Electric Picnic 2024 **No Ticket Sales / Requests** - Waiting in line, terrible time, over familiar

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121860479#Comment_121860479

Been some time since it was otherwise.

scruff monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121860381#Comment_121860381

nice

rubick

Still Arcadia and AVA Stages to come for ATN plus all those smaller stages in the woods. It'll be fine.

But I'll leave that for the other thread, we have our own problems here.

Mucker46

Only seeing now. No absolute must sees for me on that list, though National were brilliant when I saw them last year. A few there I would happily go along to but a lot of meh or absolutely wouldn't bother seeing. Roll on using most of this message again for EP announcement

MevinLegend

@Fanirish Do you have any insight into whether catfish and the bottlemen are likely to appear this year?

Wooderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121863475#Comment_121863475

Username checks out.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121860549#Comment_121860549

Seems a bit more extreme this time around. Nature of the internet I guess, everything has to be so polarised these days.

Fanirish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864204#Comment_121864204

Not really people on here expectations of summer festival line ups is borderline delusional. Getting angry that popular artists they don’t personally like are going to be headlining EP. Nostalgia that a festival in 2024 isn’t giving them a line up from 2013.

Wooderson

Some are unhappy with the dilution in quality. Others more accepting. Others actively encouraging.

Why the issue? Peeps preferring a world of nodding dogs in Melvatron tshirts.

Fanirish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864311#Comment_121864311

People on here should realise it’s a 75k capacity that has to please the wider range people who love hozier, picture this etc and that’s where the budget goes to, to please the masses.

TenPicnics

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864259#Comment_121864259

That's not an accurate depiction of the majority of comments which concern the direction EP has taken.

scruff monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864556#Comment_121864556

Music for the masses

that's the mode confirmed then :-)

rubick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864671#Comment_121864671

STICK

(Although I doubt EP could afford them.)

Fanirish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864576#Comment_121864576

The direction is capacity has doubled since 2013, that dictates that main stage bookings have to be more commercially successful or play to the masses more.

the bookers have changed over its life and their taste/agents they work it reflects in the line up.

Genghis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864671#Comment_121864671

Or even just

"For the masses".

A lot of the "masses" don't come to EP primarily for the music. They go for the weekend away, time with friends, hedonistic pursuits, coming of age rituals, etc.

Wooderson

Doubt you'll find many complaining about the 2013-2019 events. I was at every single one of these and the ethos/quality was still present - despite skimping on Friday content. Nothing was "dictated". No patronising attitude either "oh here's some throwaway pop for the kids, thats what they want". Nonsense.

Im fine with the festival racing to the bottom, thats their call. People shouldnt get knickers in a bunch when theyre called on it however.

crl84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864806#Comment_121864806

There was plenty of people here complaining about the commercialisation and shift in music policy from 2013-2019. And plenty of posters here stopped going to EP during that time and decided to go to B&S/ATN instead. Pretty much everyone I know that went to EP from 2004-2015 had stopped going by 2017, but still went to other festivals, both here and abroad.

Of course, plenty of us were shot down by a small minority of posters on here for mentioning what EP was clearly becoming, just because there were still good acts being booked throughout the lineup. You were among them, despite your recent posts bemoaning the current state of the festival.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864806#Comment_121864806

I agree. 2019 was the first sign of things to come if you look at the headliners and a couple of the tier 2 bookings but mostly decent.

I think my big problem is the festival sells out with ease every year, has well over double the budget as previous but it seems the balance of quality of act Vs flavour of the month for teenagers is just miles off balance along with quality of booking in general getting worse and worse (costs/other factors have risen I know). Compare it to other major festivals around europe and it's miles off, maybe 2023 was a particularly difficult year booking wise. Yes circumstances differ, but they had no problem selling it out with ease in 2018 at 55k I believe. I sold my tickets weeks before as had performer ticket and literally had about 200 messages in less than 5 minutes of listing offering silly money for them in desperation. They could easily have sold an extra 10-20k tickets no problem I bet and that was before the major shift.

They have no major competitor really so it's not driving them to be better, they can book lazy bookings but eventually it will catch up as I know for a fact they have alienated a large group of core attendees over the years throughout age groups.

There is still plenty to enjoy and last year was a fantastic enjoyable year, I suppose just a lot of the caliber artists I seen I had seen previously at B&S, ect.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864918#Comment_121864918

Arguing that 2017 era EP was still a great festival was an easy argument. I don't think anyone in here had any problem with people plumping for the likes of Body and Soul. Getting older blah blah too many kids blah blah is every big festival ever.The massive acceleration of change that has come about since Covid has angered plenty of people. I feel say 2012 vs 2018 is the same festival, the same ethos, a still present desire to book interesting stuff. Post Covid is a sea change. I think most of us in here are coming from the same place.

crl84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865003#Comment_121865003

If you're judging it purely on a musical basis, then maybe there's that argument to be made that it was still the same as 2012. But it's everything else about the festival, from the foothold of vape stages or other nonsense commercial areas, to the likes of TodayFM hosting shows in Mindfield, to the enormous publicity around celebrities attending, that was quite evident by 2018.

It's clearly way more evident these days than pre-covid, but the rot had clearly set in long before 2020 IMO.

Even on the musical basis, I'd argue that by 2018 the direction was quite clear, given that Picture This were headlining, and a plethora of pop/mainstream shite on the next section below (and yes, I'm aware there's plenty of good acts there, and probably some shite pre-2012 too):

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865068#Comment_121865068

Yeah, I'll grant you most if that. I'm solo most years since 2015 so it's a weekend of constant music pretty much so that's the focus. There's been plenty of bitching about the commercial shite you've flagged there, by me as much as anyone but for me, that's manageable once the acts are there. Now that's disappearing too. I mean look at those last 2 lines, Body and Soul and OV! So much great stuff there, I watched loads there. Both now gone. I mean I know they've been 'replaced' but you've lost huge volume and quality. So like I say, most of us are coming from the same place. I just feel they could have sneaked in lots of the **** without giving up on the quality bookings. There was a commercially viable balance to be had. That's what had people hanging on. They've passed that line and are still running.

Wooderson

Really appreciate supportive posts folks. Lovely to get impression im not on my tod in 'ere.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865068#Comment_121865068

This was like the perfect blend of commercial pop rubbish vs fantastic objectively good, quality acts. Possibly the best balanced EP ever imo. Even the likes of The Prodigy, Kendrick, NERD really appealed to the masses and suited a lot of age groups. I personally don't like Massive Attack live but still a great booking objectively speaking, very marmitey band it seems. Loads and loads fantastic bookings down the tiers. Really think the bookers outdid themselves that year, there's at least 3 or 4 acts there down the tiers that could headline/sub headline too i.e. Jorja Smith, Dua Lipa, George Ezra, which also shows how good bookings were. I always wish they went back to this booking policy, eventough there's a bunch there I don't like, there is so much quality there. There's even 3 or 4 bands I didn't know of myself back then that I didn't get to see but think in hindsight I can't believe I missed.

I REALLY hope they pull a great balanced mix of acts out of the bag this year, and will be the first to applaud if they do.

C14N

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865361#Comment_121865361

I was shocked at the time that Dua Lipa and George Ezra (who both had a few recent big hits at the time) were put lower than Picture This and Massive Attack. Massive Attack was one of the ones I wanted to see then but I actually feel like they were billed higher than made sense. The crowd was thin despite being at a prime time slot and on the main stage. The only reason I could think of for the billing was that Dua Lipa and George Ezra both played daytime shows iirc (and both drew enormous crowds), which meant that the under 13s would more easily get to see them.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865492#Comment_121865492

I think Dua Lipa and George Ezra just were under the bar for headliner quality at the time. There were 2 sort of sub-headliners that year and think they sorta fell into that category or somewhere in between but were displayed lower. I had promised I'd meet a friend at George Ezra (genuinely not knowing who he was then somehow) but a huge rainstorm thankfully kept me in my tent for the gig. I also somehow embarrassingly ended up at Dua Lipa and yep, the crowd was absolutely huge, great pint drinking weather too. From a lot of people I speak to, they seem to either love or hate Massive Attack live. On the Primavera subreddit it seems theres loads almost obsessively asking them to book them like they are their favorite act as they had to cancel in 2022 due to health reasons and I think, really? I seen them that year and left after a few mins. Picture this makes no sense to me but seemingly sold out a couple of nights at the 3Arena as I was corrected earlier in the thread, flavor of the month rubbish.

One of my favorite years for sure, gig I was due to be playing at got delayed by about 20 mins, clashed with Death Grips so I sprinted across the site with a pint to catch 10 mins of them, St. Vincent also was in the next tent I believe at the same time, it sounded mental and sprinted back. Then to The Prodigy after we finished who I was also seeing for the first time too just after they released one of their best albums in years and they were incredible. As I said I long for there to be probably 30 or so acts of the caliber as was on that lineup again, it was really a fantastic year in my opinion.

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864204#Comment_121864204

Pretty relaxed on this thread I think, no? I expect that most here will be unhappy with the main stage but have more than enough elsewhere to keep them entertained.

There’s a great lack of adventurousness to almost all of the festivals announced thus far so we can hardly expect ATN and EP to buck the trend.

bodhrandude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865361#Comment_121865361

That was the year Death Grips and Scarlxrd played, we haven't really had these style of intensity acts since unless you put Viagra Boys and Idles in that same category, although the first two acts mentioned were also electronic in nature, Death Grips basically being in psychedelic rap or hip hop.

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864259#Comment_121864259

You seem not to grasp the eclectic tastes of the vast majority here. They’re mainly of the first generation of parents whose children have musical tastes that bore rather than outrage them. Where’s the danger in the music? Where’s the excitement? We’re welcoming of young acts that challenge and innovate, be it Billie Eilish, Little Simz or For Those I Love. We are however, generally resistant to the ennui of Dermot Kennedy, Picture This and Gavin James.

I’ve also not seen delusional references to acts that cannot play EP. There are very very few beyond the reach of a 75k festival. What most want, I believe, is something along the lines of Glastonbury which balances the mainstream and the alternative very successfully. No reason why FR can’t do that at EP.

C14N

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865646#Comment_121865646

Sounds like you had an extremely similar experience to me. I went along to Ezra with a few friends but bailed when the skies opened up and took shelter in a tent. Also ran from Death Grips to get the last few minutes of St Vincent.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865685#Comment_121865685

Death Grips was very intense alright, a really great show. Wasn't a huge crowd but they were massively enthusiastic. Had a great time in the moshpit there. They were on at the same time as some act I was trying to avoid (could have been Picture This or The Coronas) and I managed to talk one friend into coming along, even though he had never heard of them before and he had a great time at it.

Wooderson

I never quite grasped the "bigger = sh1tter" logic. The "inevitability" doesnt stack up. Whats happened is a choice - and in my opinion a very very cyncial and lazy choice where something I care about deeply is being diminished steadily over time by outside interests. I'm coming at this creepy concept of growth from the contrary position. "Bigger" should open the festival up to book higher profile, larger acts, create schedules broad and deep. But we can all see that this isnt happening. This brilliant thing we have - does Ireland have a better event? - is fading before our eyes. It should indeed have the cultural weight of Glastonbury - on a population ratio even bigger! Yet what we have resembles a steady creep towards something at best throwaway and at worst quite tacky.

With all the above said, having been to that field 13 or 14 times and with its absolute best interests at heart, I'm scolded for a perceived mix of ignorance and naivety. Nonsense.

Growth of the festival and instantaneous sellout should offer the organisers huge scope to maintain quality. Yes ensure pop bands / solo pop performers are represented and that younger fans have needs met. But don't throw 20+ years of culture in the bin in the process.