Pharoah Sanders, legendary tenor sax player kept the good vibes going in Reds on Sunday. He and his band (including one of the hardest working drummers in a festival full of hard working drummers) brought ATP’s hangovers to their knees. Jazz cures all.

Toro Y Moi graced the Centre Stage three hours earlier than planned and we pity anyone who didn’t get the message. For a 24 year old, Chaz Bundick has produced some of the most effecting electronica in recent years. Any concerns we had of the wistful, sun flecked songs from Causers of This being lost on an intensely cold and wet Sunday were dispelled instantly. Reworking a lot of his songs, Toro Y Moi was joined on stage by a drummer and a bassist, giving the show a hell of a lot more edge. To add to this, someone sweet-talked Caribou into letting the band borrow their lighting rig, which made the mental journey to South Carolina on the good ship Electronica all the more spectacular.

Orchestra of Spheres played Reds immediately after Toro Y Moi. Maybe the wind & rain had dampened the mood, but the best we can say is that they were basically fine. A New Zealand four piece, decorated in glow sticks and playing home made instruments. They’ve definitely got a fan base out there but really, once you’ve seen one sphere, you’ve pretty much seen them all. No need for an orchestra. The drummer spent most of the second song picking his nose.

Thankfully, Sun Ra Arkestra ladled some more jazz soup onto Centre Stage in the early evening. Fifteen(ish) middle aged to elderly men in sequin robes flitting between romantic melody, chaotic shouting, breakdancing, laughing, and telling tales of how they arrived from a far off planet to perform. Sample lyric: “Saturn’s rings, the rings of Saturn. Saturn is where discipline is from.” What’s not to love about Sun Ra Arkestra?

Tucked away in the Crazy Horse bar were Silver Apples, one of the greatest and most criminally unknown acts in world. Simeon was on fine form, right from the off when his first oscillator twist nearly blew out the speakers. Simeon looked genuinely touched by the warmth of those that love his work and those that had just discovered him.

Caribou closed the weekend with their Vibration Ensemble. An epic end to an epic weekend. Joined on stage by Four Tet and members of the Sun Ra Arkestra amongst others, the group worked through Caribou’s songs with zeal, complexity and enormous volume leaving our ears ringing. Sunday best indeed.

With that, ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas was over for another year; Santa Hogan had delivered again. Any ATP doubts we may have had were soon dispelled. The news that the summer ATPs would be no more, the fact that only two stages were in use and that they had not sold out this weekend were all concerns, but don’t believe it. ATP is in as rude a health as it ever has been, even Bill Murray came along.

Words by Simon Lea
Photos by Elinor Jones

For more on ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas, check out our Friday and Saturday reviews.