SLEEP have been announced as one of the bands on the lineup of "Release The Bats" a festival lineup put together by All Tomorrow's Parties. Also appearing are The Breeders, Jesus Lizard. White Walls, UV Race, Total Control and reformations by The Scientists and Hoss.
Dear Australia,
We know that you aren't terribly into Halloween. We find this to be a bit of a shame. Therefore we want you to try something to help remedy that situation and get you to look forward to Halloween this year just as much as we do. And not just dress up all crazy and dark. Not saying that you shouldn't. You definitely should. Get dark. It's Halloween, dammit!
It's not because we particularly care all that much about how a bunch of disaffected and fatally unprepared religious coconuts left England's green shores on a questionably named boat, and, having lost half of their number to the cruel hardships of their first winter, then felt the need to thank God profusely every time the autumn harvest promised to keep them alive. In turn they let this devolve into either kids extorting candy from surly neighbours, or, conversely, hiding from the neighbours' awful blackmailing kids.
It is in fact because we sincerely love one last big old bash before - in the case of America or England - it gets too cold to do stuff, or in the case of Australia - too hot to do stuff. And, because we love doing this, we've gone and got a bunch of excellent live-music playing people in the one place, and asked them to get busy doing what they do best. Creating music that will make you feel alive.
We call it RELEASE THE BATS, and you may get excited about it being held IN AUSTRALIA this year RIGHT NOW!! Attending this excellent event is what we would like you to try.
Why are we all excited about this? We haven't done it in Australia yet. And, if you're as old as we are, you will have heard of a little band that was around a few years back called The Breeders, and, having managed to talk them into putting on their floaties for a Last Splash in the UK, we thought we might try and talk them into coming down to perform at the Westgate Entertainment Centre and Grand Star reception in Altona, Melbourne - the site of our recent I'll Be Your Mirror festival co-curated by The Drones. GUESS WHAT?!! YES!!! THEY SAID YES!!!
That makes us feel all good and warm and fuzzy.
That, however, is not, in and of itself, terribly scary.
Like we said before, it's Halloween, dammit.
We want you to be quaking in your boots.
Literally and figuratively.
We conjured something that will.
Prepare your soul for a dark journey, fellow traveller. The core of your very being will be assaulted by the audio maelstrom that is the Jesus Lizard - flying in for this very rare and exclusive appearance - their first Australian visit since 1998. They will summon five kinds of hell, and unleash raw, dark forces that will confront your psyche. They promise the sonic equivalent of staring at the sun. Hope that you are ready for the starkness that is reality when, like all things in this existence, it ends.
Happy Halloween.
Like we said, prepare yourself. We suggest using the medium of wardrobe to pay homage via a particularly clever reference to either: one of the bands playing, or one of their finer recognisable pieces of either album or single work, and you will be found. And you will be rewarded. With a prize. We don't know what the prizes are yet (give us a break - its 6 months away!), but we are working on it, but you can probably guess that it is going to be something completely awesome. Just like this, the first time ATP sets out to RELEASE THE BATS!
Line-Up:
The Breeders performing Last Splash (only Victorian show)
the Jesus Lizard (only Victorian show)
The Scientists
F*ck Buttons
Lightning Bolt
Sleep
Forest Swords
Total Control
Hoss
The UV Race
White Walls
The Spinning Rooms
+ more to be confirmed!
Date: The festival takes place on Saturday October 26th 2013. The event starts at midday and runs until 1am - headliners will finish by 11pm with around 14 acts in total set to play live.
Location: Another unique aspect of ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror is the location, offering both indoor and outdoor space just a stones throw from the CBD. The Westgate Entertainment Centre and Grand Star Receptions - two venues in one complex in Altona - just 13km away from the centre of Melbourne. And no - it won't be as hot as last time. There will be two stages, a cinema, art exhibition and an amazing food court. The event is limited to just 5000 attendees. One of the extracurricular highlights of our recent event, Pricasso, will return to paint some special Halloween portraits in his own inimitable style.
Tickets: Tickets are priced at $150 (+ booking fee) and are on sale now from this link!
