This past weekend was blissful, all that was ATP in its full glory, mingling with friends oldish and new, and...I just want to cry from the happiness. I don't give a fuck if I sound like an emo; happiness is what I'm aiming for in life. Oh lord, where to start? The people. The roster. The place. The artists. But I won't. Instead I'll quickly recap watching Okkervil River live from there, and maybe write more about the whole trip that was ATP later, sunlight in a jar, et al.

X and I snagged front row places just after A Hawk And A Hacksaw had left the stage, and watched as the Okkervil River boys load their gear onto the stage. Patrick, Travis and Scott looked undeservedly healthy from having partied some the previous evening, and the audience was getting stoked, of course.

The band kicked off with Will being a gentleman as usual, asking people if they were alright. Later on he added that he hoped we all were having the fucking time of our lives during this weekend, and yeah, I'd say a lot of us were having just that.

The Balkan brass, accordion, violin and drums tinge left by A Hack And A Hacksaw was soon replaced with Will's breath of air as he lapsed into "The President's Dead". Ecstasy. Charlie Bissell from The Wrens was playing lead electric guitar and did sweet work at this, most notably by his "trickery" during and finishing "It Ends With A Fall", which very nearly made me cry from the new arrangement; I can't tell you how much this band means to me, and I'll be forever grateful for X introducing them.

Travis was drumming while doing his unmistakable faces, utterly into his own thing and injecting more and more energy as the gig advanced while Will started getting warm enough to loosen his tie and wrap it around Travis' neck, then lunge into an ass-shaker off "The Stage Names", to which Patrick held his bass high in the air - and mind you, the guy's tall - while Scott shook a tambourine and Justin clanked the keys. I sometimes wish every hour were like this. I also wish I could express how Will's re-phrasing his songs - as opposed to how he does it on album - time and time again, is unique and valuable. Unique in the sense that rarely other singers do it, and valuable as it changes meanings for me. Morrissey does it, and still he and Will are highly individual at this game. And, of course, Will being himself, he's not in the least stuck-up. I must also add his singing is stronger by every time I see them live.

The band had to stay in a one-hour time frame as others had to play after them. How I wish they could have taken The National's spot the same night, as they got last billing on the same stage, earning them 1,5 hours of playing and two encores. Still, Okkervil are coming to Way Out West in August, and I'm definitely seeing them in November. And then there's always the recordings...

Here's the video I shot of them at ATP, featuring "The President's Dead/Black", "It Ends With A Fall" and "John Allyn Smith Sails".