All Together Now 2024
Comments
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Nice review, mg. We'd have been on similar rails if I was there.
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I live locally enough and recognised a lot of the kids, 16-19 age group but having grown up in the area they hear the music every year and see the lights in the sky it's hard not to want a piece of it at that age. I've no idea how they got in but with local knowledge and social media once one gap in a ditch is discovered/made it doesn't take much for word to get around.
I'm going to bring my 11 year old next year but he'll be annoyed then if he likes it and I can't bring him the following year
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ditto - i was at nearly all those! BTW, I thought the sound for slowdive was poor at first, but they seemed to get on top of it.
I see a few people had various issues, but it's a great festival all told.
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That chap in the Prodigy t-shirt (unless I'm mistaken) was non other than this parishes @rubick
Had the pleasure of bumping into himself and his partner at Optimo (who were excellent btw) and on Sun eve ahead of Prodigy (who I thought were fupping terrible) and he was indeed wearing a rather smart Prod Experience tee
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Excellent weekend all round, slowly adjusting back to normality. A lot of creases ironed out vs last year which means I have virtually no gripes! Highlights:
Really enjoyed Glassbeams
Ben UFO getting the dancing legs ready for Friday evening - he just never misses
Jiggy at Global Roots - thanks for the tip to whoever mentioned them here
Yung Singh closing Arcadia with Bewitched on Friday lol
Mary Wallopers
Stumbling upon Grooveline in The Last City - amazing energy and buzz
Hak Baker - funny guy!
The Scratch - perhaps my favourite act of the week
Muireann Bradley - what a talent
New Dad - loved how much they loved the crowd
Ping Pong - weird and wonderful especially in the wee hours. Missed it last year so was delighted to spend plenty of time there this year
Pieman in the main stage area - incredible munch
Lovely lovely consistent pints of Guinness across all bars
The toilets - don't think I came across one filthy one all weekend
Loved the build-up with you guys + the whatsapp group banter too. A part of me felt that enjoying festivals was something I should outgrow. However, that weekend contradicted that feeling for me. More than likely see you back in here for more next year. Cheers folks!14 -
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Hello mate, that was me in the Experience t-shirt. I'd normally have a KLF long sleeve on in the evenings but thought I'd change it for the Sunday.
Great review, glad you enjoyed the festival!
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That's great you got down after all 😎
I caught a couple of acts each day then stayed in for the night, just drinking water in arcadia, feeding off others buzz 😉
Prodigy got mixed reception, but it was a personal one for me,being a massive fan in the 90s and I adored Mr Flint. A lot of songs played I'm not keen on, but thought they did great.
My main bugbear was the torturous trek from bus to campsite and back,especially if you're carrying all your own stuff. My Christ 😬🫠
Also got stuck in kildare on the westport train for 5 hours last night . Was anyone else on that one?
The Bus Eireann bus was great to be fair and their stewards were very helpful
😎💜
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Here goes:
Friday kicked off with Cardinals but it started raining and i wasn't really feeling it so i went to Hot Girl for some shelter, less enjoyable than the previous time i saw them. Points deducted for trying to get a singalong going on the last tune. Then it was Fizzy Orange, diverse selection of tunes, all light and breezy. Grand at that moment but wouldn't go see them on their own. Had the misfortune of seeing a few songs of Dave Lofts, never heard of him and i hope i never do again. Then Glass Beams, who were much better live than on record but really just put me in mind of an extremely lightweight instrumental Goat. Also, every time it sounded like a song was about to lift-off they'd stop. You can't put the Psych tag on your music if you possess that kind of attitude. Confidence Man was too packed and tbh they've gone far too slick for me. When i saw them at Beatyard years back they had some cosmicity about them, now it's just supermodels and champagne vibes. Finished the night with a bit of Will Softly.
Saturday was the day of f#ck all happening (both physically for me and from a musical perspective). Had intended Postpunk Podge but he hadn't started so i kept walking and ended up at the Kabin Krew kids as i needed a sit down and food. Bit of craic and fair play to them and the guys who put it together. Watched the first half of Chalk's set but it wasn't loud enough and i soon got bored and left. Saw bits of Future Islands and The National, never a fan of either and they both remain as appalling as i remember. Caught a bit of Floating Points which was better than i expected but was too packed. KKC and then bed.
Sunday I promised myself that i would give both John Francis Flynn and OXN half an hour each. I struggled to fulfill those 30 minutes for either act. Tedious, the two of them. The Wailers were nice vibes to accompany my nice curry. Watched a bit of Sprints but they just do nothing for me at this point. Interesting for a while but not any more it would seem. Small enough crowd at them too i thought. Just Mustard were really good. 8.30 PM on Sunday before i finally heard some music that genuinely moved me and excited my mind, body & soul. I think they played some new material. Very good anyway. They appear to be the only one of the Gilla Band acolytes that has maintained my interest over a prolonged period. Slowdive were very good but i was disappointed we didn't get any one of Avalyn, Slowdive or Golden Hair. Then the Prodigy; looked impressive but it was too stop-start and they kept playing bits of tunes instead of the whole thing; perfectly illustrated by their bizarre ending of just playing the intro to Out of Space and then walking off.
Thoughts overall? 2023 and '24 have been less enjoyable than '19 & '22. Definitely more youngsters the past couple of years but friendlier than the EP ones. Even engaged with a few of them over the weekend! Met a few fence hoppers myself but they seemed benign and not up to mischief. Food prices and no cash will always be an issue for me but that's unlikely to ever change, kinda held to ransom on that score. Arcadia needs to be bigger and that AVA stage is horrible. When we got our wristbands some fella approached me saying he'd just been stripsearched. Wasn't sure if he was genuine or an undercover trying to get me chatting! To the person mentioning damaged ankles; one of our group fell victim to that and she was carted off to hospital at 6 am Saturday. Another mate drove the six hour roundtrip to leave the injured party home and then rejoin us for the rest of the weekend. I must admit i didn't think he'd return. What a Hero!
Personally i feel like it might be coming to the end of the line for me and festivals. Obviously this is not something i want as i've spent every summer for over three decades attending them but i'm finding less to enjoy at them musically. I love the session, but if i want to spend a weekend getting out of it with friends and music i can do it far more cheaply in my garden! The idea of attending a non-niche music festival on my own does not appeal anymore. I'd just be bored out of my head for the most part.
I'll probably buy an early bird for 2025 though!
Post edited by Dreamweapon onBig on the all mouth and trousers scene
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Really enjoyed @mgkelly's review above, looks like we went to a lot of the same stuff.
Great weekend all told, we've been going down en famille for the last three years. Our eldest has slipped into the 'she's an old 12' category now so this might be our last visit for a while…
All in all, another great edition. The weather was patchy but the site held up this time. The worst of the rain falling on Sunday instead of Friday night was probably crucial. We had a bit of sickness in the camp with one of our girls coming down with a rotten headcold on Sunday and wasn't in the mood for anything so we had to pack up a bit early and missed Slowdive, who we were all looking forward to. But alas… many highlights to reflect on in spite of that.
A few gripes as always… I wish they'd follow through on the promise of 'family parking', which does not come as advertised, or indeed at all. Leaving families with the longest trudge to their campsite is not great. At least ours are old enough to do some carrying, others with smaller kids must have had a challenge. Anyway…
Friday: Declan McKenna of course, for Ver Kidz, but a great show. Good performer and band, Brazil and British Bombs were awesome. Lots of 'old 12' year olds down the front for that one. Took in a bit of Yaya Bey, wasn't feeling it, but came back to a huge crowd for Confidence Man. Everyone seemed in raptures but it sounded a bit generic to me. Even Ver Kidz were left nonplussed. What's am I missing? The Murder Capital was a blast. A weirdly tiny venue for them (they played SKOW two years ago) but made for a great atmos. Agree with Martin, he's got a real edge as a frontman, prowls the stage with menace. Lots of people were impressed with our fake-crystal plastic wine glasses filled with Chat Fou (bag-wine has come a long way, thank you Pinto in Drumcondra!).
Saturday: Top marks for the Phat Cow sausage burger in the blaa. Brunch on the Bandstand was a treat, Panti Bliss gave a great hour of storytelling. Soda Blonde very enjoyable, great frontwoman and a handful of really great songs. A bit of comedy too; Jarleth Regan made us all laugh a lot. Rachael Lavelle was a real highlight. I'd seen her at the Lankum show and didn't think it all held together but this was better. The setting was ideal for her off-kilter reimagining-Enya-as-a-credible-artist schtick. Observed the Mary Wallopers from a safe distance. Not quite sure what I make of them, but the bits where they pause the songs to shout and then kick in again are undeniably great in a live setting. I find it sort of fascinating how the crowd went so nuts for it, might have been dismissed as diddly-aye in the past, but it's having a moment for sure. Then to The National. Been a huge fan since Alligator, but haven't seen the live in years for some reason. This set was sublime. Great selection of songs old and new, Abel was incredible, England gorgeous and Matt Berninger's oddball-professor charisma is compelling. They were maybe a touch rockier and upbeat than expected, and I loved the diving into the crowd the whole time, reminded me of Nick Cave two years ago.
Sunday: More brunch on the bandstand. Tommy Tiernan… I'm not sure. It was a mixed bag, some of it worked, some of it didn't. He takes risks as a performer, and that's a good thing, but it can result in some awkwardness. Went to Muireann Bradley who was super-sweet and plays and sings beautifully. A healing balm on a Sunday afternoon. Caught the tail end of Mary in the Junkyard; glad I did as they are ones to watch. They conjure up a hypnotic groove, reminded me of Nulifer Yanya. Brooklyn hipsters Beach Fossils were pleasant; definite 7.6 on Pitchfork vibes. Then to OXN, and what a show. Even more doomy and Sunn O)))-like than Lankum, I found this immersive and spine-tingling. Caught the first few songs from Newdad and they sounded really good, but alas, our eldest was in a jocker at this stage so we had to head…
All in all another great edition. I still think the first year we came was the best; Nick Cave, Self Esteem, CMAT were all incredible 5/5 performances never to be forgotten. Last year had some mud and sound issues, but the lineup was maybe a touch stronger than this year, with Lorde, Caribou and Lankum highlights. I really thought they'd try and get Waxahatchee when I saw she was playing Vicar Street the same week, she would surely be perfect for the festival; seemed a missed opportunity. Lots of the names this year I'd have marked as 'interesting, should be worth a look' rather than 'can't wait to see it' but in the end lots of stuff surprised to the upside. And lots of the highlights were Irish acts. Truly this does seem an incredible time for the Irish music scene. I remember when Irish music meant The Frames and their hangers-on of dull singer songwriters or Humanzi's tuneless racket, but we are now spoiled with any number of great acts across multiple genres. Heady times indeed.
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i am crippled…those bloody hills
So my first ATN…it’s up there with one of the best festival weekends I’ve had.
Saw loads….way more that any other festival I’ve been to I’d say.
highlights…sing along social was just pure joy on Saturday…they really are made for the main stage. I’m a national fan and have seen them many times but I don’t what was wrong with me but Saturday night I felt they were sucking the life out of me!
Confidence man,Kiasmos and nils hoffman and Paul kalkbrenner were all amazing. Really loved Barry can’t swim…camera man picking out someone with their phone which has Daniel wiffen can swim gave me a right chuckle! Kelly Ann bryne did a great set at the Schweppes bar! I did feel Sunday, there wasn’t much to see until later on in the evening and it did take me a while to get going…left the prodigy after ten minutes…just couldn’t be listening to it! Wanted to see nils Hoffman so was happy we didn’t like the prodigy!! I can’t go next year due to holidays but will hope to return in 2026.
This weekend made me realise il always be going to festivals, and they will always evolve and there will be new ones that suit what we want!10 -
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I was searched by the undercover Gardai on my second run in from the car, given the whole "do you have anything on you that you shouldn't have?" speech. Glad to see that there wasn't as many people pulled this year but they definitely were floating around.
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ATN 2024 – Bucolic Frolic
The good bits:
Access between the areas has improved year on year
The new location / bigger choice of the food areas in the campsite & the newly sited Londis worked well
In my experience, all of the areas in ‘the woods’ are improving year-on-year with regards to use of space, increase in places to sit, low waiting time at bars and access
I would add that across the whole site, I never had a problem finding a place to sit all weekend and that wasn’t the case before. Could be the effect of the event not selling out or more creative use of space? (logs in The Circle, Global Roots, Last City etc.) Probably somewhere in the middle. Maybe I’m just getting old and looking for more sitting opportunities!?!
Toilets were much improved. Cleaned often and lots of loo rolls available. It’s amazing what a difference decent and (relatively) clean facilities make in one’s overall enjoyment of the weekend
Pre-emptive chippings had been laid at traditionally tricky areas from the get-go, and straw was added on Sunday at strategic points. Lesson learned from last year
The Guinness Bar by The Well is a very convivial spot, and the craic was always great there. Cool, creamy pints. Although @rubick & @desk tidy are very, very naughty people forcing me to drink all of those pints on Thursday night!!
Loved Last City, always something completely mad going on there. Also, Global Roots was my bolthole. Always a very chilled, sound crowd at this stage
No pat-downs on the way in and minimal checking of bags. No punter seemed to be taking the p with their allotted allocation anyway
The Greek food van facing SKW tent served a mighty gyros & halloumi feed that filled me for most of the day. LaLa Poutine always delivers
Freeflow works. Still plenty of pints and cocktails being bought in the various bars by revellers. I fear that the clock is ticking on freeflow though. The pre-festival announcement of ‘one open can only’ being dismissed as a miscommunication…hmmm, I’m not so sure. I think they may have been testing the waters. Watch out for this being introduced next year or the year after
The plethora of alt / indie / post-punk / shoegaze etc. etc. bands (all of whom had sizeable crowds) clearly demonstrates that there is an appetite for these acts on Arena stages at Irish festivals rather than being pushed to the margins / not booked at all…I’m talking about you EP
That big wide road out of the site took some diggin’!! Very impressive
The not so good bits (some of which are generic and, to be fair, not confined to ATN):
I stayed in A Hard Day’s Night campsite above the treeline, at the periphery. It had traditionally been a quieter spot than ‘down below’ although to be fair nowhere at ATN is like Hendrix at EP. However…this year, I don’t know if I was unlucky or if these people are strategically dotted throughout the campsites in general, but every night I had a crowd staying close-by my tent returning to their messy circle for a full-scale party between 4am & 7am every morning. I realise that “Vitamin C tablets” & “Proplus” might have been consumed earlier in the evening and that there is still some ‘excess energy’ to be expended…but please God, not a soundbar in the campsite at that time of the morning. As for the mindless whooping…it went on all f’ing weekend. I know that we all curate our weekends in different ways, but it made me realise that this 53 year-old cannot be in gen pop camping any more with that level of selfish noise going on. Just wipes me out the next day, making the whole thing feel like a slog, rather than a joy. Just going to have to be Eco (at EP) or posh (at ATN) or nothing from now on. Maybe someone who stayed over in the ‘One For The Road’ site close to the family camping / campervan sites can convince me to return if it is a lot quieter over there…
The rocks on the hill from the bridge leading down to The Well tent were a rolled ankle waiting to happen in the dark. Same with the ruts in the same area. I know we’re in the countryside and that, but it wouldn’t take a lot to sort that particular short stretch. On the way out, one of my sack truck wheels bit the dust as it was shredded by the brutal terrain
The ground inside the Some Kind of Wonderful tent was very spongy from day one with massive ruts seemingly caused by lorry tyres. I’ve never seen that before in any tent at any music festival I have attended
Noisy people during quieter sets. Old man shouting at clouds stuff I know, but it irks me every time. Not unique to ATN of course, it occurs at the overwhelming majority of sets at all festivals, but at some of the stages where the artists were playing acoustic/quieter sets, some folk think it appropriate to launch into a full-scale, often vapid (sorry, not sorry), top of the voice discussion and many times have positioned themselves in the middle or close to the front of the stage, not way at the back out of harm’s way. At Rachael Lavelle it forced me to leave entirely whilst massively biting my tongue. A beardy auld lad giving a bunch of be-glittered girls in their early 20s a finger-wagging ticking off for poor gig etiquette is really not a terribly good look. See Muireann Bradley / Oxn also…
There was a fair bit of messiness on the Sunday from a seemingly very young crowd (certainly not under-12, and definitely not over-21). Not sure if these were the fence-hoppers mentioned elsewhere. If so, that is very poor from the organisers / security team. Hadn’t really been a thing before this year
Speaking of security. On Saturday night, I saw a younger lad being chased into Global Roots by two older guys and then taken down. I mentioned to the nearby (very young looking) security guard that he might want to take a look, and possibly get back up as it wasn’t clear what was going on at that point. He had a quick look, clearly felt that it was way above his pay grade and promptly turned on his heels. Not blaming him at all for that and it later transpired that the 2 guys were undercover Garda officers who identified themselves after other people started to get involved and were told to back off. Did make me wonder though, what is the actual role of the security team dotted throughout, other than making sure no-one got run over by a vehicle on the service roads
Not confined (again) to ATN, but the carry on of throwing beer around during acts’ sets is a massive bugbear. During The Scratch, clearly half-full tins of beer were getting lobbed. Ye’d get brained if one of those came down on your nut…
The acts:
Friday: Shark School > Cardinals (decent) > Glass Beams (sublime) > Confidence Man (huge crowd, but not my thing at all as it turned out) > The Murder Capital (rammed)
Saturday: Breakfast cocktails & posh sausages at The Grub Circus > Comedy all afternoon > Overhead, The Albatross (superb) > Rachael Lavelle (spoiled by chatty chat chat people) > Chalk > Royal Inity (feel-good, laid back reggae) > Fair bit of wandering about
Sunday: A Bloody Mary at Ringo Bingo @ Last City (good fun) > more comedy > The Scratch (pulled a big old crowd) > Muireann Bradley (lovely but hard to hear at the start due to noise bleed) > Mary in the Junkyard > Wailers (a drop of sunshine on a miserable afternoon weather-wise) > OXN > Sprints > NewDad > Slowdive > The Prodigy
Overall: Getting better with regard to layout, stages, infrastructure, access, traffic etc. year on year. A little sloppiness / messiness creeping in at the corners which is concerning. Weaker line-up this year than the previous 3 iterations I attended, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I did see, and the esoteric, self-curated stages are a joy
Love ATN, but no return for me unless I find a few quid down the back of the sofa to upgrade to the posho tents for a (kind of) proper night’s sleep…which, because I am a solo traveller makes no sense, as a posh tent for someone flying solo costs more than an actual weekend ticket. I might feel differently if the bill knocks my socks off, but as it has been a case of the law of diminishing returns as far as Irish festivals go for this past few years, I am doubtful (but ever hopeful)
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Great write up Darzog,
Might I (highly, highly) recommend getting yourself a van, even a loan of one for the weekend - any kind of van - no matter how big or small once you can fit a mattress in the back of it, even a blow up one - they don't really care what kind of van you bring in - there was even a few hired box-vans out there. and you'll have the height of comfort and absolutely transform your festival experience for an extra 100 bob.
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Just remembered the group of young fellas beside me at Just Mustard; "This is Shoegaze. This is? Yeah. THIS is Shoegaze?" A phone gets whipped out and shown "See? Shoegaze". Guy turns to his other mate "This is Shoegaze. Yeah,Shoegaze". 😀Bless 'em.
I was tempted to give them a history of the term and genre but thought better of it! Tbf they were really into it even if they looked like Arcadia for the whole weekend would be more their cuppa.
Big on the all mouth and trousers scene
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Arrived down about 6-ish on Thursday having picked up camper from Ireland West Motorhomes (can't recommend them enough.. lovely vans and Kevin is absolute gent!). Parked up, cracked open a few cans, soaked in vibe and wandered into Bandstand for a bit of food - I got Bites by Kwanghi which, although everyone was raving about it on WhatsApp, thought it was bang average... might have been unlucky! Others in our group for The Sausage Experience, which I thought was best value of weekend and proper tasty and filling - so got that over weekend also. Stayed around Bandstand for evening - started off listening to a bit David San Clair in Hidden Sounds but having in act on in Bandstand at same time resulted in a lot of sound bleeding through I thought. It improved a bit as it went on. Listened to a bit of Toucan for easy-listening but there was a bit of confusion in our group - turns out the band we thought it was disbanded a long time ago! 😀 King Kong Company DJ Set definitely got the atmosphere a bit more lively, plus the place filled up quite nicely.
Friday was mostly hanging around the camper for day until the rain passed. Got it for Main Stage opening with Trinity Orchestra - who I hate to say thought sounded a bit flat for the most part but was a bit back, and wind I'm sure didn't help (I do always think open air stages at festivals don't lend themselves to the elements, even the likes of Pyramid and Other at Glasto suffers hugely from this). Saw a bit of Dave Lofts in SkOW and thought he was very talented. Caught a little bit of Declan McKenna but wasn't really for me. Was a bit of just wandering then - back to van to top up the caaans - and back into Confidence Man who I really enjoyed. Was up the front for it and was just proper good fun! Ended up going from Kiasmos to Maribou State to Ping Pong Disco to George Fitzgerald. Just couldn't settle really but George was great.
Was gonna go to Arcadia at one stage but full on Friday, and then the silly one-way system was just a pain in the ass on Saturday.. so didn't really bother in the end.
Weather was savage on Saturday, and we started with Sing-Along Social to open Main Stage who although I've walked past on Bandstand a couple of times never really understood the appeal but the setup / visuals and costumes all made this a proper fun time. Wandered over for some Soda Blonde but they're just not as good as Little Green Cars for me. Then back for a bit of Natasha Bedingfield - while we were to the far right of stage (pretty much in line with BoI Carnival Quarter), thought she sounded dreadful. Seemed to be more and more of the crowd dispersing from the back as we watched. Le Boom up next were absolutely fantastic - honestly think they deserve a bigger and better slot than that. Replenished on cans back at the van and went back down The National - have seen them probably 8 times but think they were really on top form.. maybe due to being in the middle of an album promotion cycle but was just wall-to-wall bangers. They were fantastic. My missus swapped her Rosa Bloom jacket with Matt and was quite the sight! 😀 She didn't get to keep Matt's jacket but got a setlist and a pick, so she was happy out.
After that, we stayed for a bit of King Kong Company but not our thing, so moved onto a bit of Gorgon City before stopping for Halloumi Fries in Bandstand on the way back to camper.
Sunday evening was a great looking day on paper and weather was the only dampener (pun not intended!). Was a Main Stage day so after some chicken gyros from spot outside SKoW, took in a bit of RTE Orchestra and The Wailers. Stayed for Neil Delamere's set in The Well, who is always brilliant. Then we were settled back in Future Islands - very good, though not the best I've seen then, weather didn't help Sam's dance moves. Down front for Barry Can't Swim, who was one of my favourites from last year, and I thought he was excellent - crowd proper loved it. The Prodigy started with too many bangers to really sustain the 75 minute set, so second half was not quite enjoyable, but a nice energetic end to the weekend. Bitta Hot Chip (DJ Set) to finish the night but my legs were fading.
Sorry for the lengthy reviews - but overall thoughts..
Positives:
- Music was largely as good (and nicely varied) as ever.
- So many sound-heads about, but seen a few more messers than other years if I'm honest.
- Traffic system - maybe we're lucky but since the year that shall not be mentioned, we've had absolutely no issue in getting in or out of the place, and it's been a breeze!
Negatives:
- Some of the food charges were nuts - LaLa Poutine were charging €16 for Taco Chips.. c'mon, that's absolutely scandalous.
- Arcadia one-way system I can't remember any other year.. it was silly, confusing and seemed unnecessary a lot of the time.
- Bins - I was hugely confused by the presence of so many blue bins for dry recycling among food stalls in the Bandstand, and then little-to-no bins for general or food waste.
Anyways.. small gripes aside.. still the best run festival in the country by a LONG LONG WAY!
Thanks for the WhatsApp group also - was great craic over the weekend - and let's not forget Mary May:
ROLL ON 2025!
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I feel obliged to attempt a review since I picked up so much from this thread and the boards.ie WhatsApp group
Background: first festival ever with kids(2 boys and a baby girl) , first festival with wife since EP 2005, first festival of any kind for me since I abandoned Oxygen half way through in 2008. We were half considering going this year as my older brother and sister always go and recommend it but only committed after Prodigy were announced as they are my all time favourite band. Prodigy are special to me due to being a soundtrack to some important parts of my formative years and also being lucky to see many great live gigs in Ireland and UK over nearly 30 years. I also had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with the late Keith on a couple of occasions. My kids are also growing up with me playing Prodigy in the kitchen every weekend and on car journeys
Pros:
Logistics/tents/booze/food:
indulged in boutique camping (Podpads) had campbeds and a cot for the baby. Meant all the bags could go under the beds and left space in middle of tent. Arrived Saturday lunchtime so no traffic and no Qs and managed car to tent in one trip! Tent was less than 100m from toilets, water, showers and coffee stall and also really close to main arena entrance and the big wheel 😀 expensive but was worth it overall , hot shower at a festival feels so luxurious
Brought loads of bottles of water/fizzy water/soft drinks /beer and G&T cans which saved us a fortune and also meant no need to Q for drinks (except when I wanted a nice cold Guinness and even then there were no Qs!)
Brought dry food and fruit for breakfast and snacks and then got lunch and dinner from the food stalls. Enjoyed the Venezuelan Arepas and had a nice spice bag. Enough choice with Indian and Chinese places also for my wife and kids who can be fussy !
Music
Sorry I missed glass beams on Friday but overall glad we only did two nights as I think 3 would have been too much for us
Sat Cabin crew in the late afternoon sun at the bandstand while having a late lunch with the family and some old friends was just simply wonderful. The young Cork rappers were great and my sons loved it.
Spent time at global roots watching some reggae later Saturday and that was nice, kids enjoyed the bubbles. We all went to bed before midnight and then could hear every bit of KKC from our tent until 130am
Sun
The wife had joga and sauna session so I dragged the kids on a tour of the whole venue so we saw every stage even if only for a few minutes each. Ping Pong disco was an eye opener for my big conservative head 😀 finished the ‘tour’ with kids rave at Arcadia which was nice with fire breathing metal dragons.
Recharged at tent, napped, fed etc then Barry Can’t Swim which we all enjoyed.
Prodigy: Kids stayed for first 4 songs then my wife brought them back to tent and I went fully mental for next hour. Sorry if I spoiled your view with my jumping! Great crowd around me all having fun. I’ve been to better Prodigy gigs and I wish they played more Experience and Gilted generation but their live show and lights etc is still very impressive and my wife and older son were amazed at the spectacle.
Immerse-AVA most times I walked past over the weekend was intense but a little ‘boring’ hard house but caught a little bit of Mano le Tough and then between Prodigy and Kalkbrenner danced for a while to C.Frim. Again intense and repetitive hard house but she played some songs with some nice rhythm and I got stuck in. I’m a very bad but enthusiastic dancer so random experience was demonstrating the ‘Prodigy Step’ and ‘Running Man’ to lads and lassies half my age.
Getting tired but went to first hour of Kalkbrenner , he was very good but too much smoke and vapes in the big tent for me. One of my former students saw me and gave me a big hug which was nice !
Experience
Kids zone Sunday, lazed around from 1030 until about 330pm with the baby while my older kids played football and enjoyed the other kids stuff while the weather was still good.
Overall easy enough to get around the site and overall nice atmosphere and I loved the people watching as most were having a great time. For example all the young people stopping to offer to take photos of me when I was carrying my little baby girl or hanging out with my sons. Also Eliza Rose would not be my type but I watched a few minutes before bed on Sat and when she dropped her big chart hit the crowd went crazy and it was fantastic to see it.
too much vaping but no one doing any class As or the like directly in front of me or the kids and we avoided or didn’t see any messy drunkenessCons
(First world problems alert🤦♂️)food prices and the amusement rides were in gouging territory. Fair enough for gourmet Indian or Chinese meals and the Big Wheel but not for basic burgers and 3-minutes on a bog standard waltzer.
Mud on way back to car, come on lads put down some straw! Even covering the worst 50m stretch would have made a big difference
Noise: my fault for not realising but boutique camping is so close to the arena that the noise is full on until 3am, not ideal with kids but we managed with the ear defenders
Vaping, everywhere , I just hate it
Overall: we will be back , I know I could be cynical and stand back and say ‘hang on this festival is basically a massive ad for Diageo brands and Vapes’ but it’s still got some magic.
Final word: I have a slightly difficult relationship with my oldest son. On drive home my wife him asked him would he like to go again and he said ‘of course, it was the most exciting weekend of my life’ ….i’m not embarrassed to admit I started crying with happinessSee you again next year 😀
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Final word:
I have a slightly difficult relationship with my oldest son. On drive home my wife him asked him would he like to go again and he said ‘of course, it was the most exciting weekend of my life’ ….i’m not embarrassed to admit I started crying with happinessWho's cutting goddamn onions in here? Just kidding.. that's beautiful @Doc07!
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Do u need a camper van ticket (extra €100)?? Would a hertz rental be acceptable in there? I had a van rented and needed to sleep in it sunday night. I was effected by loud music all night long Sat and some female getting buried out of it for hours near enough to me in the campsite, your man had some engine 😂
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You are but a child, compared to me!
Fan of The KLF, too!
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Re Doc07's review:
Beautiful, especially the last bit.
Post edited by mgkelly on4 -
Some of the scheduling was a little strange.
Confidence Man, Does anyone really stick on a confidence man album at home or in the car?, they’re more of a live show and good fun. But you need to see them to feed off their energy, so for me would have been better placed on a stage with cameras and TV screens. Tried to watch them for a bit, but was miles back.
New Dad and Just Mustard, two bands for me on a similar trajectory, (JM maybe a little less appealing) New Dad in something kind of wonderful (5K capacity) got a good crowd partially helped by the rain.
JM playing the circle, 100-200 capacity and was absolutely rammed despite the driving rain at the time.
Can someone tell me where big bodies played???!!
Nice surprise was Barry can’t swim, two weeks new to me, really loved his gig as someone mentioned lovely crowd added to the experience. Lovely smooth ambient electronic Jazz, I think the pumping bass line in his track ‘Kimbara’ is my 2024 ATN anthem.
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My second ATN, my wife’s first must certainly won’t be our last.
All the big hitters that I had planned to see and were recommended really all put on top top displays. The WhatApp group really
Friday, we mostly just mooched around. Didn’t really see two much bar Kingfishr and Confidence Man. Both were amazing.
Saturday was another great day. Spent the afternoon down by the house and checked out a bit of comedy. NB put on some show. She has some live voice. Mary Wallopers and Kojaque killed it. Am a massive KKC fan and haven’t seen them in years and was chuff when I heard they were replacing Roisin M. Great “home town” gig. I think that’s why they were booked.
The scratch were my main act for the weekend. Smashed it but have seen them put on better shows.Herself napped about for must of Sunday afternoon so I just wondered about. As is the joy of these festivals I stumbled about the SKOW stage just before the start of ØXN’s set. Reeeeeeallly not my cup of tea (I’d be a very casual Lankum fan) but I was blown away. The red Doomy backdrop and the sound was turned up to eleven. The whole gig just oozed epicness. So happy I got to experience it live. Listening on Spotify on the way home doesn’t do the music justice.
Glad everyone had a ball.8 -
the free flow makes such a difference…just the ease of walking straight in…I still spent an absolute fortune on booze inside though!
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yeah I honestly think Heineken demanding no free flow for EP is counter intuitive as people just spend far more time in campsite and if it was free flow they would see day time/evening bump in draught sales with 20-30k people in far earlier
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Wonderful writing fellas. Thanks for efforts you've put in here. Credit to the forum.
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5th time attendee. A few thoughts on the weekend.
Friday - got down late enough, camped in the usual spot in One for the Road. Even at that stage seemed way busier than previous years.
In for Ben UFO to get things started. Disappointed with the AvA stage, was in a much better location for the last couple of years. Confidence Man and kiasmos kept things ticking over before Kolsch finished the night off with a belting set.
Saturday felt like a bit of a lull on the music front. Spent a bit of time at the Natasha and Wallpapers both really not my scene but the crowd was really enjoying them so hard to not get swept along! Joy Anonymous put in a solid performance and Floating Points in SKOW was better than expected. Finished off with Gorgon City which would have been much better in the tent, not sure why it wasn't on there as ALD really isn't the best setting for a DJ set.
Sunday was always going to be the highlight from a music point of view for me. Really enjoyed the RTE orchestra despite the drizzle and Mano put on a great set in Ava before heading up to Barry can't swim on the main stage. I see a few people not happy with the Prodigy's set but I thought the lights and sound really made it quite spectacular.
The highlight of the weekend for me was always going to be Paul Kalkbrennar and he really delivered. Really surprised there was such a sparse crowd in the tent for it, was expecting it be packed out the door with not much else on at that time. Maybe people had enough of it by 1am on Sunday which is a shame as it was a great show. A quick sprint off to Arcadia to finish off the night.
Pros -
Really well organised weekend I thought. Easy getting in on Friday evening
Line up was right up my street so may be biased but I thought the music was brilliant
The site itself is spectacular, still very easy to get around
The vast majority of the crowd are very sound. It's great to get chatting to random people who are very much into the same vibe as I am
Cons-
As had been said earlier, there was a definite shift in the crowd towards a much younger demographic. Initially thought it was just me but most people I spoke to said the same
One for the road is usually a quieter spot but my tent was surrounded by lads playing music each night til after 7. And these were lads in their 30s. I get wanting to keep the party going but having a bit of respect for the other people camping wouldn't go astray
Most of the stewards are completely clueless where anything is, both inside and trying to get out afterwards. Only a small complaint but would help if they were somewhat of assistance
Overall i had a brilliant weekend. Thought beforehand this could have been my last one - mid 30s - but my friends and I had such a great time j think we'll crack a few more years out of it yet!
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You don't even need to stay in campervans, the campsite beside it is very well behaved but hilly in places.
The more guy lines in use on tents, I find the quieter the campsite is! You can also see how closely tents are piled on top of each other.
Good weekend for me but I still think EP has the top spot, there is just always something to entertain there while we had quite a lot of gaps this year and there isn't as much magic to discover around the place, other than acts which are obviously subjective.
Only real gripe we had was the under provision of water taps at camoervans, had to queue for an hour at one stage.
The toilets at Schweppes / main stage were madness a few times but the others were nearly always well maintained.
Two weeks is just about enough time to be enthusiastic for another festival!
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Aw goodness, love your post.
Re The Prodigy, I very much relate. What an honour to meet Flinty. He seemed like such a legend. I adored him as a teen. The set was good alright but I agree, Jilted was the album I discovered them on and still love the most and experience, being their first.
I also saw better prodge gigs back in the 90s, but I think they put on a good show, despite ending rather abruptly.
I love that your son was so excited after the weekend ☺️
First timer here too, I defo noticed a fair few 'heads' around roaring and being louty but thankfully didn't have any bad experiences. The walk from the bus drop off though was almost unbearable, I just need to get a lift next time 😆
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