Post Electric Picnic Musings

So, this was my second time at the Electric Picnic following on from 2007.

It was an absolutely incredible three days. Michael Franti said it was the coolest festival in Europe. I’ve only the execrable Oxegen to compare it with, but its hard to imagine a better festival.

I cannot get over the amount of rubbish being talked about the music line up being weak this year, I felt spoilt for choice.

The Music

Sigur Ros

I got up front at the main stage for this moving and magnificent performance, sheer perfection. One of the best sets I’ve ever had the privilege to hear.

The Dodos

In a criminally half empty tent, the Dodos gave a thrillingly exciting, percussion driven monster of a set. So, so good.

Elbow

Faultless stuff. Newborn, Station Approach and On A Day Like this were pure magic. I was almost crying tears of joy for this one. Almost!


My Bloody Valentine

Couldn’t believe my luck to actually get into the Electric Arena for this, had presumed there would be an oversubscription as for the Beastie Boys last year.

They were amazing, the whole bloody set. Visuals were cool. And hearing Soon live is just something I never thought I’d get to do. Seriously special. Reminded me they are indeed one of the greatest rock’n’roll bands ever. Now Kevin, give us that third album already.

Franz Ferdinand

Was very pleased and surprised at how easy it was to get up front at the main stage for the Franz, Wilco, the Roots, Michael Franti. Also surprised that Franz Ferdinand’s set had me jumping up and down with joy. I had kind of forgotten about them in the last couple of years.

Cut Copy

An absolute blast - these guys went down a storm in a packed tent, a killer set, don’t know why they aren’t huge here already. A guy beside me said, ‘these guys are amazing, never heard of them before, they sound like New Order meets Depeche Mode.’ He was right.


The other Irish acts

The Irish in general did themselves proud

Lisa Hannigan

Based on her set on the Crawdaddy stage, its hard not to see why Lisa Hannigan isn’t destined for megastardom. She was fantastic in an uncomfortably crowded tent. Can’t wait to buy the new album.

Jape

It was great to see some of my friends realising how great this guy is. The sound was very muddy for this but great energy. I Was the Man was a festival highlight no doubt.


Cathy Davey

First, that black dress, struth, has to be the visual highlight of the week. I heard she’s a nervous performer but she must have gotten over that, really assured performance. ‘Moving’ and ‘Sing for your Supper’ were two more highlights.


Gemma Hayes – quality set from Gemma Hayes too, haven’t seen her live in about 6 years. And she is still pretty much the most ridiculously attractive looking women on the planet.


Goldfrapp and Joan as Policewoman

Goldfrapp totally owned the main stage, gutted I missed ‘Utopia’ as I couldn’t drag myself away from Joan as Policewoman.

The Roots, The Breeders Kila, Michael Franti and George Clinton were a lot of fun too.


The Low Lights

John Lydon/Rotten – wins the Arsehole of the festival award hands down. I had to endure his sneering, homophobic rants while queuing for pie minister. The Sex Pistols should never have been booked for EP, they are a panto act, an irrelevant money chasing, cultural corpse.

The Chill Out Stage was plagued with sound problems which meant I missed sets by Vyvienne Long and Martina Topley Bird. The gobsmackingly talented Laura Marling had her set ruined by broken strings and ill health.

The Dance stages were too far away from everything else!

So many good bands, couldn’t see them all - gutted I missed Santogold, Tindersticks, Foals, Dobet Gnahore, Modeselktor, A-trak, Juana Molina, Tinariwen, Underworld and many more.



The Vibe

The vibe was fantastic, besides one idiot barging into me in the Heineken bar, I didn’t meet one other rude person all weekend. All the staff were really friendly and efficient. The food was fantastic, even more choice than last year and while I didn’t make much time for the non-music side of things it was great to see how much was there for people who wanted an alternative to music.

Plus the weather was freakishly good!

Enjoyed the Ticket EP updates, so fair play to all involved.