AllTogetherNow Festival 2018

A massive success I think.
Could find very little fault - line up was a wee bit ..... iffy ? ... but found some great music by wandering around.

Top band - New Power Generation. Amazing performance.
Mura Musa were excellent + Fleet Foxes.
Bootleg Beatles + Cork Ukelele were excellent.

'Worst' - London Gospel choir singing Graceland - Didn't even know the lyrics for "Boy in the Bubble" (first song!!) and sounded like they were pulled out of the crowd to sing along with a great band playing the songs... Really disappointing !

Brilliant weekend down at All Together Now, very impressed for the first year of a festival and over the weekend myself or any of our group didn't have any faults with the festival or it's organisation.

Left Kildare around 1.30pm on Friday and had the tent set up in the campsite by about 3.30pm, no traffic on the way in and no queues for the wristbands, this might seem like a minor thing to get right but at Body & Soul any year I've gone I have queued for at least 45 mins and EP can have bad queues too so it was nice to fly straight in. Staff were very helpful and friendly too as were the volunteers in the carpark. Campsite was only half full at this point but it was pretty packed by Saturday morning. General camping was only a short walk into the main arena and there was no delay due to the free flow policy, you could easily go back and forth to the campsite multiple times a day if you wanted to as it was not a long walk.

Found the crowd that were at it a lovely bunch and definitely the nicest crowd I have experienced at a festival, older crowd much noticeable due to being 21s+ and as a result it seemed pretty chilled out at all times, lots of kids at the festival which I personally didn't have a problem with, didn't notice as many around at night time as maybe others did. Didn't see any trouble or even any scumbags floating around which was a first!

Festival site was beautiful, even the drive in and from the campsite you had a nice view of the surrounding hills and countryside. Loved the greencrafts area even though I didn't spend much time around there, went there after the music finished for about an hour on Sunday night where a big group had gathered for a bit of a session around one of the swings. The garden area in front of the house was great too in the sun, didn't spend too much time down there at night apart from Sing Along Social. The walk from the house up towards Arcadia at night was special looking too. Loved some of the old TVs dotted around in the woods!

It was an amazing weekend and a festival I will definitely be back to but I didn't wake up on the Monday morning with the special feeling I have felt after many Electric Picnics or Body & Souls. Not sure why that was but I would agree that maybe the lineup let it down slightly, on paper it was good but the only gig I was really blown away by was Underworld, I found a lot of the acts and DJs I saw a bit underwhelming and not too much depth in the lineup. The stages in general were a bit plain jane compared to say some whacky areas such as Trenchtown, Salty Dog, Trailer Park, B&S at EP. Also was not a huge fan of Arcadia, it was amazing looking and a good spot to go late at night but it reminded me a bit of the rave in the woods at EP in that there were tons of people there but it felt like most were there for the sake of it and spent the night chatting/standing rather than dancing.

Overall smashing weekend, would give it a solid 8.5/10 and will definitely be going again in future. Has it replaced EP for me yet? No. Does it have the potential to? Absolutely. It is a festival I would like to see grow a bit more and maybe add another small stage or two.

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Brilliant weekend down at All Together Now, very impressed for the first year of a festival and over the weekend myself or any of our group didn't have any faults with the festival or it's organisation.

Left Kildare around 1.30pm on Friday and had the tent set up in the campsite by about 3.30pm, no traffic on the way in and no queues for the wristbands, this might seem like a minor thing to get right but at Body & Soul any year I've gone I have queued for at least 45 mins and EP can have bad queues too so it was nice to fly straight in. Staff were very helpful and friendly too as were the volunteers in the carpark. Campsite was only half full at this point but it was pretty packed by Saturday morning. General camping was only a short walk into the main arena and there was no delay due to the free flow policy, you could easily go back and forth to the campsite multiple times a day if you wanted to as it was not a long walk.

Found the crowd that were at it a lovely bunch and definitely the nicest crowd I have experienced at a festival, older crowd much noticeable due to being 21s+ and as a result it seemed pretty chilled out at all times, lots of kids at the festival which I personally didn't have a problem with, didn't notice as many around at night time as maybe others did. Didn't see any trouble or even any scumbags floating around which was a first!

Festival site was beautiful, even the drive in and from the campsite you had a nice view of the surrounding hills and countryside. Loved the greencrafts area even though I didn't spend much time around there, went there after the music finished for about an hour on Sunday night where a big group had gathered for a bit of a session around one of the swings. The garden area in front of the house was great too in the sun, didn't spend too much time down there at night apart from Sing Along Social. The walk from the house up towards Arcadia at night was special looking too. Loved some of the old TVs dotted around in the woods!

It was an amazing weekend and a festival I will definitely be back to but I didn't wake up on the Monday morning with the special feeling I have felt after many Electric Picnics or Body & Souls. Not sure why that was but I would agree that maybe the lineup let it down slightly, on paper it was good but the only gig I was really blown away by was Underworld, I found a lot of the acts and DJs I saw a bit underwhelming and not too much depth in the lineup. The stages in general were a bit plain jane compared to say some whacky areas such as Trenchtown, Salty Dog, Trailer Park, B&S at EP. Also was not a huge fan of Arcadia, it was amazing looking and a good spot to go late at night but it reminded me a bit of the rave in the woods at EP in that there were tons of people there but it felt like most were there for the sake of it and spent the night chatting/standing rather than dancing.

Overall smashing weekend, would give it a solid 8.5/10 and will definitely be going again in future. Has it replaced EP for me yet? No. Does it have the potential to? Absolutely. It is a festival I would like to see grow a bit more and maybe add another small stage or two.

It takes a few years for festivals to grow like that and it will, like other than AVA(whos setup wasnt up to much) there were no smaller promoters given an area to design and currate for themselves like those EP areas, its hard to get them on board when they already have a working relationship with other festivals. But they will no doubt find them and win some of them over.

Great festival. Echo a lot of the positives that people have mentioned previously.
My only complaint of sorts, which has also been mentioned plenty, was that the line up or atmosphere for the gigs could be improved a lot. Most gigs just lacked that connection between band and crowd.

Nils Framh and Jimmy Cliff late on Sunday night were the two exceptions and completely blew the roof of the tent and I was delighted to finally end the weekend with some great gigs.

If Jimmy Cliff had been on main stage at 3pm I'm sure that would of felt a bit flat too. The atmosphere at main stage all weekend just seemed more people just sitting around chatting with the music being on in background.

That aside a fantastic festival and will certainly go back.

I don’t think anything will top the first 3 years of Body and Soul but this made a pretty good fist of it. This was also my first time bringing kids camping at a festival (have done some day trips in the past) so that was a new adventure and obviously my views are based on that perspective.


The good:

Access: Got the bus from Waterford – zero hassle. Shortest security queue I’ve ever experienced.

The setting: Loads said on this already.

The stages: The three main stages all were either a natural amphitheatre or the reverse (elevated stage). This meant everyone had a good view from everywhere and was smart planning.

Food options: in the main areas were great but in general camping were crap.

Kids area: had loads going on and our little ones were delighted and even had a coffee stall for the adults, although no toilets.

The installations: in the woods, the animal carvings etc. Our kids loved them and so did we.



The needs improvement:

Family camping: probably needs a restriction on the size of tents permitted as some were ridiculous. My missus arrived with the kids on Saturday and we were told the family camping was full and we’d have to go to the overflow camping on the other side of the lake and much nearer all the action. I said no chance were we dragging our kids and all our stuff around there and we’d squeeze in with our tiny tent. The family camping is also the closest to the arenas of the boutique and campervans. Surely it would make more sense to put them furthest away so less noise pollution from music and everyone walking back to their tents at 4am.

Food: Also been said but some food options on the family/boutique/campervan side of the lake would have been appreciated rather than having to schlep around the lake for a bacon blaa in the morning.

Steps: Only one set of steps had a ramp built around but the others all required asking someone to give a hand with the buggy. Not sure what people in wheelchairs or mobility scooters did.

The hills: holy jeebus the hills

The whole “eco” plastic thing: what was the point in the whole “no plastic container” thing when all the bars sold drinks exclusively in plastic glasses? There was plastic everywhere and it made a mockery of it. Either make it a rule or don’t but don’t half-arse it.

There’s been a bit of debate here on the kids-at-a-festival thing. I’ve done many years of festivals without kids and have to say I don’t understand people who said kids are annoying. I mean what are they doing to annoy you? I’m pretty sure they have zero interest in you. If just the idea of children being nearby freaks you out then you may have some issues. Now that I’ve done with kids I’ll definitely do it again. Our curfew was 9:30-10pm. They were getting tired and things were getting a little messy then so we took a night each to back early with them and it worked out perfectly. I did see people draggin trailers with sleeping kids in them out of the family camping as we were arriving back 10ish and I did think that was pushing it but each to their own. If your kid is an antichrist the next day you only have yourself to blame.

I really hope they don’t immediately expand the size of this festival as I think they’re on to something good here. There’s no doubt Body and Soul lost its magic about 3/4 years ago with the continuous expansion

Yeah there seemed to be a good bit of confusion over the bins, none of the 3 labels mentioned the bar glasses.

MJohnston wrote: »

[*]The Ambition. Feck me, you could smell them chasing down EP in the air from minute one. Very, very obvious that they were testing the waters of the scale of the place this year for next, as there was a tonne more space than there were crowds. Have it on very good authority that it'll be 30k capacity next year, and it was very clear that this was always a plan. I think it can probably survive the expansion but it all feels a little bit too calculated and clinical to me. There's a genuineness to Body and Soul that you can sense, like the organisers really put their heart and (pun) into it, and I didn't feel that at all here. Don't get me wrong, I think the people decorating the site and the various stages were really working their hardest and their best, but just not the people up above them, you know? It's not that I think the festival will go the way of EP quickly, I would just feel more confident about it with different people at the helm. I do think EP is going to be massively challenged by this festival, anyone saying that they're competing with Body and Soul or whoever is way off - they're gunning for their old festival big time, and with the way EP has gone, I wouldn't be surprised if they succeed.
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Does anyone know if POD are still stakeholders in EP?? If so would that make a difference to their expansion plans? as for being genuine or not - it's a business after all - having been to this festival and madcool in madrid two weeks ago - I would say one is 100% more genuine than the other... but then compare ATN to small festivals where bands play for free and not a penny is made...are they even more genuine??? I think POD take a lot of pride in delivering quality, as they did when EP first arrived on the scene, as they have done for decades.. when I first saw that house lit up, that sold it for me personally, I think a lot of heart went into it... maybe I just don't have time for all the little quirky things anyway so it wouldnt make a huge difference to my own experience..

Loved the whole thing - hope it doesn't change drastically. Nearly 40 festivals under my belt and this was right up there..everything was nicely balanced. Arcadia noise bleed was a bit annoying. No problem with the kids, maybe don't force them to hang out so late.

MJohnston wrote: »

Oh yeah, this was the one thing I forgot to mention in my review of it all. I was thinking about this a bit one of the days and I would have to imagine it would be a bit of a disaster in the current layout with the usual heavy August rains. That tree-lined avenue down the hill would have almost certainly turned into a mudslide as it was quite dusty and bare. And the paths around the house would have been very shallow mud rivers too I reckon.



Fingers crossed the sunny south-east holds true!

Also those toilets & showers at the bottom of the hill in main campsite would be a disaster... Front of the main stage too as it had that sort of amphitheatre effect sloping down to the front

Arrived down on Thursday from dreary wet and windy Galway with a lift from the Eye Cinema to the festival car park. It being dry in Portlaw but cloudy, got the tent up and done the health and safety briefing and then the site tour with all the other volunteers, this is where I got the chance to take some of these photos, which I hope got ye all into the mood for the fest.

I done the late shift on the Friday from 4 PM - 12 AM but having not slept the night before I missed Friday's entertainment as was just too shattered to party, I watched a bit of the Arcadia show which was good fun. Some posters were complaining about the distance from the general campervan field to the main arena, I agree with this as I was working there on Friday and Saturday doing eight hour shifts. Once you get down by the big house its mostly uphill all the way, so depending on your physique, it could be a ten - twenty minute walk. I would have been the latter and this proved problematic when we got our breaks, twenty minutes to reach an eating area, queuing to order and select and then the wait for the actual grub would practically use up all the allocated time for the break, so they will need to rethink that one.

Saturday I was like a zombie as I didn't sleep a wink on Friday, due to the volunteers who done the early shift on Friday partying like fcuk as they had the late shift on Saturday. Our job basically to direct arriving traffic to the parking attendants and answer queries. There was other teething problems for the campervan area too, such as the drinking tap placed at the showers at the boutique area and lack of bins up near the campervan loos. Generally there were complaints of no bog roll and hand sanitiser, I basically said complain to Handy Huts who handled the loos.

After the shift was chilling at the tent and one of my neighbours buddies showed up with some extremely good coke, so a perfect boost for the tired blues. Loaded with tins, green headed to main arena, Roisin Murphy put on a brilliant set, she has a super husky sexy voice and some serious backers up there and I liked some of her new electronic dancey stuff too. Caught the last fifteen minutes of Maribou State who were also extremely good. I just noticed that the Something Rather Wonderful tent is almost identical to the Cosby tent at EP apart from the colour.

Hung around that general area for most of Saturday night having seen Underworld three times now I opted for some different stuff. I went for Mos Def next who was absolutely superb and I felt was better than his EP performance from a few years back, judging by the whirling Dervish's in his back screen footage I figure he must of converted to being a Turkish Muslim.
Booka Shade who I've caught two times before at RockNess and Life Festival (I wouldn't really count the Life Festival one as I was tripping on strong acid and had no idea at the time who was on stage.) But Booka Shade were freaking fcuking excellent and I was right up the barrier for this one. After this though my energy was completely shot so called it a day and the crew camp was lovely and silent that night because the partiers from Friday were on the early shift.

Sunday I was doing the 4 - 12 again and thought I was going to be sent to the campervan field, but gladly I got the shift at the main stage area info point. Before all this was hoping to catch the Jimmy Cliff set but then I heard his flight was delayed but I loved This is the Kit who had bits of Kate Rusby to their sound, a nice choice for Sunday afternoon. The info Point had five of us there at one point so was a complete doddle, we had info for bus timetables, the latest stage changes and familys would come up to get wristbands for the children in which they would write their name and phone number in case the child wandered and went missing. I loved this shift as you could get to hear all the music, NPG put on an amazing show and I nicked out to take a video clip, the Villagers sounded alright from where I was and the next act, First Aid Kit I enjoyed the sound of too, I liked the Kate Bush cover they done and I also caught a clip of them. I decided to take my break at 11 PM so was finished there for the night and got my volunteer discounted Wokn'Roll meal and watched the Fleet Foxes set which I enjoyed as I missed them in 2009 I think at EP, a Crosby, Stills and Nash vibe with a bit of indie and post rock backing, some tracks were a bit dull but some had a pastoral psychedelic beauty about them, twas my first time catching them and I was impressed.

Rushing back to crew camp to have a doobie and to grab a stash of cans, I made it back to the blue tent for Jimmy Cliff's set, what an absolute legend and my highlight of the weekend. Mr Cliff belongs to that throne which also seats Toots Hibbert and Max Romeo. Man, I had tears of joy in my eyes after that gig, I can see clearly now, You can get it if you really want etc. Classics and an amazing backing band. Took in a bit of the Afterburner after with HAAI and it really took me back to these old Picnic and RockNess days, caught the last twenty minutes of the One Love stages and as I was walking back to the crew camp I heard the Afterburner music cut at 3.30.

A brilliant new festival with some nice interesting installations and stages and the estate itself is absolutely gorgeous. Look out for my blog review although I've practically typed it here, firstly I'll upload all my clips and will publish over the next few days.

Wow what a weekend! We went in a group of around 40 people ranging in age from mid twenties to late forties. Most of us have been going to festivals for over 15 years at this stage and we're all in agreement that ATN is probably the best irish festival we've ever been to.

The site was amazing. Not too big or too small. Plenty to see without having to walk for miles and miles. Loads of cool installations and hidden wonders in the woods.

I thought the music was great, there was something for everyone. Food was good. Had no problems with the kids there, I think it adds a bit of magic to the festival.

Mainly though, the crowd were unreal!! Everyone I spoke to was so nice, saw no dodgy feckers/ asshole types. I hope they keep it over 21s. I really hope they dont make it any bigger but I'm sure they will

Can't wait for next year already. We have tickets for EP this year but I think this could be our last one.

Overall a magical a weekend. Definitely have a warm fuzzy feeling after it

Two arrests all weekend, just under 15,000 attendees.

http://www.wlrfm.com/2018/08/07/70139/