review

What a cracking festival!

Whereas Steve Lamaq has been quoted as saying Summer Sundae is the “Grandson of Glastonbury”, what we have here is it’s Irish long lost son. Bits of other festivals are scattered about in this most crafted of countrysides, as you can find among many other things the Body and Soul area from The Big Chill, the ID Spiral from Glade, and the Lost Vagueness stage.

There are numerous stages; alongside the Main Stage and huge Electric Arena are the banging Body Tonic, Southern Comfort sponsored Crawdaddy, secluded Big Tree and smaller Foggy Notions stages, along with a cinema tent, comedy tent, the spoken word Leviathan tent and many large themed tents (Bollywood Bar, 02 BlueRoom, Nokia Dome and a silent dicso). With a little hunting amongst the trees you can stumble across the Tir Na Gcasta stage, or have a walk on a beach with cloth palm trees and quadraphonic sound shells.

Of course there’s plenty of chances to dressing up, with the Lost Vagueness and Pussy Parlure, and if you want to clear your head after the shenanigans there’s the Madagascar, a spinning G-force contraption that is very loud and makes many a passer-by leap out of their raincoats!

With a sold out number of people here (30,000 plus workers) the site is not at all crowded; the camping may be but you can walk around freely elsewhere. The most spectacular area in my opinion is the Body and Soul, with an amphitheatre style setting for a small, unnamed stage with various country and folk music. Surrounding this peaceful area are many beautiful hand crafted gardens, this being if you like the Green Fields part of the festival. This is for the place for vegan and conscious meals, as well as healing places and one of only two places to buy cider on site! The Big Tree area close to the large Stradbally Hall is similar again, housing the Amnesty International stalls and a few Tipis.

Music-wise the festival caters mainly for indie, folk, dance and a little world music. Headlining sets from Massive Attack, Groove Armada, and Basement Jaxx carry on well until 2am, as with other European festivals out in the sticks. While The Skatalites provide some sunshine on the Main Stage, Krafty Kuts are playing pumped-up beats that will make your eardrums bleed in the Body Tonic tent, which is situated just outside the arena.

A much anticipated set from DJ Shadow takes place in the Electric Arena, with guest Leeds vocalist Chris James showing off the strong voice that impressed the super-sampler. Bloc Party are very well received back on the Main Stage, while a less pumped up crowd gather in the Electric Arena for a set with Belle and Sebastian.

New Order play a hit-filled show, with one fan clinging to the stage, just failing to perform a successful stage invade. Graham Coxon’s set in the whiskey-fuelled Crawdaddy tent is the closest I come to some punk all weekend, and then after missing most of the set for Groove Armada due to a rambling but extremely lovely Irish bloke I pop in for a bit of 2 Many DJ’s, again in the Body Tonic tent.

The weather is so random all weekend, with rain pushing in front of the sun on the Sunday morning. With my leaking wellies I manage to rejoin the Tonic tent for some uplifting tracks from Pendulum, this time as one DJ and an MC. Elbow, looking impressed and up for it as usual, were on the Main Stage when I left for Coldcut, but then left them for the talented Amadou and Mariam, who can always raise smiles from the crowd. Rufus Wainwright didn’t have a large crowd in the Electric Arena, but seemed happy anyway.

An energetic show as ever from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is cut short by a mad dash to see the Pet Shop Boys in the Electric Arena, complete with male dancers, a top hat with legs and glittery suits. Yet again running around for the last acts of the festival, I caught up with Brakes, an astounding set from Basement Jaxx and their female vocalists, and a sample and scratch-filled show from Cut Chemist.

Despite the ever-changing weather, the Electric Picnic is worthy of the trip to the Emerald Isle, as once in Dublin or Belfast it’s a simple coach ride to the site. After hearing uncomplimentary comments about how the Oxygen Festival is becoming (from the Irish people who've experienced it), it’s refreshing to have more (though sponsored and heavily based on Glastonbury) interesting and varied festivals.

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