Body & Soul Festival 2019

Ferris_Bueller

MJohnston wrote: »

I'm 100% sure sales are down on previous years, because we're getting to the point of festival overload again. All Together Now will have sponged off a lot of previous Body and Soulers too (although imo ATN isn't anywhere near the same kind of thing).

That said, aside from the missing headliner, the lineup in general is about as numerous with acts as it ever is. We'll probably get minor stage lineups in the last couple of weeks, and comedy acts etc.

The lineup at B&S is a funny old thing. I don't think I've ever once gone because of it, and I am not sure I've seen more than a handful of acts on any of the stages that I planned in advance. Last year, for example, I thought the main lineup was absolute turd, but I had an amazing year, hanging out at Arbutus Yarns, dancing in the sun, seeing my 2 year old enjoy the Soul Kids area (his birthday coincides with B&S, so he'll be having his 3rd birthday there this year!)

Body & Soul is a funny old thing, I've been four times and three of them are right up there in terms of the best festivals I have been to. It is a really great festival with a lovely crowd and atmosphere. I would like to go this year, but right now it is hard to commit to buying a ticket. Line up has been getting worse year after year, ticket prices getting more expensive, they have moved the Reckless in Love stage away from the woods out into a plain open field, they have gotten rid of the Absolut Bar, a headliner has pulled out and no replacement.. They can't rely on the weather being good every year and that being the reason everyone has a great time!

Sorry if I'm being overly negative, I might still end up going but god they really have not done a single thing to entice me to buy a ticket this year.

ghostdancer

no Glastonbury last year probably papered over some cracks too. with it back this year, there'll be a few hundred, if not more, that are going to Worthy Farm at the end of June rather than Ballinlough.

ghostdancer

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

I had a great time at Donal Dineen there during the wee hours of one of the nights, some trippy cartoon type animation too if my memory serves me right, looking forward to revisiting it this year.

loved that set, and one of the last few songs he played was this beaut:

MJohnston

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

I had a great time at Donal Dineen there during the wee hours of one of the nights, some trippy cartoon type animation too if my memory serves me right, looking forward to revisiting it this year.

I really enjoyed that, but then I went and heard him play essentially the same tunes in a different order the next night! And yeah, some ****ed up cartoons were playing for sure

keithkk16

Peesh89 wrote: »

Even if they announced a Santigold replacement in the next day or two, is there still not nearly half a lineup missing compared to most years?
Have had my ticket from the day they went on sale and myself and friends can't wait for it but it's all a little worrying.
Seems a lot of money went in to the characters they created and all of the content around it. I'm seeing ads for tickets everywhere I turn too... Eeeeek.

I think there's more acts overall this year, I always make a playlist ever year of all the acts playing and this year is the biggest playlist I've ever made of B&S acts and that doesn't even include all the DJs. I might get around to making one on soundcloud just for the DJs soon

Peesh89

Tail between my legs, I'll take what I said hahah (also I'm absolutely delighted with the lineup might I add)

Suppose just used to seeing more of a bulky poster at this point with smaller additions like Arbutus Yarns, Absolute etc all on it together.
Woke up this morning and the first post I see on facebook is from B&S with basically what I hadn't really seen or felt from them in the last few weeks - I was seeing more of the 'please buy tickets' and less of the 'look at all this fantastic stuff we have to offer'

Leaving cert weather has also kinda peeped its head out this morning in Wicklow anyway..

Peesh89

Can the replacement for Santigold be Girlband please?
New tune out today and The Thin Air teasing at some gig news.

Eod100

Peesh89 wrote: »

Can the replacement for Santigold be Girlband please?
New tune out today and The Thin Air teasing at some gig news.

When did they cancel? Missed that, that's a dose!

Peterd66

This will definitely be my last year. I like a mixture of established and new acts, especially for this price. Festival has been taking the piss for last few years, trading on past glories.
The fact they have made no mention of a replacement in the offing confirms my suspicions.

Ricosruffneck

The amount of Irish times articles bigging up this fest and their organizers over the past couple of years is astounding though.

If you were to look at it it's like they blew the budget on graphic designers.

I get the feeling that people that have gone previously are generally happy, I've never seen any real major criticisms.

People who have been before, has there been a steady decline over the past couple of years or is it not noticeable once you're there and have pitched your tent?

Having looked at lineups in previous years i'd be annoyed if I picked up a ticket thinking it'd be similar to 2014/5/6

Are the Irish times talking sense or is it bull promo?

whelzer

Ricosruffneck wrote: »

The amount of Irish times articles bigging up this fest and their organizers over the past couple of years is astounding though.

If you were to look at it it's like they blew the budget on graphic designers.

I get the feeling that people that have gone previously are generally happy, I've never seen any real major criticisms.

People who have been before, has there been a steady decline over the past couple of years or is it not noticeable once you're there and have pitched your tent?

Having looked at lineups in previous years i'd be annoyed if I picked up a ticket thinking it'd be similar to 2014/5/6

I think the line up is amazing, from top to bottom there are at least 20 acts I will try to see. (Normal festival rules state I will see half that and have lots of unexpected surprises.)

Santigold replacement aside, I think the comms have been ok. The Hennessy sound thing looks cool. Got tickets on the early bird, coupled with booze free flow...can’t wait. Bring on the 21st!

ghostdancer

Ricosruffneck wrote: »

The amount of Irish times articles bigging up this fest and their organizers over the past couple of years is astounding though.

If you were to look at it it's like they blew the budget on graphic designers.

I get the feeling that people that have gone previously are generally happy, I've never seen any real major criticisms.

People who have been before, has there been a steady decline over the past couple of years or is it not noticeable once you're there and have pitched your tent?

Having looked at lineups in previous years i'd be annoyed if I picked up a ticket thinking it'd be similar to 2014/5/6

I haven't noticed anything really, it's still a very good festival.


I'd agree about the lineups, although I find that with most festivals, things from a few years ago always look better in hindsight, acts that you liked at the time (that subsequently crashed and burned) or acts that weren't as well known that later got a little bigger. some of the smaller acts from 17/18/19 could be mid-tier from 2020 onwards etc.
At the same time though, I mostly go to festivals for the lineups, I don't really care about paper-mache hanging from trees or champagne bar areas, so not going this year. There's some acts I like, but not remotely enough to justify splashing out what will end up being 500 odd quid for the weekend.

I'm not sure if it says more about my musical knowledge, or the festival's priorities, when I know far more acts halfway down the lineup in small font, than 2 of the 3 sub-headline acts on the second line on the website (never heard of IAMDDB or Mashrou' Leila, vaguely aware of a few Princess Nokia tracks).

Ricosruffneck

Santigold replacement announced over next 24hrs.

from their FB.

charlietully

any of them djs on the line up be good for a bit of old school rave/house/techno etc etc?

bodhrandude

I just told them on Facebook to book Aphex Twin as a replacement, would be funny if that was the case.

MJohnston

Ricosruffneck wrote: »

The amount of Irish times articles bigging up this fest and their organizers over the past couple of years is astounding though.

If you were to look at it it's like they blew the budget on graphic designers.

I get the feeling that people that have gone previously are generally happy, I've never seen any real major criticisms.

People who have been before, has there been a steady decline over the past couple of years or is it not noticeable once you're there and have pitched your tent?

Having looked at lineups in previous years i'd be annoyed if I picked up a ticket thinking it'd be similar to 2014/5/6

Are the Irish times talking sense or is it bull promo?

I think, to be honest, that most Irish people go to festivals for the session and the craic, and the lineup is pretty unimportant for a lot of folks.

In terms of a decline, again I don't think so, this year's is way ahead of the last two years for me. 2015 was probably the last "big" year in terms of acts, but they got a lot of legacy acts for that one that made it feel bigger than it actually was (in terms of depth).

What I reckon is that they just don't have the money to compete with the likes of EP or ATN in terms of flashy lineups, so they're taking risks on upcoming, cheaper acts instead. One of the things that I really like about this years lineup is the thematic consistency of it. They're booking a birthday selection, a carnival vibe to most of the main stage acts. I'm really looking forward to Modeselektor, who are a brilliant headline act, even if they might not have the widespread stature of one.

AdamD

MJohnston wrote: »

I think, to be honest, that most Irish people go to festivals for the session and the craic, and the lineup is pretty unimportant for a lot of folks.

In terms of a decline, again I don't think so, this year's is way ahead of the last two years for me. 2015 was probably the last "big" year in terms of acts, but they got a lot of legacy acts for that one that made it feel bigger than it actually was (in terms of depth).

What I reckon is that they just don't have the money to compete with the likes of EP or ATN in terms of flashy lineups, so they're taking risks on upcoming, cheaper acts instead. One of the things that I really like about this years lineup is the thematic consistency of it. They're booking a birthday selection, a carnival vibe to most of the main stage acts. I'm really looking forward to Modeselektor, who are a brilliant headline act, even if they might not have the widespread stature of one.

Whilst I see where you're coming from, trying to convince first timers to come to B&S will be increasingly difficult when most people will have heard of no acts on the poster.

Ferris_Bueller

AdamD wrote: »

Whilst I see where you're coming from, trying to convince first timers to come to B&S will be increasingly difficult when most people will have heard of no acts on the poster.

I agree that body & soul is about more than the lineup, but the increase in price every year is really annoying when the lineup is getting worse. €200 is not good value for what it is.

whelzer

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

I agree that body & soul is about more than the lineup, but the increase in price every year is really annoying when the lineup is getting worse. €200 is not good value for what it is.

Probably comes down to demographics. 200 to me represents great value for 3 days craic in a lovely setting. Have mates that would spent that on a round of golf, you wouldn’t get much change from most good Dublin restaurants. A trip to the cinema will set you back 30-40 inc drink and popcorn, much more for the fancier end, eg the Stella. For partners getting hair done, buying handbags & skin treatments 200 quid is literally fk all.

MJohnston

Well, if the lineup *is* bigger in terms of depth than in previous years, that is arguably value for money.

Ticket prices aren't going up for the greed of festival bookers though, let's be clear about that - the entire music industry has completely shifted in terms of where musicians make their money from, and it's all about live revenue for them now. Musicians are only going to get more expensive to book, even if they don't get any more famous. Inflation pays its part too, not on the cost of a ticket directly, but on booking and infrastructure costs. (As an aside, the notion that some have expressed that all the money this year was spent on the marketing characters is silly)

Now, I'm not disagreeing with the general point that a higher price with a less splashy lineup might not attract new crowds (although B&S will always benefit from the Electric Picnic crowd wanting to have a whole festival like the B&S area at that), I just don't really know what a festival could do other than raise prices.

Pudsy33

Ricosruffneck wrote: »

Santigold replacement announced over next 24hrs.

from their FB.

Do you have a link? Can't see it up there.

Ricosruffneck

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Do you have a link? Can't see it up there.

It's a reply to a facebook comment on one of their most recent posts. Can't link at the mo.

Eod100

Ricosruffneck wrote: »

Santigold replacement announced over next 24hrs.

from their FB.

They must read here! :P

Ricosruffneck

Eod100 wrote: »

They must read here! :P

Ha yeah probably,

But if you look through most of their recent facebook posts from the past month pretty much the most liked reply in each one is 'WHEN SANTIGOLD REPLACEMENT!!!'

hugeglobe

charlietully wrote: »

any of them djs on the line up be good for a bit of old school rave/house/techno etc etc?

Cait for sure on the Friday at Reckless in Love. Automatic Tasty too.

bodhrandude

Eod100 wrote: »

They must read here! :P

Yup they do, the time the LCD Soundsystem Rumour and poster was circulating they got in touch with Boards to have it removed.

Peterd66

Rolling Blackouts Coastal FEVER

MJohnston

Peterd66 wrote: »

Rolling Blackouts Coastal FEVER

They're already supporting Idles in July.

MadYaker

whelzer wrote: »

Probably comes down to demographics. 200 to me represents great value for 3 days craic in a lovely setting. Have mates that would spent that on a round of golf, you wouldn’t get much change from most good Dublin restaurants. A trip to the cinema will set you back 30-40 inc drink and popcorn, much more for the fancier end, eg the Stella. For partners getting hair done, buying handbags & skin treatments 200 quid is literally fk all.

This is pretty much it. Yeah the price has gone up, but for such a good weekend it's not a lot of money

HausOfTony

Nialler9 just posted on his Instagram story that Lumo are playing the Absolut Bar @ B&S on the Friday! So looks like that area will be back?

*** never mind it’s just a link to the set at a previous B&S :’(