12 Best Moments of All Tomorrow's Parties

The nerdiest of music nerds seized control of a dilapidated country club in Upstate, NY, this weekend for the third annual All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Their leader: indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers, Coffee and Cigarettes). Their entertainment: the leaders of noise- and indie-rock, from vets like Sonic Youth to newcomers like Girls, partially curated by Mr. Jarmusch himself.

The event -- the American spinoff of the 10-year-old UK fest -- was held at Kutsher's Country Club, the last of the grand Borscht Belt resorts in the Catskill Mountains, about 100 miles outside New York City near Monticello, NY -- and the ensuing party was an alt-rock free-for-all!

For three days and nights, roughly 2,500 rock fans ran rampant at Kutsher's, the all-inclusive getaway that inspired Dirty Dancing. Still furnished in 1970s décor (it's no longer in regular use), the resort features video game arcades, smoking lounges, a movie theatre, a mess hall, ski lift, numerous bars, 18-hole golf course, over 400 hotel rooms, a play ground, and a small lake on which concertgoers can go paddling. There's a sense of freedom -- security is minimal; there are no lines or photo pits; you can drink and smoke anywhere; skinny-dipping in the pool is a nightly activity; and the rooftop party went until 9 A.M.

There's no backstage area, so Kim Gordon could be ordering a drink at the bar beside you, or Iggy Pop chatting with fans in the lobby, or Steve Albini organizing an open game of poker (all of which actually happened). It's an indie rock utopia.

Here, read SPIN's Best Moments from ATP 2010.

BEST. PERIOD: SONIC YOUTH
"Apparently they age like fine wine!" exclaimed one concertgoer. He was right. The New York vets -- now all pushing 60 -- showed the young'uns how it was done during their 90-minute-plus set Saturday night. Performing as a four-piece (touring bassist Mark Ibold is reunited with his original outfit Pavement), Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley, and Lee Ranaldo played loud, furious, and noisy, banging their instruments with abandon (Moore switched between no less than 10 guitars, scrapping their strings with drum sticks and his mic stand) on gems like Daydream Nation's "Cross the Breeze" and E.V.O.L.'s "Shadow of a Doubt." Bad Moon Rising's "Death Valley '69" was the fiercest track with menacing guitars delivered by Moore in rock hip-lock pose, while Gordon, bouncing and feigning like she was being beaten, flailing her blonde hair, huffed and puffed, "Hit it! Hit it! Hit it!" in increasing volume and urgency. Ears were a'ringin'.

BEST MARRIAGE COUNSELING: THE BREEDERS
Steve Albini is officially out of the doghouse thanks to the Breeders. Instead of staying at home in Chicago to celebrate his one-year wedding anniversary, alt-rock's go-to producer hit ATP -- so Kim and Kelley Deal stopped their 17-song set to help him smooth things over with the lady. Kelley called Albini's wife, Heather, from the stage and had the crowd shout, "Happy anniversary, Mrs. Albini!!!" The packed audience was just as participant on set highlights "Bang On" and "No Aloha," clapping and singing along.

BEST MUSICAL FIREWORKS: EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
True to their name, this instrumental quartet's sound is indie rock's equivalent of bombs bursting in air. With Texas flags draped over their amps to rep their Austin roots, guitarists Mark Smith, Michael James, and Munaf Rayani built cinematic electric guitar symphonies -- see the soundtrack to Friday Night Lights (both the movie and TV series) -- on tracks like "Your Hand in Mine," then detonated them in a heavenly fury of cymbal crashes from drummer Chris Hrasky. The Stardust Ballroom, Kutsher's main stage, was an ideal venue: Concertgoers lounged on the floor and watched as multi-colored lights circled the room in slo-mo, illuminating the decor of comets, stars, and galaxies. It was truly stunning, and if you closed your eyes you could almost see the millions of shimmering sparks falling around you.

BEST SONIC SEDATIVE: HOPE SANDOVAL & THE WARM INVENTIONS
"You all look quite tired," Hope Sandoval, the onetime singer for '90s dream-pop hit makers Mazzy Star, told the Sunday crowd in the Stardust Ballroom. They did. And Sandoval's music is blissfully responsible. Her five-piece band, including collaborator Colm Ó Cíosóig of equally ethereal outfit My Bloody Valentine, sedated the crowd with jazzy electric guitar riffs with the reverb set to 11. "Blanchard," a spine-tingler off their new album, Through the Devil Softly, and "Suzanne," an older tune with xylophone plinks, both lulled the crowd as the chanteuse sang in a breathy whisper. Grainy black and white video of a ballerina twirling in a flowing dress, and footage of blue, green, and yellow watercolors smudging together added to the opiate dream state. Nighty, night.

BEST SAD SONG SUITE: GIRLS
Christopher Owens, leader of this San Francisco indie-pop band, is a master of the brutally honest and exposed sad song -- dude doesn't disguise his emotions. Sunday in the Stardust Ballroom, the quintet played their three best, back-to-back: "Solitude" (in which Owens pleads about "his aching heart" over a '60s pop chord progression); "Lust for Life" (their breakout jam about wanting "a father," a "boyfriend," a "loving man in my life," paired with a jangly upbeat melody); and "Hellhole Rat Race" (a extended ballad about "not wanting to cry my whole life through"). This all sung by a guy in scrappy basketball high tops and a backwards cap, puckering his red lipstick-covered lips. "You go, Girls!" screamed one fan. Indeed.