The end of an era

So that's it, then - the end of an era: there will be no more ATP weekends after this December. It's a sad day - they've been such a source of entertainment and delight (not to mention tinnitus and excruciating hangovers), from my very first (curated by Mogwai in 2000) to my most recent (Shellac's last December - review to come). The best was probably Ten Years of ATP in 2009, though in terms of spectacular line-ups the previous Saturday (Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, No Age with Bob Mould, Fucked Up) and Les Savy Fav's Friday night (review to come) were pretty much unbeatable, and in any case it's often all of the little things that make the festival what it is: the extraordinary discoveries, the rubbing of shoulders with legends of leftfield music, Bob Weston's Q&A sessions, the afterhours (mis)adventures...

Still, it's not over just yet, as the festival is going to bow out with two final weekends at the end of the year. For the second, Loop have been persuaded to reform and curate, but it's the first that possesses the greatest pull for me, thanks to the first four acts on the bill alone: Television performing Marquee Moon, Les Savy Fav, Dinosaur Jr and Thurston Moore's Chelsea Light Moving. Now to work on securing that all-important pass-out...