All Tomorrow’s Parties NJ w/ Portishead, Public Enemy & more (Oct/2011)

Oct 1-

Ok so Erin and I head out to Penn Station to take the train out to Asbury Park, amid a flurry of excitement as I can’t believe I’m finally gonna see this historic area, not to mention that we are gonna see Portishead, two nights in a row – and not for the last time this week – among a slew of other activities that this festival will have in store for us.
We get off the train at Asbury Park and to get to Asbury proper and our hotel, you have to take a taxi. What seems like a good deal at first quickly revealed a sleight of hand scam, that by the end of the weekend I could have rented a freaking jet for what this cost. If you know me, than you already know that I loathe taxis and their drivers – easily one of the scummiest professions in the modern world.
The cabs pull up and will take the first 5 people and charge them all a small flat rate. In this case it would only be $6 a person and we thought we were getting a deal. When he drops everyone else off we are the last ones left and for some reason he can’t find our hotel. I call the hotel to confirm their address and they are located less than 2 miles away in a small suburb called Wall Township. I inform the driver of this and this parasite is trying to take us for another kind of ride – immediately insisting that the fare will now be double. I try to negotiate that we will agree but he has to let us check into the hotel and then take us to the festival all for the same rate, and he rejects that offer and says it will be the same rate back.
Meaning that to go from the train to our hotel (less than 6 miles) than to the festival (less than 4 miles) he was trying to take us for at least $50.00 – and we are supposed to do this all weekend? – Hell no, I could have rented a corvette for that kinda money.
I tell the driver that he will be taking us to our hotel for the original amount of $6 per person or he can let us out right here and get nothing.
Since we were the only ones left and he was to return to the train station for his next pickup, he threatened to take us all the way back.
I was sitting behind him and told him that if he didn’t pull over right now that the next vehicle he will be occupying would be an ambulance.
He doesn’t take any chances and pulls over – only to attempt to keep our luggage hostage if we didn’t pay up front.
I grabbed him by his collar and screamed in his face – ” OPEN THE TRUNK MOTHERFUCKER OR I’m GONNA STUFF YOU IN THERE!!!”
Poor Erin is having a nervous breakdown – twice in less than 24 hrs I’ve been in a fight with someone.
He gets the message and pops the trunk and as we are getting our luggage out he’s screaming threats at me – I go to close the side door, throw a $10 bill at his face and tell him to go fuck himself.
Not the best way to start a trip –
I get on the phone to another cab company and we are back in another one in literally less than 5 mins and on to our hotel for a reasonable rate.
This was the only hotel I could find, and let me tell you something – I’ve stayed in quite a few shitholes in my day, but this place was downright frightening.
We had a healthy sense of humor about it and even kinda took pride on our little shithole – its one of those hotel that only has one floor, and when you open the door you are outside and they look they have hourly rates – a real turd bowl.

After we check in and get settled into this fleabag, its time to get over to the festival site, so the pursuit of yet another cab is on the rise – Our third in less than two hours. The next driver guy comes and he is initially a breath of fresh air, but we soon realize that he’s probably the scummiest of them all.
We get in and we are talking music and this guy is a smooth fast talker, but he for some reason I feel comforted by him. I know he’s on the grift but he takes me off guard with a great story about some time he spent with Eddie Van Halen. I thought he might have been pulling that psychic short hand cause I’m normally wearing some piece of VH paraphernalia on me, but not this time, so lucky guess on his part.
He’s awesome but still charges us $15 for a 3 min cab ride and gives us his card and says to call him later and he will take care of us.
Ok whatever, – this festival has infested and setup shop in every nook and cranny of the park with the central focus and convention like atmosphere being at the
Convention Hall.
The festival started yesterday but the two nights of Portishead begin tonight – across the street from the convention is the hotel where all the acts are staying and where the production office has set up shop. We get over there, get our credentials – take a quick look around and grab some greasy food before finally heading in.Our spirits are high and I’m very proud to be here and the anticipation is manic as we enter the main thoroughfare –

As we enter the Convention Hall, I was shocked at how small and unoccupied it was – sure we were three bands from Portishead but it was like we were getting a treat, like we were cheating somehow – that even if this place fills up, we are getting something of a private show. The odd thing is that even till the end, though the floor will fill up, the seats will not look much different than they do here, as we get ready for the first band we wanna see – Battles.

Battles

After the departure of vocalist/guitarist Tyondai Braxton last year, the announcement that Battles would continue came as a surprise. A year later, their sophomore effort Gloss Drop revealed that Battles were mostly the same: unpredictable and rhythmically rich, but not quite as propulsive. Some of the power may have diminished, but Battles are still a force of nature live that gets the body moving. In the Convention Hall, the vocals of Braxton were played as a background sample during Atlas, as with Gloss Drop guests Kazu Makino and Matias Aguayo, effectively driving the point home that they are in control and can get along without him.

 Up next was something for the bucket list – How cool is it that Portishead invited so many important players of Hip-Hop for this festival, and some reformed just to play this show. To know me is to know my life-long obsession with Hip-Hop and is their anyone in any genre crazier than Kool Keith?
Though I’ve seen his solo show many times, to various degrees of success, his original outfit, the legendary Ultramagnetic MC’s were invited to play after being on a long hiatus and their first with Kool Keith in over a decade.

Ced Gee and TR Love came out first and got it going early with Funky/Mentally Mad from their classic 1988 LP Critical Beatdown.
That album singlehandedly introduced many new sampling techniques. Many believe that without Ced Gee, the group’s primary producer, the golden era of sampling may have looked very different. Their albums were some of the first to use many James Brown samples, which became very prominent in Hip Hop in ensuing years.
Everyone was anxious for Keith to appear, and knowing is reputation, was he even gonna show up? – and if he did, what condition would he be in? – how weird was this about to get?
The answer is yes, and shit got weird in a hurry as he took the stage –

PortisheadPortishead was truly a thing of pure magic-first East Coast show since their famed Roseland performance in 1998 -first of 4 nights with them.
It would be impossible to overstate my anticipation for this show nor could I ever exaggerate the role this band’s music has played in my life. If their is some type of World Record for listening to an album continuously, I might be in the running. I have listened to some piece of both of their first 2 lps everyday for the past 18 years (even today) it’s just part of my day and I don’t even think about it. When I worked for the man I used to jokingly fill out the section of the application that says “Special skills or achievements” by putting “I have seen Portishead live” –
In hindsight you could say that these two shows were mere warmups to their big return to NYC in a couple of days with two big nights at the famed Hammerstein Ballroom, and given the size of the crowd and condition theirs an argument to support that, but being there and experiencing it, it felt like anything but.

There are not many artists that can pull off headlining two nights of a festival full of fascinating artists, but one of them is Portishead. Performing their first shows on the east coast in 13 years, Portishead were the main attraction on Saturday and Sunday nights, giving their 2008 album Third the proper tour it deserves.

In Threads, the penultimate song of both headlining sets, Beth Gibbons unleashed an otherworldly anguish so overwhelming that the frustration behind it defined comprehension. Glory Box sounded more seductive than ever, while Wandering Star had its sensual beat stripped away to give it a delicate haunting quality shared with The Rip.

The vocals of Beth Gibbons ran the gamut from sultry to pained, and the effect never ceased to hypnotize. Gibbons appeared to be in high spirits, smiling throughout and even jumping into the crowd for a brief surf at the end of set finale We Carry On. Most unsettling of all is this uncanny ability to tap into the vastest of emotional depths seemingly at will. Disconcerting, but gorgeous, Portishead is back and better than ever.

Setlist:

Silence
Hunter
Mysterions
The Rip
Sour Times
Magic Doors
Wandering Star (Geoff/Beth/Adrian solo version)
Machine Gun
Over
Glory Box
Cowboys
Threads

Encore:

Roads
We Carry On

We didn’t stay long and I didn’t play, though I would have liked to, just to do it. Also I like poker and it would have been fun – but as cool as that sounds, it also by the same token, meant staying indoors playing cards in the middle of the day with a notorious asshole, and we hadn’t even seen the beach yet.
I’m also really good at poker so I would have enjoyed fucking with Albini – but it was fun just to watch for a bit and go check out the rest of the boardwalk.Silverball Pinball Museum

Ok, so if anyone knows anything about me, knows that pinball is a lifelong passion of mine, right up there with music and baseball. I’ve been fortunate to have played and seen some amazing machines all over the world. I’ve competed in the Brooklyn Tournament every year since 2006 and coming in 3rd in 2007. I’ve played at Redondo Beach before they took the machines out and visit Pacific Pinball everytime I’m in Las Vegas – so how could I come to the Pinball Capital of the World and not play!! – No way man, I was looking forward to this almost as much as the music!
This festival feels tailored made for me, Public Enemy, Kool Keith, two nights of Portishead, some of the best seafood I’ve ever eaten – and now I was in pinball heaven –

Enter – The Silverball Museum – home to more than 120 classic pinball machines. But unlike most museums, the Silverball is hands on. A 10-dollar pass will buy you an hour of time on the most popular vintage machines dating back to 1933. I wanted to drop to my knees and worship. Just look at this place!
Boardwalks and pinball go hand in hand, and here I was playing pinball on classic machines in Asbury Park – One of the best days ever.Then, as I’m walking around like a kid in a candy store, I see Portishead main man Geoff Barrow checking out an old Neptune machine from the 1960s –

I am no fanboy and normally in this type of situation I would have said nothing and certainly wouldn’t have taken a picture, but its not everyday that I see one of my idols participating in one of my passions outside of their vocation. Still wearing his ATP credentials, I thought back to that scene in the Roseland DVD where he is walking around outside the venue, still wearing his laminate – odd but kind of a full circle moment for me. We chatted for a bit and moved on – I had to see if they had Earthshaker haha (they didn’t) – but damn this place was cool. We walked out of there shaking our heads going, “Did that just really happen?”.We still had time before the bands we wanted to see started to check out a few more things. Shepard Fairey’s propaganda style art pasted on the surrounding buildings really tied everything together.

And then we finally got to take a walk on the beach before heading into the Convention Hall for another long night of incredible music – what a wonderful day.

This was only Company Flow’s third show in the past decade, but they appeared to have not missed a beat in their hiatus. A good way to warm up the crowd for what was to be a really incredibly performance by Public Enemy, Company Flow brought old school rap to ATP much in the same way Ultramagnetic MC’s did the night before.Company Flow together again, for what was apparently their 3rd show together in 10 years. I’ve seen El-P and Mr. Len separately, first time seeing Bigg Jus perform.

Public Enemy

The group, complete with DJ Lord (who replaced Terminator X) and full band in tow, were originally booked to play Fear of a Black Planet in full. But after the cancellation of Mogwai, they were given a two hour slot. In response, Public Enemy declared they would be playing Fear of a Black Planet “remixed” meaning we heard nearly every song off the album, in addition to numerous other PE hits. Now we were getting two hours of PE? – Could this day get any cooler?

But that meant that she show had to start and no disrespect – but we had to sit through one of the longest and most excruciating soundchecks I can ever remember, just painful. The whole thing was led by what appeared to be a older family member, probably of Chuck D’s, something to keep the gentlemen employed rather than his actual qualification to do it – and this dude was an exhausting taskmaster – (It would not be the last time we would seen him, stay tuned next month).
The show was starting, Erin took her place in the photo pit (after successfully defending her ground with some asshole from the production staff, even more impressive was that this dude looked King Kong Bundy).
Backed by a band with metal leanings and the turntable wizardry of DJ Lord (who masterfully connected the subversiveness of Public Enemy with Nirvana), Chuck D came out like a prizefighter and showed why he’s still one of the best MCs in the game.

With his politically-charged rhymes as relevant as ever, here comes his foil Flavor Flav who was a bundle of bottomless energy. Whether running back and forth from one end of the stage to another, leaping into the crowd, or commanding them to jump, Flav kept the energy levels high. Erin snapped one of my fave pics of PE ever check it –

They blew everyone away with one of the more energetic performances I’ve seen in a long time. Say what you will about Flavor Flav, the man is an iconic performer and had more onstage charisma than pretty much any other performer I had seen all weekend. Chuck D, of course, still has all the MC chops that has made him one of the most highly respected rappers of all time.
At one point as if the level of world class talent onstage couldn’t get any higher, Chuck D invites legendary drummer Dennis Davis to join them on a couple of tracks. This was now officially one of the coolest days of my life and Portishead hasn’t even gone on yet.
To educate/remind the crowd of Davis’ incomparable resume, Chuck D asked he crowd “Even heard the song Fame with David Bowie and John Lennon?, wanna know who played drums on that track?” – and proudly pointed to Davis – a jaw dropping moment.
Also need to mention how skilled a turntabalist DJ Lord is. And that famed Twitter music critic Chris Weingarten (1000 Times Yes) was brought onstage to rap Don’t Believe The Hype, which was actually the only thing he said into the mic before jumping into the crowd. The whole set was freaking awesome, and a highlight of the entire three day festival.

Setlist –

Contract on the World Love Jam
Brothers Gonna Work It Out
911 Is a Joke
Welcome to the Terrordome
Show ‘Em Whatcha Got
Bring tha Noize
Don’t Believe the Hype
Cold Lampin’ With Flavor
Can’t Truss It
Night of the Living Baseheads
He Got Game
Harder Than You Think
Anti-Nigger Machine
Burn Hollywood Burn
Power to the People
Bring the Noise
Timebomb
Who Stole the Soul
Shut Em Down
Rebel Without a Pause
By the Time I Get to Arizona
Fight the Power

Portishead

I wonder if it’s weird to be Beth Gibbons, to look out at a teeming auditorium, and to realize that everyone in the room has probably had sex to your music at some point or another.  Gibbons is basically our Isaac Hayes, our Teddy Pendergrass. And though Portishead is a studio band through and through (Geoff Barrow has said in interviews that they’ve generally not enjoyed playing live), they did an amazing job at bringing the dusky, cracking feel of their records to life onstage while at the same time playing around with their songs’ compositions.

Geoff Barrow, the group’s production mastermind, switched between percussion, guitar, bass, and turntables. He was impressive on all those instruments, but his scratch-solos were serious highlights. Barrow’s big moments didn’t’t exactly flaunt their technical mastery, but they always made perfect musical sense for their moments. Guitarist Adrian Utley ripped though delirious ’70s-soul solos or bottom-heavy fuzzbombs whenever he had to. The group’s live drummer proved to be great at recreating Barrow’s dusty breakbeats without so much as a single extraneous fill. This is a group of people very good at what it does.

With its militaristic, gunfire-like synth march, Machine Gun was as experimental as it was visceral, and tonight, Chuck D accompanied it with a verse from Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.

Gibbons, who barely spoke a word to the audience all night, seemed small and wraith-like onstage, her face usually hidden under hair and shadow. But at the end of the set, when she smiled huge and pulled off the world’s least likely stage-dive, it suddenly became obvious that she’d been having fun all along. Her voice was warm and tremulous, and it sounded absolutely incredible throughout the night.Though the energy level was completely different than last night. I was in absolute bliss.

Setlist:  (abbreviated as it differed from last night)Nylon Smile (instead of Hunter)
Machine Gun(with Chuck D)
Chase the Tear
We Carry On (w/ Simeon from Silver Apples)

  We learned after last night that the after -parties at Asbury Lanes fill up quick and this being the last after-party of the festival and Shepard Fairey was gonna be DJ’n, we knew we had to haul serious across the street to get over there and get in. The cool thing is that we were some of the first to arrive so we had no problem getting in. After being their for only about 20 mins I learned just how lucky as I when I went outside to smoke the line was already stretched to Pennsylvania. It was also during this smoke break where the wheels of this perfect day began to unravel. You can’t take away all that we saw/did today, one of the most unforgettable days of my life, and we were ending it at Asbury Lanes, the same place we started at this morning with Shellac, I just wished it had ended as well as it had begun.
I’m not here to divulge too much private information, I’m just trying to tell a story here for you, myself and for the sake of posterity – so if anything is revealed, its only in the name of advancing the story and that is my only agenda. So with that in mind I must tell you that Erin is not supposed to be drinking alcohol, like at all, and we had a deal on this trip that she wouldn’t.
However given the amazing day that we had, and all that we had seen, and now we were about to get down with Shepard Fairey, and I wanted a beer too, when she asked if she could have one, I relented and ordered us both a drink. Big mistake.
That’s what gets me, I always think its going to be ok – but it never is and its never just one. I wanted to smoke and they were only letting people out one at a time and normally letting me out of her sight for one sec would have caused big problems but she was totally okay with me smoking alone (that should have been my first clue).
Though I was enjoying her all day, I prolonged my cigarette break to enjoy a rare moment to myself and it would cost me. Having said that, I was still only gone for about 15 mins and when I returned I saw her before she saw me and when she did she quickly threw away an empty bottle of beer while still holding another.
I don’t know how many she managed to get down in my absence but in 15 mins time she went from the excitement of just seeing Portishead to being smashed, and I was super pissed off.
I tried to just grin and bear it but soon it would become inescapable.Shepard was setting up and it seemed like the entire festival was here – He was playing all of that fun shit that I like and that I like to spin – None of that Dubstep nonsense or trying to make some artistic statement, just getting people to dance and have fun. All the fun shit from Run-DMC to Rob Base, to Pete Rock etc.

I  tried to get into it and just forget about what was happening with her while still keeping my eye on her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself, and I did for awhile, totally losing myself in the music, but her bullshit was catching up fast. Not only did we see Geoff Barrow again but the entire Portishead crew were here.
She insisted that I go talk to Geoff and I did for a bit (dude probably thinks I’m stalking him today).

But I was just so angry that I was in a dream situation with all of my heroes,that I certainly am not likely to be in again, and I couldn’t go hang for fear of what her situation could yield (trust me on this). It wasn’t like I was gonna get pics with them and ask for autographs, but I had a chance to hang for real and I know the score, and I had to just idly keep my distance and let the opportunity pass me by. Their was no way I was gonna live with being embarrassed in front of these people so I just let it go and decided to enjoy just being there and in their presence.
I called that same Taxi guy to get us back and he shows up and takes us and four others (all to the same fleabag) – and when we get there he says that its only $9 bucks – Ok cool, and I even thought he meant $9 bucks per party, but oh no, it was $9 bucks per person. It would have been highway robbery to charge just us $18 for this 8 min cab ride, but he bled the lot of us for $60 bucks for this short ride. I’m telling you if you are ever in Asbury Park, rent a car, DON’T TAKE CABS –

Worshiping at the Albini altar is routine, but the first of the band’s two Bell House shows displayed why the band deserves the props. The musicians were ass-tight meticulous, the song selection stellar, the sound immaculate (Albini called the Bell House “the best place to play in the NYC metropolitan area”), and the set lasted a staggering 100 minutes.

Albini’s bizarro-world, rhythmically challenged dance twitches are worth the price of admission alone, but the between-song shenanigans and banter set Shellac apart from the typically abstract inside joke jargon usually spewed at shows. Some highlights (or lowlights), if you will:

• Best joke of the evening, courtesy of Weston: “What’s brown and sticky? My Beyoncé poster.”
• Funniest song intro, courtesy of Albini: “This song is called “I Came In You.” “It’s about intercourse.”
• Best baseball-related advice for the recently manager-less Chicago White Sox, courtesy of Albini: “They need to hire Buck Showalter.”
• Best hot-dog-related advice from Weston: “Last year, I ate three hot dogs. I got sick but not from the hot dogs being bad, but because I had three. My tummy hurt.”
• Best advice from Albini about purchasing gear: Don’t go to Guitar Center. Albini bought a new guitar strap there for $44.
• Best friendly natured jab at Albini, courtesy of Weston: After being asked by an audience member “What’s better: jam or jelly?” Weston retorted with “I am going to jam (and jelly) my dick up Steve’s mom’s ass.”

Setlist – Canada
Copper
Watch Song
Squirrel Song
My Black Ass
A Minute
You Came In Me
The End of Radio
Steady as She Goes
Dog & Pony Show
Crow
Spoke

Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley provided the unequivocal ambiance of all things Portishead, with keyboards, percussion, metallic snare drums and turntable tricks strewn about. It seemed like as the night went on, the group’s dynamic intensified throughout, with each song becoming more rigid, building up on an emotional level that made the cast of thousands simply watch in awe.

All in all, seeing Portishead live was the equivalent of the life cycle of a human heart living through the most extreme of emotions. That, in and of itself, is unforgettable.

In terms of the setlist they just repeated the same show as the first night of the ATP Festival in Asbury Park. In terms of what the crowd was like, I have to admit that I was at times beyond annoyed. This little gay dude in front of us was so obnoxious and selfish with his gesticulations as were crammed in like sardines, and given my anger from earlier, I don’t know how I didn’t punch him. I think Beth Gibbon’s unbelievable expression saved the dude a beating and myself from going completely insane.

 Erin’s little tickets stunt almost came back to bite her in the ass – See this was her last night in the city and she wanted to do something different which I can completely understand. I’m the one obsessed with Portishead not her, so on her last night, I can see why she wouldn’t wanna go see the same band that she’s seen three of the last four nights, a band that until last week hadn’t ever heard of except from me. Just like in Los Angles earlier this year, she didn’t wanna spend her last in Los Angeles seeing Prince for the 5th time (and that time she got her wish as I rolled solo to that last Prince show).
So I was fine with her not going though it was her last night in NY, and though it may sound selfish if this was any other band I might have relented and said “You know what? three nights in a row is enough, this is your last night, let’s do what you wanna do” – But this was something special that I hadn’t been waiting so long for and she knew and agreed to that before hand, and also, her jealous antics with the tickets and that shit she pulled our last night in Asbury Park really wasn’t motivating me much.
But remember, at the very least since she pulled that shit, she now had to go to Hammerstein to claim the tickets and then what? So if she was gonna go through all that why not just see the show with me? Her true motivation was to keep an eye on me for sure.
Enough of this nonsense, let’s see Portishead one more time :)Everything about the show—from the wall of live video carefully manipulated in real-time behind them, to the thoughtful set-up of individual and overlapping spotlights on stage, to the crisp and perfect sound—was immaculate. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a live performer with a better voice than Beth Gibbons. What a heartbreak machine that woman is! Don’t get me wrong, the newest material they’ve put out has been ace, but hearing her note-perfect in taking on the old Dummy torchsongs like Mysterions, Sour Times, and Glory Box was jaw-dropping. On Wandering Star, stripped down to an intimate duet with her and Geoff Barrow both crouching at center stage, she kept elevating her devastated moan, higher, higher, until the crowd just totally lost it. They lost it a lot. Every time her face flashed on the big screen, warped and ghostly from whatever distorted filter they were using, it had a grimace of emotional exhaustion. .

As a live band, with five on-stage players beside Gibbons, Portishead are double impressive. It was on this level that material from 2008’s Third really hit. Hearing them work into krautrock grooves, two drummers pounding, on something like Machine Gun, you were kind of amazed at the heaviness (it was ominously accompanied on the big screen by a slow crawl down some murderer’s warehouse hallway). Adrian Utley’s guitar solo on We Carry On is something you’d have never expected from their 90s work—aggressive and agitating rather than coolly removed. On material from their creepy-crawly 1997 self-titled album, Geoff Barrow did some live record-scratching, or most likely simulated it on some newfangled computer program. Rather than sounding dated, it added a compellingly huge dose of freaked-out noise to songs like Cowboys and Over.

It all sounded dark and fresh in the face of the ironically smooth crooning, day-glo keyboard noodles, and tiny, reverbed ditties that our borough has recently produced. For elegance, they might never top that famous Roseland show with the New York Philharmonic. For transporting power, I can’t imagine I’ll see a better show for the rest of the year.
In terms of the setlist, they did the same setlist as they did the second night of ATP – so those two shows (minus the special guests) mirrored these two, but somehow these two shows felt special and powerful and I’ll never forget them.As we were stepping out after the show that night – Brooklyn Vegan snapped a shot of us (unbeknown to me until someone emailed me to tell me) – and its got to be the worst pic of me ever – I notoriously take bad photos, but look how tired I look – I look like 15 years older than what I really am, as compared to looking 10 years younger like I normally do which is source of pride for me. I know the hustle is hard, and I hustle like no one else, but the stress is clearly getting to me.