Matt Groening Named As 2003 ATP Curator

After an inaugural run that was plagued with a few glitches, the U.S. leg of the popular British All Tomorrow's Parties festival will return next year.

ATP is a unique turn in festival culture — rather than simply booking bands that will provide a draw, each year the festival organizers name a curator who has full license to book all of his or her favourite bands. The result is an event that changes drastically year after year.

This year's American ATP, which was held in Los Angeles this past March, was put together by the members of seminal New York noise rock band Sonic Youth (the British counterpart was curated by Shellac). The fest, which was initially scheduled for October, 2001 but had to be postponed after September 11, eventually took place from March 14-17 on the U.C.L.A. campus. While the event boasted a diverse line-up that included Peaches, Big Star, The Boredoms, Unwound and Papa M, many attendees complained about the fact that the festival was broken into individual shows that were held in venues throughout the UCLA campus, rather than on one festival-style site. Many venues hosting big namers like Eddie Vedder and Television filled up quickly, leaving a lot of fans out in the cold. That's changing for ATP 2003.

Billboard is reporting that organizers will sell tix to individual venues, rather than open-ended festival passes. ATP has also announced the curator of next year's festival: Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons. Groening is an odd choice in that he's not a musician, but he's a more qualified pick than one may think. A former rock critic, Groening has Simpsonized many bands in the past, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Ramones, R.E.M. and coincidentally enough, Sonic Youth.

No artists have been announced just yet, but Groening is a professed experimental music fan, so expect to see bands like Pere Ubu and The Residents on the bill. For more info on both the British and American ATP festivals, check out the official All Tomorrow's Parties website.