Electric Picnic 2010

[suprefan]

But EP gets mud, Primavera does not. Dealbreaker right there....

[MissingPerson]

Actually, turns out that at the very least, I'll should be able to see Arcade Fire play - they're making day tickets available just for the Sunday.

As for working at it or doing the three days - college repeat exams happen precariously close to the EP dates, and there is a very good chance I'll need to do at least one. The repeat exam dates aren't published until very late in the summer, so I won't know until much closer to the time whether I can do it or not.

I'd love to embarrass myself in conversation with Richard Reed Parry again, and by God if I can at all I will, but I'm not going to let myself think it's for sure until I know it is.

[Boourns]

God damn, some killer adds for Electric Picnic:
Blonde Redhead
Zola Jesus
The Drums
Santigold
The Family Stone
Joan As Policewoman
Best Coast
3epkano
Power Of Dreams
Yuck
The Undertones
Public Enemy

[Thisismyname]

So does The Family Stone actually involve Sly, or is it just a band or something?

[Boourns]

Other band members, just no Sly.

Original founding members, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and R&B pioneer award winners, Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson bring you the hits of Sly & The Family Stone. Cynthia & Jerry continue to thrill audiences with the musical experience that has brought them in front of over half a million people through Europe and the US, spreading the roots of funk that is The Family Stone.

Bringing you the message of peace, love, and social consciousness through musical harmony (Hey! that’s what its all about people!) with some of the funkiest players of all time. Keeping the legacy true to its original sound and raw funk-ability, they present a set of their classic hits like "I Want to Take You Higher", Everyday People", Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin", "Dance To The Music", "Hot Fun In The Summertime", "Family Affair", "Sing a Simple Song” Electric Picnic welcomes The Family Stone!

[chiapet]

Honestly you are better off without Sly. He just brings the rest of the group down -- at coachella he didn't even really do more than like 30 seconds of vocals on any song anyway.

[Boourns]

nevar forget

[guedita]

This line up is impressive and I am interested in going.

MP: would staying at an offsite hotel be feasible/recommended? There are tons listed on the EP website. Also, about how many people does this fest pull in?

[MissingPerson]

It's perfectly feasible, sure. The festival grounds are bang in the middle of the town of Stradbally, and you're an easy 15 minute taxi or bus ride away from Portlaoise or Abbeyleix. The thing is, the cost of camping is included in your ticket no matter what, and the campsite is clean, well maintained, and easygoing, so I think it would be a bit of a shame to have to up and leave if you fall in with a fun crowd. If I do get going this year, you guys are more than welcome to join us if you wanna.

Capacity is officially around 35,000, but rarely a year goes by you won't bump into somebody who snuck in, so it's a little bit more. Worth mentioning, although EP almost always sells out through Ticketmaster, you can usually find tickets somewhere right up until the last minute.

The crowd is a mixture of hippies and hipsters, but overall generally pretty friendly and chill - I ran into a bunch of Stormtroopers last year, and a guy dressed as a Rubix cube -although it has gotten a bit more mainstreamy of late under a fairly recent management change.

One thing worth mentioning. All my own bias aside, Arcade Fire's set in 2005 was a huge, defining moment for the festival, so to have them headline is a big, big deal for the organisers and festival-goers. I don't know what effect it's likely to have on the crowd or it's makeup, but it does make this year a slightly unpredictable one.

[guedita]

I'm wondering if I should just buy a ticket now and then figure it out, since it seems like I can easily sell it.

[Boourns]

Aaah, I really want to go. This just might be the last Pulp show ever, after all. And the lineup is brilliant and without the usual garbage acts that plague even the best fests.

[MissingPerson]

I'm wondering if I should just buy a ticket now and then figure it out, since it seems like I can easily sell it.

I'm not too sure what to tell you there to be honest. I do think it would be pretty easy to sell it from here anyway, yeah.

[chiapet]

So the camping is well maintained.... how much of an issue is rain and mud this time of year?

We were talking about this last night while drinking but I'm pretty sure I am being serious about going.

[MissingPerson]

It can rain a bit yeah, but not very heavily or constantly at that time of year. Showers mainly. The grounds are a fairly posh estate for the rest of the time, so footing stays fairly firm. There's a bit of mud, but nothing like Glastonbury or even Oxegen - you should bring wellies, but there's still plenty of recognisable grass underfoot by the end of the weekend.

EDIT:

Just to be clear - you probably will get a bit damp, but you're not going to find your tent sailing down the hill out to sea at any point.

[guedita]

And...how many more acts do you expect to be added to the lineup?

[MissingPerson]

Maybe five or six recognisable notables, and maybe twenty odd local acts and artists. It's not beyond EP to pull out something very surprising during or immediately after Oxegen, to steal their thunder - that would be mid July.

[guedita]

MY FINGER IS ON THE BUTTON

[chiapet]

I need to figure out the logistics. It looks like there is a bus you can book with the festival ticket to get to the site from Dublin? I'd been looking at the get-a-tent type options but they seem really expensive. I guess it wouldn't be that big of a deal to cart my camping equipment overseas yet.

I'm so tempted by this... it's the only festival I've seen where I actually would be willing to watch all of the headliners (4 of them I'd really want to see). I have 2 weeks of vacation time left so I could travel a bit too...

[Boourns]

For reference, this is last year's schedule:
http://clashfinder.com/s/ep2010/

So there are a lot more acts coming, but mostly obscure stuff on the small stages, it seems.

[MissingPerson]

Transport is no problem. The train from Dublin goes right to Portlaoise. From the train station, look around for the nearest off license to buy a shitload of beer. Then find a bunch of others and share a taxi to the festival site itself. It'll cost between a fiver and a tenner, depending on how many of you are packed into it.

For buses, there will be plenty of special festival buses and unofficial coaches leaving from just of Parnell Square, which is like two minutes from O'Connell street. Return tickets to Portlaoise should be around about twenty, twenty five euro.

I think there's a bunch of regular old everyday national buses to Portlaoise too - the central bus station, Busaras, will be able to tell you all about them - but I'm not sure. Basically, if you're in Dublin on the day, just follow the trail of giant primary coloured backpacks to a bus.

If my college exams clash with this, I maaaaaay just drop out.

[chiapet]

Well surely there are no exams on Sunday (Arcade Fire), right?

[MissingPerson]

There might be some the day after though. I wish fun and boring shit didn't always have to fight like this.

I've been told it looks like AF might be playing Saturday after all, which is weird.

[Boourns]

Pulp is the Sunday headliner.
http://www.pulppeople.com/#concerts

[MissingPerson]

Shit yes, I'd completely forgotten about that.

[chiapet]

Ah, yes. Last show they have posted (so far). So,... we're all going, right?

[Boourns]

I wish. Damn airfare.

[MissingPerson]

Well, I'm provisionally on if that's any good to you, but if I'm working at it I'm gonna have to do my shifts and then meet you before/after.

[guedita]

Airfare is like $1000 right now. I don't think that there's any chance it will get any cheaper than that. I still really, really want to go.

[shakermaker113]

so tempting.

[Boourns]

There were some additions a few weeks ago. Mostly filler:

The Rapture
Warpaint
James Blake
James Vincent McMorrow
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Unthanks
John Grant
Gemma Hayes
The Japanese Popstars
The Lost Brothers
Funeral Suits