Mojo - The Music Magazine

Episode 5. Cat paintings and Cretan lyres, at altitude

Saturday, January 10th, Mount Buller, ATP Day 2

I'm surprised when Michael Gira (the man behind Swans, Angels Of Light, and Young God Records, the label responsible for first foisting Devendra Banhart on the world) informs me that he's never before visited Australia. Not surprisingly then, a sizable, expectant crowd has gathered at the Amphitheatre, including quasi-hippies and a predictably black clad contingent, but also a team of presumably ironic types impeccably decked out in tennis whites and visor caps.

Onstage Gira is as lofty and craggy a presence as the remote and unpitying mountain range behind him. He's in solo acoustic mode, a sharp contrast to the monolithic thunder he's better known for. Whether sonorously intoning or yowling with almost embarrassing abandon to his own lone guitar accompaniment, Gira manages to simultaneously project both naked vulnerability and Olympian disdain. He presents a mix of his classic numbers like God Damn the Sun alongside unrecorded new songs like Opium.

Words like "murder" "revenge" "skin" and "flesh" do tend crop up more than once in his lyrics. But I've known Michael since my Sonic Youth days, and incongruously, despite his Caligulan repute, I've always found him to be a really warm, down-to-earth guy. And he throws a mean barbecue.

The festival's offered many firsts on many levels, quite literally. There's such diversity (to say nothing of eccentricity) in the programming, and yet everything seems to be somehow accessible. The great thing about having such a compact presentation with just two stages, is that a lot of the crowd randomly wandering will just happen upon one-of-a-kind performers like Psarandonis (awesome Cretan lyre player), and might quite unexpectedly "get into it". (The maniacal free-form dust storm dance-fest that Psarandonis' set sparked certainly seems to suggest that he's won over at least a few novice fans.) And this mountain top setting is really special and inspiring. I dare say Australia's never seen any event quite like this.

Another first for Australia is the very small but exquisite collection of Louis Wain artworks exhibited on site. Organized as part of ATP's non-musical programme, each piece was personally selected by avid collector Dr. N. Cave.

First up of the two final night headliners, Spiritualized surpassed even our elevated expectations, erecting a majestic, supernal cathedral of sound, blasted in a blinding arctic lightshow perfectly suited to this sublime landscape. Well known for their penchant for upper atmosphere venues, Spiritualized did shows at the late lamented World Trade Center's Windows On the World and the CN Tower in Toronto on their "Floating In Space" tours. Mainman Jason Pierce reckons Mount Buller is the highest they've ever played, and averred that he would make a pilgrimage to Buller's summit to greet the dawn. Unfortunate footnote here, but Jamiroquai still officially hold the current Guinness World Book of Records for the highest gig ever played (35,000 feet) for the concert they did aboard a flight back in 2007. Somebody, please! Wrest the crown from this hideous band!

The Bad Seeds, for our part, played an absolutely perfect set, a perfect ending to the event. What more can I say? Don't get me started...

Read chapter 6. And ye shall know him by his red right arm...