So who nailed it and who stank for you?

[Infinite Jest]

Slow Down, Molasses were awesome at the Windmill about half an hour ago.

Wish I'd seen them there, told the singer that I'd gone to see Emmy the Great instead: he said "we clashed with Emmy the Great and Lanterns on the Lake - I wouldn't have gone to see us". Said he loved the festival and had already asked Sofia if they could come back for EoTR or NDH next year

[Hairy Walker]

Nailed:

Midlake - new song sounds incredible

Beirut - seeing them again tonight in Manchester

Clap Your Hands - unimpressed with albums but live - brilliant

Megafaun - reminded me of seeing the Band at the Isle of Wight in 1969 only better

Okkervil River

Other Lives

Rue Royale

Lanterns on the Lake

Leisure Society

and of course the incomparable John Grant. Slightly disappointed that he was not backed by Midlake as he was in early 2010 when touring with them.

Stank:

None really but bit disappointed with Best Coast - all of the songs sounded the same and Junip who started late on Thursday due to sound problems in the Tipi so only played a short set.

[thespiral]

The Growlers - secret set in the Tipi ..... blacked up, heroically wasted (on what !?! ) ...... one of those you had to be there classic 'performances'

[xman]

Loved:

Lykke Li

Songs! with melody and soul and everything. The girl will go far.

White Denim

Ok, a little self indulgent, but boy can they play. All looked like they were having fun too, which is always nice. I'm sure the bass player was in The Partridge Family

John Grant

What a voice. He's taller than I expected too.

Sir Bob Log III

Legend.

Disappointed in:

Tinarawen

Never really got going. I think they missed the girl singers tbh

The New Path From The Car Park

A broken ankle waiting to happen

My Tibetan Beef Stew

They took advantage of my advanced state of inebriation to serve up a £7 plate of rice and gravy

Adored:

The whole weekend. Thanks so much to the organisers who pulled off the increased capacity admirably. No more people next year though please.

[killyourtv]

Nailed:

Laura Marlin, Treefight for Sunlight (unashamedly loved the Wuthering Heights), Lykki Li, Wooden Shijps, most of Midlake, the last euphoric 15 minutes of Okkervil River.

Enjoyed the Fall enormously, both for the terrific noise and for comedy value. Beirut impressed but lack the songs.

Stank:

Very little. Zola Jesus left me cold, Okkervil River started very slowly, and as mentioned the sound in the TiPi did the quieter acts no favours (e.g. Doug Paisley).

Heard very few life-changing new songs to be fair.

[ElGanzo]

Loved:

M Ward, Tuneyards, Allo Darlin, Twin Shadow, Yorkston in the Tipi, Joanna Newsom, Beirut, Sarabeth Tucek, Sam Amidon, Mogwai, Bo Ningen, Herman Dune, Wild Nothing.

Not as good as I hoped/negatives: Kurt Vile, Junip, Best Coast, Micah P Hinson, Timber Timbre, Woods, over-the-top security on a couple of occasions, sound bleed on a number of occasions, but especially during Sarabeth Tucek and the quiet new track Allo Darlin did.

Overall I think this was my favourite year out of the three I went, so many hilarious random moments with people.

[SweepingTheNation]

First "proper" review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/sep/05/end-of-the-road-festival-review

[Better Late...]

Dandelion, I can understand why JN would need silence, but not sure why she "deserved" this? It just meant there were a whole heap of folks wandering around waiting for something else or going back to their tents early. Not the end to the festival I'd have hoped for.

[thespiral]

I agree - please can we not have this situation again. I'd say the same even if the headliner for Sunday night was someone I loved and was absolutely thrilled to see, because I would be aware that (like me this year) there would be hundreds of people around the site feeling let down, bored and disappointed at the end of what had otherwise been a lovely festival. PLEASE can there be some choice next year for this closing slot ?

[clareandguy]

Family ratings:

Nailed: Clare - The Fall (but that was always going to be the case). Honourable mention to She Keeps Bees.

Guy - M. Ward (who had completely failed to impress me with recorded output but was superb live, may have to revisit and revise). Brakes in the Tipi on Sunday.

Rose (age 3 and three quarters) - Woods ( who she consistently picked out of pre festival spotify playlist, and woke her up at the sound of their opening chords, even through her ear protectors.)

Stank: Well, we walked away from quite a few bands due to one or another of the family not fancying them, but the only one we were all in agreement on was Wild Nothing - we decided a bit of drizzle was preferable.

Edited September 6, 2011 by clareandguy

[Better Late...]

Friday

Loved: Secret Sisters, White Denim, She Keeps Bees

Liked a lot: Dry the River, CYHSY, Joan as Policewoman, Emanuel and the Fear, Beirut (though I only saw part of their set as I wanted to see The Fall too - same goes, in reverse, for The Fall).

Disappointment: Best Coast (could have been a "like a lot" with stronger songs).

Saturday

Loved: Treefight for Sunlight, Dan Mangan, Black Angels

Liked a lot: Other Lives, Bob Log III, Mogwai, Okkervil River (for these two I had the same situation as for the Friday night - dashing between the two so may have missed the best bits of both !)

Disappointment: Nathaniel Rateliff

Sunday

Loved: The Lazy Susans, Megafaun, Kurt Vile (even though I was disappointed that by seeing him, I had to miss The Lesiure Society)

Liked a lot: Tinariwen, Brakes

Disappointment: Futur Primitif, Lightning Dust. Ending the festival hanging around bored and feeling let down, and giving in and going to bed at 11.30 because I was right in my feeling that Joanna Newsom would not be my kind of act (and it was too cold to hang around giving her the benefit of the doubt in case things improved) and there was absolutely nothing else available to do.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Better Late...

[RustySpanner]

First time at EOTR for me, really enjoyed the whole weekend. Obviously can't comment on capacity increase. However, have been to other festivals (allbeit some years ago) and this never felt crowded. You could always get near the front for any acts you wanted. Toilets/food stall queues etc were fine.

Nailed: Dry the river, CYHSY, She Keeps Bees, Lykke Li, Rue Royale, Allo Darlin', Twin Shadow, Wild Beasts, Okkervil River, Lanterns on the lake, Laura Marling, Brakes.

Disappointments: Kurt Vile (tooooooo loud), Best coast (just awful), the Gruff Rhys/Twin Shadow clash, Jolie Holland.

Not bothered by the path, but then I travelled light.

Tickets for 2012 in the bag.

[Fat_Buddha]

The Secret Sisters music was alright but the banter got on my nerves so much I had to bugger off, which was a good thing because then I got to see The Growlers, who were the absolute stand out of the weekend for me.

When I think of nailed it, I think of the way that Phosphoresent, Elliot Brood, Felice Brothers and Daniel Lefkowitz blew me away last year, or Okkervill River, Low Anthem and Duke and the King did the year before that. No one managed that this year, although no one really stank either.

Caitlin Rose was a big disappointment. Loved both her sets last year, but she didn't look as if she could be arsed this time.

[riverlodge]

Think I’m just going to list those bands that totally exceeded what I hoped for beforehand, ‘cos there are plenty that matched up to my expectations.

• Herman Dune – what a cool guy, really tight sound, great bit of brass into the mix.

• Tuneyards – the fact that I wasn’t going to bother doesn’t even bear thinking about. Clever, clever girl.

• CYHSY – again, this wasn’t in my must see list but it was a perfect early evening summer set. Think it was ljsawyer that posted something beforehand (now much appreciated thanks) about just having to see them while on over here so that nagged me into going which was the right decision.

• Allo Darlin’ – didn’t you just feel the love in there, the big top was one massive mutual appreciation society.

• Diagrams – first gig? Glad I didn’t miss it, even if he did look spookily like Forrest Gump and I got covered in fairy liquid bubbles.

• Lanterns on the Lake – maybe it was the bigger stage, but they seem to have grown hugely since last year.

• Kurt Vile – for me, he just smashed that set and was ultra cool with it too “ Professh’ ”

• Josh T Pearson – as much for the sound check wit as the set itself.

• John Grant – simply

Disappointing issues, pretty much all been said but someone might read these when planning next year so here goes:

• The wait to get in on Thursday. Sure it won’t happen again.

• The rocky path – I always get all my stuff in a backpack so managed fine, but I felt so sorry for families with little kids and anyone who, daftly it might be said, had a roller case. Attention to detail by EOTR seems to be good but that was a fail.

• Being a complete dick on Friday and failing to realise that White Denim weren’t actually playing in the tipi (only one person to blame though, super duhhh).

• Sound guy @ the tipi. Anyone else see the dirty look that Kathryn Calder was giving him when she just changed up guitar and was trying to get his attention and he was just yakking to his mate? The contrast with the other stages was extraordinary – my position of choice for the tipi was just behind the sound check so regularly saw that the professionalism of that guy was perfect.

• Some sound bleed. Woods stage generally affecting quiet stuff in the tipi and even the garden. Big top louder bands affecting the Woods, and annoyingly, the entertainment by the semi circle bar sometimes affecting the garden stage.

• Talkers. Not the Festival’s fault, even in who is attracted I suppose. Gig etiquette test at the gates?

• Garden Stage bar – it was really good last year, what happened?

• Showers – come on, they aren’t a luxury at festivals any more, increased capacity should see increased facilities (see Latitude’s response on facilities this year which was exemplary). I’m both lucky and unlucky in that I always wake up early, but it's not great when they are only at one end of a bigger campsite, and it’s Russian roulette on getting a warm one.

• Joanna Newsom being the only choice as festival closer (well not actually, fun was to be had with daft communal singing at the piano bar in a vain attempt to interfere with JN’s “right to silence”, but that’s not quite what I mean).

Anyhow, bought my ticket for 2012 with one for the new one just up the road.

[riverlodge]

Kurt Vile (tooooooo loud)

[RustySpanner]

just about the only think I disagree with you on

[puppyfeat]

I just remembered one other thing which no-one else has mentioned, which was the unannounced appearance of Three Trapped Tigers in the Tipi late on Friday night. I'd just got back to my tent and cracked a can when I heard this familiar sound coming from that direction, which fortunately was just about 1 mins walk away - couldn't believe it when i got inside and there they were playing! Sadly I only caught about the last 10 mins, but nevermind I've seen em 3 times before anyway. I just wish they'd had them on in the Big Top instead - hopefully they'll be back next year as one of the scheduled acts, which they deserve to be.

[puppyfeat]

Disappointments: Kurt Vile (tooooooo loud)

[Sipperana]

Joanna Newsom being the only choice as festival closer (well not actually, fun was to be had with daft communal singing at the piano bar in a vain attempt to interfere with JN’s “right to silence”, but that’s not quite what I mean).

[Elfy]

^^^^^^^^^^^

That last post was by me - Sipperana hadn't logged out and I didn't realise

[Donny Osmond]

Plenty of good performances, but no-one blew me away like Elliot Brood or Citay did last year.

Very Good

Sarabeth Tucek (despite suffering from bleed from Woods stage)

The Mountaineering Club (though missed bits of them & Sarabeth as they clashed)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Caitlin Rose (surprised people found her lacking)

The Walkmen

Megafaun

Woods

Leisure Society

John Grant

White Denim

Twin Shadow

Lanterns On The Lake

Disappointed

Other Lives (tedious)

Emanuel & The Fear (was good but was looking forward to lots of them on stage & suffered from bleed)

Wooden Shjips (like their stuff - but didn't grab me live)

The Black Angels (see above)

Midlake (third time I've seen them & third time they've disappointed despite liking their albums)

The Deadly Syndrome/The Love Language pulling out

Lack of toilets next to Big Top

Queues at Real Ale bar

Everyone else I saw was nothing special, but ok.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Donny Osmond

[jonorangesky]

My fifth year and still a brilliant festival

Best bits:

Laura Marling

Other Lives

Woods

This is the kit (brilliant lead guitarist)

Lanterns on the lake

Brakes

Kurt Vile (caught a bit at the beginning only)

Expected more but didn't deliver:

Jolie Holland

The Fresh and Onlys

Phosphorescent (brilliant last year, but not this)

Wish I'd seen any or more of:

Diagrams

Lykke Li

Austra

Midlake

Glad I avoided

The Fall!

[acstalker]

Great:

White Denim

The Black Angels

Herman Dune

Megafaun

Woods

Nathaniel Rateliff

Sarabeth Tucek

Dan Mangan

John Grant

Caitlin Rose

Wooden Shjips

Okkervil River

I taped The Black Angels, Caitlin Rose and Magafaun - will post on archive.org. Also taped John Grant but he hasn't given permission for recordings to be circulated.

Stank:

Nobody, really, but that's because I deliberately avoided seeing some acts (e.g. all the headliners). But Laura Marling was a bit dull.

Apparently JN has a bit of a reputation as a diva. James Vincent McMorrow tells a story about when he supported her in Dublin. She used up all the soundcheck time, leaving none for him, insisted the harp could not be moved from centre stage during his set and demanded that he turn down the volume in case it got knocked over/detuned.

[SweepingTheNation]

Allo Darlin’ – didn’t you just feel the love in there, the big top was one massive mutual appreciation society.

[Christophales]

Pretty much everyone in the Big Top, which was immense this year. Especially Drum Eyes, HEALTH and Bo Ningen. Outside that, Bob Log (naturally), Joanna, Wild Beasts, The Walkmen, Tune-yards, Mogwai, Beirut, CYHSY!, Junip all very good.

Disappointments - Best Coast was really annoying (that album only makes sense when driving in the country on the way to a surfing holiday), the Friday DJs at the forest dancefloor. There were some that were a bit meh, like Wild Nothing and Micah P Hinson (pottymouth).

Needed a really strong dance band in the Big Top on the Friday night, Caribou ripped it up last year