I went to the MBV ATP, saw some good things : EPMD, De La Soul, Buzzcocks, Lightning Bolt (fucking amazing), MBV, Sun Ra's Arkestra. Some shite there too (Primal Scream were rubbish, very interesting observing them in a small venue. Oh, this is the bit in the song where Bobby shakes his head like that film of Mick Jagger we've both seen. He's got a kind of dent in his neck from doing the same head toss night after night for many years. V uncool.)
The venue and the crowd both dampened my enjoyment of the thing to be honest. Butlins is just not a very atmospheric venue. You can kind of lose yourself in the music and get into a good headspace for flailing around and enjoying yourself but then you open your eyes and find yourself up against one of those magic claw machines next to a fruit machine next to house of the dead 2 inside a Pizza Hut full of pallid emos adjoining a Harry Ramsden's full of couples who aren't talking, and cold grey daylight is filtering in through the panels in the thunderdome ceiling so you can see the inch thick dust on the plastic palm trees.
The crowd, well, I suppose it varies from event to event but I witnessed a resounding absence of what I take as standard festival behaviour, ie loosening up a bit, talking to randoms, meeting people, getting wasted and having fun. Nobody seemed up for mixing. I met three or four people over three days and meeting people is one of my favourite things about big music events. And practically the first thing anyone I spoke to said was 'this lot are a bit up themselves and unfriendly'.
When the bands aren't playing (and they didn't start til mid afternoon when I was there) there is basically sod all to do on site. No interesting people to look at, no activities bar what is already there at Butlins, ie water slides and junk food retail opportunities. So you go back to your chalets and hang around there drinking until you can face going out and mingling with the introverts again. Or you go for a walk on the freezing beach which is admittedly very beautiful but marred by the enormous plastic dome from which you have just emerged.
Oh and there were rabbits with myxomatosis and seagulls the size of Great Danes all over the fucking shop. It's weird. I wouldn't rush back.
... theyre still sat here on my desk as a constant reminder of my lame-itude. ... love the concept tho, and it's twee as fuck in very good ways. a buddy went to the Animal Collective one last may and enjoyed it [and met/hung with The Frogs, which seemed pretty cool]. Love that the venue stages are really small and intimate, since I dont like big arenas & stages the size of most of the main festivals
thought it might cheer you up!