“All Tomorrow’s Parties” Comes to Lower East Side

Big news today in the music world — The Lower East Side is the new home of the American-version of “All Tomorrow’s Parties.” The highly regarded British music festival is moving from Asbury Park to Pier 36, the Basketball City facility at the end of Montgomery Street.

The festival takes place September 21-23. Afghan Whigs singer Greg Dulli is this year’s curator.  Performers include: Philip Glass with Tyondai Braxton, the Roots, Lightning Bolt, the Make-Up, Godspeed You Black Emperor, the Dirty Three and the Antlers, Chavez.

More details from the New York Times on the reasons for the move to the LES:

Barry Hogan, who organizes the event with his wife, Deborah Kee Higgins, said they had always planned to move the festival to the city eventually, but the decision was accelerated by low attendance at Asbury Park. It can be hard, he said, to get New Yorkers to take a train to the Jersey Shore and rent a hotel room to see music when they are surrounded by it all the time. “I think it will be the change ATP needs to make it positive,” Mr. Hogan said in an interview on Thursday. “The events are great but we never get quite the amount of ticket sales we need to make it cost-effective. The climate is tough.” All Tomorrow’s Parties… has developed a reputation for outstanding lineups and that has made it beloved among musicians as well as fans, and for an anticorporate attitude that makes ATP events stand out — unlike almost every other big festival, there are no banners advertising corporate sponsors or stages named after soft drinks. But that stance has also made ATP more vulnerable than corporate-backed festivals. “Even though we love Asbury Park and had a fantastic event there last year, we have found a killer spot in New York that you can walk to from the Lower East Side,” Mr. Hogan said. “It was a tough decision but we had to do what was right for the event to ensure its continued success in the long run.”