Electric Picnic 2010
Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th September 2010Stradbally Hall Estate, Stradbally, Co. Laois, Eire, Ireland
240 euros
Chicago based nine piece Hypnotic Brass Ensemble play a mid afternoon set on the main stage, thankfully the sound issues have been rectified on the main stage overnight and they play a superb set which gently eases us into the Saturday's festivities, with a mix of jazz, funk and soul and with various members on MC duties they play an energy packed set to an appreciative crowd, 'Ballacki Bone', 'Party Started' and 'War' go down especially well on this occasion. Their stage banter is warmly received as they dedicate war to "the few who are controlling the world and messing it up" before getting the crowd to raise their peace fingers in the air.
Radiohead's Philip Selway plays the Cosby stage, currently touring his first solo album 'Familial', just like on the album itself, the tracks never realise their full potential, there isn't anything stand out on any of the tracks and they just seem to amalgamate into one long dull track, I try to stick it out to the very end of the set, but I've reached the end of my tether unfortunately and head over to the Bacardi Bar to hear The Revenge.
The Revenge is just one of the many alter egos of Scotsman Graeme Clark. He weaves his way through a variety of styles in the late afternoon, disco and deep house intertwine always with the objective of having the hoards of people at the Bacardi B Bar moving their feet. Sunshine, Mojitos and classics such as Parliament's 'Give up the Funk' set us up nicely as we move into the evening.
Our next stop is The Antlers, at the Cosby stage, they released arguably the finest record in 2009 'Hospice' which tells the story of an emotionally abusive relationship, it's one of the most heartfelt and sombre records I've ever heard and one would think it would be very difficult to translate those songs to a live setting, they add touches to the songs live and it works remarkably well. 'Sylvia' is a building colossus which turns into a spectacular wall of noise, 'Bear' retains the delicate beauty it has on record and one cannot help but be genuinely overcome by how majestic it is live, hairs standing on the back of neck moment. 'Two' is more of the same and although it's a little emotionally draining, they prove to be one of the acts of the weekend.
We decide to stick around the Electric Arena as next up is LCD Soundsystem, as it was for Hot Chip the arena is packed to capacity and the arena doesn't stop bouncing for the majority of LCD's set, they come onto 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love' before launching into a blistering set 'Get Innocuous' into 'Daft Punk Is Playing At My House' sets the tone for the rest of the set, 'Us vs. Them' and 'Tribulations' have us practically delirious and even the not quite so good tracks like 'Drunk Girls' go down a storm live. They go off stage leaving the crowd baying for more; they come back and duly deliver with three of my personal favourites 'Someone Great', 'Losing My Edge' and 'New York I Love You..' There is a real possibility that we might not see LCD Soundsystem much longer as James Murphy decides to concentrate on other projects, if not then this was a fitting way for them to bow out to their Irish fans.
review by: Paul Mullin
photos by: Andrew McLaughlin
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