Electric Picnic aftermath (reviews)

greenkittie · 05-09-2006 11:13AM

There were alot of people there who didnt pay in so the crowds were probably bigger than expected due to that. About half the people i met didnt have wristbands and had just walked through the woods!

I had a totally amazing weekend

although i only managed to see 2 bands

spent alot of time in the body tonic tent having afternoon drunken dancing.

lows...

WATER! there was so little of the gross tcp water and when i tried to buy water half the vendors were sold out of it. its just dangerous to deny people water especially when the organisers know there are going to be people on drugs there.

FOOD! all i managed to eat all weekend was a toastie on saturday and a toastie on sunday cause it took way way too long to manage to get down the ques to eat.

Toilets and guys pissing in the middle of everyone in broad daylight, i dont want to see that!

Rain

i hate the rain.

highs...
Great atmosphere
Mogwai!
Lying out in the sun listening to music
The guy with the fire twirly thingys setting himself on fire at the carpark rave

Miguel_Sanchez · 05-09-2006 11:20AM

comet wrote:

I'm thankful that I can piss standing up, I felt sorry for the girls having to queue for so long.

They didn't have to if they got a hold of some of these snazzy babies!

www.pmate.co.uk

froggie_1 · 05-09-2006 11:24AM

I had a top class wknd.
Ant and the Js were excellent Fri nite - got the wknd off to an excellent start. Was bang up the front for Massive Attack and it was absolutely amazing.. very intense, I heard some people say they were disappointed with them, but i thought they were excellent. There were a few spanners, locked, around me annoyin me and pushin me, but sure you'l have that.

After the rain stopped on sat the fun began.... We found it really hard to get some brekkie sat morning what with the queues at EVERY stall... getting a cup of coffee would have taken an hour, so i just had a can!

Loved Michael Franti on sat, was really looking forward to the Skatelites but they were really late and only played for like 6 songs or something...

Then shadow! A little disappointed after lookin forward to him for so long.. Set was very short, but that MC he had with him was class.. BREAK DOWN! But all in all enjoyed Cut Chemist on sun nite much more!

2ManyDJs were incredibly banging on sat nite... it blew me away - litterally. was up the front a little right of centre - in front of the speakers.... fcuked with my head. SAVAGE. spent the nite goin from Tir na nGasta in the woods to the cinema... chattin with loadsa people just havin a ball and generally gettin demented.

Got up sunday again and headed into the gig and chilled in Body and Soul and listened to the deadly trad music... then went to the Levithian tent for the poetry slam,... there was a really funny guy from Liverpool there. he was excellent. Alabama 3 were excellent - lots of fun n very funky.
Spent some time sittin down in BodyTonic drinkin cans lovin the tunes. Didnt like the way that was outside the main arena though... seemed a bit pointless?? Also the bouncers in there were complete tossers... did anyone see them? Little and Large... very agressive, saw them hunting for joint smokers and basically hassling the **** out of anyone smokin what looked remotely like a J. They actually annoyed me so much i left after Carl Craig and didnt go back at all.... even though i wanted to see Layo n Bushwaka.... Anyone see em??
Spent the rest of the day just relaxin - had a few bratwursts - savage and a toasted sandwich - man they were tasty...... Liked Amadou and Mariam, loved the PetShop Boys and then Cut Chemist.... drove back to Galway then... all in all i loved the wknd - didnt make it last year so cant compare, but i was there in 2004.... been to that other fest a load of times and after this years experience at KnackerFest im never goin back...
EP was the business...

some critisisms:
No one to tell you where the next empty campin area is, like u have no idea which direction ur goin in, if theres any space there or whatever, at least at the other fest, they did that right. The colour scheme was a bit stupid.

Tossser bouncers in BodyTonic

The vodka jelly should have been free!!

The fruit and water should also have been free...

The crush at the pointless arena entrance, i mean ur already in like.

Does Des Bishop annoy the ****e outa anyone else except me?
Basically claimin hes the only one who ever did anything good in Ballymun that didnt serve to make themseleves feel better about themselves...
As if he wasnt just there to make a TV program... which he was making money from..... he wrecks my fcukin head....

some positive stuff:
Cool costumes all over the place,

the inflatable church - mad craic.

the body n soul. excellent.

the delicious Bratwursts and Toadted sandwiches and crepes.

the Pussy Parlour!! class!

froggie_1 · 05-09-2006 11:27AM

and what is the story with those P Mates - ya cant go changing the world with a piece of cardboard.... its wrong.... one of the fundamental differences between men and women are that men can P standin up and women have to sit down. its how it SHOULD be..... these P Mates and just blurring the lines.... its freakin me out just thinkin about it.

greenkittie · 05-09-2006 11:40AM

p mates are just wrong. at festivals woman hover!

Miguel_Sanchez · 05-09-2006 11:48AM

froggie_1 wrote:

and what is the story with those P Mates - ya cant go changing the world with a piece of cardboard.... its wrong.... one of the fundamental differences between men and women are that men can P standin up and women have to sit down. its how it SHOULD be..... these P Mates and just blurring the lines.... its freakin me out just thinkin about it.

Not as much as it freaked me out having a friend of mine demonstrate how they work over the weekend.

Forgot to mention Jape - played a great set on Saturday afternoon. 'I am a Man' went down a storm - not sure if he played 'Streetwise' or not as I got there a bit late.

Pissed off that I missed Cut Chemist - a combination of dead phones, drunkeness and forgetfulness - but I was pleasantly surprised with Basement Jaxx.

Warlords of Pez inviting the crowd to invade the stage on Sunday didn't go down well with security but they had a storming gig - the 'retards in leotards' licking fake blood off the lyrics gimp's legs only added to the general weirdness.

cornbb · 05-09-2006 11:56AM

I thought it was a savage weekend. Pity about the rain but in fairness the only serious rain was on Saturday morning. Musical highlights for me were:

Massive Attack
DJ Shadow
Giveamanakick
Radneck Manifesto
Yo La Tengo
New Order

I didn't see a single tracksuit at the whole thing. The portaloos were absolutely disgusting but, come on people, its a festival! I thought the organisers went to a great effort to decorate the place, thereby lending a great atmosphere to the place.

Da Bounca · 05-09-2006 12:32PM

Highlights:

Gary Numan
2 Many Djs
Massive Attack
Hysterio
Basemant Jaxx
Laurent Garnier
Andy Weatherall
Dj Shadow

Enjoyed:

Belle and Sebastian
Gang of 4
Pet Shop Boys
Laura Izibor

Can someone tell me who was playing late friday night in the body and soul area, after everything else had finished? I had such a good time at the bottom of that crater giving it loads.

I had an amazing time at Electric Picnic, most deffinately going again.

ghostdancer · 05-09-2006 12:39PM

John wrote:

Don't like B&S so didn't bother. Missed DJ Shadow but anyone I know who saw him said he was really disappointing.

anyone i know thought he was fantastic, myself included. knew he;'d be doing some new stuff with guest vocalists so wasn't expecting a entroducing/UNKLE greatest hits show. had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, shame he didn't get a longer slot. by far the highlight of the weekend.
reading through people's reviews on the electric picnic site, almost everyone agree that he was top notch.

giftgrub · 05-09-2006 01:35PM

HIGHS
Massive attack
Bloc Party
Pet Shop Boys
New Order
Groove Armada
Basement Jaxx
There was a swing band doing modern day covers in Lost Vagueness, absolutely fantastic

As an EP first timer i thought it was great i had no security issues, found them quite friendly as opposed to the "jumped up gougers with walkies" used by other events, a few extra ATM booths would have been nice
Cant really talk about the campsites as we had a camper van, but there was a nice vibe there.
I'll be back next year, please god dont let it end up like other festivals!!!

John · 05-09-2006 01:54PM

I love the way everybody is complaining about the ATM. Back in the day we had no ATMs at festivals. You learn to live off the land. Be at one with nature.

giftgrub · 05-09-2006 02:10PM

John wrote:

I love the way everybody is complaining about the ATM. Back in the day we had no ATMs at festivals. You learn to live off the land. Be at one with nature.

Tell that to the fella who's charging you 19 euro for some korma and noodles:)

John · 05-09-2006 02:13PM

I brought my own food for the first two days and got bought lunch on the last day. I only spent about €40-50 for the whole weekend

adebisi · 05-09-2006 02:42PM

Well, I gotta say I had a ball, fantastic weekend from the moment I entered to the moment I left the car park on Monday morning.

Friday, getting there was a bitch, led in a huge circle by one of the lads, then ending up in a huge traffic jam, but eventually got there. Had difficulty finding a camping spot, but all you had to do was ask one of the lads on the scaffold where he could see some green, and head off in that direction. We did end up taking over a fire lane, I think, as I did see some stakes and red tape around where we were. That did make it very difficult to find at night, but torches and landmarks were a bonus. I think the area necessary for 30,000 + people to camp may have been underestimated, as it was very very squashed in parts. 2 people doesnt necessarily mean a 2 man tent.

Friday night acts were fantastic, got in for dEUS, wouldnt know much of their stuff, but they rocked it. Anthony, absolutly fantastic, his new stuff was great, gig was made even better by the fact that he didnt just play the album everyone knew, he played lots of new stuff, proving he's not a one album wonder. Massive Attack rocked, all the hits, all the vocalists, savage.

Saturday, despite the wet start turned into an amazing day. Yes, the jacks were pretty sh*tty, but as someone said, when you've got 30,000 people camping, things are going to get messy (wasnt impressed to find someone had shat outside my tent, thought that was a bit rough, we were all in the same boat re toilets, so just grin and bear it, but again, a minor complaint, cover it over and no ones the wiser). General hygeine could have been better, but thats something I reckon they will have sorted for next year. Saturdays highlights for me were Krafty Kuts, New Order, Gary Numan (incredible), Michael Franti rocked, Super Furries, Shadow. Groove Armada felt a little forced too, and they certainly didnt play for 2 hours (late start, very early finish - I had hoped for 2 many dj's to be playing the 12-2 slot at the main stage).

Sunday was great, Pet Shop Boys were incredible, Saul Williams was amazing (pity he didnt end up at the Big Tree later on, but what can ya do?), Francois K, Amadou & Mariam, Hot Chip, Alabama 3 (what happened the bass player?), Duke Special, all top notch. Blue Nile tho, yawn, I'd imagine even my Da would have been bored.

No problems leaving on Monday, security were sound all weekend, no hassles, Tir Na gCasta was a great addition, musically maybe not everyones cup of tea, but lovely vibe in there on Sunday night.

All in all, saw 90% of what I wanted to see, was nicely toasted for most of it, enjoyed pretty much everything I saw, little side tents were class, fantastic festival, well ****ing done POD/Aiken/guy that lets us all piss all over his land for the weekend. See y'all next year.

joseph brand · 05-09-2006 02:47PM

Posted by ethO_:
but there was a lot of "OK ROYSH FIACHRA, LET'S GET FOCKING POLLUTED!" around.

Hey Fuinneog, is Sneachtha and Lorcan with Una and Sorcha? I need to get like some HeinO's!!
Good points:
Massive Attack were Great.
Loved the Body and Soul area, some crazy all-over-the-shop music. (Toilets had flush)
Southern Comfort bar, YUMMMMMM
Basement Jaxx, hoppin kunky Bass, crowd was exstatic!
All my friends were there, which was nice:)
There was plenty of 'smoke' around.

Bad points:
Laurent Garnier was terrible, bum bum bum bum bum bidda bum bum bum. . . .
Zip broke on my tent, creating a small draft.

Security were dicks, but Garda were tapping their feet in Body Tonic tent to Carl Craig??? AND they smiled???

Toilets were disgusting but funny, watching reactions on peoples faces going in and turning back

Can't wait for next year, been to all Picnics and will continue to go as it is still, despite the negative points, the best 'THING' to happen in this little country. (Except Garden Party, which was only one night)

Kev

John · 05-09-2006 02:53PM

adebisi wrote:

Anthony, absolutly fantastic, his new stuff was great, gig was made even better by the fact that he didnt just play the album everyone knew, he played lots of new stuff, proving he's not a one album wonder.

He's certainly not a one album wonder, he's got two albums and a few singles (some not from either album) and another new album out later in the year

Miguel_Sanchez · 05-09-2006 02:55PM

Had absolutely no problems with security/staff myself - found them all to be friendly and saw many of them having a laugh with patrons.

Also found the cops around to be quite good natured - a female friend of mine kept insisting that one of the cops was a 'hot stripper bitch' and asking her to get her kit off. The cops thought it was hilarious.

Heard about DS searching tents and busting people for very small amounts of drugs but didn't see any of that myself.

Oddest thing I saw was a young guy in a security jacket walking into a tent (possibly the Blue Room) where a performance piece was on. He sat down on a stage and was promptly removed and stripped of his jacket. Not sure if he was actual security or a scobe who nicked one.

Sleepy · 05-09-2006 03:07PM

Another first timer here and I had a great time. Loved the whole vibe of the festival, little to no knacker presence, found security to be professional, the inflatable church was a howl, body & soul perfect to while away the morning's hangover, Big Tree stage was a lovely idea (learning to knit while baked in the 'Secret' Tepee Garden was certainly an experience!), Silent Disco was surreal though not quite that silent, Zoolander in the cinema on Sunday morning was great fun.

Musical highlights: Super Furry Animals, Belle & Sebastian, Delarentos, Vyvianne Long, Lisa Hannigan, Jerry Fish (great fun as always), Duke Special, Massive Attack (from what I can remember, was pretty wasted Friday night)

Only down points as far as I could see:

* not enough portaloos/no urinals whatsoever.
* not enough food vendors, the queues were ridiculous.
* 'Jesus: The Guantanamo Years' being mysteriously cancelled Sunday morning.

TallGirl · 05-09-2006 03:18PM

A friend of mine had his bag stolen out of his tent :eek: .... Anyone else experience (or heard of) any other crap like this?

FrankGrimes · 05-09-2006 03:21PM

Had a great time at Electric Picnic, though to be honest the mood we were in we’d have had a great time anywhere, so though I think they did a good job organising overall, it could’ve been better.

Good points:

-great buzz off the crowd in general, with scum quotient extremely low.
-food when you eventually got it was good. Man those chicken burritos hit the spot
-the diversity of the range of stuff to see and do was deadly
-bacardi tent was class
-loadsa acts were class
-showers. Not sure why some people were prepared to queue for ages (I guessed it’d be 30-40 minutes based on the 5 minutes I spent in the queue before I realised there were communal ones around the corner) just to get their own private shower when there were communal ones nearby. Security guard charged me €2 for the communals which he admitted he shouldn’t have been chargin when I picked him up on it, but I said fair enough cos I got flip flops and shower cream for it. If they’d had a bench in there to keep your gear off the ground it’d have been perfect, but can’t be too picky in fairness cos a warm shower at a festival is a luxury.
-thought security were sound in general
-finding secret flushable jacks you’d have eaten your dinner off. with toilet paper and everything!

Lowlights:

-toilets were an absolute disgrace. They’re never gonna be pretty at a festival but these went way across the line. Regardless of what anyone here thinks, I’m pretty sure any health officer witnessing what I saw wouldn’t be happy about it. Led to most lads, including myself, saying I’m just not gonna subject myself to that and p1ssing where we shouldn’t have been. Actually heard a girl get into a portaloo beside mine on Saturday and start crying at the ordeal.
-lack of drinking water – what was in the taps at the cleaning area in red campsite was not healthy that’s for sure
-campsites were way too packed and my tent was miles from a path. Yellow campsite was like sleeping in the middle of a rave when I went to bed at 4.30am on Sunday.
-My tent got robbed. Nope, I don’t mean stuff got robbed from my tent, I mean my entire tent was just gone when I got back to it on Saturday after the gig. Luckily I saw the funny side of it.
-Ended up kipping in my mates’ tent and a tray of beer got robbed from it on Sunday evening, and we also came home to it to find 4 deckchairs we didn’t own in it.
-Guy my mate was talking to who said “me and me mates are professional strokers, we’re only hear to rob sh1t. You’s are all rabbits and we’re the lions, you’s deserve it yous do, it’s nature”.:eek: Scum of the earth, though it does seem to be this one gang doing most of the stealing in the yellow campsite (talked to a good few people who had stuff stolen around the exact same time). Won’t let this colour my opinion of the festival though – scum were an absolute minority and there’s nothing the organisers could do with people like that.

Overall, I’d a great time but if they sort out the logistical stuff above it’d be even better, and I really think they should focus on the hygiene cos for a few extra quid they could have people walking away with far fewer horror stories, and things like lack of water will cause trouble sooner or later.

Crash · 05-09-2006 03:54PM

Have to say I had a ball:

Highlights: I really did enjoy belle and sebastian, even if others didnt

PJ harvey i greatly enjoyed seeing again
Lisa Hannigan's solo set - pure class
lots of other stuff i cant think of now

toilets were nasty aye, but a couple of times ijust put up with the worst to avoid the queue.

Was soberish and going with the flow friday and saturday night, but accidently lost some track of my drinking on sunday night with hilarious consequences (southern comfort and redbull is an excellent energy drink, but, eh, dangerous

and btw, if anyone is or knows the girl with the tambourine who I was dancing with for a bit at the second frames gig at midnight or so at the big tree, and who shot me down, sorry if I was a prat! (one of those things that stuck through the hangover the next morning, feel bad :P)

DeNorthsider · 05-09-2006 04:09PM

Seems i should be saying something a little more significant for a first post, but had to say:

Yes - the toilets were dreadful, and there was no drinking water. There was none of either in the supposedly good Artist's campsite.

But - overall I coped, I survived, I have now showered, and I have great memories.

That's all down to the atmosphere, for which the organisers must take some credit. It seems to me that they deliberately adopt a 'live and let live' attitude which, apart from the 'Crankies', seems to filter down to every level.

I witnessed a lot of activity which I'm quite sure would have got you slung out of other festivals!!!!

John · 05-09-2006 04:11PM

&#231 wrote: »

and btw, if anyone is or knows the girl with the tambourine who I was dancing with for a bit at the second frames gig at midnight or so at the big tree, and who shot me down, sorry if I was a prat! (one of those things that stuck through the hangover the next morning, feel bad :P)

That wasn't a girl...

Asok · 05-09-2006 04:13PM

&#231 wrote: »

and btw, if anyone is or knows the girl with the tambourine who I was dancing with for a bit at the second frames gig at midnight or so at the big tree, and who shot me down, sorry if I was a prat! (one of those things that stuck through the hangover the next morning, feel bad :P)

Nor a tambourine......

Splendid · 05-09-2006 04:51PM

Dman_15 wrote:

Anyone else see 2manyDJ's in bodytonic? possibly the highlight of the weekend for me!

They were superb. It was pretty similar to a set they did at the big day out in Australia, there's a link in the dance forum somewhere. But jesus it was roasting the the tent. We got in at about 11:30 and left 2 and a half hours later and about 3 stone lighter.

tman · 05-09-2006 06:28PM

Some of my pics are here
And I've started uploading a few vids to my youtube account, so keep an eye on it...

Cunning Alias · 05-09-2006 07:30PM

Here r some pics of me and my mates from EP

I had a great time. We figured out early that the food places and the toilets near the main stage were almost empty all the time. Never had to wait in line.
Loved Alabama 3, Carnival Saloon, GiveAManAKick and pretty much anything at Bodytonic.
Thought the Silent Disco should have run later than 4am. The lines were always huge at the end of the night and I never got in. No other complaints.

eclectichoney · 05-09-2006 08:49PM

here are some photos of some bands! before my batteries ran out

marvin2k · 05-09-2006 09:15PM

had an absoloute intense blast at electric picnic gave it complete socks the ****ty portaloos were actually good craic after 9 cans , big out to the guy who left me a slab of tooie outside his tent on saturday morning , the early bird gets the can , met a load of dead on d4 lads and cool scobes who introduced me to the art of the cue skip , most humble apologies to the dudes servin burritos in the mexican stall but i had absolutely no squids and a runner was the only option the same to the pasta place and the noodles , cheers to the glasgow ladies for the penguin bars , and big sorries to the angry couple whos shoes i splatterd when takin a leak at yeah yeah yeahs , and everyone else i peed on at damo rice .cheers to the hangover cure nurses for the oxygen drink but 6 snots is a little much ladies , dj shadow and basement jaxx ye know who ye are , everyone was so friendly and i didnt meet many poor people , the girls all had uber stylish wellingtons and there were so many quirky alternative types , but id like to see more polish people next year maybe a polish music tent .it was cool that there were so many free cans and foldie seats lying around outside tents it was so good to see no tents on fire but next year i wont get as mangled that early and make such an embarrassment .george bush in a fat suit in red campsite . ledgend .

05-09-2006 09:30PM

Overall great festival

Good Points:

* The frames played one of the best sets I have seen in quite a while. They really loved playing and the reception the crowd was giving him.
* The buzz about the place. The majority of people were there to enjoy themselves and listen to good music.
* 2 Many DJs, apart from the huge amount of people in there. It was like an oven inside.
* The bodytonic tent.
* Tir Na Gcasta: This place was really cool. A small arena in a woods playing chilled out music. The lights and the setting were really amazing. Sums up the whole electric picnic vibe.
* Security were for the most part friendly and there for the craic. We were feeding them with beer for most of the festival!

Bad points:
* Long walks to the car
* Confusing layout and lack of lighting.
* One of our tents getting smashed.
* Our stupid knacker neighbours from Cavan out of their brains on Acid and booze falling into peoples tents and throwing themselves against barriers all night

Wierd Stuff I saw.
* When looking for a place to go for a wizz away from Tir na Gcasta I stopped at a large tree off the path. When I looked up there was a couple half way up the tree getting it on

* The naked hippy girl dancing in a tent whose name I can't remember.
* The (very wasted) girls we met outside Tir na Gcasta who at some point robbed a golf cart and managed to get it stuck in a ditch. When we helped them free the cart they proceeded to crash it into a tree and soon after knocked over scaffolding before driving into the distance.

Electric Picnic aftermath (reviews)

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