Tindersticks, Elbow and Richard Hawley, for starters.

Possibly Portishead, Mogwai, Massive Attack.

i've now come to the conclusion that electric picnic fluked a good lineup in 2007 because MCD deliberately tried to sabotage them... hence EP had to look to the sidelines for some acts and it worked...

...all they are trying to do is snare the same crowd pulling acts as everyone else...

IT'S FEBRUARY

.. and will be for the rest of the month!

is it too early to discuss ireland's premier festival experience, una?

Well, it IS six months away but then again line-ups are usually announced in March, so whatever.

yes, imo

but i want to slate the lineup for being middle of the road as soon as i see the names...

...you spoil my fun...

what does imo mean?

In My Opinion (or International Money Order - I suspect she was using the 1st reference though).

What the hell's middle of the road about the (rumoured) line-up?


Portishead, Mogwai, Massive Attack, Tindersticks, Elbow, MBV.... some popular names there alright, but hardly M.O.R.

Ally - why don't you organise your own "obscure / left wing" 1 day festival? Just you, a couple of other miserable anoraks & a s**t load of unheard of bands. I'm sure it would be an absolute financial disaster, but you'd have a great time at it, rubbing your chin & saying "hmm, such interesting use of tambalas on the middle 8th".

and there we have it in one...

successful festival = financial success

doesn't appear to be anything about music in that equation...

Like emo, but thinner.

It is also an organisation for Irish Musicians who don't record.

Ally - music festivals are there to make money, I think thats pretty clear, it's not the 60s. It would be nice to see someone organising a festival for the love of it, but that doesn't happen much and takes a LOT of work, so full respect to anyone willing to give it a try.

That's only because your apparent inability to associate any band that's had any financial success with anything other that middle of the road.

heh heh

i don't mean to be awkward... i'll try and be clearer... let's take this left-field / obscure nonsense out of the equation... what i really don't want to see is "safe"...

take EP 2005 for example... let's take 3 bands... No.1, the bookers managed to see an incredible rising star in 'arcade fire' (partly luck i guess that they were on the crest by that september)... No.2, they pulled a massive coup with 'Kraftwerk'... No.3, they mnaged to trap some very cool names e.g. 'Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds'... In addition to that, they played across genres a little better and variety was more in abundance... now take those three bands (and they're just examples)... all three of them were booked when they had very few other appearances in festival lineups that year... they were not doing the "festival circuit"... that is the essence of what i have a problem with...

That's a bit like saying a brilliant band with a s**t name can't make good music. If the line-up's good, the festival will be good, regardless of whether the bands are on the festival circuit or not.

you win... well done... i retract everything i've said to date...



variety and surprise... that's what i want... go ahead, go and tell me why that's not what i want...

You should got to the next Royal Variety Performance so - there's plenty of variety at that & always a few surprises.. ya never know, you might be lucky enough to catch a comedian doing a Tommy Cooper style death on the stage.

Agree 100 per cent.

EP 2005 was a bit special because of this but I doubt it will ever happen again.

all maybe except for the right hon Paddy Glasgow who organises the Glasgowbury festival in the idyllic Sperrin mountains in Co Derry. The guy makes didly squat, gets some funding from here and there and puts in an immeasurable amount of work..a real bona fida champion of the people and music up in this part of the world

I have been the last coupld of years, its a one dayer, but most arrive the day before to setup camp...the scenery (its on top of a mountain), atmosphere, cocktails and music are brilliant, cannot recommend it highly enough

PQ

Can I point out the obvious that you can have the best bands on the planet but if the atmosphere is crap, the festival is also crap. Haven't been at EP since the first one so can't really say.

I do think festivals keeping a coherent sort of theme is a nice idea though, rather than trying to be all things to all men, if you get a bunch of like minded people together you probably end up with something that feels more special and less like cash grabbing get lots of drunk yoof in a field with some tunes type vibe.

I've often thought a fluxpop themed festival would be cool, fluxpop being the term applied to pop music thats POP! and interesting though not neccesarily popular. Confused? Can't blame you, but the line up would include the likes of Saint Etienne, Annie, Miss Kittin, The Pipettes, Schneider TM, Alesha Dixon, Alphabeat, Ladytron (who admitedly have gone darker and more rock and all the better for it), etc. Stuff it, I'd even have Girls Aloud on the bill as long as they didn't do some of the weaker material - a sort of weird alternate pop music universe where the singles chart still mattered and neither indie rock nor hip hop have taken a mainstream foothold.

look into my eyes, not around my eyes, but into my eyes...that's not what you want.

in all seriousness, with less and less money in album and virtually none in singles..the vast majority of bands, if they want to keep ticking over have to tour a lot more inc the festival circuit. those who dont can afford not to, and those who cannot afford to, have to.

i am not wishing away time..but i am really looking forward to this years festival

PQ

It seems to me that there's an awful lot of whining about EP coming from people who haven't even been there for years. Last year's was class - great music, great athmoshere, lots to do & see. I'm with PQ in that "i am really looking forward to this years festival" & I like the sound of Binokular's festival - esp the Girls Aloud idea (mmmm!).

I was there last year. The atmosphere wasn't as good as previous years. Lot of people out of their heads and I didn't like the vibe when Chemical Brothers were playing, lot of dodgy, tent-burning types around. Hope they can turn it around this year but I doubt it.

I've never seen so many people doing so many drugs anywhere in my life than at Electric Picnic last year. It didn't lend itself to a fun atmosphere. It's a great festival, but people need to seriously chill out and try to enjoy themselves in a responsible manner. And I've never seen as much incredible collective drunkenness than at Oxegen last year.

There's a huge snobbery when it comes to behaviour at the two major festivals in Ireland. Everyone gives out about kids getting completely pissed drunk at Oxegen, yet these same people then go and do s**t loads of coke and pills at Electric Picnic as if that's more acceptable.

One would prefer if neither happened, but I guess festivals are where people let loose.

I didn't notice any drug use whatsoever at the Picnic. Then again, I was completely off me box for 3 days, so I didn't notice most things!

From man-in-the-know Hot Lunch's blog..Recently thrown into the rumour mill.. Faust, Flaming Lips, Billy Bragg and.....the SEX PISTOLS!! Yikes! (Oh, and Gemma Hayes). Line-up announcement..March 26th.

That'll do me.

I didn't really notice uch of a difference in substance abuse between the two festivals. The croawd is just a bit more lawless at Oxegen. Proably because there's a lot more people contributing to the angry mob mentality.

stupid question (I've been in oz the last six months) but is EP sold out ya?

Tickets aren't on sale yet. There was an early bird sale but they're all gone.

cheers! I'm due back in June so hopefully will be able to pick up some tickets.

Missed last year because I was travelling, but year before that was great, would pretty much agree with IcaruS, there's not much between the two festivals in terms of alcohol/drug abuse, Oxegen is just a bigger scale so more noticeable I guess.

Full lineup announcement on Wed 26th, tix on sale Fri 28th of March. €240.

Ah Wilco... I'm damn happy.

just read their email...excellent!

Will they play the same tent as clap your hands say yeah? that was a disappointment last year, sound was pretty awful...but that was last year

PQ

Not a bad line-up.. Sigur Ros, MBV, Gossip. I think I might go for the boutique camping this year.

I was planning to go but i can't justify paying that amount of money for that lineup, its not good enough.

couldnt agree more. checked out the full line up on the web site...my god, its dire....
stinks of cheap bands and acts while still charging 240 sheets and the rest.....
only in ireland..its only a matter of time until there are oxygen meters introduced..pay for the jaysus air ye breathe...

It's not the full line-up... there was a lot of decent acts added last year after the first line-up announcement, but tbh, for me - I only got to see a few of the headliners & spent the rest of the nights at some of the very excellent DJ sets & spent the days asleep. It's a festival with a huge amount of entertainment.. it's not just about the bands. If I get to see the Valentines & Sigur Ros, I couldn't give a flier who else plays.

I agree with Starbelgrade, there's alot more to EP than the acts. Great chill out area for when you want to get stoned around a campfire, cinema showing brilliant films to veg out in, decent food all over the place, showers to ensure you continue to attract the opposite sex, you can get fake married, go paintballing, take part in a public debate... and I distinctly remember dancing like a graceful nymph (ahem) in the centre circus ring of the big top at 3am last year.

To whoever stole all the American Frontier Wagon's before we got to book them this morning, you're not invited to our tipi party.

I shall be circling your tipi with my wagon over the weekend & will paintball anyone who tries to escape. Now, that's entertainment!

Four squaws with scalpers vs six wagon dwellers with paint?! No contest. Let the civil war begin.

Who says EP is only for yuppie douchbags?

Ha! Yeah I hear you Unicron. I've roughed it out plenty in the past, its time to have some well insulated festival fun.

Easy now.. I grew up in Cabra.

its well for ya belgrade, i grew up in a one bedroom flat, with bill cullens crazy aunty..molly d'arcy......

we were so poor at christmas instead of buying a christmas tree we drew one on the wall with crayons we nicked from old mr o reilly the english teacher.....while listenin to the old pete john...arroooo cha cha......... dem were de days.....

ep is scandalously priced. irish people will pay money over for anything.

ye would pay near the same on a sunday morning heading into the local centra for a newspaper, rehydrating juice, some rashers, real butter and a soft white loaf

All concerts run by the big 2 in Ireland are way overpriced, way way overpriced

PQ

Soft white bread... proper estate!

rashers, sausages...nice soft white loaf.......scrambled eggs and a few cheeky mushrooms....

juice and some kenyan coffee.....proper bloody order...

still think EP is ridiculously overpriced for what you get....

Does no-one eat pudding anymore? Feckin yuppies with their juices & Kenyan coffees... a cuppa Lyons is all ya need. Pfft. And then ye have the cheek to complain about ticket prices.. well if ya weren't going & blowin' all your money on fancy breakfasts, you might have a few quid to spare!

That makes 2 of us ...

Fuck me - i never thought for a second that 2 people from Cabra would be able to read, let alone write!!!

Or listen to non-repeditive generic music.

Gotta say Id love to go to this just to see Wilco, Sigur Rós & Conor Oberst... But I cant decide whether Im willing to part with that much money for another festival where Ill probably end up dissapointed.
Last year it was Bright Eyes at Oxegen and Modest Mouse in EP, in both cases I could barely get into their tents coz they were so rammed.

ACTS JUST ADDED:
Santogold
Crystal Castles
Chromeo
Elbow
Cut Copy
Digital Mystikz
Tiga
Hercules & Love Affair
Antibalas
Gomez
Gemma Hayes
Giveamanakick
Super Extra Bonus Party
The Black Lips
Carbon/Silicon
The Faint
The Presets
Digitalism
The Congos
The Herbaliser

BODYTONIC ACTS ALSO JUST ANNOUNCED:
Modeselektor
Roni Size presents Reprazent Live
The Count & Sinden Live
Rob Hood
Diplo
Toddla T
Trusme Live
Charles Webster Live featuring AtJazz, Emily Chick & Tera Deva
Kerri Chandler Live
Redshape
Sambatuc 20-30 Piece Samba Band
Benga
Prins Thomas & Lindstrom
Aaron Jerome Live
Bodytonic Soundsystem



Oh and regarding my last post, I crumbled and bought a ticket... Everytime!!!