Electric Picnic Build Up

[Colie]

Just back from Lowlands. If you do only 1 thing at EP - GO SEE DIGITALISM! They played on Saturday night & stole the whole weekend. Sigur Ros were stunning as ever & they're playing out with one of the new songs that is just mind blowing, circa 6 minute build up & then 5 minutes of insanity. Do check them out. But for me, this year, EP is about Digitalism.

[anto1208]

Well after the legal disputes and underwhelming initial line up I was happy with the festival up until this morning. What happened this morning you ask? Well they put out what bands are on what days and basically the main acts I want to see are all on Friday (no doubt around the same time too), and there is feck all on Sunday anyway here's the line up and the days (in bold are my picks)

FRIDAY 29th
At First Light, Booka Shade, Carbon Silicon, Christy Moore, Dawn Landes,Digitalism, Dobet Gnahore, Fovea Hex, Givemanakick,Goldfrapp,Gomez,Jape,Joan AsPolicewoman,Kila,Kissy Sellout,Late of the Pier,Little,Green Cars,Lou Rhodes,Miles Electric,New Young Pony Club,Pinky,Presets,Sigur Ros,Terry Callier,The Gutter Twins,The Stunning,Think of one's camping Shaabi,Tiga,Tinariwen,Wallis Bird,Yard Dogs

SATURDAY 30th
A Trak,Antibalas,Arno Carstens,Black Acid,Boss Volenti,Cathy Davey,Crash Ensemble,Crystal Castles,Cut Copy,Dan Deacon,Digital Mystikz,Duffy,Elbow,Franz Ferdinand,George Clinton,Grace Jones,Halves,Havana Son,Josh Ritter,Juana Molina,Kormac feat BS Quartet,La Rocca,Large Mound,Laura Izibor,Liam O'Maonlai,Lisa Hannigan,Mercedes Peon,Midnight Juggernauts,Mornington Singers,Msg,New York Fund,Oppenheimer,Ra Ra Riot,Rachel Unthank and the Winterset,Santogold,Silver Apples,Soha,Super Extra Bonus Party,Teitur,That Petrol Emotion,The Breeders,The Faint,The Flaws,The Herbaliser,
The Kills,The Radio,Tindersticks,Tobias Froberg,Ulrich Schnauss,Underworld,Wilco,Yurodny

SUNDAY 31st
Absentee,Adrian Crowley,Black Lips,Candi Staton,Ceili House Allstars,Chromeo,Conor Oberst,Cowboy X,CSS,
Deadmau5,Dengue Fever,Dublin City Big Band,Dublin Gospel Choir,Emmy The Great,Famer's Market,Faust,Florence & the Machine,Foals,Gemma Hayes,Get Cape Wear Cape,Grinderman,Hadouken!,Ham Sandwich,Hayseed Dixie,Hercules & Love Affair,Iarla O'Lionaird's Invisible Fields,Ibrahim Electric,Jah Wobble's Chinese Dub,Johnny Flynn,Leila,Mahmoud Fadl's United Nubians,Mark Geary,Micah P Hinson,Michael Franti & Spearhead,My Bloody Valentine,Pivot,School Of Language,Sex Pistols,Sinead O Connor,Stephen Malkmus,The Congos,The Dodos,The Gossip,The Roots,The Urges,These New Puritans,Turin Brakes,Wolfgang Haffner,Yacht

Any update on who is playing where and at what time IE a time table

I have so few bands i need to see they can clash surely they cant

[Lev Yashin]

Sold my ticket today...and i know im gonna regret it....

[jebus]

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?iq1hmflpts4

Download the timetable here (pdf format)

I only have Booka Shade and Digitalism clashing on Friday, and while that's bad, it's not as bad as was expected so I'm happy. Krafty Kuts and Japanese Popstars on Sunday night too

[anto1208]

Looks ok think ill have to do Christy Moore , Digitalism and the Sigur ross and back to the tents.

[anto1208]

Crystal castles and underworld are clashing. and the 2 acts i really wanted to see all weekend and prob the only reason i went the sex pistols and conor orburst are on at the same time !!!! FFS

[jebus]

What was everyone's thoughts on the weekend? I think the festival rebounded nicely from last year to be fair, the Body and Soul area in particular was back to it's magnificent standards. The increased art work dotted around was nice too. Band wise I caught the Presets, Booka Shade, Underworld, Grace Jones, Cut Copy, Laura Marling and Michael Franti in the Body and Soul (had heard Sinead O'Connor was on at that time so I have to say that the disappointment of her not being there might have influenced my opinion that Franti was rubbish), along with other random DJs. Toss up between Booka Shade and Underworld for act of the festival, but I'll go for Underworld for the sheer brilliance of finishing on a great performance of Born Slippy

[anto1208]

I dont know what to make of it i think it has gone down hill it used to be a fun little festival where people could be there weird selves but i felt there was a different element at it this year. I got there early got agood spot had a good night friday saw christy moore digitalisim and sigur ros floated around the place happy out, got back to the tents to find a few of them and a few around us had been robbed thats annoying but you dont take anything you cant afford to loose but the tents where slashed open at the back with a blade so they where ruined for the weekend.

Sat was a empty day for me so we just made our own fun and on sunday i went to a few comedians saw css bloody valentine 20 mins of sex pistols and conor orburst then hid out of the horrible rain , managed to get the car out ok so that was a plus.

Thought the food was more expensivethis year, the toilets in our camp where top notch guess the dance camp site doesnt get as many drunkards messing them up. and there was the obligitory fight with some dublin ******* that was going around smashing peoples stuff up and pushing them off chairs.

[jebus]

Jaysus that sounds rough Anto. I was up in the Andy Warhol site myself and noticed a higher number of arseholes than in previous years alright, but none of that. People were jumping the gate more freely this year though (people hopping in constantly near where we were camped) so that might have added to the number of scummers

[Billsthoughts]

first time at it and thought it was ok-ish. The music tents were too close together so if you couldnt get into one but fancied listening outside it was a bit of a pain. apart form that it was set up alrite. altho the line up was nothing to get excited about to be honest. crowd was even worse than expected early on with every smug unwashed culchie knocking around being "alternative", but it got better as the day progressed as normal people filtered in from the campsites. vip section was a bit lacking in any vip's but at least there were no ques for drink and jacks until later on.....

[endabob1]

Thought the music was mainly top notch, Elbow were excellent as were Sigur Ros & Grinderman, the sound in Crawdaddy was poor which effected the otherwise excellent Josh Ritter & Tindersticks & especially the 20 minutes of TPE I caught but at least they sorted the main stage this year. I caught Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly in the Cosby tent who I was impressed with, and in general I thought the variety of music & spoken word stuff was excellent.
The down sides
Toilets - FFS sort it out!! We were in the quiet camping and there were no toilets, the nearest one at the top of Warhol(?) were basically an open sewer and were filthy and disgusting, I seen a girl physically wretching with the stench on Sunday morning
Bars - 10pm closing time, what century are we in, if it's supposed to be a great openminded festival but we have 18th century opening times.
Food/drink Prices - €240 for a weekend ticket but on top of that it's a cushy €25-€30 to eat per day and at €5.50 a beer you can add a minimum of the same again to have a few beers during the day, end result is blowing on average €60 a day on food & drink. When I added it up it was in the region of €500 for the weekend!!!

[Magicme]

first time at it and thought it was ok-ish. The music tents were too close together so if you couldnt get into one but fancied listening outside it was a bit of a pain. apart form that it was set up alrite. altho the line up was nothing to get excited about to be honest. crowd was even worse than expected early on with every smug unwashed culchie knocking around being "alternative", but it got better as the day progressed as normal people filtered in from the campsites. vip section was a bit lacking in any vip's but at least there were no ques for drink and jacks until later on.....

Thats the bit that annoyed me last year the "oh look how weird and wacky I am" competition that seemed to be going on. Get over yourself people!

[anto1208]

It has definetly lost its small festival feel i remember when you would get a good healthy feed for 6-8 euro ( still expensive but ok for a festival). 10.50 for a small plate of pasta is a bit much. 10.50 for a burger and chip is a joke !!

they seemed to reduce the amount of toilets this year to help keep them "tidier" i presume, it worked in our camp site but the others where poor, and inside the gig site standing in an inch of **** to take a **** !! forget it.

and my pet hate WOMEN IN THE MENS !!!! we only had 5 cubicles in ours and they where spot less untill the women found them on the 2nd day within 2 hours of women being 5 or 6 people deep they where wrecked full of toilet paper ( how much toilet paper do ye bloody need ) blocked & over flowing. horrible tampons in the urinal bit. they had to be cleaned out and in fairness to the organisers they kept on top of it from then on.

Some of the women even had the cheek to shout at me when i walked past the line of women queing up for them, i walked to the top and straight in im not going to wait behind someone that shouldnt be there. two middle fingers shown before i entered the porta loo didnt help the situation.


I didnt buy 1 single beer all weekend i had my cans filled a 2 litre up with cans every time i went into the gig site and drank that but 10 pm bar closings !!! WTF ok on sunday as they want to wind down but friday night ???


Lots of weirdos but do you know whats worse than the weirdos dressing up its the guys that are too cool for school, that just scowl at them saying things like get over yourself !!! . So what if some one wants to get dressed up they are enjoying themselves ye miserable shower its not the 90's you can let the generation x attitude go now & realise you are just an old fogey.

[jebus]

Lots of weirdos but do you know whats worse than the weirdos dressing up its the guys that are too cool for school, that just scowl at them saying things like get over yourself !!! . So what if some one wants to get dressed up they are enjoying themselves ye miserable shower its not the 90's you can let the generation x attitude go now & realise you are just an old fogey.

This is correct

[Magicme]

Aw get over it Anto! Am not a fogey (although am feeling old) and the scowling too cool for school types wreck my head too (I know you are calling me one but I dont agree) I just cant abide anyone thinkin that they deserve special attention coz they wear a wacky hat/t-shirt/a mansized nappy/whatever. Anyone who "tries too hard" in other words.

Thats all.

[Billsthoughts]

Lots of weirdos but do you know whats worse than the weirdos dressing up its the guys that are too cool for school, that just scowl at them saying things like get over yourself !!! . So what if some one wants to get dressed up they are enjoying themselves ye miserable shower its not the 90's you can let the generation x attitude go now & realise you are just an old fogey.

This is correct

HAHA...these people are the biggest conformists of anyone...come on...how many pork pie hats can ya fit in the one field!!!! It reminded me of what george harrison said about golden gate park in 60s. "just a bunch of middle class kids in need of a wash"

Aw get over it Anto! Am not a fogey (although am feeling old) and the scowling too cool for school types wreck my head too (I know you are calling me one but I dont agree) I just cant abide anyone thinkin that they deserve special attention coz they wear a wacky hat/t-shirt/a mansized nappy/whatever. Anyone who "tries too hard" in other words.

I did see a guy in a t shirt which said www.yourAULwan.com tho which made me smile.

[jebus]

HAHA...these people are the biggest conformists of anyone...come on...how many pork pie hats can ya fit in the one field!!!! It reminded me of what george harrison said about golden gate park in 60s. "just a bunch of middle class kids in need of a wash"

Pork pie hats are hardly people dressing up though, that's just the standard fair for Dubs into indie music. And they are all middle class kids, but sure who gives a **** what they were at the end of the day

[kingdom hoop]

Goodness. Bill, I hope you're the one doing my drug tests in future - no chance of you saying anything was positive. ffs giving out about what people wear at a festival! You'll be chastising people who wear decent clothing to mass next, or something else pointlessly and sneeringly combative.

Food/drink Prices - €240 for a weekend ticket but on top of that it's a cushy €25-€30 to eat per day and at €5.50 a beer you can add a minimum of the same again to have a few beers during the day, end result is blowing on average €60 a day on food & drink. When I added it up it was in the region of €500 for the weekend!!!

What ever happened to the notion of a packed lunch, or is that idea a bit of a risk, uncertain where it lies in the test of 'alternative = trying too hard' and 'normal = you're over yourself'? And afterall, it was meant to be a picnic wasn't it? Seriously though, I brought a good bit of food with me, meaning I only bought one meal a day. I also brought loads of booze with me so only bought maybe 3 drinks the whole weekend. Seemed more sensible way of doing things rather than complaining about prices afterwards.

--------

Anyways, must say I'd a great time. Weather was great, campsite toilets were fine (I was in same as you Anto), nice relaxed atmosphere, kids = fun, diversity in things to do (went to a few talks on the environment, listened to Rónán Ó Snodaigh of Kila recite poetry, watched people inscribe things in stone, Body and Soul), talked to loads of sound people, got generally fcuked up, tricked some Dublin fella called Bill into thinking I'm normal when I'm actually an alternative, unwashed culchie, and so on.

Oh and there was some music too! Definite highlight for me were Booka Shade; Mandarine Girl mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. After that George Clinton and Tinariwen were next best, both outstanding. Disappointments were getting over-excited and missing some acts I wanted to see like MBV, Foals and Lindstrom&Prins Thomas. But biggest disappointment was Jebus standing me up on Sunday evening. Where were you? (though maybe I should accept some responsibility for being too paranoid to bring my phone into the main area, but still, I danced around the Body and Soul stage for an hour after I rung you in the vain attempt I'd attract your attention... someone took pity on me anyway so not to worry.)

[jebus]

But biggest disappointment was Jebus standing me up on Sunday evening. Where were you? (though maybe I should accept some responsibility for being too paranoid to bring my phone into the main area, but still, I danced around the Body and Soul stage for an hour after I rung you in the vain attempt I'd attract your attention... someone took pity on me anyway so not to worry.)

I waited and waited in the spot I said I was in (some pub in Body and Soul ) chatting to two random girls for nearly an hour before heading off to catch the end of Foals. Granted I now realise that the girls who I thought liked me were probably only happy to have some male companionship whilst some psycho did his version of the happy hippy dance past the tent every so often

After Friday night I don't think I said much to anyone for the rest of the weekend anyway so probably wouldn't have been the best company, didn't get a wink of sleep on the night and managed to stay going til after Underworld on Saturday before my legs eventually buckled and I was dragged back to the campsite. Good times had by all, bar my overall mental and physical well being of course

[Billsthoughts]

Goodness. Bill, I hope you're the one doing my drug tests in future - no chance of you saying anything was positive. ffs giving out about what people wear at a festival! You'll be chastising people who wear decent clothing to mass next, or something else pointlessly and sneeringly combative.

Must have hit a nerve with some people....
I cant remember commenting on what people were wearing. I did slag off the attitude of some of the people at it.and rightly so.