My review...for what it's worth...

[liarliar]

Morning campers...

This was my 5th EOTR festival and probably my worst. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I did, but I felt a little less "in love" this time around.

We didn't get off to a good start, to be honest, because we found out that we had punctures in the air bed and we couldn't fix them. So we traipsed off to get a new one...and found that the nearest place was Salisbury. This meant a 75 minute round-trip to Argos in Salisbury. The traffic getting there was awful...not too bad coming back.

And then The Crow "pub". What a nightmare. Queued for 25 minutes for a couple of pints - was at the front for about 20 of those and still no service. The staff were jumping all over the place along the tables so they clearly couldn't see who had been waiting. I gave up and got the EOTR ales at the left hand side instead. I gave up queuing a second time, too, just because it was so busy. Crazy, really, because the cider / lager part was mostly deserted while the real ale part was rammed. I don't think that the access to only two tills worked to speed things up either.

After the first day, they stopped advertising what beer was on, too, so you could only see what was available when you were at the front. Anyone know why they removed the chalkboard?

In future, I am definitely taking a couple of mini-casks and not bothering with the bars.

The site was once again looking great. Not much noise-bleed from other stages (if any?) and easy access between them. Food stalls were also very good. Rotisserie chicken and the veggie curry place were excellent. I wonder how the panini stall was doing? £5.50 for a basic panini...must be joking. I could probably have completed a whole sticker album for that price!

Practically every person we came across were smiley and friendly. A really good "vibe" all over! Just a shame we ended up camping right next to a group of selfish nobs who thought it was okay to have loud conversations at 3.45am (Friday night) and 4.45am (Saturday night).

Music highlights for me included...

David Byrne & St Vincent

King Khan (bit of a larf)

Parquet Courts (probably my highlight)

Leisure Society

Dawes (better than I expected)

Pokey Lafarge

Belle & Sebastian

Daniel Norgren

Frontier Ruckus (awesome sound)

The Walkmen

Jens Lekman

Merchandise

Music disappointments...

Eels (probably going to get a lot of disagreement here but I found him shouting "YEAH" after the end of every song a bit weird)

Money (was really looking forward to these...bit samey...and he kicked his shoe into the audience halfway through and it hit a woman...and he laughed while "apologising"...nob!)

Sigur Ros (quite a fan...but I thought their set-list was odd...the first half a dozen songs were all of the same ilk...got bored and left)

For the first time in 5 years, I stumbled across someone playing a "secret set" on the Piano Stage. It was John Murry. I quite like his album but he wasn't half strange. Looked like he just got kicked off the set of a Twilight movie for bringing everyone down!

Anyways, in spite of the moans, I did enjoy it and will be getting the early bird tickets...

Oh..weather was nice, wasn't it.

And finally, AndyLoos...marvellous. And the Dorset Farm shop...bit pricey but the food was very good.

[wolfamongwolves]

G day.

This was my 7th eotr. And definitely my worst.

The site was as beautiful as ever. But the magic seemed to have gone for me.

Musically and I know its just my opinion and not everyone feels the same. But worst line up since I have been coming here . Strong headliners and nothing in between.

Line up was just a bit dull. I have never found myself bored at eotr before but did this year.

Still had a few Highlights.

David byrne St Vincent

Sigur ros

Braids

Bob Lind

Dinosaur Jr

Julianna barwick

Mark mulcahy

Savages

Damien jurado

Food good

Weather great

Will not have a early bird for next year. See what the line up is saying first

[zahidf]

I loved it this year: favouite of the last 3.

Highlights:

David Bryne

Sigur ros

Eels

Belle and Sebastain

Jens Lekman

Damian Juardo

King Khan

Policia

frightened rabbit acoustic in the boat.

[mrtourette]

Love the panini joke, although unfortunately you'd be lucky to get more than a few packs for that price.

[liarliar]

Love the panini joke, although unfortunately you'd be lucky to get more than a few packs for that price.

[Donny Osmond]

I thought it was better than my last EOTR - which was 2 years back as I went to NDH last year, after being slightly disillusioned by EOTR 2011, following a pretty stellar 4 previous festivals.

Gripes first...

Can echo the comments about the beer tent. I think they massively underestimated the demand for ale - so thanks for the tasting notes in the program, but I ended up drinking Freedom lager most of the weekend from from the only place that still seemed to serve it (the Tipi, where the bar was at least quiet). I think the blackboard listing the ales disappeared because they simply ran out of most of the beers after the first day.

I thought the scheduling was awful. Lots of times when there were multiple bands I wanted to watch either completely clashing or overlapping & other times when there wasn't much going on at all.

Other than that I thought they got most things right. I thought the bands were pretty spot on as usual. Not all to my taste but judging by who people were tweeting about enjoying, there seemed to be something for everyone.

Highlights (in no particular order):

John Murry - was a wrench leaving The Walkmen, but they played The Rat at the perfect time to leg it to catch John Murry's set & I was glad I did - though is he always like that between songs? Worried the demons had returned, but his state of mind only served to charge the songs even more & the final performance of Little Coloured Balloons will stay with me for a long time.

Sigur Ros - disagree with the above comments, I thought they were simply amazing. Got close up & it was one of the best performances I've ever seen. He is a very strange mewing creature.

Indians - I thought he was terrific. Beautiful songs. Coming straight after East India Youth (also good) it felt like groundhog day in the Big Top at first, but he blew me away.

Dawes - I love this band & they were perfect for a sunny afternoon.

Damien Jurado - Way overdue at EOTR & best banter of the weekend. So relieved I was standing just behind Steve & not at the front. The crowd were also impressively quiet throughout, something I've not experienced since Bon Iver.

Mark Mulcahy - Love his new album & thought he came across very well.

Parquet Courts - Third time I've seen them this year & they keep getting better & better.

Efterklang - Was bored half a dozen songs into David Byrne & St Vincent and very glad I decided to leave. Saw them in Bristol earlier this year & they worked so much better on the big stage.

The Walkmen - the two thirds of them that I caught were great as ever & very loud.

Leisure Society - always good.

Honourable mentions...

Missed most of Night Beds who I really wanted to see, but they were compromised by the scheduling as they overlapped with Indians & Dawes. Enjoyed what I did see though.

Deptford Goth - enjoyed but was a bit synthed out after East India Youth & Indians - who he couldn't quite live up to.

The Daniels. Norgren just pipped Lefkovitz for me but both very good.

Dinosaur Jr - first time I've seen them & loved hearing The Lung blasted out. Wish I'd watched all of them rather than bothering trying to catch some of Belle & Sebastian.

Caitlin Rose - enjoyable as ever, though the banter seemed a bit forced.

Barr Brothers, Staves, King Khan, Polica, Frontier Ruckus & the 3-4 songs I caught by Strand Of Oaks (whose bright idea was it to schedule at the same time as Jurado!) also enjoyable.

Failures....

Belle & Sebastian - spent half the gig running between them Dinosaur Jr & whilst it seems I caught the better parts of their show was disappointed with the setlist. Must be about the 10th time I've seen them & by far the worst.

David Byrne & St Vincent - love St Vincent, but didn't think the arrangement suited her. Not a fan of latter day David Byrne & didn't really want to stick around in the hope of hearing big band versions of Talking Heads songs.

Frightened Rabbit - enjoyed them in the boat, but strangely lacking in their main show. Have become a bit samey of late.

Allo Darlin - gave them another chance as Europe is much better than their debut, but still find their lyrics cringeworthy.

Eels - seeing them live brought home just how relentlessly one dimensional they have become in recent years.

Warpaint, Daughter, Dutch Uncles. Teleman, Ralfe Band, Matthew E White all a bit dull - though I may be doing Matthew E White a disservice as I didn't stick around long due to the bizarre scheduling that meant he clashed with Parquet Courts.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable weekend

Edited September 2, 2013 by Donny Osmond

[dirtycash]

For the 6th year running the Guardian have given it 4 stars in this fairly dull review.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/02/end-of-the-road-festival-review

[dirtycash]

I wasn't there this year but I just wondered if there was any mention of No Direction Home festival returning in the programme?

[liarliar]

I wasn't there this year but I just wondered if there was any mention of No Direction Home festival returning in the programme?

[eFestivals]

I wasn't there this year but I just wondered if there was any mention of No Direction Home festival returning in the programme?

why are the world's biggest boy band holding a festival...?

[Infinite Jest]

why are the world's biggest boy band holding a festival...?

[killyourtv]

The highlight of EOTR for me was liarliar's panini joke.

Apart from that, my 2nd EOTR wasn't as magical as 2011, but then that's true of lots of things from football to pad thai. I didn't stay for the duration due to family commitments and a ringing head (thanks Bo Ningen), but thought the line-up was a tad down on previous, though still good and varied.

Great things were;

• Daughter - "Human" and "Youth" made me very emotional indeed
• Allo' Darlin - my 14 year old converted during "Dreaming"- luv u Bill
• Indians - bought LP on basis of 15 mins
• William Tyler - produced the quietest audience of my weekend
• Bob Lind - only caught the end but wonderful
• Sound quality outdoors was good (except at the very back)
• Food - pretty much all of it, Balkan Grill a standout
• The sunshine - gorgeous throughout, as was the whole site
• Nice people, almost without exception - very chatty
• Cinema - upgraded (?). Loved "the Hunt", walked out of "A Field"

Less good:-

• Constant chat from 10 rows back, particularly in the Garden
• Acts felt a bit more samey than before, missed the euro-pop
• Beer - I was there from Thursday and never saw most of the promised list. Marstons EPA is no substitute for Late Red, either
• Spent a lot of time queueing for Brew Boy's amazing flat white

On balance, will probably come back in 2014 if I don't spend all my cash on gigs, and can persuade 2 early-teenagers it's a good idea.

[Steve P]

Loved it, perfectly set up to be able to enjoy as a family and as grown-ups. I really like the feel of the place, like a tiny chilled piece of Glastonbury. My only real gripe is the lack of any West Indian food - a festival without goat curry feels wrong

If you want to make some money there though I'd definitely suggest setting up a food stall catering more for kids. Small portions of simple child friendly dishes would seem like a way to make some real cash there.

[AndyfromBrackley]

Second time for me, and a great weekend. I've read with interest the posts so far, and will keep an eye on them coming in. "Horses for courses"; and every post should be headed 'In My opinion'

Firstly, Mr liarliar, why drive to Salisbury when the shop was selling airbeds, gas etc. Maybe it was the made up prices that was reminiscent of a souk, and may have required a bit of bartering. Probably less hassle than queuing twice to buy something in Argos!

Hats off to Andyloos - fantastic - and what about them new white ones? Suction!

Honorable mention to the litter pickers and volunteers, How bloody difficult is it to walk to a bin to deposit your waste?

Highlights for me

• Dutch Uncles - where were you all (don't tell me - Daughter)? Please make an effort if they are near you soon.
• David Byrne & St Vincent - great show, loved the dip into the DB back catalogue, and outstanding choreography
• Parquet Courts - hold on to your hats, best new act I've seen for a while. I'll have to catch Stoned & Starvn some other time, as a rapid exit was required for DB. This was my only serious clash worry.
• Public Service Broadcasting - Might be Marmite for some, and I'm not sure how long they can run with the concept, but a damn fine show with added brass on Everest
• Crocodiles - little known to me, but good enough to purchase the new cd. BRMC anybody?
• Barr Brothers - just what the hell was he doing with those guitar strings? After hours in the Tipi with Dan Lekowitz(?) Like a Rolling Stone
• Teleman - good luck with some fine toons
• Catfish & The Bottlemen (Thursday) - bit of Arctic Monkeys swagger, and more looking forward to seeing them in Oxford in a couple of weeks

Didn't do it for me

• Sigur Ros - great show and presentation, I gave them nearly an hour, but i guess I'm not a huge fan, and the vocals and language began to grate
• Palma Violets - I was giving them a second chance, but still only 3 decent songs, and someone please give the bass player a slap (HaHa), and remind him he is a bass player [insert any bass player joke here]
• Bo Ningen - Nope, not really for me, maybe if the tunes had two chords, or even three, I might have got it. Guitarist on right reminded me of one of The Slag Brothers from Wacky Races.
• Deap Valley - really?

Great food at the Balkan Grill, I guess they got their act together for the weekend and ran like the well-oiled machine of the Breakfast Club. It was like watching a comedy on Thursday as they tried to sort there job roles out, still, I understand it was their first time. Wife disappointed that all the Savory muffins had gone when we went there this morning.

Early bird tomorrow, and see you you next year

[Mardy]

yeah, lots of similar thoughts to those above really. Had a good time, the weather was great and caught some good music. Highlights for me were John Murry, Caitlin Rose, Futur Primitif. Felt a bit more crowded than previously though, more and longer queues for food, toilets, beer etc. Has the capacity been increased. Musically, not diverse enough really, especially on Saturday nihgt, Sigur Ros, warpaint and daughter all left me wanting something more cha-cha-cha. But the run of acts I saw on sunday night more than made up for it.

And, Chris Yates. Magnificent.

[liarliar]

Firstly, Mr liarliar, why drive to Salisbury when the shop was selling airbeds, gas etc. Maybe it was the made up prices that was reminiscent of a souk, and may have required a bit of bartering. Probably less hassle than queuing twice to buy something in Argos!

[SweepingTheNation]

It was a funny set of circumstances for me this year as Thursday to Saturday I was fifty miles away at ArcTanGent (2000 Trees spin-off focusing on its post-rock/math/post-hardcore end) and got in only for the one day at EOTR through nefarious means. Much as I enjoyed that festival, though, come Sunday it felt a lot like I'd come to where my heart was and I should have been all along, and not just because it didn't feel like I was the oldest person there. Despite the very genre-centred nature of ATG and that it came out of something with rigid structure, EOTR feels much more like a community despite its increasing size, such is the atmosphere and the willingness of those there to muck in and make it feel something different to everything else on the festival calendar. It doesn't even seem to matter sitting here that nothing musically blew me away - Jens was great, Public Service Broadcasting clicked spectacularly, Bo Ningen I'd seen (inferiorly) two days earlier so chose to only catch the first 15 minutes and then the second half of Daikaisei but they were on fire, Scott Hutchison's secret solo set was a peculiar joy and I can now say I've seen J Mascis in full flight.

[baroquepop]

It's great to read others' views, and to learn what I missed.

It certainly felt a lot more crowded this year, and perhaps the new camping arrangement gives some credence to that, as did longer queues and generally quite full stages.

Highlights

• Three top quality headline acts, each with a show and personnel to do justice to their slots.
• Cinema tent. Very nice set-up this time. Well done to the chap running it. Particularly enjoyed Holy Mountain!

Lowlights

• Horrible timing clash of Efterklang and David Byrne.
• The undercard didn't thrill me at all. Not so many I wanted to see in advance and only a few that I really appreciated upon hearing. (have a look at 2012 listing for comparison).
• Ticket Trust screwing up with my ticket. Thankfully the EOTR box office came to the rescue.

In summary - My third time, and least loved with easily the weakest undercard, and getting discernibly more crowded.

Going next year? - I'll wait for the line-up announcements. I may take a friend's suggestion and go to WOMAD instead.

[Fareham Grecian]

AndyfromBrackley, you sum up my thoughts spookily well.

I have been to the last 5 EotRs, and I honestly thought this was the best yet. I KNOW we all miss the intimacy of the early days, but hats off to Simon and Sofia for keeping as much as possible of the ethos while coping with the inevitable expansion. A few random points:

The real ale festival was a shambles. Great for most of Friday, but after that a waste of time. When the rest of the festival appears so well thought through, it is such a shame that no-one could estimate within 50% the amount of ale that was needed, or find any staff who have the faintest idea about customer service. I lost count of the number of times I bought two pints and the staff had to use the cash register to work out how much it was. When all the beer was the same price. And the till was helpfully located just outside Leeds. On the positive side, I love Marstons EPA, so rebadging that as the 'festival ale' worked for me.

Musically, sound quality was as fantastic as ever. Unexpected highlight for me was David Byrne & St Vincent, stunning show. Second fave Leisure Society, Allo Darlin' reliably fun, and honourable mention to Catfish & The Bottlemen on Thurs, great stuff. Disappointments: thought Belle and Sebastian were dull, and wtf is it with Stuart Murdoch's voice?? So flat on some songs it was embarrassing.

What happened to the water supply in the family camping? Last year there were taps every few yards on the (ex)rocky road, this year not a single tap anywhere in the field (unless I missed some).

Enough moaning. Mostly everything was genuinely fantastic. I forced, er, sorry, persuaded 5 of my friends to attend for the first time, 4 of whom had never been to a festival before, and one of whom was aged 9 (and thought Bo Ningen was the best thing that's ever happened. EVER). And they all, without exception, absolutely, completely, flipping* loved it. Well done EotR.

(*pardon my French)

[HRL]

Have to agree with liarliar.

This was mine and my OH's 4th EOTR, we came in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and again this year. However, we both came to the conclusion that it didn't feel quite the same as in previous years and that indeed the 'magic' of EOTR had been lost out to bigger crowds and in general more raucous behaviour. This was a real shame as we absolutely fell in love with EOTR when we first came in 2009. We spent the majority of this years EOTR in the Garden Stage (our favourite) but it always seemed crammed full of people who were talking overly loudly when trying to listen to the bands that were playing. I have a niggling feeling that the organisers are getting greedy hence why there are bigger crowds. If we had come last year we may not have noticed, but since we didn't we really noticed a huge increase numbers.

On the other hand, again food was brilliant, even though it was a little bit on the expensive side. Love Cafe Dish and their amazing chocolate cake and also a big thumbs up to Hedgerow and their luscious frozen yoghurt. We also enjoyed the comedy, something we don't usually see much of but as the bands either sounded the same or we were hugely disappointed by decided to spend time in the comedy arena instead.

My OH's cup of happiness overflowed when he spotted Chris Yates by the tea bus. I think he was a bit star struck (My OH, not Chris Yates) Even though I myself am not a fan of fishing I did enjoy his talk that I got dragged to on the saturday morning in the library, ho hum.

If I can get the time off next year I'm sure we will come again but I think Simon and Sophia need to re-think the direction of EOTR, otherwise it's just going to be like every other festival.

[Fareham Grecian]

Oh, and Mardy, yes the capacity was increased - 8500 I think last year, 10000 this. Oddly I didn't think it felt any busier though.

[ivan]

First time at EOTR , but the long trip from Yorkshire was worth it.

We really enjoyed it , a lovely vibe and hope to be back next year

Anyway here we go

Lovely site and setting , the food and bar area near the Garden Stage had the best and greenest grass i have ever sat on.

Ease with which to get around - car park to campsite to arena to dance area !

Totally chilled out security - the odd "Can I see your wrist-band ?" but that was it.

Although the amount of glass i saw brought in was taking the p**s a bit - its not hard to comply with that.

Food stalls were excellent - nice not to see the usual burger vans and chicken and chips a lot of festivals get. We actually looked forward to meal times and tried to go with something different every time. Prices were not too bad either I thought.

Bar was a bit rubbish at times , but my friends loved the cider bus so i headed to the tipi for the Freedom Lager bar , which was never busy , but yes the real ale bars could be a bit hit and miss , but the prices were good - Wilderness Festival were charging a fiver for a pint of real ale , so no complaints about cost.

Thought sound and light production was excellent . I spent loads of time in the Big Top - loved its minimalist stage and lighting - a few white lights a few blue two red and thats all you need. Seemed to have been set up for the likes of Interpol and The XX and not trying to out do Muse.

The Cider Bus - we camped to left of main stage and to hear Talking Heads at about 4.00am on a Monday morning whilst laid in my tent was perfect ! - My friend made me laugh when discussing the lovely staff at cider bus in the early hours "where the staff are more pissed than the the customers "

So no complaints , we had a brilliant festival and hope to back !

[Completewasters]

A really enjoyable second time at End of the Road doing our Groovy Records workshop. Kept very busy by that so didnt see as much music and comedy as I would have hoped. Musical highlight would have to be Pokey Lafarge and the South City Three - seemed like a massive crowd for their afternoon slot (but wasnt in a position to compare it to any of the other afternoon slots). They managed to combine a real sincerity in what they are doing with humour, charm and a light hearted touch. I enjoyed Belle & Sebastian but can understand it might have been underwhelming for some, and a one song encore left me feeling a bit short changed.

The comedy stage is a great setting, accessibility issues aside, missed some great acts but enjoyed the half hour I spent there very much. The Garden Stage is also an amazing place. Woods is lacking a bit in atmosphere - perhaps some traders alongside the edge (similar to Summer Sundae if anyone's familar with that festival) or even a facade of some kind to distract from the emptiness over the campsite.

Agree about the glass on site - it seems odd to me that people would take on the extra weight of a load of glass bottles. Part of the problem is that people arent challenged for having glass which reinforces their view that they're not doing anything wrong. it would of course go against the light touch security ideal of EotR for there to be searches and confiscations but perhaps stewards could be encouraged to have a 'quiet word' here and there.

The workshop went really well in the gorgeous 'Wonderlands' and we were very busy all weekend with kids and adults of all ages taking part with some really great results. We'll be posting some pictures on our new facebook page in the next couple of days (there are some from Greenman on there at the moment). If you took part we'd love to have you like the page https://www.facebook.com/GroovyRecordsWorkshop - why not take a picture of you with your record on post it!.

Disappointments - that staff camping was left messier than the main campsite (which was pretty good really).

Fingers crossed for a No Direction Home & End of the Road double bill in 2014.

[riverlodge]

Some initial, non lineup related thoughts:

• Good: ease of getting in; wristbanding; site layout (unchanged I think, though a lot of campervans looked to be set at jaunty angles); food choices; big top sound & lights; better sound desk work in the tipi this year; reasonable bar prices; toilet cleanliness okay; savoury arm of café dish brilliant.
• Not so good: chatty twat levels seemed higher; rubbish; garden stage ‘campers’ seemed to have grown in numbers and paraphernalia; sound for Sigur Ros seemed too low (to me); big top stuffily warm at times (we know this, but it didn’t used to be like that); crowd sizes / attendance were just about okay, but would not be the same if they increase again; shower queue still stupid.
• Solutions: give the real ale guys a great big white board to put up all the beers on sale (just the simple stuff – name, ABV and a B for blonde, A for amber etc - that they put on that woeful & mad little A4 piece of cardboard in use on Saturday :/); run a snake queue system for the real ale counter; revert to the 5p refundable charge for plastic cups / cider bus paper cups (kids do all the tidying up then, and get some pocket money); put some polite signs up by the food outlet tables and near the main stage sound tower “please put your used plate in the bin”; create some more (marked) walkways down to the front of the garden stage that can’t be camped on; provide tazers for shutting chatterers up during sets; use the type of bank showers (that latitude uses) for general camping and maybe give families some proper cubicle types.

Loved it btw.

[ivan]

Agree about the glass on site - it seems odd to me that people would take on the extra weight of a load of glass bottles. Part of the problem is that people arent challenged for having glass which reinforces their view that they're not doing anything wrong. it would of course go against the light touch security ideal of EotR for there to be searches and confiscations but perhaps stewards could be encouraged to have a 'quiet word' here and there.

Sat by our car on the Thursday a couple making a second trip lifted up a full box of 6 bottles of wine to take in. They were old enough to know better , but when we mentioned the conditions on the ticket so to speak and said it would be confiscated if found there answer was " we really had no idea you could not take glass in ! " Anyway we told em to hide it some pilows which they did !

And I have never seen so many festival goers wandering around on site with glass. Security must have been told to leave em be ? , but as you say a light touch policy seems to be in force.