Loads of big events or scenes or movements are/were great if you we're lucky enough to not be on the shit end of the deal. I went to ATP Vs The Fans in 2007 and had the most amazing time and met one of my all time best mates there, will never forget it. But then I got shafted by the Jabberwocky thing and as has been detailed above I completely lost all respect for that guy, fuck him, he deserves the wrath he incurred with his shirking bollocks. Knob.

[Neville Chamberlain]

If nothing else, this article has introduced me to the phrase 'getting spannered on the dib dabs'.

[The Crumb]

Smug shite from Stewart Lee, the usual comfortable middle age bands defence force, crap made up drug anecdotes.

Very little about or from the bands or customers they fucked over through the years. Love that they give some ATP twat space to moan about The National's manager, but no space to mention that they had to downsize that festival and move it across the country after pissing Butlins off. Plenty of people had great times at ATP, but having a great time away from home in your 20s doesn't take a visionary.

[Pauline Walnuts]

"Its "Don't Look Back" series kick-started the play-your-classic-album-in-full trend that continues today"

Yeah, cheers for that.

[scarecrow]

I only ever went to one ATP - the very last. It was probably the best time I've ever had, and I always think that I'd go to another in a heartbeat, but it is insane to remember my friends and I driving down to Wales unsure if any of it would actually happen.

It was a bit like going to a normal The Fall gig, but with heaps more expense and inconvenience.

[The Crumb]

I can't help but hear that MDMA story in Jay from The Inbetweeners' voice.

[holyzombiejesus]

I went to, I think, 8 ATPs. 8TPs. Never got fucked over and the only drawback to any of them was me making myself ill on the first night and being too fucked to enjoy the next 2 days. I've met Barry a few times and DJed for him at a couple of shows and he was never anything less then sound. Doesn't make other people's stories any less shitty but I don't get the vitriol that's thrown his way. Are people angry on behalf of bands/ PC companies he "fucked over"?

[Goldentony]

you should marry him if he's that nice

[The Crumb]

I went to, I think, 8 ATPs. 8TPs. Never got fucked over and the only drawback to any of them was me making myself ill on the first night and being too fucked to enjoy the next 2 days. I've met Barry a few times and DJed for him at a couple of shows and he was never anything less then sound. Doesn't make other people's stories any less shitty but I don't get the vitriol that's thrown his way. Are people angry on behalf of bands/ PC companies he "fucked over"?

What about the not paying bands and suppliers are you disputing? Or does that not count as fucking over?

[non capisco]

In the specific case of Jabberwocky it was the punters he was fucking over.

[holyzombiejesus]

What about the not paying bands and suppliers are you disputing? Or does that not count as fucking over?

Seems like the bitterness is coming from punters on behalf of the bands, rather than first-hand. I'd imagine Shellac of North America lost more than the majority of people frothing at the mouth about what a charlatan Barry is but they don't seem to be kicking off about him in such strong terms. I don't think he "fucked punters over", I think he ran out of money. I think he ended up far more fucked financially than people who lost out although stand to be corrected on that. My friends lost money but have taken it on the chin seeing as the guy also gave us some of the best weekends of our lives.

[Goldentony]

In fairness to him he flew the Bad Seeds to Iceland in 2013 then Neil Young in 2014, after his previous company had shat it's back out and filed for bankruptcy, who's to say really

[Goldentony]

actually come to think of it I think the Iceland shows were paid in part by the Icelandic government once a particular amount of Iceland artists were on, so again whos really to say

[non capisco]

frothing at the mouth

We may disagree about the levels of wilfulness in Barry's punter fucking during ATP's dodgy death throes but I'm really not "frothing at the mouth" about it which suggests clouded judgement, just giving my opinion based on experience. I've said all this before at the time and in subsequent threads where Jabberwocky was brought up so I'm just repeating myself anyway. Happy to leave folks to their fond memories of earlier festivals when the bloke evidently had his shit together.

[sevendaughters]

Seems like the bitterness is coming from punters on behalf of the bands, rather than first-hand. I'd imagine Shellac of North America lost more than the majority of people frothing at the mouth about what a charlatan Barry is but they don't seem to be kicking off about him in such strong terms. I don't think he "fucked punters over", I think he ran out of money. I think he ended up far more fucked financially than people who lost out although stand to be corrected on that. My friends lost money but have taken it on the chin seeing as the guy also gave us some of the best weekends of our lives.

there definitely are a few bands that were put out quite badly and are raging about it. This was Drive Like Jehu's statement about their ATP being pulled at the last min:

After 4 months of a long and bumpy ride, the wheels finally fell off the wagon and crashed and burned. A search party was sent to Monkey Island to scan the wreckage for survivors and only found Barry Hogan/ATP collecting bits of luggage and body parts for his next show "ATP 3.0 The 90's Deconstructed". Tickets on sale now at Gofundme.com

It's a uniquely cruel hoax to appeal to Drive Like Jehu's ego and ask us to create a program based on personally inviting the bands and musicians that have inspired us and changed the way we hear music and then subject them and their supporters to this. We really wanted this show to happen more than anything. It had all the makings of a legendary weekend. We were so committed to seeing this through that we remained hopeful ( blind in retrospect) amongst the ritualistic turmoil and crisis and trusted their solutions that would ensure that the show would definitely go on and the attendees would be treated fairly and the bands would be respected and celebrated.

I realize people want answers. I have found out about most of the information involving the problems that plagued this from the start the same way as everyone else. And although the internet is hardly a reliable source for fact, this whole mess has the extra sting of this not being an isolated incident.

48 hours ago word started to trickle in that Barry hadn't honored his agreement with many of the bands. These bands were not canceling, but rather did not have the promised means to attend. It was only then revealed that ATP was unable to honor the agreement with the ticket holders that purchased accommodation. ATP is out of funds. ATP offered to postpone the event until November as a solution. No thanks. We looked into trying to salvage the weekend by putting on our own free show in Manchester. But at this late date, no suitable venue is available.

A lot of the bands affected by that weekend have not got a good word to say.

I'm not angry second hand - he didn't screw my band over, and I didn't have a Jabberwocky ticket. No glee at it ending. But it should.

[holyzombiejesus]

We may disagree about the levels of wilfulness in Barry's punter fucking during ATP's dodgy death throes but I'm really not "frothing at the mouth" about it which suggests clouded judgement, just giving my opinion based on experience. I've said all this before at the time and in subsequent threads where Jabberwocky was brought up so I'm just repeating myself anyway. Happy to leave folks to their fond memories of earlier festivals when the bloke evidently had his shit together.

I wasn't really referring to you when I mentioned the frothing. I get that people are/ were pissed off, I just don't subscribe to this idea that there was some Machiavellian intent behind it all.

[Kankurette]

Why am I not surprised that MES acted like a giant cunt?

Barry Hogan: One time The Fall turned up and, for their rider, took ten cases of beer, six bottles of wine and all the champagne. They cleaned us out. They put it all in their chalet to have a party. I get this call that they're side of stage, and Mark E Smith is kicking off because there's no rider. I explained they'd already had it, but they were refusing to play without one. So we took the skeleton key and broke into The Fall's chalet and took their own booze and brought it to them. After the show, I hear this message on the radio: "It's the Fall, they've been robbed!" Mark used to give me an invoice with a fake VAT number on it, and when I called him on it he pulled out a whisky bottle and tried to hit me over the head with it. Twice he tried to bottle me.

Bowlie was also the festival that inspired Sleater-Kinney to write Ballad of a Ladyman after someone put a sign on their chalet calling them 'the ladymen'.

ETA: I've never been, mainly because it's an arse for me to get to and tbh I'd hate it. I don't do drugs and I'd need to be able to sleep, and I'd never get that at ATP. Primavera is more my thing, similar line-ups.

[Goldentony]

it's definitely going to come back isn't it, he's gonna be top of the world again, forgive and forget, sat atop his iggy pop statue empire

[The Crumb]

I wasn't really referring to you when I mentioned the frothing. I get that people are/ were pissed off, I just don't subscribe to this idea that there was some Machiavellian intent behind it all.

I don't think many people blieve this, Stewart Lee makes that defence in the article that Barry didn't run off with a million quid. It's not that he had an evil master plan, it's that he was completely reckless with other people's money, time and livelihoods, and seemed to have a complete inability to learn from his mistakes.I don't think you can apply a reading of good intentions by the end, where it seemed like he would do anything to clear a debt, and actually putting on successful events and paying people for their work seemed to be somewhat secondary. Cancelling a festival 72 hours in advance isn't an evil plan to get rich quick, but it is the behaviour of a dickhead. People can do bad things that don't  create profit for them.

In terms of people 'frothing at the mouth', I'd point to Hogan's arsey tirades against anyone who incurred his wrath by asking too many questions or nor doing things his way.