Yet even more flashback shows today, tomorrow and the next day!
If you can believe it now? This was mark down as a huge failure in Aussie summer festivals of late 2000’s! Peeps who were there loved it but seems it’s not very well remember online too, so little about it at all! I’ve taken it on myself to hunter down some stuff I can find and post it up here on my blog! I guess, if you call success just by sells, only 3,500 sold of the 6,000 tickets available. ATP did come back to put two more events on in 2013 but by sometime in 2015 the whole ATP thing when totally bankrupted. It’s a really pity because it’s such a great idea, you know? Bands curated festivals but I guess, some other fests have came along since then using the same idea! ATP is more of an English fest coming to Oz to try it’s luck?
So Mount Buller is a ski resort in wintertime but this was in the middle of summer but reports/reviews say it was still totally freezing up on top of that hill. I think, another thing that maybe didn’t help the festival itself was almost anyone played side-shows in Melbourne town too so zero acts played exclude to it. Maybe, the only one was keep as a big huge secret, more about that later. Even NC&TBS themselves played a couple night at Palace Theatre right middle in the city. So as a punter/fan do pick and chose the side-shows playing in town or pack your bag and go out of town or both? I think, Cave live on stage thanked everyone coming up there and then joked he wouldn’t have done it!
The one and only explanation I could find of how each act was selected? Was on 2008 USA tour “We were on the bus for incredibly long hours each day. We literally had a sheet of paper, tossed names around to see which ones would stick between the lot of us” I do vaguely remember somewhere Cave saying he wanted Suicide, the synth-punks of New York but Alan Vega wouldn’t get on an airplane to go to Australia and Mick Harvey fair badly because he was living in Melbourne, he was inundated with requests by a lot of local acts wanting the play the shows but can’t find that interview now. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds line-up at this time was Thomas Wydler, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey which was his final tour with them and off course, Nick Cave. Their latest was 2008’s wicked great Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! album and the work on the second Grinderman album had already started but that wouldn’t be released until 2010!
So below I’m embedding some live clips from these sets as found on YouTube and albums as found on bandcamp from around this time or the most important of the act. Mt. Buller playing times as still listed on ATP website in 24hr clock:
At the Bourke Street stage on Friday 9th Jan.
14:15 Dead Meadow
15:30 Bill Callahan
16:45 Primitive Calculators
19:45 Fuck Buttons
21:15 Dirty Three performing Ocean Songs
23:00 The Saints
Saturday 10th Jan.
14:15 Bridezilla
15:30 Afrirampo
16:45 Robert Forster
18:00 The Reels
19:15 Laughing Clowns
21:00 Spiritualized
22:30 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Ampitheatre stage on Friday 9th Jan.
12:30 The Holy Sea
13:45 Hoss
15:00 Conway Savage
16:15 Beaches
17:30 James ‘Blood’ Ulmer
19:00 The Necks
20:30 Silver Apples
Saturday 10th Jan.
12:30 Hunter Dienna
13:45 The Stabs
15:00 The Small Knives
16:15 Michael Gira
17:30 Harmonia
18:45 Rowland S. Howard
20:00 Psarandonis
ABOM on Friday 9th Jan.
23:45 Passenger Of Shit
Dead Meadow at some point played unannounced inside the ABOM:
Also Grinderman as “the very secret special mystery act” which isn’t list above but played early on the opening day!
Couple of most fave photos I came across of this fest are these:
The full setlists I could track down were these ones:
On Friday Jan. 9th 2009: The Saints headliner @ Mount Buller, Australia:
Swing for the Crime
This Perfect Day
The Chameleon
No Time
A Minor Aversion
(I’m) Stranded
All Times Through Paradise
The Prisoner
Know Your Product
Messin’ With the Kid
All Tomorrow’s Parties (The Velvet Underground cover)
Nights in Venice
Encore:
River Deep, Mountain High
On Saturday Jan. 10th 2009: Robert Forster @ Mount Buller, Australia:
Temptation Inside Your Heart (The Velvet Underground cover)
121
Head Full of Steam (The Go‐Betweens song)
Pandanus
Surfing Magazines (The Go‐Betweens song)
Quiet Heart (The Go‐Betweens song)
Make Her Day (The Go‐Betweens song)
German Farmhouse (The Go‐Betweens song)
Demon Days
Darlinghurst Nights (The Go‐Betweens song)
On Saturday Jan. 10th 2009: Laughing Clowns @ Mount Buller, Australia:
Intro Instrument Improvisation (5:42)
The Flypaper (4:33)
Come One, Come All (6:59)
Everything That Flies (5:36)
Theme From ‘Mad Flies, Mad Flies’ (4:35)
Nothing That Harms (5:42)
Collapse Board (11:51)
Eternally Yours (11:43)
On Saturday Jan. 10th 2009: Spiritualized @ Mount Buller, Australia:
Amazing Grace
You Lie You Cheat
Shine a Light
Cheapster
Soul on Fire
Walking With Jesus (Spacemen 3 song)
I Think I’m in Love
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
Lay Back in the Sun
Come Together
Take Me to the Other Side (Spacemen 3 song)
On Saturday Jan. 10th 2009: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds headliner @ Mount Buller, Australia:
Night of the Lotus Eaters
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Tupelo
The Weeping Song
Red Right Hand
Midnight Man
Nature Boy
Love Letter
Straight to You
Moonland
The Mercy Seat
Deanna
We Call Upon the Author
Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry
More News From Nowhere
Encore:
Hard On for Love
Stagger Lee
Encore 2:
The Ship Song
I think, The Bad Seeds should have a bandcamp profile but don’t! Sorry, some of those live clips do sound like total shit! I guess, if you know the song you can make it out plus I’m really, really missing live music, how about you?
OK, this only part one of three posts which kind-of had to break it down because I’ve overload them with embedded streaming players, look out for the next one coming tomorrow! But if you need/want more like this? In 1999 Nick Cave curated London’s Meltdown festival which I did blogged that a while ago, link here!
Cheers! 🙂
a1000mistakes 
I have heard of this franchise of festivals, All Tomorrow’s Parties. I heard that this idea did pretty well in the UK and the states, is that right? It is always really interesting, I guess in a shadenfreude kind of way when festivals fail too eh? It would have been all those factors you mention yes, all contributing. It is a shame though as it would have been good. It reminds me of an article I read in the Monthly about Spiro Boursine, the Founder of Earthcore, the bush doofs of the 90’s and early 00’s. It talks about how the festival failed because Spiro started losing his mind, a very compelling read. I met him a few times as I was involved in that scene – let’s just say he was a ‘character’ anyway good article if you want to readit https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2019/september/1567260000/martin-mckenzie-murray/all-tomorrow-s-parties#mtr
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers, i will have a look/read! 🙂
LikeLike
Passenger of Shit…wow what a track list….not really radio friendly song titles hahaha
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nope, i guess not! maybe not the best for selling tickets as well? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice curation. Rowland S Howard played a blinder|!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yeah he does! Cheers mate 🙂
LikeLike