All Together Now 2023

Thundercats Ho

Post Punk Podge were great at the last city. Sprints were unreal at the circle. It was great to see Andy Irvine as always too. Lisa O Neill was so good and her version of black boys on mopeds was special. I enjoyed but didn't love the Lankum set. Caoivin was a nice start to Sunday, and Thee UFO a lovely start to the Friday.

Kila were possibly my act of the weekend at Global Roots. Not on the same level as Forest Fest when they had the brass band but still unbelievable.

I was disappointed to miss the Eskies set. Irish Sossies started an hour late, so their set was possibly pushed back by an hour? that would've clashed with Iggy and there was no way i was missing him.

We really do have some amount of talent here.

MJohnston

I had a good weekend - arrived on Thursday with a campervan and ducked out mid-afternoon Sunday because I was just too tired to move and needed to return it in Co Down at 9:30am Monday, so **** that. The mud definitely added a lot of tiredness, but I still had a really excellent time on Saturday and most of Friday.

That's all to say that I did really enjoy the festival, but here's what I sent to the ATN Feedback form:

I think there's a lot of great stuff at the festival, but my goodness is it hard to find. Things like Arcadia and *especially* Ping Pong Disco were sidelined in really hard to find, dead-end areas of the site. There's no flow about how to walk around and discover some of these areas — there should be no dead ends, just a continuous natural flow around the festival where you can get a little lost but you're always near some stage.

There's a LOT of branding at the festival, which I understand is necessary to make things financially viable, but could we not do with a little bit more non-branded national flavour? Neighbourhood Wine Bar was a perfect example of this done right, and I'd like to see 2/3 more things like that sprinkled around the festival.

It'd be great if there were more options for sitting down and having a cup of tea at 2am — not just from plain food trucks, but get someone in like the Tiny Tea Tent or Natasha's Living Food folks who have provided spaces at other festivals that are warm, cosy, and re-energising. 

Beyond this, there was also just a lack of picnic seating in certain areas like along the food stalls facing the main stage — a problem compounded by the fact that the ground was too muddy for most of the weekend to sit on.

Weather is obviously out of your control, but at the same time, this is Ireland, and it was a little bit disappointing during the Friday downpours to find so few active stages that had covered areas. Part of this was because of areas like Ping Pong Disco with tented stages being so hard to find, part of it was just a general inclination towards open-air stages. It'd be good to find some balance here, because obviously its going to rain sometimes. And it felt a little bit like there was no attempt to make the walkway surfaces a little bit less dangerously slippy — could we not get a bit more wood chip laying over the course of the weekend, for example?

I stayed in the campervan site and while I appreciate a need to keep that area on a specific flat space, my god was it far away from everything — including just simple facilities like Showers and water taps.

Lastly, it felt like there was a real lack of toilets in certain high footfall areas like near the main stage. 

Ruanmcg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120956744#Comment_120956744

Have you read the previous comments? They absolutely did not just give cautions, three people in my immediate circle have been told they'll be summoned to court. Nobody at these kind of festivals is snorting coke in front of kids, and the Gardai are certainly not there to protect the innocence of children. I don't know how much of a bootlicker you have to be to believe that. And frankly, if you have that much of an issue people doing drugs, then you probably shouldn't be going to a festival that has techno blaring until 4am every night because, believe it or not, the target demographic for that aspect of the festival (which makes up a significant proportion of it) is drug users. At AVA, Arcadia, or any of the late night DJ sets, over 90% of people there are on drugs. The festival doesn't exist in it's current iteration if not for illegal drugs...

bodhrandude

Two clips from Caribou, Odessa and Sun, oddly he opened with Odessa which used to be reserved for encores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0alre9VnE0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf73pmuHKR8

bodhrandude

Two from Robert Hood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUaLSyvBmKY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d37C2e3kZQ

dingbat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120956889#Comment_120956889

The best festival police work has, in my experience, been when they have been *extremely* visible and friendly (including allowing folks to get photos with them if they want) and available to help anyone who might be in trouble (yes even if they've had too much of one of those illegal substances) rather than to catch them out.

It's not about gotchas for personal use, or at least it shouldn't be. You want a good community police attitude, meaning taking a very hard line with anyone acting the bollix and sometimes letting stuff slide in favour of the bigger picture.

Random searches at a good-natured, grown up festival where the crowd is very, very self-policing are not a sign of a pragmatic community policing attitude.

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120956941#Comment_120956941

F*ck that looks class....love the bass tone/wah on Odessa 🙂

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120957058#Comment_120957058

Yeah caribou were epic alright, would definitely see them again.

rubick

ATN 2023

THURSDAY - THERE'S JUNGLE IN THE VALLEY

We leave Antrim at 11.30am on the dot and even incorporating a stop in Castlebellingham Services in Louth for half an hour we're battering on the gates to be let in at 3.40pm. We had a bell tent this year so after some banter in the queue we were let in eventually just after 4.15pm. Bit of a bottleneck at the wristband exchange but breezed through Security without issue. Reasonable dander to the actual Boutique Camping but definitely beats the hill 'o death from last outing. There was a surprising amount of heads in our row already, all very civil which is always a relief because it doesn't matter where you are, you can always end up next to some c*nt with a guitar or a squad with a speaker and a sh*t taste in 2000s trance music. We set off into the valleys for a Big Blue Bus pizza, also our Thursday night EP tradition. Was interesting to see some of the layout changes and at this point the ground was soft but perfect for an oul dance - which we did at Arcadia courtesy of the Arcadia Crew DJs. The first DJ was heard played a mixture of reggae DnB remixes, pop-rave from the late 80s and early 90s (hadn't heard Smart E's 'Sesame's Treat' since I was at high school!) before the closing DJ played a quality drum 'n bass set to a packed field. Picnic take note, open more areas on Thursday nights! And stick a bit of jungle on it! Was back up the hill for about 1am, had a few tent cans with the neighbours, and we're off to a cracker.

FRIDAY - "SURE IT MIGHT BLOW OVER, LET'S GIVE IT ANOTHER 10 MINUTES..."

We did a fair amount of shouting and roaring over the weekend, not least when we saw, oh joy of joys, that Little Dumpling were back at the bottom of SKOW hill! They weren't on the vendor list so we figured the worst. They very definitely got hit a rattle over the proceedings, MVP eatery. First band of the day were Thee, UFO in The Well, who were fantastic. I think they could go very big, will be keeping an eye out for them up our direction and for future festivals. Shades of Pixies/LCD Soundsystem in there. Great to meet up with @Thundercats Ho , @darzog and @CoffeeImpala of this parish, not for the last time over the three days! Next up after a more chance meetings and pints with EP Eco Campsite veterans we headed up to Barry Can't Swim at Lovely Days, who threw down a decent live set of his own tunes and we're in the business end of things already. Next up was a quick jaunt up the hill to SKOW for Lankum. Like many have pointed out, the sound in here was questionable, not just for Lankum. We were more or less level with the first front left pillar and the sound was dreadful. We only stayed for about 20 mins and decided to shift, heading to Kíla at Global Roots. They had a stripped down version of the band but sounded incredible even though the rain had started to fall. After this we headed back over to the Bandstand for Kelly-Anne Byrne's Andrew Weatherall Tribute. My god the tunes were so good, all your acid house comedy favourites with a smattering of contemporary ALFOS bangers - clearly KA and crew are true fans and had done their homework. Sadly, there was just @desk tidy and myself, and about 5 other people. The crew had to keep moving the mixing desk back as the rain was blowing in sideways at them. I lasted until about 1.30am, I wasn't too wet as the new poncho was working like a dream but by the time I got up the hill to our campsite I was utterly soaked. Missed Warmduscher, Todd Terje and Chaos in the CBD, so the latter half of Friday was a bit of a washout. And then came the wind...

SATURDAY - TAKES A GREAT RUN AT IT

We awake to no rain but several of the large large Silk Road tents had collapsed in a heap overnight, with random pieces of tent pirouetting down the main walkways on a steady wind. Our tent was fine. Shower facilities were grand and queues moved quickly. Shout out to GOATS who provided breakfast everyday, their banana and toffee overnight oats were amazing! Had a Charcoal Grill breakfast bap but they didn't have any brown sauce lads. Didn't go back. Heading into the main arena first up today was Gretel Hanlyn, who @Stillill42 will be interested to note was excellent despite logistical issues with half the bands' equipment being missing. Her voice was lovely, would remind you of a young throaty Suzanne Vega or Polly Jean. More horrible sound issues in SKOW for Black Country, New Road, which was such a shame as we really enjoyed their set on West Holts this year. In the mood for a dander we headed to the Bandstand where The White Horse Guitar Club were in session, playing some classic blues and even a Dolly Parton cover! Really impressive set and there were about 100 of them! (15. There were 15 of them.) After a bite to eat we had a few Guinness (which was really tasty overall across the weekend, even from plastic pints) and had a good front left position for the incomparable Ezra Collective who made a whole lot of new friends on Lovely Days hill! Playing their own raucous brand of Afrobeat jazz fusion, their crowd interactions were perfect and we were loving it! Next up, a live set from the boy Daniel Avery himself in SKOW - so sound issues this time. Maybe they had the speaker stacks set on 'rave'? This was one of my weekend highlights, the crowd were so friendly and up for it too. Concluding what I said on my socials that evening was the best run at a festival as we've ever experienced was Robert Hood, who was absolutely straight-in no kissing with a ballistic set of quality Detroit techno. Been quite a while since we'd seen him (possible in the Rave in Woods or Little Big Tent at EP back in Ye Olden Days) but he didn't disappoint. The ground conditions were a bit Chaotic Muddy but our group got a decent stand in front of the fence at the fire breathing dragon sculpture and we stayed for the whole heap! Exiting Arcadia I hear a cry of 'RUBIIIICK!" from the fence to my left and it's only your favourite festival builder and mine @bodhrandude ! No show without you big yin! Kept looking out for you at The Cambion Club over the weekend because it's the closest thing ATN has to The Haunt at EP! Ground conditions around the path to Arcadia were unbelievably poor, properly churned up with footfall, people sliding and cart tracks. That was sadly a feature of the weekend, they definitely need to invest in more woodchip and get it down with regularity, not just one layer then leave it.

SUNDAY - GLOWING ORB IN SKY, NOBODY PANIC

We have a bit of a lie in and I feel surprisingly human considering the evening/morning I just experienced then enjoy a Little Dumpling, meeting yet more EP Eco Campsite heads then over to Éalú Le Grá for a band that we have fallen in love with after seeing the at Forest Fest, Bog Bodies. They were missing a few band members so it wasn't just as flat out as in Laois but any band that passes out the flag of The Red Branch Knights of Ulster is alright in my book. I love their lyrical attention to climate change, corruption in government and their interest in Irish mythology. Plus they can fairly get a crowd leaping about, even on a Sunday afternoon after a late one! Up to Lovely Days for Staples Jr. Singers who didn't really grab me but thankfully Darzog was there so we stood at the back of the soundstage and had a good oul chat. We didn't know what to expect from them but we really enjoyed TV Girl in SKOW, again not much sound issues but we stood quite centrally this time. Their front man has a great dry, sardonic wit about him and the tunes were excellent, very offbeat in the best possible way. After this we had a bit of a clash as Iggy Pop came on in that way he does, causing a bit of chaos for the stage hands. We didn't see the whole set but thought he was brilliant for what we saw and a packed Main Stage Hill clearly agreed. He clashed with Kelly-Lee Owens which was a shame, and also our choice for the Sunday evening, Beak>. Now, the lads weren't in the best of form. They were given 30 mins to set up (Tourist on before them had 45 mins and only had a laptop), plus Billy's bass amp was apparently sh*te and he wasn't shy about letting everyone know about it. Bit tense on stage. Thankfully Will and Geoff were in better form. Substandard bass amp or not, their set was amazing and after a sparse crowd to begin the set for Kosmik Musik I & II the Iggy overspill filled the hill, Billy cheered up a bit ("This stage sponsored by Guinness, is it? Yeah well they f*cking ran out. Crew necked it!", then was given a fresh pint within 5 minutes which he duly sank in one. 10/10 Beak> set and banter.

And that was sadly our lot. Would loved to have went to see Helena Hauff but I'd have needed cans or ProPlus at the very least but with one eye on the 4 hour drive to Antrim in the morning we called it a day. Thought the Sunday line-up was a bit light be honest.

There now follows a LIST of THINGS:

The crowd were 100%. Met so many great people over the weekend. That really helps during adverse conditions.

If all else fails - The Cambion Club. Sim Simma with a 16 hours party there on the Sunday was great to dip in and out of.

Lack of woodchip/planning for low lying areas of the site was subpar at best. They need to do better in future, sympathies for those with mobility issues.

SKOW/Jamesons Urinals were a f*cking disgrace. You were wading through pishy mud by Sunday night. Why in the name of f*ck do festivals (because EP do this too) place urinals on an incline? It's so stupid! If you can build a platform to put a sh*te branded bar on you can build one for toilets. Do better.

Branded bars/areas shouldn't have louder speaker systems than some of the main stages.

Cheers for reading if you got to the end here. 8/10 weekend, will be going again next year.

See you at EP if you're heading!

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120957204#Comment_120957204

I do love me a rubick review. Great stuff buddy. I feel like I was there.

bodhrandude

Three from Iggy Pop.

TV Eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbGo_THl6cE

The Passenger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWm1d69InsY

Lust For Life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYCWMxw8VXo

Boooourns

The attitude by the Gardai to drugs at festivals needs to grow up tbh, there's absolutely no stopping people from taking them because the problem lies elsewhere and having random searches and sniffer dogs is just a pathetic way to criminalise people.

Just target the dealers ffs instead of grabbing some random person and giving them a criminal record just so they can hit their quota.

The Gardai who handed out cautions are at least doing it in a sensible way but those who summons people to court over a few yokes need to fcuk off. Culchies on power trips.

Bruce2008

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120956744#Comment_120956744

To do with the suggesting woodchips on the ground, forest fest put down straw, they had groups of lads going around with wheelie bins full of straw spreading it out, surprisingly it worked, took ages for them to cover bad areas but fair **** to them! Saw chips spread out at FYF and it just mixed down with the mud and made no difference!

jellybeano

Firstly thanks so much @El Director for setting up the WhatsApp group. It was invaluable. Great to get all the heads ups from queues to dogs and to read about all the different craic and shenanigans happening over the weekend. 

Had a brilliant weekend as usual. Thoroughly enjoyed all that saw. Musically, so many highlights - Barry Can’t Swim, Overmono, Shakalak, Daniel Avery, Le Boom, Helena Hauff etc. All top class. All the people were incredibly sound too.

Having said that I don’t know if I’ll be back next year. The place was too packed. Normally we’d aim to get to the sound desk at the main stage, but we couldn’t even get near that area on any of the nights.  AVA was rammed. I wonder how many tickets were sold in the end? The At the River campsite was completely empty, bar a couple of tents. So they must have been expected a fair few more. Plus there were all the sound issues mentioned above.  

When we arrived Friday lunchtime, the dogs were in full working mode at the main entrance. Thought it was too much in fairness. In all the festivals since the Witnness days and i’ve never seen the likes. They came around our campsite on Saturday afternoon too. All was grand but heavy handedness doesn’t sit well. The dogs are a serious deterrent from going to a festival. Plenty other festivals without the intrusion. 

AntHraxEater

I had a great time this year - yeah, some gripes but overall it was a fun weekend. Iggy, John Murray, Al Gibbs.. The sauna!

WTF were the organisers thinking 

Ping Pong Disco was way off the radar, it deserves to be in the thick of things. 

No aluminium walkway through general camping meant a tough slog when the mud arrived. That straight route from family camping up to Londis was just as much for sewage truck access as for festival goers.

Sound quality for Max Richter was really bad in SKOW. I was near the front and didn't hear any chatter but I did hear air blowers! They wiped out the quieter pieces.

Putting the White Claw bar at AVA was like shining a f**in' Klieg light on the crowd. Totally wrecked me buzz. 

The upside

Everything else :) I didn't notice the Gardaí over the weekend, maybe I was too busy not crashing into people on the mudslides haha. One For The Road campsite was a happy crash zone. The sauna was a great way to recharge on Saturday, next time I'll take one every day. And the Lost & Found people were *super* nice when my car keys went missing. Someone had handed them in! I'm very thankful to whichever decent person did that.

Again with Max Richter 

Acoustics aside, the RTÉ Orchestra with Max Richter were fantastic fun and from where I was standing the audience were with them all the way. They might not be used to people bursting into applause and cheering in the middle of a piece.. The players seemed to be having a blast which made it all the better.

It would be a shame if POD decide to stuff the festival to capacity.. Let's see what next year brings but I hope to go back :)

Dunph

I'm really surprised about the dogs, was in campervan area though but saw no sign of them at all otherwise (aside from one on sunday which didnt seem like a sniffer dog). Aside from one large bloke who got in my face at James Murphy asking for something I had no suss encounters, and I doubt he was undercover cos i was the only person I could see NOT imbibing nasally at that point. It is shite they are being that heavy with ANYONE at a festival who isnt hurting anyone, hopefully (like the mud) its just a variable we wont have next year.

TenPicnics

Am surprised at some comments about food choice and prices, I thought food options were excellent and very reasonable; to pick just two, a tenner approx. for the most delicious crêpe I've ever had at a festival plus superb efficiency (the baconopalypse at the maìn arena crêpe place), and anything from the Indian Street Food at Bandstand area, never spent more than 15 quid for excellent food. Anyone who paid €20 for poor fish/burger/curry and chips was unlucky. There was quite a bit of good grub at €7 or 8 for a quick bite also. As for €5 a coffee? It was 3.50-4 every time I bought (and even found a place charging just €2 for tea, bless them!), very reasonable in my view these days.

A good Guinness at €7 wasn't bad either. Agree though that better choice required for other beers etc.

sh89000

Wasn't exactly annoyed over the sound at the sugarbabes......suited me down to the ground tbh. But Jesus the sound at lankum was a sin. That would have been one of the highlights if the sound had been on point......atmosphere in the tent was fantastic but unfortunately that was all you could hear.....had been looking forward to it. Such a talented live group

Dreamweapon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120957204#Comment_120957204

I was beginning to think i was the only one at Beak (Band of the weekend), Daniel Avery and Ezra Collective!

That Barry Can't Swim live set was atrocious. At least the 5 minutes we withstood. Bad versions of incredibly bad songs in some kind of naff medley that made Attention Bebe seem like world beaters. I feel aggrieved to have witnessed even 5 minutes of it.

You didn't miss much with Helena Hauff, fairly pedestrian.

Is the Little Dumpling place the same one that's at Trailer Park? My mate reckoned it wasn't as nice as EP and i was inclined to agree with her but we weren't sure if it was the same crowd.

Alkers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120951812#Comment_120951812

Re campervan wristband exchange sign - that's where you got your actual festival wristband if you came in in a camper. All they checked prior was the actual van ticket.

I've only ever seen wristbands for campervans at one festival - EP last year, and that didn't work at all. Lots of people didn't come with the van so they just started giving them out to anyone who asked.

I always drive down more or less when the festival opens and others in our camp (up to 12) people come down Friday am or Friday after work. People who don't arrive with the van need to be able to get access also.

johnnyskeleton

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120955723#Comment_120955723

Not legal advice, but random searches without suspicion arent legal:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5da054384653d07dedfd5929/amp

greenspurs

Wow...

Surprise surprise, drug takers dont like being caught with drugs .......🙄

Fanirish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120959014#Comment_120959014

Yeah but the threshold for suspicion of drugs possession could simply be the Garda stating that they smelt weed in the direction of John Doe or that they witnessed John Doe acting erratically etc.

Gunner5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120958427#Comment_120958427

Yeah there was Gem's Coffee selling for €5 and €1 for an extra shot . Fantastic coffee but just a little on the dear side. I did have a little laugh at me being sensible and buying 3 bananas in the londis for €4.50 though. I'd have had a nice bag of chips for that : )

Thundercats Ho

Speaking on coffee. At the main stage on Sunday evening, I saw some buckled fella ask for 4 shots of espresso in one cup as he was fading.

No problem, that'll be €16 please. He was too f*cked to notice.

sh89000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120959322#Comment_120959322

So they charged him the correct price??

homerun_homer

Speaking of food vendors, LaLa Poutine is one of my main go tos when at a festival. Had it each day while there, as much as I wanted to try more stalls but sometimes you just go with the easy, good value & less queue option when with a crowd.

There was a smoothy place in main arena (near SKOW direction) that was a bit of a joke when my wife went to get something "healthier". She queued for ages while I queued at Pieman, by the time she got to the front she realised their idea of a fruit smoothie was fruit flavoured ice-creams bended together. Wasn't obvious from the menu or looking at it from outside.

Pieman was delicious, delighted they weren't out of the option I wanted which is what tends to happen with them. The Blaa breakfast burger in general camping was nice. There was no breakfast roll/bap kind of option in Boutique camp. They'd do well to have on in main arena too, punters would eat them at any time of day.

There was a BBQ stall down by SKOW beside the woods walkway. I meant to try that on the last night but never got a chance. If anyone here got from it, was it any good (for future reference)?

homosapien91

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120959467#Comment_120959467

Charcoal Grill in Boutique camping were doing breakfast baps however they seem to have ran out on the Sunday as all they had available then were hot dogs and burgers

Coz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120958473#Comment_120958473

If the sound is good for some and not for others then that's down to their own sound engineer, to be fair. Can't lay 100% of the blame with the organisers.

Thundercats Ho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120959385#Comment_120959385

Yes, it was €4 a shot. They just gave him what he asked for and he tapped to pay. Dear coffee mind.