The National debut 4 new tunes in a 2 hour set

As with the previous weekend, Camber Sands was once again bathed in more winter sunshine for the 3 days. Many people escaped once more to the nearby beach/dunes for a walk come Sunday morning. This included some of the bands, notably The National.

A surprise highlight of the weekend turned out to be Ethan Lipton's piece of musical theatre entitled 'No Place To Go' come Sunday afternoon. Accompanied by a 3-piece jazz band, Lipton alternated between singing and narrating a parody story about the effects of recession, and the imminent relocation of a company to Mars. All offbeat and darkly amusing experience, their 2nd set at the close was the gig of the weekend according to many who attended.

Yellowbirds, further eased us into the day on the main stage with a pleasant and relaxing psych-folk set. My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. She brought her usual touch of drama/cabaret to a colourful show, with some theatrical use of mask, builder's hat and other stage props. Her powerful vocals and deliberate intonation lent a touch of the operatic too; it was evident she's a professional trained singer in a diverse and quality performance. Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas) was another haunting show, a rising star performing songs that reside somewhere between fragile and brutal.

Like 'house band' Shellac the weekend before, Deerhoof are also ATP favourites and can put on an equally animated and unconventional live show to bring the party atmosphere. Silhouetted against a backdrop lightshow that bore resemblance to some kind of alien mothership, they played out a typically high energy set of their quirky alt. rock tunes. Crowd favourites 'Dummy Discards A Heart' and 'The Perfect Me' in the set list along with songs from new album Breakup Song. Like many bands performing this weekend, this show was their last after many months of touring the globe, which seemed to add that little bit extra enthusiasm to the performance.

Austin duo Stars Of The Lid were accompanied by a 9-piece string orchestra to the stage, this time for an altogether different experience showcasing their drone-based ambient, loud-quiet sounds. A light show projection intermittently lighting up the performers made for a quite surreal atmosphere, droning guitar sounds slowly building to a crescendo over the classical string section. An immense sound at times, reminiscent of a GY!BE performance in intensity.

The National closed the festival with an epic 2 hour set; the whole festival crowd seemed to turn out cramming the main stage to almost arena-like proportions. With the full brass section and the likes of Richard Reed Parry and Nico Muhly guesting, the stage was a busy affair too. The set list included four new tunes including 'Lola', 'Prime' and 'Sullivan' which have since appeared online. Otherwise the performance was fairly reminiscent of their High Violet tour of 2011. Matt Berninger took to the crowd for the usual emotional, acoustic version of 'Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks' to close.

Overall, The National, particularly the brothers Aaron/Bryce Dessner did a great job of curating and generally getting involved in things, the band were very much in evidence over the course of weekend, though only played the one set. They delivered one of the stronger ATP line-ups I've attended over an eclectic selection of genres. A slightly quiet Friday evening to start perhaps, though things livened up.

The National set list: Lola - Mistaken For Strangers - Anyone's Ghost - Secret Meeting - Bloodbuzz Ohio - Afraid Of Everyone - Conversation 16 - Squalor Victoria - Slow Show - Sullivan - Prime - Green Gloves - Sorrow - Abel - England - Fake Empire - I Need My Girl - Mr. November - Terrible Love - About Today - Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks

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