LIVE REVIEW: ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror, Alexandra Palace, London, 25th May 2012

//LIVE REVIEW: ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror, Alexandra Palace, London, 25th May 2012

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ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror with Slayer, Sleep and more, Alexandra Palace, London, 25th May 2012

Words and photos by Antony Roberts

All Tomorrow’s Parties festivals are not exactly known for metal line ups.  Sure sometimes they’ll get a curator with wide musical tastes and they’ll be a few heavier acts doted about on the line up, but generally they are quite a mixed affair.  It was with huge surprise that they announced that Slayer would be headlining one of the days at this year’s I’ll Be Your Mirror.  The surprise soon turned into general excitement in the UK metal scene when the rest of the support was announced.  Sleep were coming back for ATP, along with a lineup not to far away from the usual suspects to play at Roadburn Festival.

 
For those that didn’t make it here’s a quick overview of the festival and facilities, followed by a review of each of the bands that played.

THE FESTIVAL:

Ticket Price – for the Slayer day, £39 + booking – pretty damn good considering the line up

Queues – Despite arriving late, and to huge queues, security and door staff seemed to be doing a fine job. We were in within minutes, and thankfully out of the baking hot sun.  

Beer prices – around £4.30 a pint – cheaper than most outdoor festivals

Food – £5-7 for burgers/tacos/wraps and the usual festival fare – little more expensive than most festivals but this is London.  

Merch – tons to choose from by all the bands playing as well as separate vinyl stalls, but you had to be quick for vinyl.  Sleep’s Dopesmoker on picture disc was sold out before A Storm of Light had finished their first song.

Location – A little too far North London for my convenience, and quite the trek from the nearest underground, but free shuttle buses were laid on.

Disabled access – other than the huge hill to get to the venue, disabled access was fantastic with ramps throughout, and viewing platforms in both halls

Facilities – Toilets were kept clean and there were enough that queues were kept to a minimum throughout the day.

 

THE BANDS:

A STORM OF LIGHT

A Storm Of Light had already taken to the stage by the time we got into the West Hall and played a set heavily geared toward their latest album “As The Valley of Death Becomes Us”, finishing up with “Collapse”, and then “Black Wolves”.  Giant projections covered the back wall of the stage to accompany the music, and between the heat from one of the hottest days of the year, and the lethargic tones of Josh Graham, the crowd were sucked into a nodding mass.  A great start to the day, my only gripe was they could have been a bit louder.

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All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM A Storm Of Light ASOL live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM A Storm Of Light ASOL live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

YOB

Can Yob do anything wrong at the moment?  Following a storming set at Roadburn they came to London and showed the ATP crowd why band’s like Tool and Slayer are picking them up as a support act.   Opening with “Prepare The Ground” the first track from last year’s astounding “Atma” album, Mike and Aaron proceeding to bang the hell out of their heads furiously, whilst still managing to create a mountain of sound .  With the short time on stage Mike kept talk to the minimum between songs, but made sure to thank the crowd for their enthusiastic cheers between songs.  Continuing on with “Burning The Altar” and then finishing with “Adrift In The Ocean” their set seemed to be over as fast as it had been started, but within a short 45 minutes and just 3 songs, they managed to floor everything. 

 All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Yob live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

MELVINS

Next up was Melvins, the first band in the expansive Great Hall and they definitely suffered from the sound.   I’m not sure whether it was due to lack of bodies in the main hall, as it seemed a large proportion of the crowd had ventured out to the gardens, or smoking area, but the sound was very boomy.  The band themselves were on form running through their extensive back catalogue but unfortunately the sound ruined their set for me, so i grabbed some food and made the most of the sun outside.

 All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Melvins live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Melvins live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Melvins live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Melvins live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Melvins live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Melvins live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Melvins live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM

Playing in almost darkness bar some blue flourescent lights dotted around to light up their banners, it was quite odd seeing a band i’ve seen on some of the UK’s smallest stages, playing this behemoth of a hall.  I wondered how their trebly sound would fair, but the hall only added to their already heavily reverbed tones.  Opening with “Thuja Magus Imperium” from last year’s highly acclaimed “Celestial Lineage” their frostbitten sounds could not help fight the summer heat, as hordes swarmed in from outside to catch a majestic set from Washington’s finest BM export.  A full epic version of “I Will Lay Down My Bones Among The Rocks and Roots” took up the majority of their set.  If I had only one complaint about the festival is was that if the doors had opened earlier in the day, bands like Yob, WITTR, and Sleep could have then had longer sets, with songs clocking in around the 20 minute mark, a 45 minute set just isn’t long enough.

 All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Wolves In The Throne Room WITTR live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Wolves In The Throne Room WITTR live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Wolves In The Throne Room WITTR live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Wolves In The Throne Room WITTR live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs
SLEEP

What can I say that will do justice to Sleep’s set?  Mesmerising, mind blowing, and unbelievably heavy.  The smell in the main hall changed somewhat during their set, the smoke clearly not all coming from the stage, as fan’s took the band’s lyrics to it’s logical conclusion.  Sleep came and showed the London crowd a masterclass in crushing stoner doom.  Beginning and ending with parts from Dopesmoker sandwiched around “Holy Mountain” an ear melting bass heavy version of the Sabbath-esque “Dragonaut”, “Sonic Titan” and a crushing “From Beyond” I can now die happy….yes they were that good.  

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Sleep live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Sleep live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Sleep live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Sleep live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Sleep live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Sleep live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

 

SLAYER

Something seems to have happened in the Slayer camp recently.  In case you’ve been living in a cave Exodus’s Gary Holt is filling in for Jeff Hanneman due to a spider bite infection almost killing him last year.  Perhaps Hanneman’s bite has made them question their own mortality, perhaps Gary Holt’s enthusiasm has rubbed off, but no matter what the reason, Slayer are back and firing on all cylinders.  Opening with newer songs “World Painted Blood”, and “Psychopathy Red” they then tore through classic after classic.  “Die By The Sword”, “Chemical Warfare” and the now regular intro about a certain man called Ed signalled in “Dead Skin Mask”.  Araya was back to his former self, he’s back to screaming again and after a few disappointing shows several years back it’s awesome to see Slayer back as the legendary band you expect them to be live.  The tom tom drums battle triplet echoed in “Raining Blood” and so began the start of “Reign In Blood” in it’s entirety.  At this point the crowd decided to dispense with all sensibilities and just lose themselves to the music.  Pockets of the crowd opened up as pits started sprouting up everywhere, whilst the remainder just held horns aloft and banged their heads furiously. Following a ferocious version of “Jesus Saves” and a sea of circle pits around the venue, it was with a heavy heart that we had to leave midway through “Criminally Insane”.  Unfortunately due to the far North London location of Alexandra Palace, and having to get to the South for trains home we had to leave.  ATP festivals, thank you for putting on an awesome day with some fantastic bands, let’s hope the next “heavy” ATP curator isn’t too far in the future… 

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Slayer live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Slayer live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Slayer live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Slayer live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Slayer live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

All tomorrow's parties London 2012 I'll be your mirror IBYM Slayer live review gig listings metal gigs metalgigs

By |2012-05-28T00:00:00+00:00May 28th, 2012|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

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