A-Trak whips up the party atmosphere for a late night at Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic 2008 review
Wednesday 10th September 2008
Saturday is here and lucky the weather is okay but looking up at the clouds I'm not sure how? The clouds cover any possible rays of sunlight but the rain is staying off which is very unusual for festivals in this country. Some great acts are playing today. The first act I see is the gorgeous Welsh bombshell Duffy. She delivers her hits 'Mercy' and 'Warwick Avenue' well. Backed by a good live band she get the sleepy afternoon crowd moving with her bubbly smiley exterior and grooving tunes. She possible could have got the crowd going a little more but its one I still really enjoyed her.
I have a few hours to spare until the next act I want to see so I take the chance to relax and chat to some festival go-ers. Everyone is really enjoying the weekend and I'm told to go visit the Secret Garden area if I have some free time. I do and it is great fun – it's a nice walk towards the back of the main arena and there is plenty to see and do. There's a kids playground in this area and the rest is basically arts and crafts of some description. One stall catches my eye in particular. It's a caveman experience where you get the chance to carve and make your own arrow heads. Great fun. I have a go but my skills really aren't up to scratch so I think I'll stick to the writing!
Next I head to the Body and Soul area that has a whole range of things happening. A lot of world music and interesting places to eat and drink. I'm particularly excited about seeing Laura Marling here tomorrow as I've been told by friends she's great live. Also I am told that the Body and Soul is the most popular festival hangout once the acts are over in the Main Arena –I plan to party here tonight if I get the chance as everyone recommends it. Evening is upon me and I've got a busy schedule of acts to see. I'd had real good luck with acts clashing until tonight - two of the groups I really wanted to see later on play at the same time.
The choice is Santogold who have a groovy electro rock sound and Crystal Castles with their must see Atari inspired crazy action dance mashup-pop. I make the most of things and catch a little of both groups. Santogold are in the Cosby Tent. They deliver a real upbeat classy set. Really colourful and stylish as they fly through their hits like 'My Drive Thru' and 'Lights Out'. I Catch Crystal Castles mid-set and it is pumping. A big crowd has turned out to see them and I struggle to get into there tent to see them. Its all going off though and vocalist Alice Glass is up to her usual craziness and entertaining stage antics. Their performance is original and off the hook!
The weekend has been great and it is hard to pick faults as yet, but I'm aware my overview is sounding very one sided so I have a good think. I could complain about toilets but it's a festival and that's what you got to expect. Its like complaining about the weather! I could complain about there being too many music tents and me finding it hard to get my bearings but I think that's probably down to my terrible sense of direction particularly at night!
I could complain about having to purchase a 3euro eco-cup but that's just me being a tight ass and not particularly caring about the environment when I should... The organisers have really made an active attempt to make festival goers aware of the environment and climate change. I see their slogan dotted around the grounds. "The Climate is changing. Are you?" It hits home a little and I begin to feel pretty guilty for any rubbish I'd dropped over the weekend. Maybe these guys are getting through to me! This place is special. I think a happy go hippy mood best describes the overall atmosphere.
Anyway, back to the music. The headline act I choose to see tonight is DJ A-Trak on the Cosby stage. He's Kanye West's tour DJ but so much more in the electro/turntablist/Club DJ scene these days and I guess it's a mark of his success he's headlining after Santogold. This guy is amazing – I've been a fan of him for a while and am lucky enough to get a chance to say hey backstage before he goes on.
Backstage isn't as cool as it sounds so like all good fans I run round to the crowd and barge my way up to the front of a semi filled tent and get my groove on. A-Trak delivers a great up beat set full of party rocking beats and some of his own stuff – Highlight of the weekend so far for me. He really knows how to work a festival crowd and is not scared to drop something in a bit different. If you have the opportunity you have to get yourself to an A-Trak show. The atmosphere is sheer electric.
It's getting late and the only music left going in the main arena I can hear is beating out from the body and soul area. Floods of people are heading that way to should be great fun and it's on till 4am. Time to party!!
review by Lonan O'Neill photos by Lonan O Neill / Matthew Boyle / Shane Boylan
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