AllTogetherNow Festival 2018

ghostdancer

bodhrandude wrote: »

I think Aphex would be to intense an act for ATN to tell you the truth, if he was booked he'd probably play the second biggest stage in the marquee and that tent Something Rather Wonderful would be too small for his audience, he's much too nasty I think for the main stage, what with all that gabba, drill and bass stuff. You'll never know though, he hasn't played an Irish camping music festival since 2008. He seems to prefer playing one dayers and knocking off at 12 these days.

hasn't stopped POD booking him twice for the main stage at Forbidden Fruit...
If he was booked, there's zero chance he's playing anywhere other than the main stage.

Toast

Watch it be wall to wall Nile Rodgers and Chic. Just every band is them.

Ferris_Bueller

MJohnston wrote: »

I wouldn't expect anything too deep from an ATN lineup next year, at least in terms of headliners. This year was essentially Underworld, Fleet Foxes, and Chaka Khan as headliners, so I think that's the level we could expect. Honestly wish we could expect the Chemical Brothers as an Underworld-style act, been years since I've seen them and I've grown so much more fond of their music since then. But, they're at the 3Arena later this year, and that's an MCD gig, so probably very unlikely POD will book them again. Few years ago I'd have said someone like Basement Jaxx would have been possible, but they've been very quiet for years now. Groove Armada already "played" this year. Orbital played Beatyard this year. LCD are booked by other promoters. Daft Punk never tour.

Who does that leave of the big name dance music bands? Just looking back at POD's other events, Aphex has done Forbidden Fruit before, as has Caribou, so they're always possible. Leftfield? 2ManyDJs (I'd be very happy with this)?

Good god I hope they'd not book Fatboy Slim.

Curveball - Kraftwerk (POD booked them for the Picnic alllll the way back in 2005, so it's possible someone there still likes them!)

Some of those suggestions would be good as the dance act, would happily see Caribou, Justice, Kraftwerk or 2manyDJs as one of the headliners. New Order would be the dream headliner for me but they played EP 2 years ago so will they come back over to play with POD?

I think they do need to up the lineup significantly overall. They are increasing attendance, increasing ticket prices so I think it's fair that we should expect an improvement in the lineup. They played it very safe with the lineup this year mainly getting acts who have played around Ireland a lot the last few years, hopefully it is a bit more adventurous next year with some strong headliners.

Blackie_IRL

Looking at PODs history of booking acts for FF, ATN and Metropolis, stand alone IMMA gigs and indeed early EP, I don't see why any of the below acts would be out of reach....

Orbital
Jungle
Sigur Ros
Jamie XX (The XX)
Tame Impala
DJ Shadow
2 Many DJs
Unkle
Kiasmos
Bicep
Disclosure
Bon Iver
Nick Cave
Aphex Twin
War on Drugs
Little Dragon
Bonobo
Justice
Fourtet
Modeselektor
Apparat
Leftfield
Young Fathers

The list could go on, if you look at their booking record there is definitely a trend of acts that always play for POD, particularly DJs such as Maya Jane Coles and Groove Armada. I'm going to buck the trend and predict a bigger bolder line-up next year. I'd love to see someone like Massive Attack in that setting. The type of act that the EP crowd just doesn't appreciate anymore.

MJohnston

Massive Attack just played EP though, so it's really unlikely ATN would or could book them next year. My worry would be, lineup wise, that they have to spend the money now to book these acts, and if they lost their arses on this year's festival, they might end up with another cut-price lineup like this years (it was good value for that cut price, mind you, but still).

mooseknunkle

Gorillaz?

Blackie_IRL

MJohnston wrote: »

Massive Attack just played EP though, so it's really unlikely ATN would or could book them next year. My worry would be, lineup wise, that they have to spend the money now to book these acts, and if they lost their arses on this year's festival, they might end up with another cut-price lineup like this years (it was good value for that cut price, mind you, but still).

Agree it's unlikely they'll play again so soon but one can dream. In relation to the budget, I was told months ago that they had a silent backer and a considerable budget, I don't think they did it on the cheap as you say, they packed a lot into the festival from what I can see and the likes of the Afterburner comes at a cost.

They will have made a loss, no doubt, but I'd imagine most festivals do in year 1, POD undoubtedly know what they are doing with their track record so they probably have a 3 to 5 year projection and have modelled the growth of festival on that. If I was a gambling man I'd bet on next year being a sell out even with 5k added to capacity. I also don't think they'll cut corners or make sacrifices as they'll have planned for the long-term.

Of course it's all guess work on my part but you said yourself in an earlier post that you could smell the ambition in the air. A couple of thousands punters shy of capacity in its maiden year won't dent that, in fact, the overwhelming positivity and feedback after ATN18 will probably give them even more confidence. I'd also wager a major bump in ticket sales next few weeks as those people who either didn't get EP tickets in the pre sale, or those that want a change from EP take the plunge and purchase for ATN. I'd love to see ticket sale numbers end of this month.

Furious-Red

I think they would need to make a strong announcement line up announcement before X-Mas to get some extra tickets sold

Eod100

Furious-Red wrote: »

I think they would need to make a strong announcement line up announcement before X-Mas to get some extra tickets sold

Yup, maybe after the Metropolis festival on October bank holiday weekend! They'd need at least some idea of a line up if they want to shift tickets..

MJohnston

I dunno, I actually thought it was very much heavy on the dance/electronica this year? Certainly felt that way from being there! Main stage was pretty eclectic, but the other stages were banging it out constantly. Was a bit overwhelming tbh.

dodo87

Any body and soul heads here? How did ATN compare with body and soul? ATN ignited my love for festivals again after having not been to one in 4 years. Have my ticket got for next year but looking to do a second festival but am thinking of steering clear of EP after this year. Would anyone recommend B&S?

Blackie_IRL

MJohnston wrote: »

I dunno, I actually thought it was very much heavy on the dance/electronica this year? Certainly felt that way from being there! Main stage was pretty eclectic, but the other stages were banging it out constantly. Was a bit overwhelming tbh.

I think this is the case because electronic music is PODs comfort zone and where most of their connections are but in recent years they have clearly made a stepped change in the type of acts they book. Next year will be no different IMO, fully expect to see the line-up further diversify. Getting that blend of electronic, guitar, heritage, upcoming etc can be difficult. Looking at this year's line-up I don't think they had it right but very few festivals ever do.

Synode

Russell Greasy Doughnut wrote: »

They need to up their "dance" game.
Totally dooable. It lacked actual techno this year whereas e.p had loads.

Lot of Irish dance acts too that wouldn't break the bank and would pull a crowd.

Someone mentioned chemical bros, unlikely in my opinion, last time they played here was at longitude? & They are playing in Dublin in October. They wouldn't be cheap anyway but would love to see them.

They played Electric Picnic the year after Longitude. Think it was 2016

johnnyskeleton

Blackie_IRL wrote: »

The list could go on, if you look at their booking record there is definitely a trend of acts that always play for POD, particularly DJs such as Maya Jane Coles and Groove Armada. I'm going to buck the trend and predict a bigger bolder line-up next year. I'd love to see someone like Massive Attack in that setting. The type of act that the EP crowd just doesn't appreciate anymore.

Massive Attack are an 8.30-10pm Sunday band, not Midnight to 1.30 Saturday night. That said, there was a huge crowd there to see them at EP notwithstanding the unusual timeslot.

I don't think that the EP crowd don't appreciate them, it's just that they aren't suitable for that time of night. I love Shostakovitch, but I wouldn't want to hear the Lenningrad Symphony on a Saturday night in a festival when I wanna have a bit of a bop!

IMO, it's a shame that festivals don't have daytime headliners along the lines of a full 2 hour set of chin stroking music during the afternoon. The daytime acts usually get 45 minutes which usually means they cram as many hits in as they can with little time for buildup etc. I remember seeing Lamb play at a festival and it was just brilliant. Slow, ponderous and beautiful!

johnnyskeleton

dodo87 wrote: »

Any body and soul heads here? How did ATN compare with body and soul? ATN ignited my love for festivals again after having not been to one in 4 years. Have my ticket got for next year but looking to do a second festival but am thinking of steering clear of EP after this year. Would anyone recommend B&S?

I wasn't at ATN this year but B&S is a great festival. The main problem seems to be that it just doesn't excite people as much as ATN or the Picnic. There isn't much hype, people say the lineup is poor (though I found it great this year, I'm not exactly a weathervein of what is popular) and it's very chilled out, rather than being high octaine madness (though the Reckless in Love area goes on till 4 and is a bit of a session spot.

Harry Palmr

I hope they book a bunch of heritage rock bands! :pac:

MJohnston

dodo87 wrote: »

Any body and soul heads here? How did ATN compare with body and soul? ATN ignited my love for festivals again after having not been to one in 4 years. Have my ticket got for next year but looking to do a second festival but am thinking of steering clear of EP after this year. Would anyone recommend B&S?

There's a Body and Soul thread if you want to ask some heads from there. I've been to 3 B&S festivals and I love it. So much more relaxed of a vibe than EP and even ATN honestly (ATN has a fúck load of walking, B&S is compact).

If you enjoy the B&S area at EP, that's a taster of what you're in for - quirky and 'unknown' lineups (this years was very light on bands I cared about, I have to say though), lots of beautiful visual artistry, and lots of unusual side-attractions.

ATN has certainly lifted a lot of the surface level stuff that B&S does well, but you can tell it's fairly shallow emulating so far (this year anyway, they have plenty of time to grow).

This might be a reference that goes over everyone's heads, but I feel like ATN is to Body and Soul as Shebeen Chic was to The Bernard Shaw.

Arne_Saknussem

dodo87 wrote: »

Any body and soul heads here? How did ATN compare with body and soul? ATN ignited my love for festivals again after having not been to one in 4 years. Have my ticket got for next year but looking to do a second festival but am thinking of steering clear of EP after this year. Would anyone recommend B&S?

Body & Soul is definitely the one to check out as a second festival to ATN, a close second to ATN for vibe, atmosphere & they've got the free-flow alcohol policy too.

Lineups are usually a little more obscure than EP or ATN but there's always a lot of quality music there if you take the time to check out who's playing beforehand.

bigpink

If anything less dance techno stuff

ghostdancer

MJohnston wrote: »

I dunno, I actually thought it was very much heavy on the dance/electronica this year? Certainly felt that way from being there! Main stage was pretty eclectic, but the other stages were banging it out constantly. Was a bit overwhelming tbh.

heavy on "dance"/"electronica" maybe, but basically no techno.

but that's the way at most mainstream festivals, DJs playing bland, crowd-pleasing, inoffensive house and disco for the people who just lump it all in as "dance" music.

MJohnston

ghostdancer wrote: »

heavy on "dance"/"electronica" maybe, but basically no techno.

but that's the way at most mainstream festivals, DJs playing bland, crowd-pleasing, inoffensive house and disco for the people who just lump it all in as "dance" music.

Meh, I'd disagreed yet again, for two reasons. First is I thought that most of what was being played was techno, particularly in the tent at the top of the tree-lined avenue, and at the Arcadia stage (which was really banging it out). Secondividely, there's no better way to end a festival than dancing to lots of great disco and house music - I absolutely love when Mother close out B&S, for example (ATN was really missing a solid closer like that).

Ferris_Bueller

Yeah looking back at All Together Now I think there are definitely areas it can improve in terms of music/stages.

I said it after the event but there are no real stages that are cool or quirky looking, you could argue this is not that important but when you're at EP or Body & Soul these are some of the best areas to spend time. These are going to be stages for smaller Irish acts to play on rather than international acts so they don't need to be huge, I think there is a lot of potential where the greencrafts area was but to be honest other than having a look there was no reason for me to go down there. The All My Friends stage would have been perfect for somewhere like this, in the end it was essentially just a small stage and an open space in front of it. Considering it is their first year though it's not a major worry but I think it is something that would add to the festival.

Music wise, electronic music is probably what I spend most of my time at, but I think they could have done with another stage solely dedicated to non-electronic music. Late at night it felt like there was not much variety of what to do or where to go, it felt like Something Kind of Wonderful, Road to Nowhere and Arcadia were all very close together and banging out the same kind of tunes. Main stage was fine and not much change needed there but maybe a bit more variety on the other stages. Arcadia looked great but I wasn't a fan of it to be honest.

If I could make one change to solve the above, I would put some stage in the wooded/greencrafts area similar to the woodlands stage at Body & Soul, and then at the All My Friends stage maybe have this as more of an area for bands rather than DJs.

PabloAndRoy

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Yeah looking back at All Together Now I think there are definitely areas it can improve in terms of music/stages.

I said it after the event but there are no real stages that are cool or quirky looking, you could argue this is not that important but when you're at EP or Body & Soul these are some of the best areas to spend time.

...

I thought the bandstand stage was pretty special.

MJohnston

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Yeah looking back at All Together Now I think there are definitely areas it can improve in terms of music/stages.

I said it after the event but there are no real stages that are cool or quirky looking, you could argue this is not that important but when you're at EP or Body & Soul these are some of the best areas to spend time. These are going to be stages for smaller Irish acts to play on rather than international acts so they don't need to be huge, I think there is a lot of potential where the greencrafts area was but to be honest other than having a look there was no reason for me to go down there. The All My Friends stage would have been perfect for somewhere like this, in the end it was essentially just a small stage and an open space in front of it. Considering it is their first year though it's not a major worry but I think it is something that would add to the festival.

Music wise, electronic music is probably what I spend most of my time at, but I think they could have done with another stage solely dedicated to non-electronic music. Late at night it felt like there was not much variety of what to do or where to go, it felt like Something Kind of Wonderful, Road to Nowhere and Arcadia were all very close together and banging out the same kind of tunes. Main stage was fine and not much change needed there but maybe a bit more variety on the other stages. Arcadia looked great but I wasn't a fan of it to be honest.

If I could make one change to solve the above, I would put some stage in the wooded/greencrafts area similar to the woodlands stage at Body & Soul, and then at the All My Friends stage maybe have this as more of an area for bands rather than DJs.

Yeah as Pablo says, the Bandstand stage really stood out as being quirky and fun. Reggie Watts did an amazing, short set there on the Saturday morning that really set me up for a great day!



But also, I agree, there were too many disjointed and isolated areas. The One Love stage, so difficult to find. All My Friends should and could have had a second route connecting it to the otherwise cul-de-sac style field that the Something Kind of Wonderful stage was in.


Not enough flow lines, basically, so you end up having to intentionally go to a lot of stages to actually discover them. Compare with B&S where you are just wondering around and bumping into stages.


The Greencrafts area had a really small stage, I think? But they could do with something like Arbutus Yarns in there, as well as some food and somewhere to get a drink.

alastair

PabloAndRoy wrote: »

I thought the bandstand stage was pretty special.

It was - designed by Morag Myerscough, who’s created a bunch of high profile installations internationally: http://www.studiomyerscough.com

ILIKEFOOD

Russell Greasy Doughnut wrote: »

.

Someone mentioned chemical bros, unlikely in my opinion, last time they played here was at longitude? & They are playing in Dublin in October. They wouldn't be cheap anyway but would love to see them.

personally I never want to see The Chemical Brothers or The Prodigy or Orbital or Leftfield or Massive Attack rolled out for an Irish Festival again.

The auld reliables - yawn-fest.

I say that as someone who has a ticket for the chemical brothers in October and as a fan of all of the above. It's just the same **** different year.

now who'd replace them..that is the question!

showpony1

Loved the bandstand stage,

Very interested to see the line up for next year - I saw Inner Circle on the Sunday afternoon at EP and think they be perfect for the afternoon
at ATN on main stage if the Sun is out again.

bodhrandude

ghostdancer wrote: »

heavy on "dance"/"electronica" maybe, but basically no techno.

but that's the way at most mainstream festivals, DJs playing bland, crowd-pleasing, inoffensive house and disco for the people who just lump it all in as "dance" music.

There was house and techno.

TheChizler

bodhrandude wrote: »

There was house and techno.

Cheers for the video of the Arcadia stage, I wasn't sure had I imagined that part, it was unreal.

Suckit

ILIKEFOOD wrote: »

personally I never want to see The Chemical Brothers or The Prodigy or Orbital or Leftfield or Massive Attack rolled out for an Irish Festival again.

The auld reliables - yawn-fest.

I say that as someone who has a ticket for the chemical brothers in October and as a fan of all of the above. It's just the same **** different year.

now who'd replace them..that is the question!

I would half agree with that. Not that I would never want to see them again but that they could definitely take a break at this stage.

I saw somebody mention that ATN could increase to 30,000 next year :eek:
Not sure I would be into that much of an increase in size in one year.
Even 20,000 seems excessive.