All Tomorrow's Parties -- or rather, the American spinoff of the original English festival -- may get a little less hype than the other blockbuster summer festivals in this country, but it's one of the best going. That's because rather than just splatter the latest hype bands across a bunch of stages, like every other big fest, ATP's performers are hand-picked by an individual, musically legendary curator every year.
This means a slate of acts that tend to run towards left field, often along the space- / post- / lo fi- / fuzz / sludge-rock side of things. In other words, very little Apple commercial music, which is pretty darn refreshing for such a big-budget, destination event.
This year's curator is film auteur Jim Jarmusch, and among the amazing bands on the lineup are Boris and Sunn O))) performing as Altar, the reunited Sleep, Raekwon, Fucked Up ... and patron saint of Miami Iggy Pop, who, along with the Stooges, will perform Raw Power in its entirety.
Go ahead and weep tears of rage that you are likely missing this. Almost every bit of lodging around the tiny Catskills town where the festival is held long ago sold out, and getting there from Miami involves an eventually pricey plane/bus/taxi combo pilgrimage. But there's still a way!
It's the Internet age, so it's unsurprising that you can score a way to the festival via ... a video contest! MVD Entertainment Group, which releases some killer archival music films and reissued albums, has launched a new web site: IntheHandsoftheFans.com.
In the site's inaugural contest, you can win a chance to go to All Tomorrow's Parties and interview Iggy live on site. To enter, submit a brief, high-definition video either asking Iggy questions, or just demonstrating why you should win. Online voters -- as well as Iggy and the Stooges themselves! -- will pick six winners.
All winners' footage will be included in a DVD created after the experience, which we really don't get but sounds interesting, we think (?): "This fan shot footage, along with the contestant video submissions, will be crafted into a high definition longform program, which will be part concert film and part reality TV show about the journey of the fans."
According to more intel from the site's creators, the In the Hands of the Fans deal is meant to be a franchise, with similar contests and resulting films in the works for a number of additional big-deal artists. Visit InTheHandsoftheFans for full entry details.
Here's a little video intro to the whole thing from Iggy himself, as well as another Crossfade favorite punk rock legend, Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators (and the East Village dive-bar staple Manitoba's).
