Electric Picnic 2018 **Discussion Only // No Ticket Sales** [Part 1]

Thundercats Ho

MJohnston wrote: »

Lorde is a definite headliner tbf

ghostdancer wrote: »

I'm presuming we're talking about potentially in the future, if they keep on the same trajectory. ie. another couple of years/albums.
I definitely don't see them as headliners now either. Lorde maybe, in the same way that LdR and Sam Smith were headliners...

Man, i'm old..

MJohnston

I don't like her music, I can still see why she's headliner material (same with Lana Del Rey a couple of years ago)

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Not many bigger music fests in Europe (Glasto, Reading/Leeds, Sziget, Open'er, Roskilde, Werchter, Tomorrowland and a couple of others). Only Coachella in the US is bigger as far as I'm aware. And you can discount those festivals that add up the daily attendances over a week or two to make a large total. Many festivals with big names (Exit, Primavera) are a lot smaller and Lollapalooza is 5,000 less.

With respect, there's no chance EP is in the top twenty on the planet capacity wise. In the UK and Europe there's Download and Pukkelpop and in the US there's Burning Man. And those are just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are bigger festivals in South America and Australia too.

BullBlackNova

Seathrun66 wrote: »

And I also agree with all that you say there. So, changing tack, other than the two you mentioned who are future headlining young acts? We've lost the Maccabees & Wild Beasts who were an outside shot. Who else - Wolf Alice, Royal Blood, Stormzy, Frank Ocean, Skepta, The 1975? Bar Frank, none of whom greatly inspire me.

I will forever mourn that I didn't get to see the Maccabees live...

Agree with all those you mentioned - Frank Ocean would be a headliner now tbf.

Thundercats Ho wrote: »

I'd imagine The National will be one of the headliners.

National are nailed on festival headliners in Ireland next year I'd say. Just depends on the rest of their tour. Apparently, they're booked for Primavera so that would make the rumours about Forbidden Fruit add up. I could see them coordinating the last day like Bon Iver this year.

ghostdancer wrote: »

Lorde, Years & Years and Chvrches maybe?
e: Bastille too.

Lorde would headline now if booked, the others would all be dependent on the next album I'd say.

Add to this list... (just looking through my Spotify in alphabetical order!)

Alt-J, Bon Iver, Chance the Rapper, Christine and the Queens, Hozier, M83, Run the Jewels, St Vincent, Vampire Weekend.

Some of these could headline now, others would be one or two albums away, maybe never reaching the height but all are well positioned now where they could get there at some point I would reckon.

mimimcmc

BullBlackNova wrote: »

That's the one!

I can't find the articles I was looking for, but here's a Q&A with Melvin Benn, Rob da Bank and Natasha Haddad (Latitude) talking about headliners of the future and it's pretty clear that they're all aware that there's a shortage of people right now.

Article is from 2015 so some of the names are a bit out of date (Maccabees having split for e.g.) but it's still interesting given the topic.

http://diymag.com/2015/06/19/who-are-the-headliners-of-the-future-festival-organisers-look-ahead

FYI - nobody mentions Tame Impala But it does largely seem to be British acts.

Rob da Bank...

After reading that article I think Rudimental would be a great shout for headlining! They are amazing live, such energy!

Seathrun66

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Not many bigger music fests in Europe (Glasto, Reading/Leeds, Sziget, Open'er, Roskilde, Werchter, Tomorrowland and a couple of others). Only Coachella in the US is bigger as far as I'm aware. And you can discount those festivals that add up the daily attendances over a week or two to make a large total. Many festivals with big names (Exit, Primavera) are a lot smaller and Lollapalooza is 5,000 less.

With respect, there's no chance EP is in the top twenty on the planet capacity wise. In the UK and Europe there's Download and Pukkelpop and in the US there's Burning Man. And those are just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are bigger festivals in South America and Australia too.

As above I gave the names of European festivals & said there were a couple more. Pukklepop & Download fit that bill & there may be one or two more.

Burning Man is not a music festival & I'm unable to find another 3/4 day US fest bigger than EP other than Coachella.

In Latin America Rock in Rio is a ten day stadium-type event so not a festival. The three Lollapaloozas I can't find figures for but pretty sure they're all easily bigger than EP.

That makes thirteen with more than 55,000 capacity. I'll look for more but I think we're struggling to find twenty music festivals on the planet that have a greater capacity than EP. Bigger doesn't mean better, but it does mean we can continue to expect decent acts. And some big bands.

endainoz

So aside from the prodigy being a really good shout for headliners next year (which is a great shout and would be epic to see them again) Most of my thoughts are purely speculation and have no real info to back them up except my own opinion.

So would like to see:

The Prodigy - no explaination needed here

Liam Gallagher - Up recently I would have had no intention of seeing him, was always more of a Noel guy myself, but it does look like Liam isn't as much of a self centred baby any more and has finally grown up a bit, nice to see and it's no harm that his new material is actually quite good.

LCD Soundsystem - Such an amazing live show to see. They are probably sick of playing the picnic by now but a return to headline would be fantastic.

St Vincent - saw her a couple of years ago and was blown away. Needs to return.

Ray Davies - could be a great legend slot on a Sunday evening, singalongs with lazy on a sunny afternoon etc. Not even sure if the man is still actively touring but it would be great to see one of rocks fore fathers play live, there isn't many of them left at this stage.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - This is a purely personal choice, a truely legendary band with so many anthems. Did the best ever Superbowl half time show a few years back imo. Never seems to tour much this side Of The Atlantic though.

Vampire weekend - another great band that I saw a few years back and would love to see them again. They may be a bit too pop rock for some people's taste bit I've always liked them.

Kasabian - They have been discussed a lot on this thread for a few years. Yeah they definitely earned thr tag of a 'lad band' in recent years but how cool would it be to hear 'Fire' or 'LSF' in the stradbally fields? Very cool would be the answer.

Future Islands - Another one from a couple of years back, loved their set. The frontman has a serious stage presence and an amazing voice to back it up, even if he does look like a Joe Dolan love child!

From the Irish side of things would love to see The Frames again, but my obsession with them has been on here before so won't get into that again!

More trad type bands maybe, beoga and Kila were fantastic at the last picnic.

I'm sure there are loads more I could add to this list but we better leave it at that for now.

ghostdancer

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Not many bigger music fests in Europe (Glasto, Reading/Leeds, Sziget, Open'er, Roskilde, Werchter, Tomorrowland and a couple of others). Only Coachella in the US is bigger as far as I'm aware. And you can discount those festivals that add up the daily attendances over a week or two to make a large total. Many festivals with big names (Exit, Primavera) are a lot smaller and Lollapalooza is 5,000 less.

With respect, there's no chance EP is in the top twenty on the planet capacity wise. In the UK and Europe there's Download and Pukkelpop and in the US there's Burning Man. And those are just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are bigger festivals in South America and Australia too.

As above I gave the names of European festivals & said there were a couple more. Pukklepop & Download fit that bill & there may be one or two more.

Burning Man is not a music festival & I'm unable to find another 3/4 day US fest bigger than EP other than Coachella.

In Latin America Rock in Rio is a ten day stadium-type event so not a festivsl. The three Lollapaloozas I can't find figures for but pretty sure theyre all easily bigger than EP.

That makes thirteen with more than 55,000 capacity. I'll look for more but I think we're struggling to find twenty music festivals on the planet that have a greater capacity than EP. Bigger doesn't mean better, but it does mean we can continue to expect decent acts. And some big bands.

Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy Carnival and Outside Lands in the US are all bigger. not sure where you got your figure for Lollapalooza as being 5k less than EP as it's 100k a day:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ent-lollapalooza-go-guide-0803-story.html
http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/bonnaroo/2017/06/13/bonnaroo-attendance-rebounds-but-crowd-far-short-peak-years/392936001/
http://abc7news.com/entertainment/70000-expected-to-attend-outside-lands-music-fest/1457878/

EDC in Vegas is 134,000 a day:
https://trance.news/from-las-vegas-india-the-edc-story/

Creamfields in the UK is 70,000:
http://www.creamfields.com/creamfields-2016

Fuji Rock in Japan is at least 100k a day too.

probably a few more.

EP might just squeak inside the top 20.
seems to be a lot of festivals around the 50k-60k mark.

ghostdancer

what big bands have upcoming gigs in the 3Arena?

QOTSA, The Killers and Arcade Fire off the top of my head for potential EP headliners, not sure if AF would still be touring the new album by next September though, and might not bother with Ireland after playing Malahide this summer.

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

As above I gave the names of European festivals & said there were a couple more. Pukklepop & Download fit that bill & there may be one or two more.

Burning Man is not a music festival & I'm unable to find another 3/4 day US fest bigger than EP other than Coachella.

In Latin America Rock in Rio is a ten day stadium-type event so not a festivsl. The three Lollapaloozas I can't find figures for but pretty sure theyre all easily bigger than EP.

That makes thirteen with more than 55,000 capacity. I'll look for more but I think we're struggling to find twenty music festivals on the planet that have a greater capacity than EP. Bigger doesn't mean better, but it does mean we can continue to expect decent acts. And some big bands.

Maybe Burning Man was a bad example as it's not a music festival in the traditional sense of the word. But nevertheless, there are still others. Also just remembered Benicassim

Believe me, I don't think bigger is better and I would have no interest in going to half of the festivals mentioned.

Ferris_Bueller

I think there are still loads of acts who could potentially headline EP, most are mentioning current bands above but over the past few years they might have only had one or two current bands actually headline each year.

It's not this simple, but they could hypothetically book one from each or any of these groups and have a very diverse lineup:

One current major band/act: Arcade Fire, The National, Tame Impala, Foals, QOTSA, The Killers, Kasabian, Bon Iver, The XX, Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Muse, Beck, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Alt J etc.

One retro act: New Order, Chic, Duran Duran, David Byrne, Pet Shop Boys, Chaka Khan, Hall & Oates, Liam/Noel Gallagher, PJ Harvey, Pixies, Bjork, Blondie..

One dance act: Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Leftfield, Orbital, Justice, 2manyDJs, Fatboy Slim, Disclosure, Kraftwerk, Deadmau5, The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada.

One pop act: Sam Smith, Florence, Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Lorde, whoever else..

And then there are always going to be acts who announce a reunion: Outkast, LCD Soundsystem, Blur, A Tribe Called Quest in the past few years

Not to mention hundreds more acts who would be excellent high up the bill or as subheadliners. Over time there will be new headliners born but the EP lineup is hardly running out of options to book!

bodhrandude

Perhaps Birdy who played this year to a packed out Electric Arena on Saturday afternoon, in fact it was reminiscent to London Grammar in the EA a few years ago, there was at least three or four rows of people outside the edges of the tent. I can see them getting a placement on the main stage next year. Maybe not a headliner but not far off, maybe London Grammar's spot from this year, next year for Birdy.

Rfrip

bodhrandude wrote: »

Perhaps Birdy who played this year to a packed out Electric Arena on Saturday afternoon, in fact it was reminiscent to London Grammar in the EA a few years ago, there was at least three or four rows of people outside the edges of the tent. I can see them getting a placement on the main stage next year. Maybe not a headliner but not far off, maybe London Grammar's spot from this year, next year for Birdy.

The rain had a lot to do with that I think!

Seathrun66

ghostdancer wrote: »

Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy Carnival and Outside Lands in the US are all bigger. not sure where you got your figure for Lollapalooza as being 5k less than EP as it's 100k a day:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ent-lollapalooza-go-guide-0803-story.html
http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/bonnaroo/2017/06/13/bonnaroo-attendance-rebounds-but-crowd-far-short-peak-years/392936001/
http://abc7news.com/entertainment/70000-expected-to-attend-outside-lands-music-fest/1457878/

EDC in Vegas is 134,000 a day:
https://trance.news/from-las-vegas-india-the-edc-story/

Creamfields in the UK is 70,000:
http://www.creamfields.com/creamfields-2016

Fuji Rock in Japan is at least 100k a day too.

probably a few more.

EP might just squeak inside the top 20.
seems to be a lot of festivals around the 50k-60k mark.

Yeah, you're spot on regarding those four US festivals Ghostdancer. I got the wrong figure for Chicago Lollapalooza. You're also right about Creamfields & Fuji Rock so that would put EP at number twenty.  Unless you count the three Latin American Lollapalooza festivals (identical lineup in Brazil, Chile & Argentina) as one touring festival.

At the risk of annoying some people here I've also got to ask if a music festival is really a music festival if there are only live DJs and no acts playing instruments? If so that could exclude some of the festivals mentioned.

Either way it seems that EP scrapes into the top twenty, and the only reason for bringing this up is that as punters we're entitled to consistently decent acts. Including at least one major headliner a year. Probably two.

Seathrun66

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

As above I gave the names of European festivals & said there were a couple more. Pukklepop & Download fit that bill & there may be one or two more.

Burning Man is not a music festival & I'm unable to find another 3/4 day US fest bigger than EP other than Coachella.

In Latin America Rock in Rio is a ten day stadium-type event so not a festivsl. The three Lollapaloozas I can't find figures for but pretty sure theyre all easily bigger than EP.

That makes thirteen with more than 55,000 capacity. I'll look for more but I think we're struggling to find twenty music festivals on the planet that have a greater capacity than EP. Bigger doesn't mean better, but it does mean we can continue to expect decent acts. And some big bands.

Maybe Burning Man was a bad example as it's not a music festival in the traditional sense of the word. But nevertheless, there are still others. Also just remembered Benicassim

Believe me, I don't think bigger is better and I would have no interest in going to half of the festivals mentioned.

Only 30,000. Primavera Sound only 35,000. Exit is 30,000. Source for all my figures is efestivals.co.uk. Some of these fests just have a disproportionate amount of publicity compared to their size.

BullBlackNova

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Yeah, you're spot on regarding those four US festivals Ghostdancer. I got the wrong figure for Chicago Lollapalooza. You're also right about Creamfields & Fuji Rock so that would put EP at number twenty.  Unless you count the three Latin American Lollapalooza festivals (identical lineup in Brazil, Chile & Argentina) as one touring festival.

At the risk of annoying some people here I've also got to ask if a music festival is really a music festival if there are only live DJs and no acts playing instruments? If so that could exclude some of the festivals mentioned.

Either way it seems that EP scrapes into the top twenty, and the only reason for bringing this up is that as punters we're entitled to consistently decent acts. Including at least one major headliner a year. Probably two.

"Is a music festival really a music festival if its music I don't like?"

Good luck with this one Seathrun...

bodhrandude

Rfrip wrote: »

The rain had a lot to do with that I think!

It wasn't half as bad as it would be in five hours time though, twas only drizzle around then.

Photo of the gig.

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Only 30,000. Primavera Sound only 35,000. Exit is 30,000. Source for all my figures is efestivals.co.uk. Some of these fests just have a disproportionate amount of publicity compared to their size.

Actually, one of the main stages alone at Benicassim has a capacity of 30,000.

It's also worth noting that people from all over the world travel to some of the aforementioned festivals. These festivals are seen as the gold standard hence why they might seem to you to get a disproportionate amount of publicity, to use your own turn of phrase.

Even if you're right about EP being in the top twenty festivals on the planet, I'd be certain a festival on our island is not seen worldwide in the same light as the Primaveras et al.

Seathrun66

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Only 30,000. Primavera Sound only 35,000. Exit is 30,000. Source for all my figures is efestivals.co.uk. Some of these fests just have a disproportionate amount of publicity compared to their size.

Actually, one of the main stages alone at Benicassim has a capacity of 30,000.

It's also worth noting that people from all over the world travel to some of the aforementioned festivals. These festivals are seen as the gold standard hence why they might seem to you to get a disproportionate amount of publicity, to use your own turn of phrase.

Even if you're right about EP being in the top twenty festivals on the planet, I'd be certain a festival on our island is not seen worldwide in the same light as the Primaveras et al.

Benicassim is 30,000 according to efestivals.co.uk and festivalmag.com, the two most reliable sources I've found when researching fests. In terms of a Benicassim stage (undoubtedly the main stage) having a 30k capacity that's probably true. I'd also expect the EP main stage has a capacity of 55k should the entire fest decide to watch the headliner, uncomfortable though that would be. I'd expect it to be a health & safety stipulation to cover that situation.

And let's face it, an event on the Castellón coast or in Barcelona are always going to be more glamorous than a soggy field in Laois, but we still get people travelling distances to get to Stradbally. The EP lineups have historically compared very favourably to similar or larger sized fests elsewhere in Europe.

In 2005 I watched Goldfrapp, Arcade Fire, Royksōpp & Kraftwerk in succession at the EA. In 2007 we had the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, LCD Soundsystem, Jesus & Mary Chain, Bjork, The Stooges & many more, three of those it's now no longer possible to see. 2015 was Blur, Manics, Interpol, Underworld, Mos Def, Despacio, Tame Impala, War on Drugs & many other top acts. Look back over the lineups and every year has some pretty special stuff.

We don't ever match the stunning Primavera lineups, but how can anybody else compete given their sponsorship deals with Heineken, Red Bull & others alongside the funds they get from the city of Barcelona & Catalan government. Bear that in mind when downgrading EP, and realise that for all its faults Oxegen also had great lineups but similarly wasn't well known throughout Europe or North America. Maybe we're not shouting loudly enough?

Seathrun66

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Yeah, you're spot on regarding those four US festivals Ghostdancer. I got the wrong figure for Chicago Lollapalooza. You're also right about Creamfields & Fuji Rock so that would put EP at number twenty.  Unless you count the three Latin American Lollapalooza festivals (identical lineup in Brazil, Chile & Argentina) as one touring festival.

At the risk of annoying some people here I've also got to ask if a music festival is really a music festival if there are only live DJs and no acts playing instruments? If so that could exclude some of the festivals mentioned.

Either way it seems that EP scrapes into the top twenty, and the only reason for bringing this up is that as punters we're entitled to consistently decent acts. Including at least one major headliner a year. Probably two.

"Is a music festival really a music festival if its music I don't like?"

Good luck with this one Seathrun...

Thanks. I'll need it methinks. Got to say though that I love beats but three days relentless exposure to nothing else would test me. Every dance festival looks to me like a gigantic Bacardi stage & even filling myself with enough substances to satisfy a touring funk band wouldn't be enough to help me cope.

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Benicassim is 30,000 according to efestivals.co.uk and festivalmag.com, the two most reliable sources I've found when researching fests. In terms of a Benicassim stage (undoubtedly the main stage) having a 30k capacity that's probably true. I'd also expect the EP main stage has a capacity of 55k should the entire fest decide to watch the headliner, uncomfortable though that would be. I'd expect it to be a health & safety stipulation to cover that situation.

And let's face it, an event on the Castellón coast or in Barcelona are always going to be more glamorous than a soggy field in Laois, but we still get people travelling distances to get to Stradbally. The EP lineups have historically compared very favourably to similar or larger sized fests elsewhere in Europe.

In 2005 I watched Goldfrapp, Arcade Fire, Royksōpp & Kraftwerk in succession at the EA. In 2007 we had the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, LCD Soundsystem, Jesus & Mary Chain, Bjork, The Stooges & many more, three of those it's now no longer possible to see. 2015 was Blur, Manics, Interpol, Underworld, Mos Def, Despacio, Tame Impala, War on Drugs & many other top acts. Look back over the lineups and every year has some pretty special stuff.

We don't ever match the stunning Primavera lineups, but how can anybody else compete given their sponsorship deals with Heineken, Red Bull & others alongside the funds they get from the city of Barcelona & Catalan government. Bear that in mind when downgrading EP, and realise that for all its faults Oxegen also had great lineups but similarly wasn't well known throughout Europe or North America. Maybe we're not shouting loudly enough?

You do realise Heineken and Red Bull also sponsor EP? Not to mention the other sponsors they have. EP is not exactly strapped for cash so that's an invalid defence. And yes, I fully agree that there has been some special stuff on the line-up over the years but you can't deny the decline. Maybe that's why your most recent citation was 2015

That has nothing to do with it being a "soggy field in Laois" (weather and fields don't stop people going in their droves to British festivals) or that we're not shouting loud enough or whatever. When it comes down to it, the quality has declined and that's just a fact.

Seathrun66

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Benicassim is 30,000 according to efestivals.co.uk and festivalmag.com, the two most reliable sources I've found when researching fests. In terms of a Benicassim stage (undoubtedly the main stage) having a 30k capacity that's probably true. I'd also expect the EP main stage has a capacity of 55k should the entire fest decide to watch the headliner, uncomfortable though that would be. I'd expect it to be a health & safety stipulation to cover that situation.

And let's face it, an event on the Castellón coast or in Barcelona are always going to be more glamorous than a soggy field in Laois, but we still get people travelling distances to get to Stradbally. The EP lineups have historically compared very favourably to similar or larger sized fests elsewhere in Europe.

In 2005 I watched Goldfrapp, Arcade Fire, Royksōpp & Kraftwerk in succession at the EA. In 2007 we had the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, LCD Soundsystem, Jesus & Mary Chain, Bjork, The Stooges & many more, three of those it's now no longer possible to see. 2015 was Blur, Manics, Interpol, Underworld, Mos Def, Despacio, Tame Impala, War on Drugs & many other top acts. Look back over the lineups and every year has some pretty special stuff.

We don't ever match the stunning Primavera lineups, but how can anybody else compete given their sponsorship deals with Heineken, Red Bull & others alongside the funds they get from the city of Barcelona & Catalan government. Bear that in mind when downgrading EP, and realise that for all its faults Oxegen also had great lineups but similarly wasn't well known throughout Europe or North America. Maybe we're not shouting loudly enough?

You do realise Heineken and Red Bull also sponsor EP? Not to mention the other sponsors they have. EP is not exactly strapped for cash so that's an invalid defence. And yes, I fully agree that there has been some special stuff on the line-up over the years but you can't deny the decline. Maybe that's why your most recent citation was 2015

That has nothing to do with it being a "soggy field in Laois" (weather and fields don't stop people going in their droves to British festivals) or that we're not shouting loud enough or whatever. When it comes down to it, the quality has declined and that's just a fact.

Am well aware of the sponsors of EP, Bacardi also a shared contributor. However Red Bull don't pay to stream EP as they do PS so the financial input is far less. And I think you completely missed the point about that sponsorship being alongside huge investment from the city and regional government. EP is never going to have that and thus can't match the acts that a much smaller festival like PS can attract.

And if it's fact that the quality has declined where is your empirical eveidence?

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Am well aware of the sponsors of EP, Bacardi also a shared contributor. However Red Bull don't pay to stream EP as they do PS so the financial input is far less. And I think you completely missed the point about that sponsorship being alongside huge investment from the city and regional government. EP is never going to have that and thus can't match the acts that a much smaller festival like PS can attract.

And if it's fact that the quality has declined where is your empirical eveidence?

I didn't miss the point about Primavera and it's grants but it's irrelevant. If EP is in the top twenty festivals worldwide as you keep insisting then why can't they afford big names especially with the number of corporate partners they have, increased capacity year on year, etc.

You said previously that EP is in the top twenty festivals worldwide and so fans deserve big names but now you're changing tack and stating they'll never match other smaller festivals. Which is it?

A quick glance at the line-up over the last ten years is really all the evidence you need for the decline in quality overall. I'm not for a minute saying there haven't been some gems on the line-up in the past two years but overall there has been a marked decline

Seathrun66

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Am well aware of the sponsors of EP, Bacardi also a shared contributor. However Red Bull don't pay to stream EP as they do PS so the financial input is far less. And I think you completely missed the point about that sponsorship being alongside huge investment from the city and regional government. EP is never going to have that and thus can't match the acts that a much smaller festival like PS can attract.

And if it's fact that the quality has declined where is your empirical eveidence?

I didn't miss the point about Primavera and it's grants but it's irrelevant. If EP is in the top twenty festivals worldwide as you keep insisting then why can't they afford big names especially with the number of corporate partners they have, increased capacity year on year, etc.

You said previously that EP is in the top twenty festivals worldwide and so fans deserve big names but now you're changing tack and stating they'll never match other smaller festivals. Which is it?

A quick glance at the line-up over the last ten years is really all the evidence you need for the decline in quality overall. I'm not for a minute saying there haven't been some gems on the line-up in the past two years but overall there has been a marked decline

How can it be irrelevant when you're bemoaning the EP lineups yet saying that local & regional government investment into Primavera Sound doesn't count. You're a maze of contradictions there man.

And my clear point was that with that cash nobody is matching PS. In comparison to other festivals EP easily holds its own in terms of line-up, every year has gems and spread across more stages per capita than almost any festival I've been to. Hence the speed of ticket sales. And despite your complaints the 2018 tickets will again sell out in record time.

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

How can it be irrelevant when you're bemoaning the EP lineups yet saying that local & regional government investment into Primavera Sound doesn't count. You're a maze of contradictions there man.

And my clear point was that with that cash nobody is matching PS. In comparison to other festivals EP easily holds its own in terms of line-up, every year has gems and spread across more stages per capita than almost any festival I've been to. Hence the speed of ticket sales. And despite your complaints the 2018 tickets will again sell out in record time.

The only one who is a mass of contradictions here is you, man. It's irrelevant in the sense that EP is not exactly impoverished, you seem to be making it out to be the poor cousin of festivals.

EP can easily afford some bigger names on the line-up to match other festivals (yes, there are other festivals that don't have government investment and still manage quality line-ups) but they choose not to. But hey, as you said it'll be a quick sell out so who cares

Seathrun66

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

How can it be irrelevant when you're bemoaning the EP lineups yet saying that local & regional government investment into Primavera Sound doesn't count. You're a maze of contradictions there man.

And my clear point was that with that cash nobody is matching PS. In comparison to other festivals EP easily holds its own in terms of line-up, every year has gems and spread across more stages per capita than almost any festival I've been to. Hence the speed of ticket sales. And despite your complaints the 2018 tickets will again sell out in record time.

The only one who is a mass of contradictions here is you, man. It's irrelevant in the sense that EP is not exactly impoverished, you seem to be making it out to be the poor cousin of festivals.

EP can easily afford some bigger names on the line-up to match other festivals  (yes, there are other festivals that don't have government investment and still manage quality line-ups) but they choose not to. But hey, as you said it'll be a quick sell out so who cares

Not at all a poor cousin. Just unable to compete financially with PS.

And EP can always get some bigger names but we've shown here that Duran Duran were €300k-€400k and LCD wouldn't have been cheap in 2016. 
I would also contend that EP has a broader and better range of acts than any comparably sized festival. Bear in mind also the sheer number of stages and areas the festival provides. Few other festivals are truly comparable in that sense.

 Finally, the incessant bit*hing about the fest is more appropriate to Facebook.

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Not at all a poor cousin. Just unable to compete financially with PS.

And EP can always get some bigger names but we've shown here that Duran Duran were €300k-€400k and LCD wouldn't have been cheap in 2016. 
I would also contend that EP has a broader and better range of acts than any comparably sized festival. Bear in mind also the sheer number of stages and areas the festival provides. Few other festivals are truly comparable in that sense.

 Finally, the incessant bit*hing about the fest is more appropriate to Facebook.

Your last comment- wow. This is a discussion thread, I've been to the Picnic many times and will always take an interest in it. It's no great sin to partake in a discussion and acknowledge that it could and should do better.

mgkelly

mgkelly

Seathrun66

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Not at all a poor cousin. Just unable to compete financially with PS.

And EP can always get some bigger names but we've shown here that Duran Duran were €300k-€400k and LCD wouldn't have been cheap in 2016. 
I would also contend that EP has a broader and better range of acts than any comparably sized festival. Bear in mind also the sheer number of stages and areas the festival provides. Few other festivals are truly comparable in that sense.

 Finally, the incessant bit*hing about the fest is more appropriate to Facebook.

Your last comment- wow. This is a discussion thread, I've been to the Picnic many times and will always take an interest in it. It's no great sin to partake in a discussion and acknowledge that it could and should do better.

Sorry man, but your posts are incessantly negative. And given what EP offers across dozens of stages, wholly unmerited.

But hey, it's all subjective & I hope you get the festival you want next year.