In April 2000, Sonic Youth performed at the first All Tomorrow's Parties festival, in E. Sussex, UK. Their set, which consisted of a brand new 20-minutes-plus piece and new material from the forthcoming NYC Ghosts & Flowers LP, was widely regarded as a sonic misfire and a colossal disappointment. However, they were impressive enough to be asked by the organizers to curate a North American version of the festival, which was to originally take place on the weekend of October 19-21st, 2001. Following the September 11th attacks, these initial dates were postponed until March 15-17th, 2002, with a 4th date added at the beginning of the festival.
The event, held at various venues on the UCLA campus, was an extreme success -- a thoroughly compelling weekend of exciting, challenging, versatile musical acts and performers, capped off with one of the best Sonic Youth shows I've ever seen. In addition to SY's grand finale, each member performed in at least one non-SY setting, from wild freeform improvisations to supporting "Smells Like..." artists to beltin' out Stooges tunes.
I've listed the information for SY's main performance and their individual side projects. Below is a list of all artists who performed at the festival:
Nathaniel Mackey 7:10 - 7:30 Ira Cohen 7:35 - 7:55 Gerard Malanga 8:05 - 8:25 Lydia Lunch 8:35 - 8:55 Smog 9:05 - 9:45 John Sinclair 10:00 - 10:45 Cecil Taylor 11:00 - 12:00
Quix*o*tic 5:45 - 6:20 Christina Rosenvinge 6:40 - 7:15 Kim Gordon/Ikue Mori/ 7:35 - 8:10 DJ Olive/Jim O'Rourke Eddie Vedder 8:15 - 9:15 Cat Power 9:30 - 10:15 Television 10:35 - 11:35 Stephen Malkmus 12:00 - 1:00 & The JicksACKERMAN GRAND BALLROOM
White Out 5:45 - 6:20 Erase Errata 6:40 - 7:15 US Maple 7:35 - 8:10 Bardo Pond 8:30 - 9:10 Neil Michael Hagerty 9:30 - 10:10 Unwound 10:30 - 11:30 Asheton/Mascis/Watt 11:55 - 1:00
Chris Lee 4:00 - 4:35 Deerhoof 4:55 - 5:30 Destroy All Monsters 5:50 - 6:25 Califone 6:45 - 7:20 Lee Ranaldo/Kevin 7:40 - 8:25 Drumm/Leah Singer Jackie O Motherfucker 8:45 - 9:25 Papa M 9:45 - 10:25 Big Star 10:45 - 11:30 Wilco 11:50 - 1:15ACKERMAN GRAND BALLROOM
Bride of No No 4:00 - 4:35 Thurston Moore/Mats 4:55 - 5:30 Gustafsson/William Winant/Nels Cline Cannibal Ox 5:50 - 6:25 Fred Anderson Trio 6:45 - 7:25 Mad Lib 7:45 - 8:25 Merzbow 8:45 - 9:25 Sleater-Kinney 9:45 - 10:30 Boredoms 10:50 - 11:50 Aphex Twin 12:00 - 1:15KERCKHOFF HALL
Satan's Tornade 6:30 - 7:15 Fursaxa 7:30 - 8:10 Renee Gladman 8:20 - 8:30 Pita 8:40 - 9:15 Tony Conrad 9:30 - 11:00
Black Dice 4:00 - 4:40 Saccharine Trust 5:00 - 5:40 Dead C 6:00 - 6:40 Peaches 7:00 - 7:40 Mike Watt's Secondmen 8:00 - 8:40 Stereolab 9:00 - 10:00 Sonic Youth 10:30 - 12:00 Return to the Sonic Youth Concert Chronology.