Electric Picnic 2015

Synode

JohnDaniels wrote: »

Arcadia was another great thing missing this year?

Don't think it's been at EP in a good few years

JohnDaniels

Synode wrote: »

Don't think it's been at EP in a good few years

Yeah was looking it up after I posted. Think they do Burning Man instead now which is on around the same time. I'm getting confused with having been at it in Glastonbury over the last few years. Pity its gone from EP. If they lost Body and Soul from EP I could see the festival taking a complete nose dive. Wish I had the seed capital to try get something started as while Body and Soul fills the void somewhat their is still a gaping hole to get something like an early EP off the ground.

Ferris_Bueller

JohnDaniels wrote: »

Yeah was looking it up after I posted. Think they do Burning Man instead now which is on around the same time. I'm getting confused with having been at it in Glastonbury over the last few years. Pity its gone from EP. If they lost Body and Soul from EP I could see the festival taking a complete nose dive. Wish I had the seed capital to try get something started as while Body and Soul fills the void somewhat their is still a gaping hole to get something like an early EP off the ground.

How big was Electric Picnic when it first started out? And how did it avoid attracting the 'wrong' crowd? The line up always seemed quite electronic, was it just because Oxegen was there to attract the tops off brigade and they paid no attention to EP?

There are so many festivals already in Ireland, could there even be enough demand for another?

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

wtf! i never knew arcadia was at EP, and i was there in 2010 when it was there! i was sure it was an exclusive glasto thing, though i missed it this year, just too much music on when it kicks off.

JohnDaniels wrote: »

Glastonbury has also acknowledged that drugs are part and parcel of a festival, they in large part drive it. To that end they have an area where selling them is quite open,

ya but they're shít drugs at the stone circle! nobody in our circle got much off them. i'm convinced they've a deal with organisers to really water down the stuff to ensure no casualties, which you never really hear of at glasto despite the size.

JohnDaniels wrote: »

If they lost Body and Soul from EP I could see the festival taking a complete nose dive.

the festival is 100% over if b&s is ever removed, i'll be joining the moaning in the boards thread when that happens

lbj666

JohnDaniels wrote: »

Yeah was looking it up after I posted. Think they do Burning Man instead now which is on around the same time. I'm getting confused with having been at it in Glastonbury over the last few years. Pity its gone from EP. If they lost Body and Soul from EP I could see the festival taking a complete nose dive. Wish I had the seed capital to try get something started as while Body and Soul fills the void somewhat their is still a gaping hole to get something like an early EP off the ground.

Arcadia never made it to burning man. They turned down the Picnic in 2012 because they had planned to do burning man but in order to cover the costs they need to east and west coast festival appearance either side of it. The couldn't get the west coast gig. Electric picnic never asked them back. They did their own festival in the middle of bristol last weekend, amazing they got permission to do it but anyway.

They appear at festivals far less now, Glastonbury is king for them but they have parted ways with Bestival long ago and this year they parted ways with Boomtown fair because of the ridiculous noise restrictions. They have started bringing it further a field alright to asia and the usa.
I imagine they demand quiet a bit of cash to show up and many festivals kinda feel the novelty of the smaller afterburner stage has worn off especially since it is now the budget package compared to the spider thing they have at glastonbury.

There this very airy fairy perception of what art a festival in ireland should be, i'd love if it one of them delved into the darker side of things.

scruff monkey

I rarely go to the sets in B&S as a lot of the stuff just isint my cuppa, but love wandering round the place sitting and people watching/perving, it really is the heart of the thing.

dubecho

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

How big was Electric Picnic when it first started out? And how did it avoid attracting the 'wrong' crowd? The line up always seemed quite electronic, was it just because Oxegen was there to attract the tops off brigade and they paid no attention to EP?

There are so many festivals already in Ireland, could there even be enough demand for another?

Electric Picnic in 2004, was a one day festival of approx 15,000 people. It managed to avoid the "wrong" crowd all these years, because there was the likes of Oxegen, to cater to the younger festival goers, but mainly because of the time it was on, most would have gone back to school by the start of September.

If the line up is right there is always room for more festivals.

I've not missed an EP from the first, till the one just gone and although the capacity and younger demographic, was much more noticeable this year and a much more main stream line up, it was still a good EP. I just ignore the corporate side of things as a necessary evil, in order to keep prices down etc. At the end of the day there is something for everyone and the majority will have come away with a good experience. The weather is also a huge factor in peoples perception of the event and although cold at night this years weather could not have been better.

Roll on next year, I for one will be there

Pablo's app was great to have as well, well done and great to see your figures better than 3's effort

JohnDaniels

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

How big was Electric Picnic when it first started out? And how did it avoid attracting the 'wrong' crowd? The line up always seemed quite electronic, was it just because Oxegen was there to attract the tops off brigade and they paid no attention to EP?

There are so many festivals already in Ireland, could there even be enough demand for another?

In fairness to Oxegen in its early days it had some stonking lineups, I guess I am more talking about when it was called Witness which proceeded Oxygen. Music camping festivals were quite a new thing in this country on that kind of scale at the time. People who went to them were music lovers. The drugs were always a thing as generally music and drugs go hand in hand but I find when people are there primarily for the music the drugs are to enhance that experience than just to get ****ed up. After a couple of years the change over happened to Oxegen and the crowd became worse and worse as times went on. Word I guess spread that you could go to this place, get ****ed up on drink and drugs for the weekend and by and large the authories turn a blind eye. When people stop coming primarily for the music you have a problem. It's why I would worry about EP as this year it looked to be in the early stages of attracting that kind of crowd. That only grows in subsequent years through word of mouth and then the real problems start with the type of crowd you have at the festival.

While EP looking back at the lineup should maybe have attracted more of that crowd I guess loads of factors maintained its low key image. That lineup going back 10 years would have been seen as quite alternative, the drug culture around that music hadn't taken off massively in Ireland, it billed itself as a arts festivals which made it fly under the radar,time of year and the festival of choice was Oxegen. With no alternative now, the change in type of lineup etc I really worry for it in the future.

seachto7

Maybe there *might* be room for a hard rock/metal fest in Ireland with well known bands? But perhaps, financially it would be a non runner what with the more established bigger hard rock / metal festivals in the UK and in Europe.
Or perhaps a hard rock / metal stage at EP?

I had a look at the lineups down through the years earlier, and for my tastes (I'm 38) the quality seemed to peak around 2008, but that's subjective.

There seemed to be more "influential" bands on the bill, but that's not to say that a lot of bands on this years bill won't go on to be influential themselves in years to come.

The only way the EP can "get rid" of the young crowd is to attract bands who would have an older fan base. To counter that, look at Blur, Underworld, Manics, Grace Jones. All people in their mid to late 40s or older who've been around the block, and the kids still want a piece of them.

Ferris_Bueller

In fairness to the organisers I think they do try and book acts that would attract an older or more mature crowd, 2013 was a bit risky getting the likes of Fatboy Slim, Disclosure and Arctic Monkeys but apart from that year most other years seem to be aiming to attract an older crowd. It is essential they keep doing this though because the second they decide to ditch that approach the festival will fall apart instantly I'd say.

A lot of people buy tickets before the line up is even announced though, both young and older festival goers. I'd imagine it would be very hard to scare off any of the younger crowd at this stage. The only thing that springs to mind (and no guarantee it would work either) would be if they got rid of the rave in the woods. I love it down there and think it's one of the coolest stages at any festival I've ever been at, but every year it seems to attract a worse and worse crowd. Not saying that I would like them to get rid of it or that they would even consider it as I'd guess it's worth a lot of money to them, but I'd say that is one of few things that could deter the younger crowd.

Edit: Alternatively, a better idea might be just to keep the RBMA stage open from earlier in the day like in previous years. It might ease the crowds in the main arena and might keep some of the crowd who go just for the session down there for the weekend rather than in the campsites or the main arena.

lbj666

JohnDaniels wrote: »

It wasn't just the price drop but the change in the type of acts and general lineup. If I recall it began with the likes of the Killers. The guy who had been involved in the original setup of the festival had a big fall out with the crowd who had bought a significant share in the festiva who were pushing more mainstream music. You can see the two waring sides this year with one side trying to make the festival a commercial success and the other side trying desperately to cling on to its roots.

John Reynolds of POD were the original promoters, Melvin Benn and Festival Republic came in 2009 to partner with them more . Reynolds got really pissed off losing more and more control of how the festival was run especially finding out that €500k was spent on the killers in 2012 when the money could have been better spent fattening out the lineup with more suitable acts. Reynolds also didn't see any transparency over certain stuff to do with ticketmaster and festival republic

It got very nasty, so much so that Reynolds had Blur ready and booked to play in 2013 , but put them on a stand alone gig insted because Reynolds and Benn ended up in court. Benns main arguement was the the festival was running at a loss trying to do it the Reynolds way and something had to be done.

FR ran the picnic in 2013 themselves, in 2014 it was settled out of court with the agreement that Pod/Reynolds step away from it.

Benn had a point, but the way i see it booking the Killers turned off a huge number of regulars and was the last straw for alot of people and so many people i know. Spending €0.5 million for them when they could have bulked up the line up with 5-6 solid bands would have been a lot better idea. Only 22,000 weekend tickets were sold that year with whoever really wanted to see the Killers showed up on the Sunday.

It still was my favorite year because of the weather.


Remember lads the auld farts on this thread here are the ones that still go , there are greater number of auld farts that have turned their back on the picnic long ago and settled on going to festival abroad or body and soul or whatever

BullBlackNova

Another major issue with the Killers booking at the time was that Elbow had been signed on to play the headline slot that was handed over. So not only was €500,000 spent on one act that one of the promoters didn't even want, but the original headliner had to be paid extra to cover the fact that they were now being bumped down the bill.

Tremendous waste of cash and really could've been the end for the Picnic.

scruff monkey

Half a million was an insane amount on a ****e band, they really must have seen it as a do or die roll of the dice

BullBlackNova

scruff monkey wrote: »

Half a million was an insane amount on a ****e band, they really must have seen it as a do or die roll of the dice

Yep. It was during the dark years in Ireland when live events were bombing left, right and centre and the Killers were thought to be one of the few reliable bands who could shift tickets that would play a festival.

It turned out to be untrue because it wasn't ****ing 2004.

Fatfrog

Any one catch the King Kong company at the Salty dog on Sunday night, reminded me a bit of a pumped up flaming lips!! Atmosphere was absolutely electric! The crowd were bonkers! Excellent drummer! Really enjoyed it!!

Fatfrog

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Another major issue with the Killers booking at the time was that Elbow had been signed on to play the headline slot that was handed over. So not only was €500,000 spent on one act that one of the promoters didn't even want, but the original headliner had to be paid extra to cover the fact that they were now being bumped down the bill.

Tremendous waste of cash and really could've been the end for the Picnic.

Not defending the killers decision, but Reynolds sold a majority share to Benns company and still was naive enough to think he could legally control the festival!!

Benn has a long extensive career in festival organisation having been involved with Glastonbury for something like 20 years, so after forking out a shed load of cash for the shares you can't blame him for trying everything to make a profit. In hindsight It didn't help attendance probably due to economic reasons and was most certainly the wrong band for the original Reynolds EP festival!
But you can see the seed that was in Benns mind at that stage, why not create a smaller version of Glastonbury that he could fully control!!

BullBlackNova

Fatfrog wrote: »

Not defending the killers decision, but Reynolds sold a majority share to Benns company and still was naive enough to think he could legally control the festival!!

Benn has a long extensive career in festival organisation having been involved with Glastonbury for something like 20 years, so after forking out a shed load of cash for the shares you can't blame him for trying everything to make a profit. In hindsight It didn't help attendance probably due to economic reasons and was most certainly the wrong band for the original Reynolds EP festival!
But you can see the seed that was in Benns mind at that stage, why not create a smaller version of Glastonbury that he could fully control!!

Regardless of which side of the debate anybody might want to land on, there's no arguing that the Killers fiasco wasn't a waste of money - and I mean entirely on the basis of having already booked a headliner and having to pay them off to bump down the bill.

The whole thing was a mess that year.

Reynolds was extremely naive to think he could still control it after selling the shares tbf.

2012 was always going to be a hard year. I don't think the poor sales were because of the bands but the economy, as you said. So you'd think, taking that into consideration, they'd have been even less reluctant to spend huge money on one headliner. Especially the Killers who, tbf, haven't been at that status in Ireland since about 2010 and won't draw in big crowds really.

ghostdancer

i don't think it was that much of a waste of money. sell 2000 extra tickets to Killers fans or people who might have been on the fence, and The Killers have paid for themselves, most likely to people who wouldn't have gone if Elbow were headlining.
Reynolds ran the festival into the ground financially and had to sell a huge stake to Benn/MCD/Festival Republic who basically saved EP from going under completely.

symbolic

lbj666 wrote: »

there are greater number of auld farts that have turned their back on the picnic long ago and settled on going to festival abroad

Yeah that's what I do. Some great festivals around the world, with no messers

guylikeme

Have to say I'm enjoying the history lesson. Had heard whispers of possible cancellation in 13 but was delighted to see it getting popular to the level it's now at.

fits

I think 2012 was my favourite year, funnily enough. Although 2008 was great too. For me anyway. The earlier ones for all their legendary status, were quite badly organised in some ways.

Danger Fourpence

ghostdancer wrote: »

i don't think it was that much of a waste of money. sell 2000 extra tickets to Killers fans or people who might have been on the fence, and The Killers have paid for themselves, most likely to people who wouldn't have gone if Elbow were headlining.
Reynolds ran the festival into the ground financially and had to sell a huge stake to Benn/MCD/Festival Republic who basically saved EP from going under completely.

Pretty much this. It was €2.1m in debt. I'm sure Reynolds would like a more eclectic line up there but then he's probably happy counting the profits too.

dubecho

Danger Fourpence wrote: »

Pretty much this. It was €2.1m in debt. I'm sure Reynolds would like a more eclectic line up there but then he's probably happy counting the profits too.

Reynolds was to busy avoiding the tax man and people he owed money to, **** him, good riddance to him and his ilk.

Kerrigooney

2005 still goes down as the best weekend of my life.

sadie06

Here it goes...finally feel up to typing! Literally everything hurt for the last three days.

This was our (myself, husband and 11 year old son's) 4th picnic and it was definitely the least 'magical' for us, and that's despite getting to live it through the eyes of our 8 year old daughter who came for the first time. She loved it...all of it, and out-did us all stamina wise!

I can't really say why that magical feeling deserted us. The crowds didn't bother us too much as we would never be down in the mix for headline acts and regularly retreat to Mindfield and B&S for rest breaks etc. We just didn't have as many fun, random encounters with people, but that just may have been our particular journey this year.

We still had a wonderful time and will probably go back.

Highlights: Grace Jones unexpectedly blew my mind, and it was absolutely hilarious to see how horrified my 11 year old was by her boobies! Give him 2 years! The sound for her set was the best I heard all weekend.
Loved Villagers (I cried at one point, as did others around me) Hot Chip, Ride, Django Django and Blur, an intimate set by a dying-of-the-flu Neil Hannon in My Lovely Ranch and a comedy set we happened upon in Mindfield by Kevin McGahren on Sunday which was the funniest thing I have seen in years. Kwabs also was fantastic, though we had to leave his set for Hot Chip. Loved his brand of moody, edgy pop, and he has a beautiful voice.

The song of the festival for me was The War on Drugs: Red Eyes. I was completely swept away.

I really enjoyed Patrick Freyne's overview of things in The Ticket and his review of 2 Unlimited was hilarious.

Lowlights: Family camping was nowhere near as secure this year. Every other year we swayed between irritation and admiration for the amount we had to show our wristbands. Every single yellow vest looked at them, even if you had just walked 5 ft ahead of the last guy who looked at them. It was so lax this year...particularly the woman at the entrance to Soul Kids who did f*ck all as far as I can see. Security told us three tents were cleared out on Friday evening in Family camping 1....I have never heard of this before.

George Ezra...what an unbelievably boring performer. Thought he would be the highlight for my daughter, but even she had to concede that he was boring!

B&S. It feels a bit tired to me....much preferred Trailer Park & Mindfield this year.

E Lites....just go away please.

Sorry I never made it to the meet up. Sent Pablo a PM but just to say it here also..his App was feckin' brilliant!

Over and out...

fits

Yep. That 2 unlimited review was brilliant .

declanleo

I can't really say why that magical feeling deserted us. The crowds didn't bother us too much as we would never be down in the mix for headline acts and regularly retreat to Mindfield and B&S for rest breaks etc. We just didn't have as many fun, random encounters with people, but that just may have been our particular journey this year.

We still had a wonderful time and will probably go back.

Highlights: Grace Jones unexpectedly blew my mind, and it was absolutely hilarious to see how horrified my 11 year old was by her boobies! Give him 2 years! The sound for her set was the best I heard all weekend.
Loved Villagers (I cried at one point, as did others around me) Hot Chip, Ride, Django Django and Blur, an intimate set by a dying-of-the-flu Neil Hannon in My Lovely Ranch and a comedy set we happened upon in Mindfield by Kevin McGahren on Sunday which was the funniest thing I have seen in years. Kwabs also was fantastic, though we had to leave his set for Hot Chip. Loved his brand of moody, edgy pop, and he has a beautiful voice.

The song of the festival for me was The War on Drugs: Red Eyes. I was completely swept away.

I really enjoyed Patrick Freyne's overview of things in The Ticket and his review of 2 Unlimited was hilarious.

Lowlights: Family camping was nowhere near as secure this year. Every other year we swayed between irritation and admiration for the amount we had to show our wristbands. Every single yellow vest looked at them, even if you had just walked 5 ft ahead of the last guy who looked at them. It was so lax this year...particularly the woman at the entrance to Soul Kids who did f*ck all as far as I can see. Security told us three tents were cleared out on Friday evening in Family camping 1....I have never heard of this before.

George Ezra...what an unbelievably boring performer. Thought he would be the highlight for my daughter, but even she had to concede that he was boring!

B&S. It feels a bit tired to me....much preferred Trailer Park & Mindfield this year.

E Lites....just go away please.

Sorry I never made it to the meet up. Sent Pablo a PM but just to say it here also..his App was feckin' brilliant!

Over and out...[/quote]


I brought my daughter into the soul kids area and seen two guys just walk through past the security....I thought you were only allowed through if you had kids. Am I mistaken?

sadie06

declanleo wrote: »

I brought my daughter into the soul kids area and seen two guys just walk through past the security....I thought you were only allowed through if you had kids. Am I mistaken?

No, you are allowed in if you have a family camping wristband, but you can only get one of them in the first place if you are there with kids. For instance, my husband went back through Soul Kids to get stuff we had forgotten one day. That very possibly is what the guys you saw were doing, or they were coming back to meet their family. Many parents of very young children take turns going into the arena, while the other does the Soul Kids thing.

Dtp1979

declanleo wrote: »

...

I brought my daughter into the soul kids area and seen two guys just walk through past the security....I thought you were only allowed through if you had kids. Am I mistaken?[/quote]

Maybe the kids were back at the tent with the mothers?

Kompany

Great line up at ELECTRIC ARENA but a serious dip in front of the stage made it difficult for anybody under 6 feet to see !
Was it real or was it the drink ?

Level the pitch ........ for the little people