Electric Picnic 2022 - Here we go again! - **No Ticket Sales / Requests **

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119572912#Comment_119572912

And yet no violent crime. Whatsoever. No arrests, no reported incidents, nothing at all so possibly best to avoid judging by appearance. One arrest for mobile phone theft and presumably a few for low level drug possession. People blend into the vibe.

melekalikimaka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578549#Comment_119578549

im not sure details are released to the public regarding every arrest or incident tbh, but yeah not alot reported in the media

Fatfrog

This came up on my YouTube feed!

Look how green 2019 was vs this year!!

https://youtu.be/MYZNm7yhHKs

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578407#Comment_119578407

You bring your own lovely cans anywhere you want on site. 😃 It really makes a huge difference. The vibe is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but the vibe from ATN this year totally reminded me about the first EP I was at in 2010. Something just clicked perfectly for the event this year, it can be hard to point out exactly what it was but it's invaluable to a promoter.

fourmations

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578549#Comment_119578549

not disagreeing with you, ive never seen any fights or any trouble but this was posted on FB page, hope he is ok!

Bobby Baccala

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578530#Comment_119578530

I never let that rule get in the way, 4 pack of cans in your hood and just keep it moving.

On Sunday I sneaked 6 cans a 70cl of Jameson in a water bottle and a litre of ginger ale in, in one sitting 😂

Not overly sure if I’ll be back to EP next year but I could tell the second I walked out of B&S this summer that I’d be back.

Dreamweapon

A mixed bag i guess. Had a good laugh but there was a lot wrong with it as well.

Arrived close to Stradbally at 8pm on Thursday. Got on site 2 hours later. Thankfully, ended up in Red carpark though so that was a bonus. Just left in a dark field with no idea of how to get out kinda set the tone for the organisational end of things. First can in Eco at 11pm.

Friday: Thumper (great), Pixies (dreadful). Missed Fontaines as we'd gone back to the tent for supplies and just got sucked into the sounds from RITW.

Saturday: Got sidetracked with chats so first act of the day was Silverbacks at SD (quality). Then Jameire in Trenchtown, i know them but didnt know they were playing at that time. I just happened to be passing through, so that was grand. Caught the end of TCM. Then it turned into a nice night of dancing as i leapt around to KKC, Sleaford Mods (excellent), Two songs of Tame Impala (not for me). Found the Drum n Bass in Cerebral Fortress, which was superb, proper hard DnB where you could dance around like a lunatic! The white room in the back with the dry ice was mental. Designed so you literally couldn't see an inch in front of your face. Back to tent for cans and we stayed in eco, dancing away to RITW as we were too lazy to walk around and preferred not to have to deal with a crowd. If you saw two people dancing beside their tent or at the bottom of the campsite beside the fence...'twas us busting out our killer moves😁

Sunday: Last few songs of Bootleg Beach Boys which went down well with the dumplings. Wandered aroun and saw Violvetine at SD (pleasant for that time of day). By accident we caught Lemonade Shoelace at M&B stage. We were sat on a bench for a while and they happened to come on. Not bad. Rest of night was Just Mustard (good), Khruangbin (not my cuppa, far too slick), a bit of Acid Granny (enjoyed it but somehow managed to losy my friend at it), Touts (grand, but had enough after 4 songs). Bck to tent, mate arrived back a few minutes later so had the chats. She retired for the weekend but i continued with a good skanking stomp at Revelation Sounds and then up to Salty Dog for Thumper's closing set. They were great again but i wished they'd ditch all the showbiz/gimmicky stuff.

Overall i enjoyed myself but the organisation was a shambles. Security was all over the shop, couldn't bring in my water bottle on Sunday evening even though there'd been no issue with it all weekend. My mate was refused entry with a tube of suncream!!! Bins and toilets overflowing. Mind & Body was soulless and felt really cheap, nothing in it. No music between acts there was strange too. Terminus woefully underused. On Monday in Red we were stuck in a queue that didn't move for 1 hour before i took matters into my own hands and found another exit at the opposite end of the field. Not a high-vis to be seen anywhere to let folks know they could actually get out that way, or indeed to organise traffic/provide info.

Saw a bunch of Boardsies over the weekend but never introduced myself. Maybe next time. Stillill42 is very easy to spot in a crowd though!

Oh yeah and Eco was a disgrace on Monday. Not the crew but whatever punters left their **** behind. That was the first year i've seen it anything but spotless on a Monday. Not cool.

Seathrun66

I'll post a lengthier missive late. Apologies in advance. But after reading some of the earlier posts I feel like challenging a couple of points, mostly by non-attendees who seem to be gleefully revelling in the thought of EP having been a washout and descending into an Oxegen 2 setup.

Firstly the weather was, for me anyway, better than predicted, sunny every day from Thursday to departure on Monday. The rain was almost entirely overnight bar the 11pm start on Sunday and the late afternoon downpour on Saturday. I'm not being smug in saying that I stayed almost entirely dry through the weekend. A mixture of planning and very good luck (sitting at the back of the Salty Dog for Silverbacks a big bonus) ensured that. Parts of the campsites were muddy but very light and leather boots/docs were fine all weekend, next to no mud on them at departure.

Secondly, this is not the new Oxegen. This resembles that festival in very few ways, a weekend that was much more comparable to Reading/Leeds and some mainland European fests where all that is provided are a few stages of music and lots of bad food. Trenchtown, Trailer Park, Fishtown, Mindfield, Providencia, Spike Island, Hazel Wood, the old Body & Soul main stage, the Hustle Bar, the Mother DJs set up and so much else involve extraordinary creativity and effort by artists only surpassed (in my estimation) by Glastonbury which has had 52 years to work on that stuff. They also get slagged off every year. And again, mainly by people who don't go.

I have many criticisms of EP but the Oxegen comparisons are lazy, uninformed, cliched and pure unadulterated horsesh*t.

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578569#Comment_119578569

They release stats every year, and as with every international law enforement agency have a legal obligation to release details of crimes to the media and public. Not one violent has been disclosed and there is very little history of it at the festival. It is only anecdotal recollection but I've personally (in 16 years) seen anything more than a milld dispute between an attendee and security personnel. I've never seen an argument nor anyone being escorted out never mind a fistfight. I'm certain these have happened and of course a fair bit of theft but the court hearings in Portlaoise are almost entirely for ridiculously low level drug use/possession or theft.

Nightdrive

Been at every EP since 2016 and while understanding the lamentations about the change in the festival demographic, lineups et al... I might've had the most fun I've ever had at this one. Maybe the weaker lineup gave me more time to explore and relax in new areas rather than worrying about getting around the place!

Irish acts definitely blew every import out of the water this weekend, not a new phenomenon but overwhelmingly clear this time.

Freetown really coming into its own as an area, loved the little container bars, the foggy exit to the cerebral fortress, and the bdsm club in brutopolis

First time camping in Eco and it's a serious game changer, felt much more at ease there (even though we got stuck beside the only crew still partying until 6am the first night, the rain quieted them out for the rest of the weekend though!)

8 euro for the waltzers in Jimi Hendrix... but they were worth every penny

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578592#Comment_119578592

This has not been reported in any media, local or national.

This has not been reported on the Garda Síochána website where they regularly post requests for eyewitness reports.

We may hear something later but I'd conclude that it's false, an invented incident for some attention-seeking reason.

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573685#Comment_119573685

The promoters can set whatever age limit they wish. And they have. Under-12s and over-18s only. They can change this to over-21s or over-25s if they so wish. To continue to dispute this is futile.

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578730#Comment_119578730

Exactly.

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573720#Comment_119573720

There was indeed a heavy presence of undercover Gardai.

Stillill42

There was Lagunitas??!

fourmations

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578742#Comment_119578742

we saw a lady garda glittering herself up at her car in her festival garb in the garda car park while passing, snakey!

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119574207#Comment_119574207

No it's not. You don't seem to understand the legislation posted and nor does the original poster. The clauses very clearly disagree with what you say.

paulieeye

Free Flow was very possible if you were staying in Pinkmoon. Threw a bag of cans over twice on saturday, think I spent about €20 the whole day. One advantage of the lack of security.

Noticed very little security around the entire weekend. The one-way systems of the toilets fell by the wayside with no one enforcing it. As did the big NO ENTRY sign going from Electric Arena to Main Stage. They tried to enforce it on Fri but there was a bout 3 security holding back thousands.

That been said I didnt see any hassle and the atmosphere was friendly and fun throughout. I dont buy into the change in atmosphere or "dodgey looking types". This was my 12th picnic, the first being in 2006 and back then there was the same young lads and young ones, some knackery, some not, bashing off people, enjoying themselves, getting rowdy and with the same lack of hassle. The demographic of this site is older (me included!), I have a feeling people are just a bit intimidated by them unnecessarily

BigMo1

First day back in work here, shook as a bottle of Yop but had a brilliant weekend.

Personal highlights were Little Simz (who I knew very little about but she blew me away), Fontaines DC and For Those I Love (who put on the show of the weekend for me). Enjoyed Arctic Monkey's but felt the crowd were a little flat.

Agree with the consensus of the recent couple posts above; I did not notice anything rougher or younger about the crowd. The increase in attendance was noticeable on Sunday and perhaps a little uncomfortable moving around the nothing major.

All in all, I had a brilliant time and was delighted to be back after 3 years, older but definitely not wiser.

Stillill42

Ha! Just reading back over the WhatsApp group conversation with the brothers for the 3 days. It's actually a good recap of the weekend, you know, 'Where you?....'Naked Lungs Mind and Body.....any good?.....brilliant....gone now....Salty Dog, sea shanties...quick...pint?....Annamoe Drive next up in Jerry...back left...' etc. Generally on my tod so I'm relying on the app but this is a more colourful catalogue of the weekend.

Hurrache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578677#Comment_119578677

Not sure who's the security crowd now, but when they used the Scottish/northern crowd there was some amount of scumbags employed and one particular occasion stands out to me when one of them kicked the **** out of an attendee and only one colleague out of 4 tried to stop it.

melekalikimaka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578891#Comment_119578891

there was a few companies used this year. I found them very professional and minimal issues

Doniekp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119575738#Comment_119575738

Was there any area's in the campsites for a BQ to cook your own food?

They used to have in each site but previous year you had to walk along way to designated area,

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578794#Comment_119578794

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578730#Comment_119578730

I can only repeat what the law says, which clearly contradicts everything your saying. The exemption on age discrimination that allows venues to set over-21 policies are for premises licenced under the Intoxicating Liqour Act only.

You can keep saying I'm wrong, but the law disagrees with you.

Services & Age Discrimination

Discrimination on the ‘age ground’ occurs where there is less favourable treatment of one person compared with another person because they are different ages.

‘Age’ applies to people over 18 years of age, except for the provision of car insurance to licensed drivers under that age.

People cannot discriminate on the grounds of age: 

when they are providing goods and services to the public generally or, a section of the public;

whether these are free or where the goods and services are sold, hired or rented or exchanged; or

when providing access to and the use of any place or or facility.

From https://ihrec.ie/your-rights/services/age

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577702#Comment_119577702

I respectfully disagree. I lived in the UK for three decades and for me only Glastonbury is superior to EP.

ChannelNo5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119575345#Comment_119575345

I recognised you from the previous photo Stillill. the T-shirt plan fell flat this year as we were all in our rain ponchos. was nice to see ye in the flesh as it were.

Had a great time but i'm retiring now. its time for the youngsters to take over. Met 1 19 year old at TCM who knew every word to every song. If youngsters like that can carry on the torch it will all be fine. A very marked increase in drug use in the posh camping this year. Didn't bother me but it did get annoying when they were still shouting at 7am. we've already decided were are moving to ATN next year but i will still be stalking the EP2023 thread to get in on the excitement.

Stillill42

Song of the weekend, lads? I'll get the ball rolling with 'Tweet Tweet tweet' by Sleaford Mods. Sorry I didn't get to the Scratch in time for 'Another round'. Judging by the state of the tent when I did get there, that must have been brilliant.

fourmations

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579019#Comment_119579019

Mik Pyro doing Comeback Girl - extended version, call and response crowd interaction, much fun, he threw in a "Miks a sexy fat bastard" lol

Mucker46

For me song of the weekend was sprints closing their brilliant set with a cover of wet legs chaise lounge

melekalikimaka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578973#Comment_119578973

boomtown fair