Electric Picnic 2015

Irish_rat

My third Interpol gig in the last year and a half, must say it was their best by quite some distance. Despite the awful time of 7 in the main arena, they absolutely nailed it. The crowd at the front were top class too, most were annoyed about the Viet Cong clash. Pretty shocked when I realised there was no song to follow PDA :-o

seachto7

Were Low that bad? Caught their first song but legged it for Blur..
Did Alan Sparhawk say anything to the crowd?

neilthefunkeone

Caught a good few acts and the weekend has been over all great but have been standing outside my tent for the past 2 hours as the group beside us starting lighting chairs and tents on fire... Few of them were lifted off by security.

Just waiting for light to take the tent down and get out of here..

SantryRed

Got home at 4am. In work now. Kill me.

Barlivia

Florence was great but was disappointed with the Tame Impala clash. Anyone here catch them what were they like?

clairek6

srm23 wrote: »

Dropped my wallet walking back to pink moon from Londis in Jimmy hendrix, a long shot but if anyone hears anything about it please let me know!

Is your name kevin by any chance?

Bowlardo

Stayed in the pink moon and it was a great set up.
Florence and blur delivered ..a little bit let down by underworld.
2 unlimited was good craic so too fight like apes . Ham sandwich were excellent on the friday. Paul kalkbrenner was lovely for a sunday.
George ezra was meh. hot chip were hot chip. The rubberbandits were class and probably have another big hit with that abortion song.
Django DJango were class and interpol were excellent too.

Didn't drink yesterday and was home last night by 1:45.defintely the the way to do it.

was there a larger number of leaving certs at it this year?
The crowd felt considerably younger than any other year i was there.
I think the picnic's soul is well and truely lost for me.
There was simply too many there and it was just manic everywhere for most of the time

sadie06

Ah stop fighting….please!

I came here for some gentle easing back into reality.

i'm happy overall, but I'm really sorry to hear that some of you had nasty experiences that made you feel unsafe and/or pissed off.

I'll report back when I can think straight.

mickc10

Some people are just happy being unhappy. As someone said here earlier, how can you possible not enjoy EP? With friends, zero worries, seeing acts you know and others you have never heard of playing live, etc etc etc. Maybe its just me and my group of mates but to think someone couldn't make the most of the weekend and enjoy it is laughable.

SteelyDanJalapeno

The pissed can heads that have filtered down from Oxegen/Witness and the younger crowd have changed what EP is now.

Of course these people will love it, but for the earlier EP goers, it's a completely different awful hype machine of a festival.

I'd like to recommend 2 alternative festivals for those folk, but I cant for fear of the former arriving on next year too.

callaway92

Stayed in Kildare last night and drove to Limerick this morning for 9am

Was only there for the Sunday but loved it, especially FATM. Was kinda humming and hawwing over the weekend for not being there but Sunday did the job!

The Enabler

seachto7 wrote: »

Were Low that bad? Caught their first song but legged it for Blur..
Did Alan Sparhawk say anything to the crowd?

No they weren't. I enjoyed them!

Effects

Seems to be a lot of complaining alright. I had a great time. Caught some amazing acts and hung out with good friends. There are a lot of douche bags there but they didn't seem to bring it down for me. I was expecting worse. I didn't have to camp in the regular campsites which is something I don't think I could handle. Most of the assholes seem to just hang around there.
There's a huge amount of stages and areas that I just couldn't get to them all. I also heard Melvin Benn say that the increased ticket sales is what pays for a lot of the smaller stages. I know it's his spin on it but it's still partly the case. At yesterdays press conference he was also asked directly if it was becoming like Oxegen which he took offence at and said it wasn't true.

PBB

Another cracking weekend at the festival...

Great Sets - War on Drugs (sublime), Django Django (bouncy), Parquet Courts (Fun) and Sultans of ping (Seriously Silly), My Morning Jacket (Loud), Ride (louder)

Family camping - still great value and a nice secure and friendly atmosphere, but definitely noticed the reduced amount of facilities in Camping 2 and the cleaners were half-hearted at best.

Definitely noticed the extra numbers, but mainly an issue on main stage at night and peak times for the food queues. Few more lights in stretches between stages at night wouldn't go a miss (by the way if you're wearing sunglasses at midnight, you're going to knock into people!)

The crowd - uprise of the Bogster (Hipster culchies) is a fun addition - Not too much of a "lager, lager" Adidas crowd and tbh they're almost an antidote to the look at me Sideshow circus idiots...Fancy dress, indian feathers and stupid hats can all FRO! Frankly, if you're not good enough at something to perform, then you're in the audience - get used to it...

Mosh of the weekend goes to the young fellas at Parquet Courts - crowdsurfing and moshing like they invented it... Sad b*tards award goes to the 40 somethings trying to do the same in Jerry Fish to Sultans, leave it to the young uns'

Right Turn Clyde

banchang wrote: »

Whats your point ?

It was merely an observation in response to the few people that criticised EP for its increasing commercial and corporate status.

I think Witnness is a good comparison because it was Ireland's first large-scale weekender (as far as I know). EP is much more commercial and the amount of branding there is now at saturation point. However, it's still possible to have a similar type of weekend to what the first few EP's offered. There's some cool areas where you can drink your own booze while checking out bands, etc. And spending a day in Body & Soul or the Mindfield area, as I done yesterday, still allows you to largely bypass the bull**** and have a 'different' type of weekend.

Again, Witnness was a lot different. There was nowhere near the same amount of branding and advertising being shoved in your face, but Guinness/the promoter still went about their business rather cynically. More cynically than EP, in my opinion.

There was nothing to do in the campsite or anywhere outside of the main arena, so at all times the push was to get you inside to buy alcohol and spend your money. It was also a very ugly festival, with the absolute bare minimum spent on 'decor'. The only real decorative aspect was Guinnness signs. It had fantastic line-ups, so clearly the promoter spent a lot of money to make it happen, but it felt like as much profit as possible was made, to the extent that even a few logs for people to sit on was an unnecessary expense.

There were also issues like security waking people up at 7:30-8am to try get them out of the campsite and into their cars. That's hardly Guinness' fault, but all of it added to the feeling that when your money was gone you had no business being there.

It was a fantasticic festival, in fact it's legendary in my mind, but it was a big, enormous cash cow and it was a brilliant festival despite how it treated the punters, not because of it.

Anyway, I guess my point is this: EP has become huge, loud and obsessed with selling you various types of alcohol produced by massive global corporations, but it's still nowhere near as quietly obsessed with getting your cash as Witnness was.

That doesn't excuse EP's problems, but it offers a bit of perspective.

connundrum

Right, back from my 1st EP as a punter having previously worked security at most gigs around the country from as far back as Witnness & Homelands.

As I had tickets for free, I felt no real panic to see anyone in particular - more drifted from place to place and tried to take in as much as possible.

Didn't get to see half of what I thought we'd see, which I guess is a compliment to the festival considering the amount on offer.

The 90's tent provided the best laugh and sweat, because what is better than 90's music - only ****e 90's music.

Was very let down by Underworld as I'd really hoped for more. I don't know what more, but more!

In terms of the crowd and issues, I felt that it was pretty much a well behaved bunch. There definitely was a younger demographic who brought their own uniqueness to events.

Security staff were A1 all round, as were all other staff. Couldn't have been more helpful and sound.

Didn't drink yesterday as was driving home last night, and was very happy to be in my own bed.

Overall, would I go back? Yes, but again - I'd feel more pressure to have the bestest time ever ever ever if I'd paid for the ticket so my POV is a bit skewed.

Right Turn Clyde

I had a fantastic weekend, but in the grand tradition of a hungover Irishman I'll start with two complaints.

First, the number of people present. I love huge crowds, especially when they're in front of a stage basking under the lights. It looks great and you really feel like you're part of a moment. However, I get that at other festivals. It's not what I used to like about EP. Of course it's been too big for years, but personally, this was the first year where at times it made it feel like a very different festival.

Two, the amount of house music being played was a problem for me. It was ubiquitous, and I don't mean at just the actual stages. It was pumping out of so many food stalls and all of those little mini-areas scattered around the place. And then of course there's Red Bull. They had two areas. The large 'rave in the woods' and the smaller area just inside the entrance. The Red Bull Music Academy curates some fanatic nights all over the world with a stunning variety of artists. So why did it soundtrack both its stages with almost nothing but house? Worse still, with a lot of generic pseudo deep-house. The Bacardi Bar has always been about house and disco, with the odd curveball. That's their 'thing' and that's fine, but why did Red Bull drop the ball so badly?

I guess the answer is that it's what people want, especially young people. It just disappoints me as someone who takes a very broad approach to the term 'dance music'. The 'dance tent' at Irish festivals used to mean everything from drum & bass to electro. Music evolves and scenes come and go, but I think we can all lament the death of variety, whatever you think of the actual music itself.

Anyway, another great, but increasingly different, Electric Picnic.

Looking forward to next year!

Any word on a the line-up yet?

kellso81

Right Turn Clyde wrote: »

Any word on a the lie-up yet?

daft punk

NotInventedHere

Right Turn Clyde wrote: »

.

The Red Bull Music Academy curates some fanatic nights all over the world with a stunning variety of artists. So why did it soundtrack both its stages with almost nothing but house? . That's their 'thing' and that's fine, but why did Red Bull drop the ball so badly?

Don't know, but whoever was selecting the DJs for the rave in the woods should be sacked. Totally misjudged

The Nal

They really should allow people bring their own booze in, in plastic containers of some description. Being forced to queue and pay for every drink at the bar is scandalous.

That said, people not happy with the changing nature of the festival is an odd one. All festival evolve and change. The "not as good as it used to be" arguement is nonsense.

fits

There are negative posts every year. It all depends on personal experience and luck. I had a much better time at ep 14 and ep12 than i did at ep05, ep 06. Sacrilege i know but it was because of the people i was with. So i read these posts and try to weigh up if its just the normal level of negativity or if its really gone too big/commercial. I suspect its the latter and ill be sticking with the likes of body and soul from now in.

Right Turn Clyde

NotInventedHere wrote: »

Don't know, but whoever was selecting the DJs for the rave in the woods should be sacked. Totally misjudged

Yep, it was pretty poor at times. And I actually prefer house over everything else. In fact, I had previously written on here that the Red Bull stage was too techno-orinated in its first two years. But I certainly didn't want them to abandon it altogether! I was really hoping for someone like Ben UFO this year.

I was down at Todd Terry on Saturday night. I was fairly wrecked and dancing away, but then I stood back and thought, "I'm dancing to a kick-drum, and nothing else." The incessant beat and the good-old bass drops had me dancing on muscle-memory alone, but the music was poor. I was just in zombie mode and the music had enough of the basic ingredients to keep me chewing, but it didn't taste good.

I was walking by it last night and there was this absolutely gorgeous house track playing. It sounded like a newer cut, but it had that Moodymann/3 Chairs influence all over it. Possibly the most sumptuous piece of electronic music I heard all weekend. However, the place was nearly empty. It's the least amount of people I ever seen in the woods while there was music playing. That says it all, really.

Right Turn Clyde

There's nothing wrong with negative posts if there's genuine issues being identified and talked about. 55,000 people were in attendance. There's gonna be a diversity of opinion. It you want constant smiling positivity head over to the Pregnancy forum where every inane comment gets thanked 10 times.

55,000!


:eek:

Orion

Right Turn Clyde wrote: »

It you want constant smiling positivity head over to the Pregnancy forum where every inane comment gets thanked 10 times.

Please don't

Wooderson

As I was in the Family Camping I didnt see much madness at all. Only inkling I got of the "traditions of festivals past" was the size 13 shoe-sized cable someone had left in a urinal to the left of the Electric Arena on Saturday night. Muck.

I've read a post here pointing out lack of facilities in Family Camping 2 this year vs last. This is true to an extent but it links directly into the points made elsewhere about sponsorship/commercial aspects. NTR sponsored/paid for the "Hang Out" in Family Camping 2 last year. So we can't have it both ways... There were no family campers at Witnness or Oxegen. I think us old gits that have kids and still want to go to such events such be really thankful that such a special effort is made by the organisers. The Soul Kids is not an afterthought. I dont think I saw a tearful child (or parent!) once all weekend.

Pal of mine hadnt been in ten years, having gone to a half-dozen or more Glastonburys inbetween. His perspective was overwhelmingly positive. Wandering around site on Sat and Sun we picked up on a really noticible positive atmosphere. I don't think the comparisons to Witnness or Oxegen are fair either. Have to side with Melvin Benn on this. Unless youre one of the mentalists that completely avoided the Mindfield, Body & Soul, Other Voices, Salty Dog however that is. Got a couple of sideways glaces when we brought our buggy into Trenchtown yesterday afternoon, and during Blur it got a little funky at the back of the arena... but other than that we felt more welcome at EP than we did at Glastonbury in June. Us and our kids. The Soul Kids area is an absolute delight and is a credit to its organisers.

Sound quality was crisp and full on the stages I went to, whilst it was noticibly busier than last year I don't agree that facilities were stretched to the limit. The queue for Kinara Kitchen is worth it, folks!

Only downside for me is didnt spend enough time in the Despacio tent. What a treat that was. Deffo back again next year.

Klim

connundrum wrote: »

Right, back from my 1st EP as a punter having previously worked security at most gigs around the country from as far back as Witnness & Homelands.

I know I'm derailing here, but I have to ask... what was Homelands like from that side? As a wet-behind-the-ears teen, I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life (the first one anyway). You could've walked up to any stranger and been best friends within minutes.

An absolutely amazing event.

scruff monkey

Barlivia wrote: »

Florence was great but was disappointed with the Tame Impala clash. Anyone here catch them what were they like?

They were epic, sound in the EA was terrible but they put on a great show, energetic and the right level of soothing sounds to finish off a great weekend of music

The Nal

Wooderson wrote: »

As I was in the Family Camping I didnt see much madness at all. Only inkling I got of the "traditions of festivals past" was the size 13 shoe-sized cable someone had left in a urinal to the left of the Electric Arena on Saturday night. Muck.

Ah come on. Wouldn't be a festival without seeing a big shoe in a urinal!

scruff monkey

Technocentral wrote: »

Foals live on MTV now much more exciting.

Hang on, i missed this, when did MTV start showing music again?