Knockanstockan 2011
Review: Ross Maguire
Photos: Abraham Tarrush
Having been to Knockanstockan before in 2008 I was pleasantly surprised at the huge amount the festival has grown since then, but then again I just had to have a glance at the line-up to see that point proven. The festival ran for 3 days over Friday to Sunday with the best of Ireland’s unsigned talent on show including, Bipolar Empire, Enemies, The Candidates and The Barley Mob to name a few.
Placed at the summit of the Wicklow mountains, right by the shore of the Blessington lakes, Knockanstockan had the perfect setting for a summer festival and the fact that a weekend camping ticket cost as little as 75 euro you couldn’t really say no. The layout was much like your classic music festival with a campsite and an “arena” for bands. Knockanstockan however has much more on offer than just that. There was an area in the campsite called “the fairy field” with tepees and ponds and a stage which ran most of the night with neon lights and DJ’s, similar to the Electric Picnic but on a much smaller scale. Still, this is something that you wouldn’t have known about unless you went, and something that really ticked the boxes in terms of ambience and atmosphere.
In the arena there were three stages, the Moon stage, the Sun Stage and the Circus tent. The rest of the space was filled with food stalls and a bar. The fact that people brought their children and decided to walk their dogs just shows how much of a chilled out zone the place is and it really sent out a nice and friendly vibe. The best thing I will say about this festival is the fact that you can bring your beverages in to see the bands. OK, so its not Oxegen, fair enough but that for me is a big plus. Knockanstockan clearly care about the music and just having a good time in general.
On Saturday evening I saw Naas band Sive playing on the Moon Stage. The band play jazz/soul style music and it was the perfect first band for me to see while I got acquainted with my surroundings. One of the memories that will definitely stick is panning out on the grass listening to their tune “Sunkissed”. Another band I managed to catch was Ross Breen, who played an excellent set just as the Sun went down on the Sun Stage. Just like most of Ireland’s top festivals Knockanstockan had perfect sound and stage set up, but was relaxed enough to not have pit barriers or bouncers or anything like that. The Barley Mob also got a lot of people into the spirit over on the Moon Stage on Saturday night and another stand out tune of that day for me was their song “Rise Up” which no one hesitated in singing along too.
Sunday had an excellent closing line up and one of the bands I was anticipating was Padraig McCauley and the P Affection. The band were over on the Circus Stage which was the only stage there that was inside a tent but was still an impressive set up. The band played a solid set with a few new tunes especially thrown in for the occasion. Bipolar Empire and the Candidates closed the Sun stage on Sunday evening and it couldn’t have been in a better fashion. Bipolar Empires song “feel that you own it” being heard as the sun went down on the lakes before the Candidates made you think the party was only starting with some blistering funk and soul through till about eleven o clock. Thank god it was only starting though, with Fox.E and the Good Hands only going on over on the Circus Stage. The band did a rendition of Dr Dre’s “Forgot About Dre” and the place was hoppin’.
After bands the arena stayed open and a rave started up in the circus tent. A festival like this is really make your own fun with your surroundings. There was no carnival or nothing to pay for to have a good time just everyone doing whatever they wanted in a field filled with Lanterns and Fairy Lights. If that’s your thing then you’d love Knockanstockan.
If you’re one to rate a festival for hospitality then the one thing I will say is that on site it was very limited with just your tent, whatever you had with you and a few portaloos. Food was pretty expensive in the campsite with a slice of bread at a euro a pop and camping chairs were 20 quid. If you wanted to get to a nearby town or to your car, it was a bit of a wait for a shuttle bus, and you were lucky if that went on past 2 o clock or before 11 the next day. For experienced festival goers your probably grand but Knockanstockan can only improve on expansion and I’m sure it will do in time as its only in its 5th year running and from what I saw since last time the change was pretty rapid.
As far as fun and festivals go I would still put Knockanstockan up there. There is definitely potential to maybe add more stages or more attractions in the campsite but for what it was last weekend I definitely had a blast and so did anyone I know who was there.