Electric Picnic 2022 - Here we go again! - **No Ticket Sales / Requests **

Fatfrog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573342#Comment_119573342

That’s rather unfortunate, being in my 40’s I’m already suffering with a touch of imposter syndrome in terms of youth vs old! So to have that unwanted attention must have been terrible for your friend, never mind the threat of physical violence.

EP hasn’t just changed its age demographic, but also a cultural shift! Now it seems the mad bastard that starts a fight for a chip in your local town is now there, wired and ready to go! Debatable how much blame we can put towards kneecap!

Fatfrog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119575512#Comment_119575512

I was wondering, I could see the black smoke while waiting to exit the green car park! Was really hoping it wasn’t tent burning! Unfortunate timing for the fire service.

On a side note, several crashes (minor rear ending) on the M7 today, absolutely sick for them!

When I’m driving Monday, I make sure to cut the pints mid Sunday and will always remove wrist bands in the car park, as well as getting everything into the car boot, so it’s not blatantly obvious I’ve just come from a festival!

Beechwoodspark

it has changed sooo much from the first 5 or so years.

it used to be a real mix of sound people, from 18-60+ genuinely!). Lovely chilled relaxed atmosphere. Yes a bit hippy dippy but it was just relaxing and a wonderful natural setting to be with nice people. Great eclectic booking policy

over the years and particularly since Melvin benn and his crew took over, i don’t like saying but it has turned into a commercialised, greedy, overcrowded festival.

The line up this year was dreadful compared to some of the past picnics.

rough aggro vibe in the campsite I was In. I felt on edge the whole time. Reports of tents being robbed etc etc we all know the score.

Dodgy characters hanging around.

the better half said this is her last year. herself and her friends didn’t feel safe a number of times during the weekend - from ppl making lewd unwanted comments to ppl almost trampling them

i got talking to a veteran attendee and he was shaking his head saying it’s basically oxygen in Laois now

rude unmannerly young fellas pushing and shoving etc etc

add to that the crazy prices for food and drink there. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

now to say I did see a lot of great acts over the wkend who I’d probably never see otherwise. Yes. But a lot of dross too.

I also had some great however very overpriced food and I met some lovely ppl over the wkend

Ahhhh - still though - personally - maaaan I’m on the fence.

I might go back but the feckin line up has to improve for me. no interest in the Coronas picture this or the 2 johnnies

not worth the hassle.

cena

Anyone know what price tickets well be on Saturday

fafy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119576225#Comment_119576225

I should have gotten the 3 or more code in 2019, but i got the 1 to 2, they were €190 i think + fees, i think the 3 or more were €170, so i’d expect about €40 to be added to both of those loyalty scheme prices, seeing as those prices, were from 3 years ago.

riddles

The queues for booze were pretty bad and trying to navigate back with four beers was challenging.

6€ a can in the Salty dog was pretty steep. The Orchard Thieves stuff isn’t a great

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119568993#Comment_119568993

washing up liquid...

Ferris_Bueller

Having missed this year I'm really torn as to whether to get tickets for next year or not.

Something that really struck me this weekend was how big of an event electric picnic has become. Every radio station was talking about it, it was on the front pages of the papers, being discussed on the news etc. It has become the social event of the year in Ireland and there is no getting away from that. At one point it maybe could have gone down the route to becoming the Irish equivalent of Glastonbury but it seems it has chosen another path.

The main question now is do the pros outway the cons? My most recent experience in 2019 and the reviews here from this weekend would suggest yes, although many have alluded to the problems the festival has. It's probably on a downward slope, but how quickly will it topple? There could be many more years of enjoyment there or it could happen very quickly (different thing altogether but Longitude transformed from a good day festival to essentially an underage festival in about two years).

I left on a real high in 2019, if that was my last time there I could have no complaints and it would always have that special place in my mind. Would love to go back again but I'd hate for those memories to be tarnished.

P.S - assuming it will be taking place on the weekend of 1st - 3rd September next year?

fafy

As i learned in here, from someone else:

it always ends, on the Sunday before, the first Monday, in September, so ya those dates look correct, so always after, the schools are back.

scruff monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119575177#Comment_119575177

...

Stillill42

It's a tough one, @Ferris_Bueller. I want EP to be the Pixies when they sang 'Where is my mind' on Friday night, full of memories and life and joy. I sort of feel they were more Conor Oberst singing Poison Oak a couple of hours before that, the beauty is there I can still feel it but he's tripping over **** and getting stuff wrong and I come away feeling annoyed and a bit hard done by.

Shiitstir

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119575667#Comment_119575667

Yeah a lot of those teenagers are locals, including my two nephews I hasten to add. They both spent the entire weekend out there, walking in for free posing as the children of family ticket holders. It was their first year doing it but my older nieces and nephews did it as well when they were that age. I'd rather they weren't there but it's not my decision and I can't blame them for having the best weekend of their young lives.

As a quick aside, it's remarkable how many locals get it in for free. Whether it's the 5 foot 10 inch teenagers passing for under 12s or people being given an armband on a Sunday morning. Or people like myself who are handed a day ticket over a pint, by a friend of a friend, for free, simply because I said I was thinking of going.

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119572477#Comment_119572477

Touts were excellent!

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573172#Comment_119573172

Eh? No it wouldn't. In fact, that's the age limit for All Together Now.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119576886#Comment_119576886

IHREC disagrees with you.

https://www.ihrec.ie/your-rights/services/age/

It wouldn’t be the first time that a business broke equality laws.

Kepler21

As requested, this one is from Harvest on Friday. From left to right, Thundercats, Mucker46, DeskTidy, Seathrun66, Darzog with the beard, Stillill42, Rubick, Kepler21.

Kepler21

This one was after Mick Flannery and Susan O'Neill. HarrytheSpider, Mucker42, Coffee Impala, Kepler21, Stillill42 and BodhranDude.

nc6000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119576808#Comment_119576808

We walked in to Stradbally on Saturday morning for breakfast and to visit the shop, we walked back in along the road straight and in through the main entrance leading to the Red Car Park with no checks at all. There wasn't anyone at that entrance when we came back in.

wylo

Regarding comments about the line up. In defense of EP, I think questionable line ups are the new norm for a lot of major festivals. Even looking at Leeds/Reading they don’t look great. Glastonbury had major acts tbf but they can sell quadruple the amount of tickets and for twice the price.

I think it’s the nature of the industry now cause major acts are getting little to nothing in album or single sales so they are charging extortionate prices for gigs and it’s simply not worth most festivals to go after them.

I also think the divide between major acts and not so major is growing because the quality of music is deteriorating so even younger people are clinging onto aging acts.

scruff monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577028#Comment_119577028

Glastonbury has a very particular model and yes, they have scale and ticket pricing that's higher but they don't pay massive money for the acts. There's a very large exposure and bragging rights element to acts on the main stage there and they get them for far less than the going rate that other festivals fork out.

https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/music/do-bands-get-paid-to-play-glastonbury-how-much-stars-earn-music-festival-biggest-earners-3744593

jams100

EP Fresher myself this year. Had to say that I personally found the whole weekend brilliant bar one or two minor inconveniences.

The bad:

On the first day we entered, I left my sunglasses in the car so went back by myself to get them from the car but I was pulled up by undercover gardai on the way back in and stripped searched for drugs, (Of which I had none) 😂

The toilets (on the first day especially) were a war crime, no staff cleaning any of the toilets I went near. Must say it did improve from the Sat on.

What drugs was the lead singer from Bright eyes on? (I wouldnt be their biggest fans but by God he was off his head on something, one of the worst live performances ive ever heard).

The good:

Pixies were amazing, I really didn't expect them to be that good. Probably the highlight of the festival for me. Likewise with snow patrol. Even the people overall were grand, didn't encounter many arseholes at all.

Couple of acts I didn't really know but I thought were very impressive were Wolf Alice and Le Boom. Even the Coronas were quite good which I didnt expect given alot of the comments I read here.

Overall definitely something I'd go to again at some point in the future, the whole layout was very impressive as a newbie.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119576979#Comment_119576979

Thundercats on the left, not Poorside. Get it right, Kepler.

Reded

Clean sheets never felt so good!!! After 6 days in stradbally it’s back to the day job tomorrow! My thoughts to come when I’ve had a night’s sleep!

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577115#Comment_119577115

Beautiful to be in your own bed alright. As anticipated though, I now can't seem to sleep without the Rave in the Woods going on in the background.

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119576960#Comment_119576960

Take it up with ATN...'cause I really don't care.

Dany Hitch

What a weekend! Arrived late on Friday to find nowhere to pitch in Poet's Corner, Joplin or Chaplin. Three stewards later, found out that the overflow campsite opened at Hendrix had already been filled. Given the incoming weather, I stayed in the car which granted me perfect sleep over the weekend.

Loved The Pixies on Friday, great vibes. Caught Mall Grab in Terminus after that, exceptional, before rendez-vousing at Transmission: sound crowd.

Saturday's highlight's were Annie Mac and chatting to a bunch of Londoners, one of whom grew up, you guessed it 10 minutes down the road from me!

Standout performance was the amazing Wolf Alice who were everything I expected and more. Ecstatic that they exceeded expectations.

Sunday was very chilled and I spent it wandering around with the missus, sitting down in the sun in the afternoon nearish to the Main Stage, stuffing our faces with food, crepes, ice-cream and basically ambling about the woods, Trailer Park, Salty Dog for the rest of the day before heading home as we were wrecked.

On a critical note, there seemed to be a lack of staff in general this year which was added to by walkouts over the weekend. Friday was slightly chaotic with camping space in gen pop, overflowing bins, portaloos and non-briefed staff. Chronic under-use of arenas like Terminus is unforgivable: you have the facility, use it! Could you find ten local Irish DJ's to rotate over the weekend to play there? Make it a competition on Today FM?

I found it easier getting around the Main Arena so cudos for the redesign. Ditto regarding food prices but I have to say, the quality was there. Could do with increases in portaloos in the Main Arena (wavin point idea by another poster is brilliant and pragmatic), and more bins. Definitely felt like a younger crowd or is it me pushing on but anyone I chatted with, gave directions to or "named that tune" for at 03:20 at the RITW were sound and seemed to be enjoying themselves so no issues there. Great to see people twenty years younger going as apesh1t as me to Da Hool's "Meet Her at the Love Parade."

The lineup will determine if I'm back next year but for now, I think I need another lie down...

Mrs Shuttleworth

That's definitely true. I was at tons of gigs this summer but no festivals (BST Hyde Park I don't really count). All heritage acts and they're doing their own shows not playing festivals. I looked back at the EP posters for 2018 and 2019 this evening and gave myself a good smack for thinking at the time the lineups were bad when compared with this year.

Still Ill

Apparently Conor Oberst has been a mess for most of the current tour. Seemed grand in Vicar St on Thursday. Looks like I caught him on a good night.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577132#Comment_119577132

Unfortunately I’d have to be under 21 to take a case against them , and it’s quite some time since I got the key to the door.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577028#Comment_119577028

Well look, that discussion is a regular one on here and that argument doesn't really hold up. Plenty of European festivals have had vastly superior line ups this Summer, this is Primavera sound in Barcelona in June for example....

But even staying away from the heavy hitters, something like End of the Road on this weekend had a much more interesting lineup than we did. That's just my opinion of course. The Coronas and the 2 Johnnies had massive crowds though so hey, what do I know?