Forest Fest - Emo, Co. Laois - 2024

Penfailed

I had a ball today! So good! Highlights were Wedding Present and Ash. Class.

rossie1977

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122403081#Comment_122403081

They didn't have set times so maybe it was always planned to stop around 11ish.

We were in for few tunes from Jurgen around 10pm and sound was absolutely perfect. Very full too.

Surprise of night easily Buioch, never heard of them but caught end of their set in Fleadh, fantastic

Thundercats Ho

Excellent first day.

Pints gone up to €7 which is salty but like last year, this includes all the craft lagers, ipas, ale, stout etc. the cider is a few cents more expensive.

The wedding present were unreal!

"Hello, we are are semi legendary Wedding Present" Gedge the Ledge!

Buioch were very good too, as were Something Happens.

We spent most of the day at the funfair and the Port Art section, and my young fella loved it.

They've moved the toilets at the main stage and put down some walkways to save the grass. The Ibiza tent seemed empty for most of the day, but later on it was wedged.

I tried and failed to listen to The View, they're like a **** Stereophonics, whatever that means... only negative of the day.

Layne

Apologies if this is not allowed here but looking for one Saturday day ticket. If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Choochtown

Wedding Present were fantastic!

Neighbouring camper here told me he'd heard that Paul Brady had canceled. Can't find any official word. Hopefully that's bullshit.

Looking forward to Glasvegas today 😀 🎶

Have a great day all!

riddles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122403526#Comment_122403526

was going to get a Sunday ticket just to see him. Where would this be available the Forestfest FB page doesn’t have anything

Choochtown

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122403539#Comment_122403539

Nothing official from Forest Fest. Maybe my neighbour was told about Donal Lunny and got mixed up.

Mike Guide 69

well folks my initial thoughts on the first day.

The Weather - no not a sh*te Irish teeny Indy band , but no rain and actually warm temperatures compared to last year this was mana!!!

Attendance /crowd wise good bit more than previous ,could see it really at the main stage but other than that ,still a good vibe overall.

Bands/artists I saw (amongst stopwatch splits)

Ryan Sheridan - Excellent,the man has the fastest fingers for playing acoustic guitar I’ve ever seen ,crowd really up for it

The Stunning - Great set ,did a cool version of Wild Mountain Thyme in The Byrds style ,really tight band ,always put on a good show

The Wedding Present - Caught a few minutes of their set ,clashes were always going to be an issue but was the best sounding band of the day ,Darwin Nunez on drums was great 😂😂

Dexys - Again caught a few minutes ,Kevin Rowlands voice is still fantastic ,Jackie Wilson tune was great plus the picture of Jocky Wilson on the large screen in a bath with a pint of bitter was hilarious

Strength In Numbers - Great local band finished up with Shook Me All Night Long which nearly brought the tent down

Motion Sickness - Unreal ,can that girl sing ,what a fantastic voice ,big things for them

Aras Redemption- Lead singer has a great voice ,girl on bass was very good as well . Didn’t know much of their stuff but will check out

Ash - Tim and the boys put on a cracking set ,glorious karaoke session it was 😁. Only thing I would say is that I was at the right side of the tent near the top and the sound was dropping on a few songs but other that I really enjoyed it

overall first day thoughts ,bigger crowd ,better weather and nice beer is definitely helping . Thanks to all the folks who complimented me on my “Alice In Chains “ t shirt ,yes they are epic!!👍🤘 Layne Staley was the best .

Roll on day two of copious amounts of beers ,noodles and expressos (of which I think I’m on my fourth ) ,see you later ye mad MF’s😁😁🤘🤘

riddles

looks like there was an opportunity to put some space between the human league and the undertones tomorrow night.

Penfailed

Another great day at FF. King Kong Company were class!

ekkinak

Re the undertones and league clash
have their times been changed?

sydthebeat

The cult can suck a fart from my ass. There was no need for that interjection yesterday

Pudsy33

He says "I don't like politics" before giving out about a flag in the crowd. What a plonker. After his lead singer had said "free Palestine" earlier in the set too. Glad people started leaving.

Fanirish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122407500#Comment_122407500

sure he missus is a GB news regular, anti vax and every other crappy opinion is that gets someone a regular slot on GB news

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122407500#Comment_122407500

What did he say?

Thundercats Ho

There was a Palestine flag in the crowd and he spoke out about it. I think he said his wife was Jewish and the flag was offensive to him. (Not 100% if it was his wife he said). They were fairly flat overall and he had a go at the crowd for not being up for it.

Pudsy33

He said he was partially Jewish, not his wife.

Thundercats Ho

Only able to post now. i overdone it on the Wicklow Wolf yesterday!

There's a covers band called the year that grunge broke, and i highly recommend them. they were so good. Andrew Strong still sounds amazing.

The highlight for me was a shower of lunatics called Huartan, they closed out the fleadh tent. Paul Brady soon, then Bog Bodies, then up the road.

it's a very good festival, the weather playing ball made all the difference!

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122408342#Comment_122408342

Ffs. Read the room.

Stillill42

Him I mean, Thundercats. Not you. You're lovely.

riddles

frustrating weather today given it was supposed to be largely dry

Layne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122408435#Comment_122408435

My thoughts exactly Stillill42.

I reckon there are a few huge egos in that band though that will always reckon they know more than everybody else unfortunately.

Pudsy33

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122408382#Comment_122408382

Huartan were deadly, as were Bog Bodies. The latter probably my highlight of the weekend.

SQ2

I was right in front of the woman with the flag at The Cult and it definately turned the tide. Security were straight into her then and some other guy from the crowd (not security) made an agressive attempt to rip the flag off her, I think he left with most of the pole it was originally on. Security made a line in front of her as if to stop her moving forwards with it. I'm sure someone will have footage of it but he made his way over from his side of the stage to Ian's mic to say that everyone knows his name is Duffy so he's part Irish, but he's also part Jewish as well so he found that flag offensive and he'd appreciate it being taken down. Loud boo's from the crowd then to be fair. They carried on then and Ian was trying to mend things by dropping "free speech" into his chat a couple of times.

Dropped in to see Kerbdog then which put a smile back on my face

Sugarlumps

Just down for the Saturday. Excellent set up, we were in a campervan. Staff were amazing. Weather cleared, would love to go back next year.

Caught four acts-

These Charming Men superb as were The Year Grunge Broke.

The Cult up next (Huge fan, first band I saw live in the Point as a kid)– probably wouldn’t of started the set off with those two songs. Crowd were pretty flat, in saying that it’s down to the band to uplift them. Much older crowd plenty who were wearing Cult t-shirts.

Astbury has always been opinionated, switched off at that point when the altercation happened. He’s a great frontman and singer, but he’s gotten in to the habit of singing parts in songs which is infuriating.

Kerbdog saved the day, smashed it. Crowd again were killer.

Gunner5

Thought it well ran festival tbh. First time and loved the range of stages and music for it's size. Security checking bags were super sound ( bar one) . Loved the fact there was quality craft beer and bar available for Guinness and spirits and dash ( suited our whole group).

Highlights were Kerbdog, King Kong Company, Frank and Walters.

The Cult can go F*ck themselves tbh. They were shite and flat and the guitarist is a massive prick.

Coz

Great festival and really nice vibe. Really well run. Sound was great everywhere.

2 big gripes for me

The schlep to general camping being a small one.

But the biggest one was camping chairs. Absolutely no problem with people using them but read the room (or tent). One example, there were people sitting down in the 5th row of The Undertones eating chips and drinking feckin cocktails. People stumbling all over them. They eventually got wise and left.

A bit of common sense and festival etiquette wouldn't go a miss.

FF is possibly the only festival they've been to and possibly don't know better but cop on FFS.

mgkelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122412705#Comment_122412705

The camping chairs is becoming "more of a thing", I sense. Like you, happy for people to use, but please don't be near the front or in the way of those feeling a wee bit more 'dynamic'!

manofwisdom

An enjoyable and entertaining weekend in Emo, big thanks to all at Forest Forest for such a well organised event, IMO it's the best family festival we have in Ireland and all should be done to keep it going long term

On the forest stage none of the top acts disappointed me. Yes Billy Duffy should have known better to be getting involved about a flag and in all place's at a festival! It was still a good set by the cult and Ian Astbury remains a strong vocalists.

Sampled a great range of artists in the other tents, the last act Sharon Shannon/Shane MacGowan tribute had the biggest crowd I've seen for the village tent over the the last three years, in hindsight it's probably should have been on the forest stage. Ibiza rewind was decent addition with good vibes within the tents, they should keep on for another year at least.

Weather wise other that some light showers it was grand, with plenty of pleasant sunshine in between and ideal weather for a camping and music festival weekend.

Roll on Forest fest 2025!

Oscar_Madison

What was Paul Brady like anyone?