Electric Picnic Highs And Lows

Highlights

 People and atmosphere – The Irish know how to drink and they know how to party. Such a welcoming culture, this festival felt a lot like home.

FEVER RAY – The hunting vocals of Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife absolutely shattered all expectations as her powerfully emotive voice enveloped the entire audience at the Electric stage on Sunday night. Fever Ray was THE highlight of my weekend. The stage was set with eerie lighting and smoke that created a haze, enough to prevent you from seeing who was on stage. All that could be made out was the lighting coming from several household lamps of different sizes, shapes and styles, situated across the stage. Lazers were also projected across the haze of smoke creating a truly surreal atmosphere.

Bonobo – the moniker of DJ/Producer Simon Green. Usually playing all instruments himself, Sunday’s live performance welcomed a full band onstage and even many orchestral instruments. Dense with musical layers that drifted from the infectious rhythms and groves funk to the sex appeal of jazz and even incorporating some hip-hop along the way. This set was the perfect vibe for a chilled Sunday afternoon and a relaxing start to the final day of the festival.

Teardrop - Massive Attack’s much anticipated hit brought some welcomed warmth to the drenched crowd on Sunday night at Electric Picnic. The British duo, with vocal assistance from the stunning Martina Topley-Bird and now with full band, put on a mesmerizing performance that was of epic proportion. Teardrop’s tender tone was a change of pace from earlier tracks Invade Me and Mezzanine. Production wise the stage was drenched with lighting, haze and Robert "3D" del Naja, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall and co genuinely impressed their soaking wet host of fans.

Forest Rave – kicking off around midnight and lasting until the wee hours of the morning. In the thick of the forest the production was incredible; a full stage, lighting rigs, strobes, projections, screens and decoration.

Body and Soul – such a beautiful and unique arena that hosted the more unusual acts that included fire twirling and on stage theatrics.

Caribou – drawing an impossibly massive horde for their midnight set on Saturday night, the lush psychedelic ambience of the Canadian quartet was simply stunning. With the crowd in awe, their music was perfectly matched to the kaleidoscope of images that were projected around their stage at Body and Soul. Odessa was performed with meticulous perfection as every electronic beat, hypnotic baseline and soft vocal note rolled over the audience like a intoxication haze.

Home Made Instruments - Seasick Steve is now a famous blues player but used to be a hobo living on the streets. Steve could not afford instruments so rather he made them from old parts. His instruments use broom handles, hubcaps, door handles, screws and strings and surprisingly sound like a legitimate instrument.

Lowlights

Prices – meals for around 8 Euro, beers for 5, vodka for 6.50

The Weather – while day one was charming, the luck of the Irish failed to keep us dry and our tents intact as Sunday nights down poor was torrential. By Monday morning I was half excepting Noah to float past on his Ark, or preferably Seasick Steve on the Salty Dog, to save us.

The Toilets – at the campsite each block housed 10 cubicles, back to back. They were made of metal and wood with a toilet seat (if you were lucky) that dropped into a giant communal trough. The smell was putrid, you could see it and by the final day many of the doors had been ripped off. Inside the festival things were a little better unless you were going at the end of the night

Production – There were no screens side of stage to watch the performers, so if you were not up the front or you were too short to see you really did miss out on the action

Public displays of affection – with the chick standing (during a set, and down the front) with her back to the stage, hooking up with her man.

Crystal Castles – lip syncing or way too many backing tracks, this set looked as though Alice Glass miming. Raising the mic and opening her mouth when there were no lyrics or other vocals coming through when she was clearly not singing them. The performance was flat and we never got any of that signature onstage mayhem, Alice was for once well behaved.

Few Aussies – the only band flying the flag for Australia was Sneaky Sound System. I hope the Irish don’t base the rest of our musical tastes on this

No Shows – The Tallest Man On Earth candled their set

Dance Moves – of Ed Macfarlane from Friendly Fires