Body and Soul 2013

Edible

my third year at this, don't think I'll be back, its definitely lost a lot of its magic, plus the lineup was alot weaker this year. Thought the organisation was awful, was queueing for 90 minutes on Friday to have our bags searched, then the queue suddenly disintegrated and loads of people were skipped. Security didnt know what they were doing, they wouldnt let me bring in my own cans to the main arena on Friday night despite it being past midnight. Where were the bloody toilets in the campsite?? I had to go to the bother of getting searched by security and going into the main arena whenever I needed to have a crap! The crowd were a lot younger this year and a lot of the sights had been torn down/broken by sunday evening. Saw a good few scummers and gardai around. Plus my wellies (?!?) were stolen from outside the tent on the Friday night, my fault for leaving em there! r

breakfasttime

I had a great weekend. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were something else, I really enjoyed Willy Mason, James Murphy and Kurt Vile and the Violators. The q in on Friday was bull**** to be honest, they had about 5 lines open, searching everyone fairly strictly, it took us an hour starting quite near the top. The main arena felt a lot bigger than last year, I missed the kind of circuit layout they had before. But enough of the negative, had a great weekend and saw some great live music and I miss it already!
Great start to the festival season!

Grimebox

This hangover is horrendous. I should have taken Tuesday off work too. Still can't eat. Only myself to blame

Granite Head

B&S let families down compared to previous years;

1) Over zealous security at the entrances and ironically little or none in the "Family" campsite. Our tent was broken into during the day, fortunately just food and drink taken, but when you have kids its so much more of an "invasion" of personal safety. There is no point in having a "secure" gate when one side of the site is completely open to the general campsite. I also did not find the security staff friendly or anyway helpful or knowledgeable about the site / locations etc.

2) No sink / row of sinks in the family camping? It was clear what was going to happen around the one tap as early as Friday evening, even a pallet on the ground would have shown some foresight.

3) The family toilets were adequate but poorly situated - too far away and kids had to run the gauntlet of naked exhibitionists in the "Silk Road" campsite. Once word got out about their location they were also used by general campers (easy to do when there is no fence) so their condition had deteriorated badly by Sunday.

4) The worst affront to families was the heavy handed searches by security at the entrance. Kids do not need to be body frisked???? Why weren't sealed water bottles / mineral cans / smoothie cartons allowed in with kids - I thought Bulmers / Smirnoffs were the only business that had to be "protected" by the drink/alcohol policy at the entrance.

I am not a prude and realise anything can and does go on at a festival but a festival marketed as "family friendly" should give adequate opportunity for segregation so parents at least have a choice at what their children are exposed to. Sorry to come across as overly negative and we did enjoy elements of the festival. Music / artwork / adhoc shows were on a par with previous years and the Greencraft workshops were a real plus.

Overall I think B&S was let down by security staff, lack of security and segregation in the family campsite, poor organisation and an over zealous application of the "alcohol" policy when dealing with families (indeed all festival goers). It appears that B&S is trying to attract and cater for a more mainstream festival audience, which it is fully entitled to do so. But if this is the case it should drop the "Family Friendly Festival" from its marketing and target audience.

Last year after the festival I couldn't wait for the 2013 B&S and booked early bird tickets as soon as they came onstream. Unfortunately I don't have the same yearning for a 2014 B&S

Mr Whirly

We were sitting beside the main walkway in the campsite and I saw a father stuff four cans into the legs and sleeves of his 12 year old kids rain gear.

I agree though. They should get rid of the kids altogether.

Robyn_14

In a lot of ways I can't explain it just wasn't as magical as last year at all-seemed much bigger and the line up wasn't as good either a really big shame as I totally loved it. The fear yday and today wasn't worth it..
The guards were around as numerous tents got robbed on Friday..they said they found the culprits and threw them out..scumbags

UsedToWait

I will be emailing the Body & Soul organizers with my thoughts on where they went wrong this year.

it has gone from my favourite festival to one I'll be seriously considering skipping next year, unless they show some serious commitment to fixing the things that were so badly handled this year (the security checks and the traffic planning being just 2 examples).

I'd urge anyone else who had a negative experience to get in touch at info@bodyandsoul.ie

nxbyveromdwjpg

Spent 50 euro on a campervan ticket, drove up to be told the campervan site was full - wtf, do they not measure and account for the space when they sell camper tickets? Absolutely piss poor organisation. Was sent to the car park, to set up the camper beside the cars.
€50 well spent, bastards.

Then of course, the whole issue with the drink.. It's stuck in my camper, and I can't bring it anywhere because I dont have a tent. So literally can just drink in the car park.

So entered feeling very angry and ripped off.

That said, great atmosphere I thought and all in all great festival. They'll be getting a mail off me for my €50 back though.

Kirkywirky

Never been to b&s before but had high expectations as love the area at ep. Was so looking forward to what was promoted on the website re party at the lake. V disappointed when a supervisor told me on the fri night that it wasn't actually happening this year. Had a fab, fab time but I would say it was despite certain things..
1 security was complete bs! It's always a game of cat and mouse at festivals and you expect to be able to sneak a few beers n then have to get your money out but frisking... Really... Damaged the feel and atmosphere for me. Smacked of greed and putting bars before patrons. Anyway.. The house was fab. Jumping music and people anytime we wandered that direction.
What's with the no line up sheets available though? Would have liked to know when some people were on and who others were that we stumbled upon. Strange. Surely not being allowed water after the fri in to the festival has to be illegal. Water.. Really..
Overall, had a fab wend and really enjoyed the vibe. People were lovely lovely. Would I go back. Can't say I would, that sort of security at a festival kills the craic!

A_Fitz

The more I think about it, the more pissed off I am - went to so much bother to get there, and for what? Very ****ing little, truth be told. Can't believe how badly organised, inept and amateurish the whole thing was; it was my first time there but, from what I had seen and heard of the last three, I expected much more. Really, though, any decent vibe that could have been created was destroyed from the off by obnoxious - and, in some cases, aggressive - security **** heads - surely there has to be friendly crowd-control folk out there? Also, there was a complete farce in the artist/crew campsite, where artists and crew had been allowed to camp with their mates/partners etc., and were then refused entry into the festival from the site, and refused entry back into the site from the festival side........absolute jokeshop, and apparently it got nasty down there Sat night with a couple of lads getting knocked about, and security scumbags brandishing stanley blades and threatening to cut people (according to three reports on their FB page). Drink rules, lack of toilets, bins and signs, and completely uninterested and uninformed stewards helped to make this poor attempt at a festival into a very bad joke, IMHO.......people were forced to empty out teas and coffees that they had bought just yards from the first gate, FFS. Complete waste of time, effort and money - will be very, very slow to return.

onthebeach78

great festival second year going.
got robbed by scummers staying accross from us, they had two tents filled with nearly a whole campsites belongings, they werent moved by garda until 10am the next morning...at that stage they had all left themselves anyway. shocking stuff that no one at the festival done anything about it.

great lineup. would have like more bands and less dance but that personal opinion. fair play to all the crew who done the designing in the woods.

this was definetly a highlight at the festival...nick cave!

http://youtu.be/aNsVrnMPRMs

Tusky

onthebeach78 wrote: »

great festival second year going.
got robbed by scummers staying accross from us, they had two tents filled with nearly a whole campsites belongings, they werent moved by garda until 10am the next morning...at that stage they had all left themselves anyway. shocking stuff that no one at the festival done anything about it.

great lineup. would have like more bands and less dance but that personal opinion. fair play to all the crew who done the designing in the woods.

this was definetly a highlight at the festival...nick cave!

http://http://youtu.be/aNsVrnMPRMs

Was this on the right hand side near the bushes of the Wild and Free? They stuck out a mile away as being trouble makers but the gardai seemed to do a good job of removing them and recovering some peoples stuff.

onthebeach78

Tusky wrote: »

Was this on the right hand side near the bushes of the Wild and Free? They stuck out a mile away as being trouble makers but the gardai seemed to do a good job of removing them and recovering some peoples stuff.

yeah they got some peoples stuff back but that was from the bushes and what was thrown out of the tent, when they left the next morning people were allowed to go into the tents and see if their stuff was there... but anything of value had been taken.

CdeC

onthebeach78 wrote: »

great festival second year going.
got robbed by scummers staying accross from us, they had two tents filled with nearly a whole campsites belongings, they werent moved by garda until 10am the next morning...at that stage they had all left themselves anyway. shocking stuff that no one at the festival done anything about it.

great lineup. would have like more bands and less dance but that personal opinion. fair play to all the crew who done the designing in the woods.

this was definetly a highlight at the festival...nick cave!

http://youtu.be/aNsVrnMPRMs

This seems to be the normality of a festival now. Scummers buying tickets and simply stealing van loads of stuff from empty tents. What can we do about it.??? The security came along to us on Friday saying that there had been complaints and keep an eye out but we had was some stuff stolen anyway. It'll only get worse as more scummers see it as easy pickings.....was really bad at EP last year too.
Organisers need to deal with this issue and have a proper place to report this stuff.

Overall thought it was a great festival, perfect size and perhaps might have included some more stuff beside along the fence before the merry-go-round looked a bit empty.

harryd2

Perhaps consider what Glasto do:
Put up trap tents with security inside, and put signs up that there are around, as a deterrent.
Real sad to hear so many scumbags around this year. I felt there wasn't as many in previous years.
I had stuff stolen in EP, but generally don't leave valuables in my tent.

Mr Whirly

What are people having stolen out of curiosity?

paddylonglegs

I think the only way to get out of it is putting your stuff in gig lockers if available. Horrible to have to drag your gear around though anytime you want to see An act

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

ghostdancer

Mr Whirly wrote: »

What are people having stolen out of curiosity?

my friends had drink, food, chair and clothes stolen.

Mr Whirly

ghostdancer wrote: »

my friends had drink, food, chair and clothes stolen.

Jaysus... that's pretty low. I hid my cans under the tent as I was expecting drink stealing to happen with the limitations.

Grimebox

I didn't come across these thieving knackers at the time but I haven't been able to find my dignity or self respect since Monday

Celtic Tiger

Third time there and that will be my last. Didnt have a bad time, just decidely average. Dissapointed actually is the word id use for this year. The carry on a lot of the staff left a bad taste in my mouth. Fck Buttons were immense though.

A_Fitz

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

See, this is just typical - typical festival ****, or typical Irish-festival ****: organisers will rent lockers at inflated prices, and if you don't invest in one you end up getting your stuff stolen by knackers because the security is completely inept - although said security had no problem harassing people over bottles of water and cups of tea, and felt obliged to empty out kids' juice cartons. Priorities, anyone? Body N' Soul?? No, thought not. Lots of 'bodies', and absolutely no ****ing 'soul' whatsoever. Incredibly bad showing.

dulux99

Yeah the amount of scumbags around was quite surprising. On the Saturday morning a massive gang of security and gardai seemed to have kicked a lot of them out, but then me and my pals saw the main culprits up in the arena again. Bunch of dicks the lot of em

onthebeach78

yeah there was still robbing after they main suspects were cleared out.

we werent to bad, we put most of our valuables in the car, phones cameras etc..

but our drink, some money, food, clothes, and my girlfriend had pyjamas and clothes for the next day in a gym bag, and it was all robbed, they also stood in muck and **** on our duvets and blowup bed, that inevitably burst, next morning the guards handed over the bag after they through it outside on of the tents, but everything that was valuable was gone couple bits of clothes were retrieved but they were ruined after been on mucky ground.

simonsays1

Toilet situation was a joke, had to go through security to for a a pee??? seriously. sort it out!

more importantly-Highlights- my friends, the people at our campsite were sound,
Solange, N Jaar, Nick Cave, The Congos- all class

My friends bought tea inside the main arena just at the gate, they came to meet us at the campsite site of the gate, they did not go back to tents, the security saw this cause we were all talking to them about directions to some place or other (which they did not know about)- then they had to dump the lovely tea which they had not even sipped yet!!
seriously bad attitude!! no soul!! doubt I'll come back!

Beans_On

Janelle Millions Cemetery wrote: »

Artisit ID help!

Im having trouble finding out more and about an artist I stumbled upon on the Saturday night in the circus tent. I asked someone who it was and they showed me a time table and pointed to what appeared to say "Drum castles". I can remember what time it was but I will describe it to y'all!

Dj - Very heavy drummy set, whit a whopper lighting show with very strong strobes and in parts the whole lot flashed red and grey and it made use of what was hanging from the ceiling, and it looked like there were birds flying as the lights bounced off them. He finished and then came back on for one more track. Amazing.
Anyone tell me who it was and where I can find more info? Thanks.

Iron Curtis ?

smallgarden

Janelle Millions Cemetery wrote: »

Artisit ID help!

Im having trouble finding out more and about an artist I stumbled upon on the Saturday night in the circus tent. I asked someone who it was and they showed me a time table and pointed to what appeared to say "Drum castles". I can remember what time it was but I will describe it to y'all!

Dj - Very heavy drummy set, whit a whopper lighting show with very strong strobes and in parts the whole lot flashed red and grey and it made use of what was hanging from the ceiling, and it looked like there were birds flying as the lights bounced off them. He finished and then came back on for one more track. Amazing.
Anyone tell me who it was and where I can find more info? Thanks.

There's the timetable if you know what time you were there
http://bodyandsoul.ie/assets/BODY-AND-SOUL-FRI-SAT-SUN-SCHEDULE.pdf

A_Fitz

Janelle Millions Cemetery wrote: »

Artisit ID help!

Im having trouble finding out more and about an artist I stumbled upon on the Saturday night in the circus tent. I asked someone who it was and they showed me a time table and pointed to what appeared to say "Drum castles". I can remember what time it was but I will describe it to y'all!

Dj - Very heavy drummy set, whit a whopper lighting show with very strong strobes and in parts the whole lot flashed red and grey and it made use of what was hanging from the ceiling, and it looked like there were birds flying as the lights bounced off them. He finished and then came back on for one more track. Amazing.
Anyone tell me who it was and where I can find more info? Thanks.

RSAG, (almost) definitely

bodhrandude

Janelle Millions Cemetery wrote: »

Artisit ID help!

Im having trouble finding out more and about an artist I stumbled upon on the Saturday night in the circus tent. I asked someone who it was and they showed me a time table and pointed to what appeared to say "Drum castles". I can remember what time it was but I will describe it to y'all!

Dj - Very heavy drummy set, whit a whopper lighting show with very strong strobes and in parts the whole lot flashed red and grey and it made use of what was hanging from the ceiling, and it looked like there were birds flying as the lights bounced off them. He finished and then came back on for one more track. Amazing.
Anyone tell me who it was and where I can find more info? Thanks.