Electric Picnic 2015

endainoz

Hot Chip have announced a new album and tour, definitely a good chance I reckon

ghostdancer

Elbow said this morning on BBC radio that they're touring festivals this summer.
probably a decent chance of headlining, especially given the 2012 incident.


personally, i'll be far away from the main stage if they are, for fear of slipping into a coma.

scruff monkey

2012 Incident?

Robotito

scruff monkey wrote: »

2012 Incident?

They were booked to headline the Sunday night and the promoters went and booked the Killers afterwards as the Sunday headliners pushing Elbow to a lesser slot. This was the first year of day tickets for the Sunday and it was all done to maximise ticket sales to the casual daytripper crowd. Elbow, quite understandably, were not impressed.

ghostdancer

POD/John Reynolds booked them as festival headliners in 2012. Melvin Benn/Festival Republic/MCD thought that they were too small and that they needed a bigger headliner, so booked The Killers. Elbow were allegedly paid 50k for being demoted to 2nd on the bill (plus their regular fee on top of that) according to court statements.


from the Sunday Times at the time:

Music festivals such as Electric Picnic are meant to be about peace, love and harmony. Judging by the April 2 directors' board meeting of EP Festivals in Dublin's Westbury hotel, rancour is reserved for the boardroom. Present were John Reynolds, Electric Picnic's urbane founder, and Melvin Benn, nominee of the festival's other shareholders MCD promoter Denis Desmond, and Live Nation, the world's biggest events promoter.

Benn, the chairman of Wembley stadium, and Reynolds, nephew of the former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, were once close friends - but the atmosphere at the Westbury was poisonous.

"I'm glad you could make it," said Benn. Sensing sarcasm, after months of battles between the men, Reynolds snapped: "You can keep that British cynicism, Melvin. Drop it at Heathrow airport next time you come to Ireland."

The following 40 minutes descended into an extraordinary series of rows, illustrating a bitter falling out that has led to a High Court battle for control of the event.

At the meeting, Reynolds, the festival director, accused Benn, the EP chairman, of trying to "blindside" him. Benn accused Reynolds of shirking responsibilities. They rowed over the accuracy of the minutes of previous meetings.

The April 2 board minutes were recorded by a stenographer "because I cannot trust anything you write", said Reynolds.

"Extraordinary," said Benn.

"Truth," said Reynolds.

The hostility culminated in Benn calling Reynolds a "liar". The Irishman replied: "Mr Benn, if there is one liar and disingenuous individual in this room, it is certainly not the stenographer, it is certainly not me, it is definitely you." Both deny lying.

The bitter meeting represented a new low in the relations between EP's shareholders.

Benn is managing director of Festival Republic, the Desmond-Live Nation venture that controls 71% of EP. Reynolds owns the remaining 29%.

In the court action, Reynolds claims that his interests as a minority shareholder are being oppressed. He has asked the court to declare that under the shareholder's agreement he is entitled to run Electric Picnic as festival director. He wants the court to order Festival Republic to buy his stake, or for him to be allowed to buy out Desmond and Live Nation.

For the latter to happen, Reynolds would have to ultimately provide details to the court of his financial backers.

Electric Picnic 2013 will be the 10th outing for the laid-back, eclectic music festival of choice for Ireland's boom-time twenty and thirtysomethings.

Yet when the line-up for the event is announced before the summer, the background music will be more screeching solos than joyful harmonies.

APART from its first year, Electric Picnic operated profitably under Reynolds' control.

Held annually at Stradbally, Co Laois, it has shied away from the shiny headline acts of rival festivals such as MCD's Oxegen, opting for bands that appeal to a more arty crowd: Sigur Rós, Orbital, Interpol and PJ Harvey.

Reynolds also pioneered non-music components such as comedy, food, eco initiatives and body and wellness tents. In 2009, Reynolds, who also runs the Pod music venue and invested alongside Jay Bourke and the developer Paddy Kelly in the Bellinter House hotel, ran into financial difficulties.

Aiken Promotions, a co-investor in EP, exited and Festival Republic Dublin (FRD), then owned by Desmond, took 71% of Electric Picnic, injecting (EURO)4.2m into the company. Reynolds received (EURO)3.45m in cash as part of the deal.

It was an odd marriage. Desmond is a permanent fixture on the Dublin social scene. Reynolds moves in circles that consider themselves more Bohemian. Outside of EP, the two are keen rivals.

Benn, who has helped run Glastonbury for the past decade, was nominated chairman on behalf of the majority shareholder in 2009. Under the shareholders' agreement, Reynolds remained as festival director. There was occasional friction over the booking of acts, but it seemed business as usual.

Over 2010 and 2011, as the recession bit hard, Electric Picnic made a loss of (EURO)2.1m, although much of this appears to be asset write-downs.

Reynolds argues it did not lose money on a "trading" basis.

Last year the Picnic did make a trading loss of about (EURO)1m. Reynolds attributes much of the loss to Benn "imposing" mega-band the Killers as the headline act at a cost of (EURO)500,000. Elbow, who were to be top billing, were paid an extra (EURO)50,000 because of the change. Benn and FRD argue that the losses were down to high ticket prices.

The Killers row was a turning point. Reynolds argues that he has been sidelined from any meaningful role this year. Benn and FRD deny this. He also accuses the Festival Republic group of diverting some of the Electric Picnic's ticket sales rebate away from EP Festivals.

An extraordinary email exchange between Benn and Reynolds, conducted on November 27 and 28 last year, further outlines the breakdown in their relationship. "Dear Melvin," Reynolds writes. "I am not being argumentative ... " He goes on to lament the (EURO)50,000 "sweetener" paid to Elbow, and says he was not aware of "(EURO)18k for Squarepusher, (EURO)12k for L.A.P.D., (EURO)22k for Paul Buchanan ... " Benn replies: "This is fantasy. John, you were aware."

Reynolds talks about delays in payments to bands. Benn replies: "Nonsense".

Reynolds, who appears to have been talking to the auditors about the accounts, says "the more one seems to dig, the more one seems to find". He refers to queries raised by the auditors over payments to a company called Andro Capital.

Reynolds refers to a 2010 phone call during which cash flow problems for EP were discussed: "You told me you had an American 'slush fund' that would take care of the other cash flow issues, and that this fund was Andro Capital in New York ... Now it looks like there was no cash flow crisis ... Andro has morphed into Viagogo."

Reynolds then refers to a "secondary ticketing contract" with Viagogo, a wellknown ticketing reseller, of which he knew "nothing".

"Yet more fantasy," replies Benn, who denies the allegation.

Reynolds queries a management fee paid to Desmond over this contract. He also raises his allegation that FRD has been receiving some of the Electric Picnic's ticket rebate from Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010.

Reynolds says he could get a rebate of 75c per ticket on his own, and that with all FRD's "financial might" they can only get (EURO)1 together. He argues that previously, the total rebate was (EURO)1.75 at a time when tickets were a third of the price.

Benn replies: "Not brushing it under the carpet. It is what I agreed with you and TM and Denis Desmond. It is 33% better than you get. Surely that is a good thing?" In a January 10 email, Benn refers to a phone call with Reynolds that left him "shaken". He asks Reynolds for (EURO)200,000 to cover losses for 2012, and says: "We do not want to buy your shares at this point."

Benn queries whether the festival's fringe attractions the Body and Soul stage, the Salty Dog stage and the MindField spoken word arena can continue.

In a January 30 email, Benn says: "Unless we get Blur [the band] we have nowhere to go with the Picnic with the line-up that is available."

It appears Desmond had also been seeking Blur for a different concert. "You and Denis will have to fight it out with your respective offers," Benn says.

Reynolds won the battle, as Blur are due to play at one of his other gigs in Dublin in August. For his part, Reynolds further claims that a new festival called Longitude, promoted by Desmond but which Reynolds says is actually being operated by FRD, is a competing event in breach of the shareholders' agreement. It is being held six weeks before this year's Picnic.

Reynolds says some of the bands he suggested for the 2013 Picnic ended up on the bill for Longitude. Benn rejects the claim.

The two men repeatedly contradict each other over whether Reynolds had wanted to cancel this year's event, something the promoter strongly denies.

Reynolds claims he can deliver a profit for the event by reducing the band budget by (EURO)1.3m to (EURO)2.25m. Together with other cost cuts, this would lead the Picnic to make a profit this year of (EURO)500,000.

FRD and Benn say they have offered to underwrite any losses. Benn accuses Reynolds of failing to pay creditors to cover the 2012 losses.

Benn also says in an affidavit that Reynolds "fails to mention" to the court that he was looking to sell out of Electric Picnic, and refers to discussions Reynolds had apparently been having with the Mama group to buy his stake.

Reynolds appears at breaking point in an email sent to Benn at 5.46am on January 15: "I couldn't sleep ... If I can't sell I don't want to jeopardise the show. If it doesn't happen this year, it would be very damaging ... V v sorry Melvin it has come to this. Clichéd as it may sound, it's a v sad day ... and I am too. Kind regards John."

Within weeks, the pair were in court.

NEITHER Benn nor Reynolds were available to comment to The Sunday Times last week.

Benn strongly denied to the court sidelining Reynolds. He characterises Reynolds' arguments as being motivated by "liquidity issues" and a desire to end the partnership with Desmond-Live Nation.

He "takes exception" to the accusations of wrongdoing over the Ticketmaster rebate, although Reynolds has promised to provide proof upon discovery in the case.

Court proceedings have been adjourned pending the outcome of mediation, which is due to be held next week.

The line-up announcement has been delayed pending the case. Benn says "three top quality headliners" have been lined up for the 2013 festival and it is preparing to "put tickets up for sale".

Rfrip

ghostdancer wrote: »

Elbow said this morning on BBC radio that they're touring festivals this summer.
probably a decent chance of headlining, especially given the 2012 incident.


personally, i'll be far away from the main stage if they are, for fear of slipping into a coma.

Thought the same but walked past them when they were singing on a day like this and got sucked in and it ended up being one of my moments of the weekend!

That was a great year line up wise

lc180

Future Islands just announced headline gigs in the UK for the Tuesday - Thursday after EP, they must be a dead certainty now.

Saruwatari

keithkk16 wrote: »

Can't see mumford playing ep I really don't want them to either, ep doesn't seem like the right place
for them these days.

And Vampire Weekend do?

keithkk16

Saruwatari wrote: »

And Vampire Weekend do?

Yes.

Ferris_Bueller

lc180 wrote: »

Future Islands just announced headline gigs in the UK for the Tuesday - Thursday after EP, they must be a dead certainty now.

Was looking at the line up for Flow Festival today and saw that they're playing that too alongside War on Drugs and Belle & Sebastien, never heard of this festival before but seems like a type of line up picnic would get. Really would like to see one or two more of their acts announced for EP, particularly Todd Terje who I am really getting my hopes up about for no good reason. Would it be unusual for two festivals to have that amount of crossover though? Thought I saw someone on here or twitter a while ago say that they heard Run The Jewels were booked for another Irish festival (presumably EP), and that they were very surprised when FF announced them too. Here's the website/line up anyway: http://www.flowfestival.com/artists/

Also reckon Hot Chip could be a good shout, would love to see them play at it.

Think I saw the Gorillaz are coming back together today, would they be a decent shout for a headliner or is that me going totally crazy?

Furious-Red

Could be a good shout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BGAFVAAVsw

scruff monkey

Hmmmm, the website says Faithless 2.0, sounds ominous

(could be great, could be ****e, i liked them though)

KizzmeKieran

Radiohead for an outhere request to play at EP, morrissey or even Johnny marr, stone roses would be a great end to the festival, but what I find is that the power of which ep once was has gone down, I mean you now degenerate pop artists playing, it should stick to its roots and not allow any of the mainstream crap play, I mean each to there own but it just draws the wrong crowds and dosen't have have the same spirit as it once had. But so far so good Belle and Sebastian and war on drugs aint a bad lineup but all will be revealed and hopefully with the generic ****e, like ed sheeran and the killers that it once had in its lineup.

KizzmeKieran

Radiohead for an outhere request to play at EP, morrissey or even Johnny marr, stone roses would be a great end to the festival, but what I find is that the power of which ep once was has gone down, I mean you now degenerate pop artists playing, it should stick to its roots and not allow any of the mainstream crap play, I mean each to there own but it just draws the wrong crowds and dosen't have have the same spirit as it once had. But so far so good Belle and Sebastian and war on drugs aint a bad lineup but all will be revealed and hopefully without the generic ****e, like ed sheeran and the killers that it once had in its lineup.

endainoz

Bestival doing their first announcement tomorrow, this includes two of their headliners apparently. That should give a pretty good idea

scruff monkey

KizzmeKieran wrote: »

Radiohead for an outhere request to play at EP, morrissey or even Johnny marr, stone roses would be a great end to the festival, but what I find is that the power of which ep once was has gone down, I mean you now degenerate pop artists playing, it should stick to its roots and not allow any of the mainstream crap play, I mean each to there own but it just draws the wrong crowds and dosen't have have the same spirit as it once had. But so far so good Belle and Sebastian and war on drugs aint a bad lineup but all will be revealed and hopefully without the generic ****e, like ed sheeran and the killers that it once had in its lineup.

If festivals stuck to their roots, you would have 12 people in a ditch watching 4 goats trying to re-enact Tom Jones greatest hits, every year.

They need to grow and change to sustain themselves, otherwise they stagnate and die.

breakfasttime

scruff monkey wrote: »

If festivals stuck to their roots, you would have 12 people in a ditch watching 4 goats trying to re-enact Tom Jones greatest hits, every year.

They need to grow and change to sustain themselves, otherwise they stagnate and die.

I agree that festivals need to be flexible in order to sustain themselves but I also think that there is a medium between complete stagnation and the overtly money oriented mainstreaming of Picnic.

BullBlackNova

I guess we'll know more tomorrow when Bestival is announced but I'm really stumped as to who will be headlining EP this year. Any of the major acts I've seen listed about the place either strike me as too big, not really Picnicy or are playing somewhere else in Ireland this year. The exception to this is people like Beck who played last year.

It's exciting though, could be someone really out there.

That Flow festival might have a little bit of crossover but I don't see too much really. War on Drugs already confirmed, maybe Todd Terje will be but Run the Jewels and Alt-J are playing other festivals, Beck was in 2014. Maybe Florence + the Machine to headline? I'd rather her than Mumford & Sons if that was the choice I'm given.

BullBlackNova

Just a quick Google there of "Bestival 2015 rumours" shows up a few that might be realistic.

Potential headliners in Mark Ronson and Basement Jaxx, with the Maccabees, the Vaccines and James Blake all added to that. Damon Albarn's name is floating around too. Alabama Shakes are showing up a lot too so they might be third or fourth tier at one of the festivals.

Hard to say. For EP, I'd expect Django Django and Tame Impala for sure but I really don't know afterwards.

bodhrandude

Aphex Twin, he has gotta play surely they have tried for him before, Bestival apparently spent four years trying to get him to play. He eventually relented and played the 2008 edition, the monsoon one, the concert was fairly infamous because his was the only performance that had the sound cut down. Anyway my Facebook group to get him to EP is nearly up to 900 now, so if you feel like visiting I could do with the boost. If EP see some interest expressed they might book him. https://www.facebook.com/groups/306301782765054/

keithkk16

Daft Punk headliner?

Long shot like but you never know

scruff monkey

Don't think they are doing any shows anywhere at the moment, shame that.

siblers

Wonder will Jamie T play? His current album is brilliant and he is doing Reading and Rock AM Ring so far so I'm hoping he will play.

bodhrandude

Bestival announcement at 10 am today, will be interesting to see who they get.

pmalone

Bestival:



not particularly exciting i would say ...

A few in there that I would like to see, but have seen most of those acts already.

dmm82

Oooh the chemical brothers AND underworld.. .....would be amazing!!!

scruff monkey

That's not bad at all, some of those would go down nicely.

(I thought Arthur Brown was dead!)

(I hoped level 42 were dead)

pmalone

dmm82 wrote: »

Oooh the chemical brother AND underworld.. .....would be amazing!!!

it doesn't say underworld play dubnobasswithmyhead... so I guess a regular show .. which is always good anyway.

everlast75

pmalone wrote: »

Bestival:



not particularly exciting i would say ...

A few in there that I would like to see, but have seen most of those acts already.

Morelike "Meh-stival"...

lc180

Underworld are headlining the Thursday of the festival which is only a couple of stages I believe so there is still scope for a couple of headliners to be added to that lineup.

So far nothing that stands out for me. A lot of that lineup played here in the last year.