ATP In Between Days - Day 3

Feeling slightly delicate by this time (this was my 6th day at Butlins and JJ and Will's 4th) we began day 3 of IBD with a ride on the local train service. Actually that's not strictly true as James had began the day many hours earlier and by this time had probably already cycled 50 miles before any of us had eaten brunch.

Anyway, the local West Somerset Railway is steam driven. So we were going for a ride to nowhere on a steam train.



I had prepared some mixes for the travelers which they could download before the journey, if they so desired. I think most chose to ignore these so I'm offering them up now if any one is interested. One, Two and Three. Usual right click to download business. Not sure how long these will stay up for. The first two (Getting There and Coming Back) are for getting baked and staring out the window. The third (and safer option) is a bunch of tunes with train themes.

The real highlight of the journey, besides the spectacular "Geology Wall" at Watchet Station, was Connan Mockasin who played an acoustic set in one of the carriages.





They played acoustic versions of songs from their excellent "Please Turn Me Into the Snat" LP and an Amos dedicated version of Tutti Frutti, which I managed to miss as I'd been watching from a platform on one of the stops. Suddenly the train started to move off while the band played in the carriage. Surreal stuff. The part of the set I saw was amazing and I've been assured the rest was too.

A quick mention for the best dressed man on the trip.



You can't get the full effect from this image but the styler was wearing a Gillingham Football Club (The Gills) knitted bobble hat, orange trousers, and a killer black cape with (I think) a twin lion's head and chain fastener.

The unusual juxtaposition of drinking real ale on a steam train, whilst at a rock festival was noted by more than one individual.

After the train ride it was time for high culture and a poorly attended book group meeting. We had been asked to pick a book to discuss, as had the other curators for the two weekends either end of our days. Our choice was Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, a modern masterpiece and a big favourite of James and me.



There were so few attendees that we took them back to our chalet to continue. In fact we knew all the attendees by this point. Honourable mentions to Ruth (who heroically led the session), Neil from the band Mugstar (a very smart man), Jason from Mugstar (a very nice man), Harry (all round decent gent), James, myself and Bronagh (pub quiz mistress and co-founder of upcoming denim fashion label, Fallow) who hadn't read the book but wanted to discuss it anyway. It was a very pleasant and stimulating couple of hours. Most civilised. The book is an essential read by the way.

Just before the evening's music the organisers of ATP, Barry and Deborah, sat for a Q&A, giving hardcore fans a rare opportunity to probe them about their events. This was very well attended and the debate was lively. I also got to meet a few of the individuals who we had personalised posters for.






As mentioned in a previous post, James and I had come up with an idea to print up a bunch of different posters and stick these up around the various venues and thoroughfares throughout the whole 10 days and all three festivals. These posters made ridiculous commands or statements and could pop up anywhere. The ATP runners were deciding when and where to place them.

Specifically for the In Between Days we personalised a few to surprise selected festival goers. We'd never met these people before so they were completely unaware and once seen I think the posters had the desired affect. All the posters proved very popular and wherever they went up, they didn't last long. I think there were around 40 different designs in total (not including the personal ones).






Later that evening Connan Mockasin gave another performance, this time plugged in and on a static stage. We also got to rock out to the SF psych sound of the excellent Wooden Shjips, and groove to Four Tet's rhythmic electronic meditations. Once again we were spoilt with exceptional performances.

I'll finish this post with more superfluous nonsense from Wednesday's 'zine.









Still more soon...