Ten Years Of ATP: Dirty Three

The last time we saw Dirty Three was mere days ago, in a set for ATP's In Betweeners club. There were only about fifty of us in the crowd, and lead man Warren Ellis was playing his songs not from his violin, but from an audience member's iPhone held against the microphone, shushing us against the tinny strains of his recorded work. It was an exquisite moment. It will never happen again, and never should.

But like Aussie rocker collaborator Nick Cave, Dirty Three specialise in drawing out the beauty from the grotesque, and so it was that they provided us with the most ethereal moment of the weekend. After a rollicking bout of lugubrious pirate folk anthems and onstage hocked loogies, Warren and the other two grizzled denizens of acid blues halt their performance to invite Oni and Pikachu of Afrirampo to the main stage once more. The spunk-tastic duo bear beer boxes full of deflated balloons, which they chuck out to the audience from the photo pit after overcoming a series of delightful language failures. Warren cites the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' flashy visuals as a source of envy, explaining, “We don't have pyrotechnics, but this is the closest we can get.”

Inflating a scurvy-green balloon himself, he pronounces, “Here's to wishing everyone at ATP ten more years of one of the greatest festivals of all time!” As if in agreement, a hundred balloons float up from the previously insufferable crowd that has been the bane of our existences these past two days - a vision of splendour coaxed out from the grime. This magical reverse balloon drop orchestrated by the Dirty Three reinforces the excellence of their showmanship, and they kick-jump where Karen O on Day 1 keeled over: Though rock n' roll often breeds an egotism and ugliness, Dirty Three return ATP to being a celebration of fans and bands coming together to live a moment worth remembering for another ten years.

Dirty Three ATP Photos (From: Stu Green / shot2bits.net):