All Tomorrow's Parties New York, 2009

More than 35 of indie music's heaviest hitters, alt-comics, and card-shark cult heroes—along with at least one Flaming Lip in a plastic bubble—descended on the Borscht Belt resort, a vintage vacation spot (roughly a 90-minute drive from NYC) that is more Dirty Dancing than Dirty Projectors. Evolving from the decade-old U.K. event, ATP is a festival like no other: a three-day boutique event limited to 3,000 tickets. It was epic. More about the festival here.