If you like partying all weekend, getting off your face on…. fizzy drinks, and listening to some of the coolest indie bands around then chances are this movie was made for you.All Tomorrow's Parties is a collection of fan filmed footage from the festival of the same name, which takes place in East Sussex and Somerset at out of season holiday camps each year.If you don't dig festivals or live music then you could be wasting your time on this but whether you love them or loathe them this is more of an experience than a film. It's loud, sweaty, sexy and enthralling.There's no plot, no characters (unless you count the musicians) and there's no point. It's mostly a matter of sitting back and being sucked into the festival.But because the whole thing is made up of fan footage, as well as some camera-work by the bands themselves, it's very disjointed and jarring in places but, for the most part, it's plain impressive. It's a lot like watching home movies of people you've never met.The editor, Nick Fenton, is a genius as is evidenced in the first 5 minutes in which a thumping beat plays to footage of the holiday camps as they used to be in the 50s and 60s: full of family fun, not festival stoners and their guitars.A lot of funny teenage shenanigans occur as the festival seems to be a gateway through which people grow up and music displays the shaky transition from teenager to adult. It showcases how people who genuinely love music will find a beat anywhere and that it's more than just noise.Bands that are included in this musical mash-up are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Mars Volta, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Gossip and a bizarre little cameo by comedian David Cross. If you don't like or have never heard of these people, I wouldn't worry because there is an eclectic mix and you'll probably find something you'll like.While it is an impressive collage of material, it does lack any kind of cohesiveness and could lead to a few dips in your attention. Also, its use of split screen teeters between visually grating and kinetic magnificence.A good film but probably best enjoyed when you've had some… fizzy drinks.

I chanced upon this on late night UK TV. I'm not really a music festival goer, though I once, for my sins, 'holidayed' in one of those communal chalets at Minehead, quite a long time ago, I have to add. I do love my music though and have seen the essential festival films - Woodstock, Glastonbury etc as well as BBC coverage of others as and when they are shown. What suddenly strikes me about those ones are the jerk who constantly wants to say as much as possible for as long as possible. Even if you like them initially, such commentators soon get right on your nerves.ATP, however is fresh, as the seamlessly and often surreal interwoven images do all the narrating and introducing. Or, the people and bands in those images do - caught by the people who care and who are eager, the fans and festival goers themselves. As such it does have a wonderfully natural 'we were there' ambiance and 'this is what we did'.I get to photograph a few small music festivals each year and the best bits are the peripheral moments, where you muck in and then it's the best part of the year; a holiday. Isn't it great also that whilst Glastonbury has miles of security 'wall' and with headlining stars flying in by helicopter and pushing off an hour after their slot, ATP's philosophy seems to be of the original concept of one big 'jam', with no sponsors.Despite all footage reportedly from amateur sources the whole film and its visuals are rich in variety and quality. Hypnotically gorgeous, actually. The sound tends to be thin and scrawny but isn't bad and can be compensated for on one's hifi amp. I won't add anything clichéd and trite about how great it for a cult music festival in keeping it 'real'. I don't go to enough or know enough on the subject to qualify to make judgement but I rate this highly and loved almost all of it. Portishead, especially.

I've blogged about it in its entirety here: http://niklasblog.com/? p=5074It's directed by Jonathan Caouette and the festival-goers, most of which contributed film and stills when ATP asked for it, mostly for this documentary. It's notably also shot by Vincent Moon, who's done a lot of Take Away Shows, where he's filmed quasi-famous bands performing their songs (mostly acoustic sets) on the streets.600 hours of footage that was compiled from fans was edited by Nick Fenton and comprises this collage from 200 contributors. It's surprisingly coherent.After-show delights from fans (including a girl trying to climb a cottage and failing) and artists (who are fans, of course), people arriving to the resort, history, gigs, snippets of Patti Smith, Sun Ra, Iggy Pop and others from different eras explaining how they feel about music are included, as well as the place in itself. It's a magical place that makes Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" feel like a commercial trick. The people. The people! The after-shows, the gigs outside people's chalets, the cheap, bad wine from the shop in the center of it all, Lightning Bolt blowing a speaker, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs walking around everywhere, Daniel Johnston sitting in a garden with loads of people hearing him sing and play an acoustic guitar, the sun shining in as the bloody seagulls squawk you awake and as you wake up you push the curtains – with the ugliest print you've ever seen – away from the window to see people returning home from a late late night that never really ends. Not until you leave. But the place sticks, and it's been a part of my heart ever since and it'll never leave, because it's just that beautiful. It's the wind moaning in your ears as you realise it's not the wind, it's the fact that you've just left a small chalet where Scott sits with a laser device, people from The National walk along and you hear bands in the background. Bands? What bands? You don't care, because it's all like one big party where nobody's headlining. It's just music, to paraphrase a guy – who looked a lot like Jerry Garcia – in the documentary. From another time, another age.I suddenly feel like Hunter S. Thompson at the end of the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", where he talks and writes of the American election and how it becomes America. The documentary is a part of the experience as much as a piece of the puzzle, and to me it's the bottle that says "drink me". Drink it! And then go to Minehead. You will be a better person for it. Trust me. There is no ego in this. There are no competitions. There's bingo in the early mornings, places to hang out with friends you don't know yet and the best feeling I've ever experienced with them, like you're all weirdly connected through more than music. I love it.

this film is visceral and kinetic. one of the more potent music films i've seen. warning: this is not a strictly narrative film about the history of the festival - it's a post punk collage of some of the best alt. rock moments from ATPs last 10 years, made from footage shot and contributed by the fans and musicians at the festivals on video cameras, mobile phone, super 8s etc but it comes together in a way that makes it greater than the sum of it's parts. kudos to the way it was made. nick cave/grinderman, battles, akron family, portishead, the octopus project, grizzly bear and lightning bolt and stand out moments, and i'm sure i spotted aphex twin in there but didn't see him credited. patti smith closes the film with a killer performance.