We sent down two reviewers to Electric Picnic 2010 to try cover events proceedings for the site and since both have submitted different reviews with differing acts and experiences I’ve decided that the best thing to do is break the reviews up into each person’s experience rather than try merge their writing. So here is the weekend of our reviewer Aisling O’Brien.
Review by Aisling O’Brien
Photos by Alessio Michelini and Kieran Frost (courtesy of Phantom FM)
Friday
With this years festival season almost drawing to a close, I couldn’t believe our luck with the glorious weather we got on Friday. The weather was possibly a bigger talking point than the music which I suppose isn’t much of a surprise considering we’re in Ireland and if you can cast your mind back to the wash out that was Oxegen. I feel the bit of sun was well deserved.
London-based dance pop trio Chew Lips wrapped up their summer on the festival circuit by treating us to two gigs. I made it down to their first set in the Electric Arena. Being one of the first acts of the entire festival is definitely a daunting task, considering there were still many a camper struggling with constructing tents yet this didn’t seem to hamper on front woman Tigs energetic performance. Playing hits such
Karen and Salt Air which are perfect for getting in to the festival frame of mind. Unfortunately I didn’t make their second set which I’m sure would have being insane, but after this set I’m certainly looking forward to their new album.
One of the acts I was particularly looking forward to The Waterboys, and they did not disappoint. Their repertoire of hits make for a perfect soundtrack for a sunny evening. The crowd was quite eclectic, a mix of very young to very old. Mike Scott announced to the crowd that he “could see the whites of their eyes.” He then dedicated Fisherman Blues to
Gerry Ryan and Mick Lally, which the crowd went wild for. He also told the crowd how they have never been at Stradbally before introducing the band followed by a flawless performance of Whole of the Moon. The crowd were treated to an encore of Don’t Bang the Drum which encountered some technical difficulties.
Modest Mouse, minus Johnny Marr, are the next act to grace the Main Stage. I was slightly disappointed with the performance as around where I was standing there was a lack of atmosphere which was surprising as their big hit Float On was played quite early on in their set. Even so with some minor sound issues they powered through and for me Dashboard was the part of their performance which sold it to me.
In what is the heartbreak of every festival, the clashes, I managed to catch the last few minutes of Sigur Rós front man Jónsi. It was all about his new solo album never once dipping in to the pool of SR numbers. Accompanied by a quirky visual presentation and drumming from the side of the stage. I can imagine that this was definitely a highlight for many a picnicker.
Bryan Ferry arrived on stage looking dapper in a mammy pleasing suit, there was a lot of attention on his female keyboardist who was sporting a leather catsuit. For parts of the set, again the crowd were growing slightly bored, in anticipation for the hits that made Roxy Music the swooners they are. Needless to say once More Than This and Love Is A Drug were echoing around Stradbally all the cringe daddy dancing you could wish for was whipped out, and I loved it.
An obligatory wander through the fun fair area, with a go on the swings gets everybody giddy. Over in the circus there’s a DJ spinning varied classics such as Hall and Oates and Ace of Base which puts us all in the mood for a bit of Silent Disco. Its lots of fun but wanting to see what else lies in store we left after about half an hour.
I steered clear of the rave in the woods and opted for more bands at the Salty Dog stage nestled in the woods, which never fails to disappoint me. Some lesser known bands play here but nobody seems to mind and some of the crowd even seem be singing along. All in all a great start to one of the best weekends on the Irish music calendar.
Saturday
Saturday saw the return of the grey skies as the majority of the crowd slipped their wellies back on. My Saturday begins with Swedish pop sensation Robyn shaking the hangovers out of the heads of the crowd in the pretty full Electric Arena. Beginning with one of her newer songs Fembot, it doesn’t take long to get the crowd going and by the time she’s singing Dancing On My Own, she certainly isn’t. Robyn is clearly touched by the crowds reaction, thanking them for being here and even though its early, we’re going to party. Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do sees Robyn reveal a banana to the audience, which we thought was about to be some provocative act, yet she simply ate it and proceeded to dance throughout the track, incorporating both drummers. Next up were Hang With Me and Be Mine where the dancing really took off. Before delving in to an extended version of her best known song Every Heartbeat, Robyn thanked the ‘Dublin’ crowd again but nobody seemed to mind too much about her faux pas.
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble literally packed the stage on Saturday afternoon. The eight brothers from Chicago who have being playing all over Ireland this year started off with a pretty hazy chilled out crowd but had no problems warming them up. With songs such as War and Mercury by the time these guys were over, everybody wanted a little bit more, telling the crowd they were sweating for them, working some ladies in to a frenzy. They certainly got everybody in the mood for some fun.
Seasick Steve draws an impressive crowd for his Main Stage set beginning with Chiggers, giving a bit of a back story about the bugs and what to do if become infected by them on the long grass in Southern America, top festival advice if you ask me. He also belted out Never Go West, Dog House Boogie and Diddley Bo all of which had the crowd rocking out. With the past few years of rocketing success he clearly has no intention of stopping, claiming that he wants “a light show like Muse at Glastonbury.” which resulted in ripples of giggles from the crowd. The sound at parts of his performance was slightly questionable still it was very enjoyable.
Hot Chip had the Electric Arena bursting on Saturday evening. Kicking it all off with Boy From School, working their way through all of their hits from the original floor filler Over and Over to the newer One Life Stand. They managed to keep the crowd bouncing throughout their entire set. I was totally impressed with the performance.
After Robyn’s afternoon poptastic performance, she slowed things down over in This Is Pop Baby for an acoustic evening set. To be honest I think they should have switched the performances round for the dancier one for the evening but still she didn’t disappoint. She was introduced on stage, the crowd were informed that they approached her with the idea for the acoustic set and she was more than happy to perform a second time. Her play list included stripped down versions of Hang With Me, Dancehall Queen and Every Heartbeat. Absolute heartbreaking stuff, I even noticed a few tears being wiped away.
The Frames took to the Main Stage for their 20th anniversary gig greeted by rapturous applause. One of the bigger sing along gigs of the weekend. I wouldn’t be a Frames super fan but it seems that nobody, including myself, could resist singing along to what is a huge crowd pleaser Revelate. There is a genuine feeling of awe coming from both the stage and audience. Something which is nice to see for a homegrown talent as we can sometimes look over our own.
LCD Soundsystem were eagerly anticipated after the pesky volcano caused them to cancel two Dublin dates earlier this year. Their disco ball has my full concentration, its amazing. I was delighted they played Someone Great as they didn’t at Reading. Yeah Yeah Yeahs got the crowd going again. The tender New York I Love You spurred on a major crowd sing along, mixing things up a bit dropping a bit of Empire State of Mind in the mix. That was me back to the Salty Dog stage which had a growing crowd from the previous night.
Sunday
After experiencing Summer and Autumn on Friday and Saturday, Sunday proved to start off like Spring, slightly bright some April showers and take an epic turn to Winter. First things first, what has become a Sunday morning tradition at Electric Picnic, Dublin Gospel Choir were on hand to ease us in to the third and final day of gigging. Treating the soulful crowd to Higher and Higher, Mumford and Sons The Cave and a Stevie Wonder medley which sparked a flash mob dancing session. This was a great start to the last day and definitely worth sucking up your hangover for.
Fight Like Apes are a band who also promise more than just a gig, they are born performers especially May Kay and Jamie. The band who are all kitted out in matching tracksuits. They get the balance between songs from their fantastically titled new album The Body of Christ and The Legs of Tina Turner and their more familiar songs Jake Summers, Ho Ha Henry and the obvious crowd favorite Lend Me Your Face. Another song which is spectacularly received by the crowd is Salt-N-Pepa’s Push It mixed with The Kinks You Really Got Me. Other than the music May Kay and Jamie jumped ship a few times, obligatory crowd surfing, spitting water at each other and a sparring match. Finishing with Battlestations, it’s safe to say this was possibly one of the most memorable gigs in the Crawdaddy tent this year.
Feeling the cold I took a wander over to the Mindfield area and stumbled across the DePaul tent which were giving out free tea and chocolate bars which were very much appreciated. As great as it was to get free stuff, they are trying to highlight homelessness in Ireland. As Jim Carroll wrote already I think Electric Picnic have being outstanding with their charities this year, its great to see.
Mumford and Sons are another band to have played Oxegen this year and its clear to see that they are more than welcome at the Picnic, pulling in a huge crowd at the main stage. Despite the huge rain clouds and wind they have enough gusto to keep the crowd’s attention, starting off with Sigh No More, the crowd really get going for Roll your Stone Away. I found that at the Main Stage with a few acts with their quieter songs the noise from the rest of the festival if the wind was blowing the wrong way it could slightly spoil their set. The Cave was the song that spurred the biggest reaction from the crowd. I’m sure after this performance we’ll only be seeing bigger and better things from these London lads.
The National were the penultimate band to play the Main Stage, it was dark and the rain had begun yet it all seemed to merge well with
the music. Playing most of their set from their most recent album High Violet. Again the sound at the Main Stage was slightly dodgy but it didn’t hinder a breathtaking performance from the Ohioan band of Bloodbuzz Ohio, not to mention England and Fake Empire. The last two songs were Mr November (which was very fitting.) and Terrible Love. A truly spine chilling performance, I look forward to seeing them again, maybe minus the rain.
I had been planning on going to check out Massive Attack but the rain got too much for me so I slipped in to Wild Beasts, who I’m not overly familiar with, but what I saw I liked. Hitting the tents seemed to be a trend for many, so for some the rain was a good thing, giving them a chance to check out smaller bands and for smaller bands to attract a bigger crowd. Wild Beasts were note perfect and I felt that they really captivated the audience with their presence on stage.
After getting completely drenched it was back to the campsite, in the absolute torrential rain which persisted all night. We were lucky to get out of the car park pretty early, yet still had to be pushed out by two gems of stewards. Even though I have moaned about the rain, I’m already terribly excited for next year. See you then Stradbally.
