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home » festivals » Electric Picnic » Electric Picnic 2011
the vibes were perfect all weekend at Electric PicnicElectric Picnic 2011 reviewWednesday 7th September 2011 Another nice little thing that Electric Picnic has which other festivals lack is the entertainment in or around the campsite. We decide to kick off Sunday's proceedings at the Salty Dog stage just beside our campsite, a place with good music and vibes, which like Trenchtown, provides another ideal area to chill a few hours before the festival. We get down to the Salty Dog in time for Blind Yackety, a nine piece from Dublin who create a huge sound with drums, guitar, violin, clarinet, bass and more in music that lies somewhere between baroque and indie pop. We decide to go into the main arena for The Go! Team who take to the stage of the Electric Arena, the Go! Team are one of the most reliable festival bands about, they've always excelled at making party music and it's a set which follows that trend and provides the perfect final day pick me up. New tracks like 'Secretary Song' and 'T.O.R.A.N.A.D.O' receive decent pops while it's the enigmatic front woman Ninja who stirs the crowd into action later during 'Ladyflash' and 'Huddle Formation'. Zach Condon has delivered another fantastic album in the Rip Tide, it's his third under Beirut and one which has seen Condon come into his own a bit more, the nods to baroque pop, eastern European folk and French cabaret are all still evident live with a show that seemingly contains a never ending stream of brass instruments. Some of the older tracks like 'Nantes' and 'A Sunday Smile' sound spectacular, while some of the newer more striped back tracks like 'Santa Fe' and 'Goshen' hold their own, though there are times through the set were you can't help but feeling Beirut would feel a bit more at home in a tent. We pop into the ever reliable Body and Soul arena after to check what is on offer, and we are treated to a special second set from English folk act The Unthanks after their main stage set earlier in the day, it's a pretty relaxed atmosphere, with an appreciative crowd sprawled out in the grass and taking their music in, they're pretty impressive musically too. A band full of harmonies and with tap dancing singers, what else could you ask for? There have been a few nasty clashes at this festival, but the next one was a tough call. Rave goliaths Underworld who have proved in the past to be a festival must see or Californian indie popsters Best Coast. I pip for Best Coast on the basis I've not seen them before, they play a pretty sweet set on the Cosby Stage which is mostly made up of their debut LP Crazy for You. Their fuzzed out surf pop goes down well on this Sunday night with 'Boyfriend' and 'When I'm With You' being the stand out moments. Next up is Sunday nights headliners Pulp, it's the last gig on their scheduled reunion tour and Jarvis Cocker even alluded that they might call it quits after these shows, so it's pretty special to be seeing what could possible turn out to be Pulp's last ever show and it's one which seems to draw one of the biggest crowds of the weekend. They open with 'Do You Remember the First Time?' and it's hits like these and 'Sorted For E's and Whizz' which really get the crowd going, there is a slight dip in the middle of their set where they go for their erection section with tunes which seem to go on a bit too long, and sees the crowd starting to wane as they're looking for the hits, but when they pull the hits out, they pull them off in style with 'Disco 2000' and set closer 'Common People' ticking all the right boxes. With all the main action that just leaves us with some more time in the Body and Soul arena, this time we come across a Canadian band called Austra, it contains plenty of electronics, but it's front woman Katie Stelmanis whose voice propels the band's music. 'Lose It' showcases the bands expertise, dainty synths and Stelmanis warble combine into a perfect piece of electronic pop while her operatic voice soars on tracks like 'Beat and The Pulse' and 'The Villain' A nice little treat to end another superb Electric Picnic, the weather wasn't the greatest, but musically and most importantly the vibes were perfect all weekend. Hats off to all the picnickers yet again. review by Paul Mullin 
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