All Together Now 2023

flasher0030 · 10-08-2023 1:22pm

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

That's a complete rip-off. €16 for a cup of coffee. The actual ingredients that go into a cup of coffee and the paper cup that it comes with cost a few cents. The main reason that a cup of coffee costs approx €3 in a coffee shop is due to all the other expenses incurred e.g. staff costs, import costs, etc. same as other commodities. To charge €16 for something that costs about 10 cents is robbery.

sh89000 · 10-08-2023 1:31pm

If you order 4 Americanos......and ask for them in a 2 litre jug.......you're getting charged for 4 americanos.....and not 1

crl84 · 10-08-2023 1:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120960354#Comment_120960354

Staff costs and import costs apply to the traders at ATN too. Do you think the staff work for free, and the coffee beans and machines are free?

He asked for four €4 coffees. And was charged accordingly.

sh89000 · 10-08-2023 1:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120959744#Comment_120959744

Fair point, still a shame though but enjoyed their set nonetheless

MJohnston · 10-08-2023 1:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120960437#Comment_120960437

I would argue that most coffee places pull a double shot as standard, so he was asking for 2 coffees. But sure you're taking it into your own hands asking for it in shot quantity at festival

Brianjl · 10-08-2023 1:55pm

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

Me and 2 mates got food at that bbq place, was pretty bland, looked like frozen burger pattys just cooked in the bbq, a mate got a chicken sandwich, it was 3 frozen goujons in a bun for €11!

endainoz · 10-08-2023 3:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120960534#Comment_120960534

I also got stuck with the goujon burger thingy, luckily it wasn't frozen. Got to cook some of my own stuff in the camper van area though so that was great.

charlietully · 10-08-2023 3:38pm

A way of boosting the local stats more like.

homerun_homer · 10-08-2023 5:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120959672#Comment_120959672

They didn't seem to be doing a proper brekkie bap, sausages yes. Campmates got one on Saturday morning and said it was not good.

frozenfrozen · 10-08-2023 5:13pm

I've got a bad dose of covid so better do my review now while I'm off work

Really good weekend, didn't drink a drop of alcohol or any drugs at all beside normal amounts of painkillers.

I went to a lot of things and the step counter was Friday: 27,673. Saturday: 54,582. Sunday: 43,833.

I had a great time. Personal highlight was my Saturday, claire beck set us off in a great way 2pm at schweppes, the B2B with coy haste from caribou and Moving Still at the circle, ate some nice food caught a few bits of things and some of Villagers then I was up the front for caribou a bit early. Some nice space around me and shortly before they started the best most fun little crowd of people arrived in beside me we went mental for the whole set start to finish and in another life I would love to have glued myself to that group for the rest of the weekend but I said goodbye and ran off to Daniel avery and then back to the main stage for Jamie xx. My body started to give up when I headed back into daphni in skow so headed home but it was a great day.

My Friday started off in the last city, Hugh cooney (accessorise accessorise accessorise, merote controller, the most stealth fighter jet figure to have ever flown under the radar in irish comedy) he went up to do his dj set, the mixer wasn't working so he without skipping a beat sang 5 songs into a megaphone while prancing around and nearly died of exhaustion. A legend.

Half kept track of some of what else I saw on Friday, ailbhe reddy, the clockworks, seancoíche music, (ava) away from dave then Dufi, (skow) overmono, Todd terje. Was a good crowd in skow on Friday no talking and giving plenty of room to properly dance

Sunday was kojaque, some of fakoli drumming stuff in the circle, (ava) optmst, some of inside moves, listened to some big piig while eating at the main stage, junior brother, lorde, tourist (would have enjoyed way more but was trapped in a bad bit of crowd including shifting lovebirds beside me alternating between leaning against me and loudly chatting total shite about marrying each other), some iggy pop but I was too far back and didn't feel like swimming through the crowd, went to Ava for Sally C b2b spray and that was the most jammed place of the entire weekend, was absolutely insane getting through the crowd only to be met with barely enough space to breathe let alone dance and between all the teenage disco age people who came in on wristband swaps and the locals getting free Sunday passes the crowd just did not pass the test so I left early a bit let down

The undercover guards: as someone who didn't do anything illegal over the weekend I have to say they were very heavyhanded, I had two obvious undercovers come up to me at AVA while I was dancing nearly alone in the place and one took off his top and stuck his finger into an empty bag and rubbed his gums like id imagine they're taught out of a colouring book in templemore. They walked away normally then.

No checks on the way in for me any of the days (I stayed offsite)

Doughbros for €12 was delicious. I was unlucky with some of my other food choices and I really felt like it was a gamble anywhere I went whether it would be just standard festival food or really good whereas last year it was fairly obvious for example at that amazing little taco place in at the bandstand last year, couldn't find anything like that this year. Felt like there wasn't a food guide this year beforehand? Gem's coffee might have been €5 but it was seriously good coffee. Got a wet small burrito for €15 that was a real kick in the balls.

Some negatives:

The avenue needs a redesign. More stuff like the little wine bar and the area doughbros had. Remove the portaloos, remove the charities and the little shops. It should be one of the nicest spots in the whole grounds but walking up was the smell of shìt, people queuing to use toilets and then getting asked to donate money. If one whole side was seating and the other whole side was little tiki bar style places serving little tapas type food and drink with a few bigger places in between it would be class, then clear an area nearby 2-3 mins walk, call it the shít hole, pour a concrete slab and do portaloos properly with a separate path for the pump truck to drive on and not interact with people as the poor couple who got sprayed with shíte found out on the avenue.

They need to do something about the crowd turnover on the Sunday. Maybe I'm really sensitive but I can't hack it when I'm getting incessantly asked for drugs by some 17 year olds from carrick on suir who just arrived after ive built the comraderie of dancing in the muck with the same people for 48 hours who know how to behave in a dancing crowd.

There needs to be more water points and places for people to wash their hands and always have hand sanitiser it had often run out so i was like a mobile dispenser when people would see id brought my own. Empty the bins too please. They could easily sort out a lot of the issues I came across but it was a bit like the bare minimum option was taken in some places. I don't think anyone really imagined what it would be like to be at this festival without just following the timetable, the flow between areas was not as good and particularly how they isolated arcadia, ping-pong, and the Irish stage none of which I ever stumbled into which is criminal considering how much floating around I did but they just weren't on the way to anything. I also don't think security telling you not to walk somewhere which is sometimes open sometimes closed is a good experience. Put up good signage.

I think they could have done a lot more to prepare for the forecasted mud. We didn't have the old wooden walkway this year? which alone might have done a lot to preserve the grass in the main arena high traffic areas. Leave a few skips of hay around and ask people to grab a handful and spread it. The main routes would have been covered for a few thousand euro on Saturday morning and it would have made a huge difference. Also the portaloos beside Schweppes, simply unacceptable, it was boggy last year, this year it was criminal negligence hopefully no claims against them for anyone who slipped and now has rare pissmüd disease

I'm sorry I don't have the energy to write a short review so there's the stream of consciousness version. See you next year :)

bodhrandude · 10-08-2023 5:46pm

The thing about Arcadia and the other stages separated from main arena, it has been done before at EP. At EP 2008 they took the immensely successful Bodytonic tent out of the main arena and placed it into the Oscar Wilde campsite, where it received hardly any traffic, they left the Picnic after that. Hopefully we don't loose Arcadia because of this move, this year.

TenPicnics · 10-08-2023 5:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120961521#Comment_120961521

Totally agree about how once again they ruined that lovely avenue (with the big woden stag sculpture at the top of it) by putting the portaloos etc along it, after last year I avoided it completely this year, and it should be a lovely place to sit & chill with food and drink places (or small music places) as you propose.

endainoz · 10-08-2023 6:04pm

Nialler9s latest podcast has a review of ATN and is reading out feedback from attendees as well. Pretty much echoes most of what has been said here.

Barbie2k23 · 10-08-2023 6:25pm

Why don’t they put down the mats like they do in Croke park or that when a festival is on it would save a lot of hassle if it rains and there’s no mud

endainoz · 10-08-2023 6:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120961911#Comment_120961911

I'd imagine they'd be a fairly severe slip hazard when wet if not on even ground like all of Curraghmore. Now what they could have absolutely done with would have been a steel track through the big road through the campsite area that gets all the heavy traffic.

hold my beer · 10-08-2023 6:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120961485#Comment_120961485

They were doing breakfast rolls in a burger bun. Got one on Saturday morning and it was lovely. It even had a lovely runny fried egg.

fits · 10-08-2023 7:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120961719#Comment_120961719

God yeah I remember that ludicrous location for body tonic tent. Was a shame as it was always great.

Spreece · 10-08-2023 7:21pm

There’s a huge amount of moaning and complaining here the past few days. Most problems come back to the fact that the first named storm of 2023 blew through town on the first night of the festival. I think they did very well to deliver such a good weekend in the circumstances. Great variety of music, food and nobody has mentioned the fantastic Danny Kelly interview with Liam Brady.

Best festival in the country and my favourite weekend of the year.

Dreamweapon · 10-08-2023 8:22pm

I have just read 5 different online reviews of ATN. I'm beginning to wonder was i even at the same festival? Either all the writers went to the exact same sets or one went and told all the other publications.

gandalfio · 10-08-2023 8:24pm

Does anyone have footage of Jamie xx playing Gosh?

Stillill42 · 10-08-2023 10:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120961521#Comment_120961521

Epic review. Fair play.

Phishwax · 11-08-2023 6:37am

Comparing Oxygen to ATN is a funny comparison. You’re the first person to say that. Not for you I guess

Art Fonzarelli · 11-08-2023 8:39am

In terms of 'craic', it's perfectly acceptable and logical to compare any festival with any other. I have certainly had better times in the early hours at other festivals. Rather than the music though - although it was a factor for me personally, everybody has different tastes - it was probably more to do with the mud, dance space and position of stages/areas. I can definitely recall traipsing from one mud-filled, thumping area to another identical one on more than a few occasions. I had better craic in the Rockshore tent than at any of the late night dance stages (despite, like all creatures who possess even a rudimentary central nervous system and don't like consuming piss, detesting Rockshore).

I had a great weekend and it is the best festival in Ireland. I went with a lot of UK friends - all seasoned festival-goers - and before we'd even left the campsite on Monday they were talking of booking travel/accommodation for next year. However, that doesn't put it beyond reproach and this is a discussion forum.