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

Seathrun66 · 09-04-2024 11:04am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996078#Comment_121996078

Excellent post @dav09. Loads of info there I was unaware of, particularly what happened to Lagunitas which was available in a few of my local pubs and then disappeared.

It’s been available at EP for a few years now as you mentioned but last year was only for sale at the bar by the Croi stage, unless I missed it elsewhere. Better value than the other beers at the fest given its alcohol volume and usual price in pubs.

dav09 · 09-04-2024 11:15am

Whiplash Rollover Session is probably the best Irish produced session IMO. Pretty great stuff.

I'm almost sure they had Lagunitas Daytime IPA (session at 4%) at EP one year, it's a very nice one too back at that small bar near the main stage in 2018ish, pretty sure it was a small Lagunitas branded bar from memory, it also was pretty much their main brew in the Uk for a while I remember selling a LITRE at a time at West Ham's stadium, great times were had. Discontinued in Ireland/ most of Europe it seems.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996145#Comment_121996145

Cheers Seathrun. Yeah unfortunately it seems they for some reason somewhat gave up trying with the brand, cancelled pretty much all marketing campaigns, social media, removed all flavors besides IPA, change in leadership multiple times has killed it and messing up transferring production abroad in a timely manner. Also then the price increase has priced some pubs out of it at arouind 7 eur per pint with the publican's margins factored in, although it is in Heineken's 'premium' range, production costs should have fallen with shipping production abroad from the US. New leadership has taken over, hopefully it will improve as it's such a shame.

Seathrun66 · 09-04-2024 11:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996175#Comment_121996175

Sorry for going off-topic here guys, but in the absence of music to discuss I hope we’ll be forgiven. Take is as a ‘recommended beers to take to EP’ side-discussion. Getting thirsty now.

Lagunitas a real shame, not seen it in the supermarkets for a while. Nor Brooklyn Lager which I also love. I find a lot of the Irish stuff underwhelming (eg O’Hara’s though their Tropical IPA is very good). Yellowbelly (Wexford) do good stuff particularly their Citra IPA, Wicklow Wolf have a good range and I’ve a soft spot for Galway Hooker.

Best of the lot for me (and available in a lot of supermarket) is Kinnegar (Donegal), expanding, exporting and staying independent. They probably have the capacity in their newish Letterkenny brewery to do festivals of the size of Stendhal/Wild Roots/Night & Day, etc. I recommend their Thumper Double IPA. Six of those and the Salty Dog will look a whole lot different.

Who’s up for an afternoon in the pub?

dav09 · 09-04-2024 12:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996269#Comment_121996269

Yup same apologies.

I suppose to bring it back on track, those are some great suggestions there as to what to bring for the campsite and to support local. Kinnegar Rust Bucket, Big Bunny and Scraggy Bay all excellent. Hopfully in Waterford with Graciosa, Dot Brew (paticularly their session actually) are also good suggestions.

It seems whenever a brewery is sold it messes up distribution. Carlsberg don't distribute anymore in Ireland I believe and is distributed via a deal through Diageo/Guinness, Carlsberg seems to have somewhat bought Brooklyn Brewery (or at least their distribution rights) along with Kirin Japan hence it's unavailability, simular happen with Asahi when they bought The Meantime Brewery, Camden and Inbev, even the same with Lagunitas it was distributed by Grand Cru previously and went though a big change becoming a part of Heineken. Actually one I forgot about is Beavertown founded by Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant's son, seems to get very little distribution in Ireland, big in the UK it used be distributed here by Four Corners for years but they are now in fact a Heineken brand. So that's another potential for EP, some nice beers too. I'm sure Heineken could come up with a really interesting festival 'craft' package consisting of 3 or 4 Lagunitas beers along with some of it's others Beavertown brews if they wanted to and I'm sure would increase brand exposure/recognition too as people tend to try new food and beers at festivals.

And yep all this beer talk is getting me thirsty too early in the day.

rubick · 09-04-2024 12:03pm

Legit work about 5 mins walk from The Limelight in Belfast and I totally would have a two hour lunch and get a little jolly if I wasn't using a park 'n ride later.

Wooderson · 09-04-2024 12:21pm

hehe no need for apology from me on this one - its a constructive debate!

Big thirsht from me when it comes to new england and juicy ales - not for everyone I realise but I've limited time for sours and/or really piney West Coast types. Zero time for craft stout or lager.

Majority of stuff that Hopfully put out, ever reliable Ambush from Trouble, Wicklow Wolf's recent "Sugarloaf", Postcard's "Poolbeg" and the very accessible "Maverick" by Larkins are great options of a summer's eve.

Seathrun66 · 09-04-2024 12:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996344#Comment_121996344

Beavertown sold in O’Briens Wine branches. They used to have Five Points pale ale also but that’s disappeared. Any sightings? I’m expecting a vast array of craft product in Eco Camping - @rubick & @Kepler usually do their bit.

rubick · 09-04-2024 12:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996423#Comment_121996423

Recent discourse on the thread has prompted me to start looking for festival slabs already, can't find a stockist in the North for Whiplash Rollover yet. Been ordering from Craft Beers Delivered (thanks to the heads up from @Stillill42) this past few seasons. I see Wicklow Wolf is available in canister format now, might have to see if I get that locally. Was a decent sip at Forest Fest last year.

dav09 · 09-04-2024 12:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996482#Comment_121996482

Whiplash also distributed by Four Corners they supply pubs/off licenses. From experience, I can say nothing but really good things about them and their reps. I bet if you reached out to Four Corners or a rep (there's a few on twitter) they'd tell you where they stock in NI, they strike me as that type of company anyone I've met have been very nice.

And yeah it's a real mixed bag here but some fantastic Irish ones here too in fairness, always found the USA particularly West Cost breweries the best with them and local ends up being the main one's that end up in the bag of cans for the campsite, O'Briens as mentioned one of the best places for buying Irish craft in store, very few of the UK or European breweries have impressed me at all.

Kepler21 · 09-04-2024 12:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996423#Comment_121996423

I shall do my best; I have some Leffe Blond and Bruin cans waiting for EP; the rest I'll see what's around. I rather a variety than a slab of the same.

Heineken also own Affligem brewery in Belgium, and they had some at their special beer place one year, but I haven't seen it since. At 6.5% its definitely not a session beer but very nice.

I've stayed out of the music speculation as most of it is because FR refuse to release the line-up for no good reason that we can see, so we're left scrabbling round for things to talk about. I generally get about 6 months value from my EP ticket because I spend the time before discovering new music and expand my horizons, as I don't go to many concerts outside of EP. This year I will only get 4 months value. The bigger names I will still listen to, but its the smaller names that I won't get enough time to listen to that suffer from the announcement delay, and that saddens me.

Seathrun66 · 09-04-2024 1:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996563#Comment_121996563

Good to hear from ya @Kepler. Good news on your beer preparation. Less so on the listening.

And in terms of unjustified delays it’s pure speculation but could FR/MCD be hesitating whilst sales increase for artists playing EP that also have non-sold out gigs throughout the country? They may or may not be playing Stradbally but the likes of Liam Gallagher and LCD aren’t sold out for Limerick and Malahide and leaving one/two blurred images on the poster ain’t a great look. Maybe other acts I’m unaware of. I’d assume they’d be part of a second announcement anyway after their other gigs has taken place.

Brian? · 09-04-2024 1:27pm

99% of the beer I drink is craft.

The last thing I care about at a festival is the availability of craft beer. I’ll drink whatever they sell when I’ve run out of snuck in cans.

Said cans will generally be a nice Polish lager like Perla.

Stillill42 · 09-04-2024 1:32pm

I fecking love these lads here. Delicious, citrussy goodness. Wouldn't drink them all day, over 4% but magic stuff.

Paddy2012 · 09-04-2024 1:48pm

Mitski is the final headliner for APE. It would be nice if she's on the EP lineup, the last time she played there were so many clashes. There's some good support acts too. With all the gigs and festivals on around the same time there's got to be at least a few decent acts on the bill.

dav09 · 09-04-2024 1:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996714#Comment_121996714

Larkins vs Whiplash both mentioned on the same thread, they are like the Oasis vs Blur of this generation.

With their legal battles over the years.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/arid-30886342.html

Seathrun66 · 09-04-2024 2:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996828#Comment_121996828

When did she get so big? I remember listening to, and liking, her stuff before she played EP 2019. She was in one of the smaller tents but I missed her. Probably a good addition but heard nothing in years. That’s my homework for today.

Stillill42 · 09-04-2024 2:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997054#Comment_121997054

She was great last time out. Was it in Rankins? Anyway, quirky, performance stuff involving a table but great, smart, hooky songs, big presence, really enjoyed her. She's big with the tiktok generation now alright, my young lad off to see her in May, would love to see her back.

Stillill42 · 09-04-2024 2:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996833#Comment_121996833

Ha! I wasn't aware of that. In proper dove of peace style, I love both. Why can't we all just get along?

C14N · 09-04-2024 2:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996078#Comment_121996078

The lad I know is like that, he won't buy any of the brands that get bought-out by the congolmerates unless it's an emergency. I know there were a few like Cute Hoor or Hop House 13 that got a bit of flack for trying to appear like "craft" beers while being cooked up from the start by a major brewer (although I never really thought Hop House looked or acted like that myself), but I think the more common thing is to find an existing popular craft brand and just buy it out, like the ones you mentioned, generally without much fanfare.

I think the likes of the place in Dundalk will also license from smaller breweries who want to scale up. I've been to a few pubs where they will have some kind of micro-brewery on site, but they won't have the facilities for canning/bottling for shops so they'll subcontract out to a bigger brewery for that side.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997054#Comment_121997054

I was also wondering this. I was listening to one of my spotify playlists recently and when a song by her came up on it I saw she was one of the top 100 artists globally by streams. I knew she was fairly big, but I didn't know it was on that level.

scruff monkey · 09-04-2024 2:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997054#Comment_121997054

saw her then, found the set a bit too stagey, her current album is lovely though, would see again.

dav09 · 09-04-2024 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997110#Comment_121997110

It's like Blur vs Oasis in the 90s/00s a sin to be into both, and if you said 'I prefer Oasis but prefer Gorillaz over them' then it was an almost prison worthy statement.

But true and jokes aside, I seen Gorillaz last year at Primavera and reckon they would be a huge shout for EP, 2025 maybe. They have huge costs so it would probably have to be part of a tour, the also had a load of special guests i.e. Fatoumata Diawara, De La Soul a good few other big names. Put out a lot of great music last year (that Crack Island song with Thundercat was incredible imo) and are really the ultimate act to appeal to all ages, you know that when you see merch still being sold in the likes of Penneys or such. Incredible live act, one of the best I've seen and surely (just) in EP budget.