Electric Picnic 2008 (4 Viewers)

[Lili Marlene]

who blared unbelievably shite music until 9am on fri and 7am on sun (they seemed mysteriously quieter on sat), refused to turn it down/off ("but it's electric picnic! we're having a party!"), slammed the door of their van in my face when i raised objections to "i'm horny" at 7:30 am, and then had the temerity to try and borrow our ketchup. fvckers. we spent much of the weekend inventing plans of revenge. i think my favourite involved somehow getting mark e. smith into their van to give out to them.

oh man, you'd love me

 

[broken arm]

Don't all of yiz come and wreck Mantua now with your novelty wellies and indie dancins just because we have fairly fresh smelling toilets and rancho relaxo vibes within a reasonably priced package.

i'll bait yiz.

 

[Wheels]

deadly buzz.

My highlights:

- Silver Apples
- MBV (couldn't believe they played cigarette in your bed!)
- Somadrone (perfect way to kickstart Sat, and pretty close to a C40 reunion)
- Juana Molina
- Faust (only caught the end but sounded amazing)
- The Congos (like a bunch of teenagers dressed as old men!)
- Micah P Johnson, never even heard him before. fan.
- The secret Orb gig!

the sunny weather on Sunday, Henry Rollins, Steak Out, nice people, lovely food, Body and Soul area, VIP pints,

My Lowlights:

- Missing everything (especially Tinariwen) on Friday due to leaving late and security giving bad directions/me giving bad directions
- Sigur Ros (soooo annoying)
- Security not having a fucking clue where anything was and being completely uninterested in helping other than saying where you were at the time
- The Burning Church being ruined by the rain
- The rain
- Missing Grace Jones
- silly glamour parlour girls
- Grinderman ( good, but not great)
- Steve Malkmus. He's just not Pavement.
- not throwing something at Louis Walsh when I had the chance

 

[nlgbbbblth]

They really need get the booze thing right.

People drinking wine / spirits have no trouble smuggling stuff in in plastic bottles.

Can drinkers a totally different story. I was searched every single time I went through the entrances.

Either search everyone or search nobody. We all paid the same amount for our tickets [you know what I mean] so some consistency would be nice.

 

[Unclealo]

Forgot to say: You're only Massive were super also..

 

[potlatch]

Ahh, that was the weekend that was.

Highlights:
- MBV, Tinariwen, Balanescu Quartet, Silver Apples.
- Waking up to playback on RTE 1 after a good night's sleep
- Awesome cider in the Walled Garden.
- No bother getting in me boxes of wine.

Lowlights:
- Wee and poo.
- Losing 9 hours to the shower of cunts I was volunteering for.

 

[Skrankio-X]

Far too many Dubs

 

[quaidox]

They really need get the booze thing right.

People drinking wine / spirits have no trouble smuggling stuff in in plastic bottles.

Can drinkers a totally different story. I was searched every single time I went through the entrances.

Either search everyone or search nobody. We all paid the same amount for our tickets [you know what I mean] so some consistency would be nice.

yep, so annoying when your mates walk in ahead of you with a bag o cans and don't get searched, then you get nabbed and have to bring the cans back to your tent and then sneak them in down your trousers....plus last year they let you bring in cans after the bars closed. this year, no cans at all after the bars closed. One of the bars was closed at 9.45pm on the sunday night, fooking ridiculous.

 

[photon]

This was the first time that I've been to EP, so I'm not in a position to compare it to previous years. But I did really enjoy it. I thought the atmosphere was generally really good and I think the site itself is wonderful (although the wasps were out in force).

But yeah, there were some severe annoyances, and two in particular stick out in my mind:

The lack of booze to buy after 10 and the resulting hassle of smuggling cans in was really ridiculous. The only reason that I can think of for this is that the bars on site operate under off-license laws and not pub laws. If they could get something with a pub license in there in the future, and therefore be able to serve until 12:30, it would definitely be an improvement.

But my biggest downer of the festival was the public pissing/shitting. Now, I'm not going to defend the lack of toilets and the generally horrible state they tended to be in. But fucking hell, people, show a bit of self-control! Yes, it's a long queue, and yes, it's smelly. But deal with it; don't use it as an excuse to say, "fuck this, I'm off to the forest." And it's not even just that -- at one point, I was in a urinal that was neither crowded or smelly, and there was the cunt pissing against the wall in the urinal. I mean, come on. I admit to this being a big pet peeve of mine, but to me the near-total lack of respect of some punters to the cleanliness of the site was disgusting.

Right, enough of that. Now to the music, which I thought was of a generally high level throughout the weekend...

Best of the bunch
Dan Deacon. Fun as fuck. The world would be a better place if all techno gigs had more mosh pits, crowd-surfing and audience-baiting. Awesomely great.

Nearly as good
Grace Jones. Although there were a few tracks I was hoping she'd do but didn't -- Warm Leatherette, for example -- she was still brilliant. Amazing stage presence.

My Bloody Valentine. I went in somewhat dubious about the whole proposition, with my general antipathy toward bands reforming. But they were great, all right.

Very enjoyable
The Congos. Started late, but perfect music for the sunny Sunday.

Faust. It was obviously a festival set -- more song-based and less experimental than I suspect they'd do on their own -- but still really good. And Steve Stapleton plays a mean lead paintbrush.

Farmer's Market. Roma prog-metal; can't think of anything wrong with that...

That Petrol Emotion. Great fun. They can still turn out some of the catchiest riffs around.

George Clinton. Maybe not as good as the previous times I'd seen him, but perfectly good for a Saturday night act.

Rollers/Sparkers. I love that natural amphitheatre in the Body & Soul area, and I thought their ambient set really suited it.

Underworld. Only stuck around through "Rez" 'cause I wanted to see some of Santogold (see below), but what I saw was pretty good.

Bad, but morbidly amusing
The Sex Pistols. Let's face it, they're a comedy act now, and full well know it. But it wasn't the worse thing I saw...

Rubbish
Santogold. The general description of her seems to be, "like MIA, but not as shite." Well, after seeing her, I agree with exactly half of that.

Only saw bits of
The Kills. All right, but left after I realised I'd seen them before and had better things to do with my time.

Antibalas. Only saw their last couple of songs, but I liked what I heard.

The Breeders. Again only saw the very end of their set, and wasn't moved either to elation or revulsion. Meh.

Tinariwen. Seen them three times already (including very recently in Meeting House Square), so made no real effort to see them again. But I wandered by the Main Stage when they were on and caught a few songs.

Grinderman. Didn't make a huge effort to make it to this because I'm not particularly a fan of Nick Cave, at least not the Bad Seeds stuff, so only saw the last song-and-a-half. But they were good enough to make me think that maybe I might like this particular project of his...

Sigur Ros. Met some mates at the flags at the Main Stage when they were on, so heard some of their set. Barf.

 

[minka]

yep, so annoying when your mates walk in ahead of you with a bag o cans and don't get searched, then you get nabbed and have to bring the cans back to your tent and then sneak them in down your trousers....plus last year they let you bring in cans after the bars closed. this year, no cans at all after the bars closed. One of the bars was closed at 9.45pm on the sunday night, fooking ridiculous.

yeah, the can situation with the bar closing times was totally ridiculous. and the fact that almost all the bars had a shit selection of beer at ridiculous prices. if you are having heineken sponsorship to the extent that the bars only sell their brands and are covered with advertising, surely they should sell the beer cheap, or something.

also, shhh, my patented can-ferrying technique: place cans in pockets of raincoat. zip pockets shut. you can get a couple of cans per pocket. tie raincoat around waist, as if you had just taken it off. try to ignore cans clanking around knees. go forth to security, proffering your unzipped backpack. they examine backpack and usher you through. worked every time for me.

 

[potlatch]

Another lowlight:
- The smell at the entrance by the cinema tent - piss, shit and beer in cans going through a second fermentation - YARG.

 

[minka]

also am totally with photon on the constant public weeing. seriously. from what i heard from blokes, the urinals were pretty serviceable all weekend and you didn't need to queue, so why not make the tiny effort to GO TO THE FVCKING TOILET.

at glastonbury they actually have big signs around the place telling people that urinating in the ditches is ecologically pretty nasty, i wonder should they do the same at ep.

photon has also reminded me that antibalas were v. enjoyable, ditto the latter part of grinderman (missed the beginning due to need for food. damn you, biology.)

 

[krossie]

Great festival overall! Highlight for me was going straight from Grace Jones to Santa Gold - like being on the crest of a wave or some thing!

kpx

 

[Squiggle]

Great festival overall! Highlight for me was going straight from Grace Jones to Santa Gold - like being on the crest of a wave or some thing!

kpx

Did you get your phone back after?

 

[Bold Lump]

The wee is pretty disgusting, but when the toilets are set up with four walls of fencing, and only one (far one) has any urinal in it, it's depressingly inevitable how many dopes will just piss on the fence rather than walk twenty yards.

Once again the organisers have failed to take into account just how many people act like fucking apes as soon as they've a few beers.

Highlights:
MBV
Silver Apples
Digital Mystikz
Benga
Arcadia at night
Never searched for cans (caught every single time last year)

Lowlights
belt buckle bursting cans down the front of my pants (also a highlight of sorts the first time around)
human shit along by the fence in the Hendrix field
bodytonic left languishing in no mans land (did that field even have a bar or a toilet?)


Bar closing at 10pm is the disheartening and disappointing norm for Irish festivals, has been for years. There were other little bars dotted around serving later but they were generally rammed.

Had a great time but had I paid in rather than sneaking in for nothing, I'd of felt I wasted my money.

 

[krossie]

Nah phone down, zippo down and me camera screen is fooked - no matter!!

Photon: Now, I'm not going to defend the lack of toilets and the generally horrible state they tended to be in.

Yea the lack of toilets was ridiculous - they put so much money into so many aspects of it - fantastic art work/late night shows etc etc - but why is it so difficult to provide sufficient drop downs and porta-loos. this happens every single year - come on POD get it together.

Obviously some one who pisses against a wall right next to a perfectly serviceable urinal with lots of room - has abandoned the entire human ethical system - thats not just mere ordinary laziness.

Disagree with Photon on only one thing and thats Santa Gold who was savage - what a fantastic voice- for an old cynic like me self great to here some ting new that I actually like.

Mode selector played a great set too and the start of the orb was fine before it peed down!

I actually thought the weird Scottish security weren't at all bad - firm but fair.
There was a fantastic sight at our campsite entrance Sunday morning with some mongers who the guards were just "holding" back - was so funny - sometimes one would escape and be grabbed back...

kpx

 

[minka]

The wee is pretty disgusting, but when the toilets are set up with four walls of fencing, and only one (far one) has any urinal in it, it's depressingly inevitable how many dopes will just piss on the fence rather than walk twenty yards.

Once again the organisers have failed to take into account just how many people act like fucking apes as soon as they've a few beers.

Highlights:
MBV
Silver Apples
Digital Mystikz
Benga
Arcadia at night
Never searched for cans (caught every single time last year)

Lowlights
belt buckle bursting cans down the front of my pants (also a highlight of sorts the first time around)
human shit along by the fence in the Hendrix field
bodytonic left languishing in no mans land (did that field even have a bar or a toilet?)


Bar closing at 10pm is the disheartening and disappointing norm for Irish festivals, has been for years. There were other little bars dotted around serving later but they were generally rammed.

Had a great time but had I paid in rather than sneaking in for nothing, I'd of felt I wasted my money.

so, hang on, you saw loads of bands you liked, had great fun, but felt that it wasn't worth paying for because the bars closed early? i mean, i was pissed off by the bar closing time myself, but it was hardly of "i am never darkening the door of this terrible festival again, i have been robbed" proportions.

there were indeed toilets in the bodytonic field, but no bar. though it was right next to where i was camping, ergo handier for getting cans, if you were me.

 

[krossie]

voidoid - Digital Mystikz

Each to their own of course but Jaysus I thought they were well beyond the normal, ordinary boredom of dub step into a sort of leaden over produced hyper slow and depressing boredom all of their own!
They did seem to get a bit better as they speeded up but i was heading at that stage any ways....

Oh well its all subjective I guess - sorry i missed Benga though

kpx

 

[Bold Lump]

so, hang on, you saw loads of bands you liked, had great fun, but felt that it wasn't worth paying for because the bars closed early? i mean, i was pissed off by the bar closing time myself, but it was hardly of "i am never darkening the door of this terrible festival again, i have been robbed" proportions.

there were indeed toilets in the bodytonic field, but no bar. though it was right next to where i was camping, ergo handier for getting cans, if you were me.

No the bar closing early can be taken for granted, it's inevitable, hence saving my cans for after hours. Has zero to do with what i feel my weekend would have been worth.

If you add Hercules & Love Affair, Carbon / Silicon, and Santogold to that list of highlights that's pretty much every act i saw. Enjoyed the hell out of my weekend but those acts aren't worth 240 of my euro. Pretty much any festival in this country you're paying a bit more, and usually putting up with more too. Don't let my thoughts and experience ruin your own festival though.

 

[broken arm]

Enjoyed the hell out of my weekend but those acts aren't worth 240 of my euro.

Think of it more like a tax rather than a like-for-like spend. Your 240 quid is actually spread out to produce a range of positive/negative experiences for a broad spectrum of people with different tastes in music, clothes, food and sex.

There will always be net beneficiaries, free-riders etc.

What would be interesting would be to do an EP user segmentation model and extrapolate out the relative cost to positive experience ratio to see which sub-set of the EP crowd gained the most from your tax.

was it the novelty wellies and shorts girls from D4?
was it the wacky novelty shades and stripy clothes types?
was it the fairly non-descript but 100% Irish lad-type?
was it the maaadmen wearing the “vote for pedro” t-shirts?
etc.