EOTR 2015 - so how was it for you?

[wolfamongwolves]

Great time had by me.

Highs

Sufjan Stevens best thing by a mile for me.

The Unthanks

Low

The Delines

East India youth

St etienne

Pond open around garden stage

State of the toilets

Food.

Lows

Dickheads. Definitely on the up. moved twice during sufjan constant talking.

Woods stage just a horrible place. Unless you at the front can't see a thing. Could do with screens .

Django Django don't get it. Can't believe they are sub material.

King khan like said on here novelty act.

Musically not the best for me. But saying that still had great time.

[AndyfromBrackley]

Anyone else see the two satelites overhead during the early part of War On Drugs' set? My son spotted them and pointed them out. One travelling from back to front (mixing desk to stage) left of centre line, the other almost at right angles to that left to right.

 

 

 

Yep, but as satellites tend to do, I spotted them on Friday whilst watching Low....

Edited September 8, 2015 by AndyfromBrackley

[AndyfromBrackley]

So who was the band in the Tipi after Fat White?

[Dylan's Big Toe]

First EOTR, and first festival I've been to solo.

 

Had a really great weekend - in terms of organisation it's the best festival I've been to by a mile.  I wasn't massively blown away by the line-up, and only really had 3 or 4 must-sees before going, and hoped to wander around a fair bit and see what captured my attention. Ended up managing to see about 30 acts, though!

 

Musically, the highlights for me:-

Thursday

Mammut - had never heard their stuff before - will be checking them out for sure though

 

Friday

Andrew Combs - caught his comedy stage set as well

Natalie Prass

Low - brilliant.  Reverend silence throughout.  Perfect end to the day.

 

Saturday 

Human Pyramids - nice way to shake off the hangover and start the Saturday

Madisen Ward and Mama Bear - again, a new act for me - but thought they were great.  The Tipi was packed for this.

Sufjan - was just great.  Felt like a special moment.  Would have loved an encore though!

 

Sunday

The Delines - perfect in the afternoon sun on the Garden Stage!

Alvvays - lovely summery pop

The War on Drugs - wasn't sure how they'd do on a big outdoor stage, but it was mega.

 

Musical lows - no lows, as such - just a few underwhelming acts, or acts who didn't really take my fancy.  Though MMJ just went through the motions.  Was also a wee bit disappointed by Ryley Walker's set - it just seemed so one paced.  Torres didn't blow me away like I'd hoped either.

 

Other highs - I loved the three 'secret' sets that I caught - they just add to the magic.  Was impressed with how clean the site was, and as others have said, the toilets.  Food was decent.  Good beer choices. 

 

Lows - a few dickheads (less than other festivals).  I was at the front for Sufjan so thankfully there were none around me,  but during the war on drugs there was a group around me who just literally talked through the first three songs so I had to move.  Same during Ryley Walker.  Why move to the front of the stage if you aren't going to listen to the music???  Noise in the campsite as well.  Saw a fella in front of me at wristband exchange with a guitar so made sure I pitched well away from him!  Finally - I loved the garden stage, but the people sitting all day really meant that for a few sets I had no choice but to stand at the back.  This was fine, in terms of sound, but I found that at the back, near the bar, there is lots of chatter.  This kind of spoiled my enjoyment of a few sets there.

 

 

 

 

[retromoz]

I must have been lucky, but im REALLY surprised at all the comments about the 'dickhead' quota. I saw lots of silly dressed glittered peeps who looked as if they had the potential of being annoying cnutheads....but were not. I thought last year was worse. I had very little problem with dicks. I had to move once during Unthanks, but to be fair, i was quite far back when they started. In fact, i was REALLY pleasantly surprised at HOW reverential crowds were to the AMAZING Low and not-as-amazing-at-all-in-fact-a-little-disappointing Sufjan Stevens....

 

But maybe i was just a lil lucky....

Edited September 8, 2015 by retromoz

[Dylan's Big Toe]

I must have been lucky, but im REALLY surprised at the comments about the 'dickhead' quota. I saw lots of silly dressed glittered peeps who looked as if they had the potential of being annoying cnutheads....but were not. I thought last year was worse. I had very little problem with dicks. I had to move once during Unthanks, but to be fair, i was quite far back when they started. In fact, i was REALLY pleasantly surprised at HOW reverential crowds were to the AMAZING Low and not-as-amazing-at-all-in-fact-a-little-disappointing Sufjan Stevens....

 

But maybe i was just a lil lucky....

 

Maybe my post was harsh - I actually came home to tell my wife how few dickheads there were, and I suppose it's completely unreasonable to go to a festival of 14,000 without meeting one or two!  I had a phenomenal weekend, and this didn't spoil it at all.

 

And yes, Low were incredible.  Gutted I missed St Etienne on Saturday night though.

[juliadevitt]

wrote a long post and then my computer stopped working!

 

so in summary - loved it, particularly Brakes.

Will be there next year.

[ljsawyer]

Only really encountered one total dickhead all weekend during Wand's secret set in the Tipi, clearly drugged out of his mind and invading everyone's personal space, basically trying to grind against me at one point... I think the general irritation with his behaviour became apparent when he attempted to crowdsurf and some guy chucked him straight back on the ground!

 

Apart from that I was pleasantly surprised with how relatively few talkers there were during sets, can't remember ever really having to move to get away from them.

Edited September 8, 2015 by ljsawyer

[talulah]

Sixth EOTR in a row - for me probably not the best line up of the six years but still another really enjoyable weekend and I'm in for next year.

The good!

Met lots of friendly folk as always and I may have been lucky but I didn't have to suffer as many 'chatterers' this year.

Enjoyed wandering around the 'new' areas behind the Garden stage

Great selection of food - Cafe Dish good for snacks and best cup of tea at a bargain price. Dorset blue soups and toasties, Tibetan kitchen consistently good, did miss the Moroccan stall though.

Andy's white loos!!

Managed to catch a few secret sets at the piano stage this year for a change, thought Meilyr Jones was an absolute sweetie (and talented, of course) as was the guy from East India Youth. Really enjoyed the Nick Drake celebration - would love to see more combined talks/music events.

Musical highlights for me were Mark Lanegan, Giant Sand, Delines, Ryley Walker, MMJ, Meilyr Jones and Dawes

The not so good

Nit picking here but it was really cold wasn't it ..

Does the Tipi need another extension? It seemed to get really full this year but I guess this might have partly been because of people wanting to get warm!

Still not keen on the Woods stage - hate negotiating around people on chairs late in the evening and I almost went flying when I tripped over someone lying on the ground in the dark when War on Drugs were on stage

Far too many clothes stalls

I was hoping the second hand book stall would be back this year ..

[killyourtv]

I'm also in the "surprisingly few dickheads" camp, better than last year I thought. I seemed to get them all at once at Sufjan though - stage right 1/3rd of the way back. Perhaps the later date helped.

Similarly I wasn't as annoyed by chatterers this year, probably retirement destresses you. Low, Marika and Jessica Pratt had reverential silence, particularly appreciated in the latter's case.

[Sean1234321]

I would say I'm a pretty considerate gig-goer, but during Laura Marling me and my girlfriend randomly happened upon somebody from the same town as us so we had a little chat which lead to some guy behind us quite aggresively telling us to fuck off and demanding that we go somewhere else.

 

Fair enough...we were being too loud (I literally hardly ever talk when people are on stage) but all he had to do was be polite about it. Even when I went to apologise after the set he didn't really want to know...I guess he just really loves Laura Marling.

 

Anyway, the moral is that I'm sure everybody occasionally does things that annoy other people.

 

Those fluorescent jacket and visor guys were really fucking ridiculous though, especially that inflatable dolphin that was flapping around and hitting everyone.

[shoebox]

Shellsuit and visor twats were always in my periphery vision, and generally annoyed me with their "Look at me! I'm a wacky twat!" behaviour, but I was never directly affected by them. I can't bemoan the dressing up too much, because without it we would have been denied the Jonny B Goode cover during Natalie Prass and that was great fun.

 

However, I was apologised to by a couple of dicks (on separate occasions) after I gave them "a look". The conversation with the first one kind of went:

 

Him: "Coming through!" *elbows and shit* "Sorry! Don't mind me, I'm a dick"

Me: "Yeah, you could say that"

Him: "Ah, but better to be a self-aware dick, eh?"

Me: "Well, no. 'Cause if you know you're a dick, surely you can do something about it?"

Him: "True! You're alright you are! Have a great weekend!" *fist bump*

 

I have to say, I reciprocated the fist bump and I felt dirty for doing so. Still, not worth bearing a grudge, eh?

 

I was also lucky to surrounded by respectful punters during Sufjan, but they were probably chuckling under their breath at the tears rolling down my face.

[retromoz]

I would say I'm a pretty considerate gig-goer, but during Laura Marling me and my girlfriend randomly happened upon somebody from the same town as us so we had a little chat which lead to some guy behind us quite aggresively telling us to fuck off and demanding that we go somewhere else.

 

Fair enough...we were being too loud (I literally hardly ever talk when people are on stage) but all he had to do was be polite about it. Even when I went to apologise after the set he didn't really want to know...I guess he just really loves Laura Marling.

 

Anyway, the moral is that I'm sure everybody occasionally does things that annoy other people.

 

Those fluorescent jacket and visor guys were really fucking ridiculous though, especially that inflatable dolphin that was flapping around and hitting everyone.

 

I will also admit......due to maybe a 'bad glass of wine'...and due to a chat about confusing Sufjan Stevens with Shakin stevens.....during a quiet bit after a song finished & before another one started....i did shout 'play Green Door!'....it was not big OR clever.

 

I apologise....

[Richard1962]

This was my 9th having missed the first.

 

I'm afraid that overall I was a little disappointed and have never believed that I would say that about EOTR. It was to a large extent a festival of mediocre 'popular' bands with weak singers. Unlike every other year I didn't find anything which surprised and inspired me. I accept I may have missed some as we can't be everywhere at once.

 

Probably best to start with the good:

 

Andrew Combs - I genuinely believe this was the only good set I saw on the Friday.

 

Peter Matthew Bauer

 

Dawes

 

MMJ

 

Houndstooth

 

Ex Hex

 

Slow Club - despite the technical issues

 

The lyrics cut into the leaves in the Forest area - brilliant idea

 

Brakes

 

... and the disappointments

 

All of the headline acts, I'm afraid. The first year I haven't seen a full set from any of them. I have tried so hard to like Sufjan Stevens but it is all so same-y. I feel a bit like the boy in The Emperor's New Clothes for saying so but... I watched the War on Drugs for 40 minutes and while technically very good, I just got bored. Tame Impala...a headline act, really???

 

The beer. Can they not sort the problem of supply and demand??

 

Future Islands - just awful.

 

Sonny and the Sunsets - my own biggest disappointment as I love them but the sound was terrible and he seemed a little surly.

 

But of course I will be back next year

[Mardy]

I will also admit......due to maybe a 'bad glass of wine'...and due to a chat about confusing Sufjan Stevens with Shakin stevens.....during a quiet bit after a song finished & before another one started....i did shout 'play Green Door!'....it was not big OR clever.

 

I apologise....

 

 

hehehehe. That has really made me giggle. Excellent.

[ljsawyer]

Low put in a stunning performance as expected, but was no one else seriously disappointed by the setlist? I love the new album, but they played absolutely nothing pre-The Great Destroyer... was dying to hear the likes of Sunflower, In Metal, Two-Step etc.

[siro]

This is my fourth time at EOTR and as usual there was the good the nearly good and the very not so good

 

THE GOOD:

Laura Marling...not a huge fan but I thought she was brilliant and every song stood out

Future Islands... they seemed a bit overgigged but they still gave a sterling performance

Saint Etienne.... lovely nostalgia a party atmosphere and a really huge balloon

Sleaford Mods... only knew one song but they were joyously anarchic and kept playing the one song

Frazey Ford...... A surprise but a delightful one with her easy groovy sunshine folk

Jacco Gardner... It was late but worth the wait a great set and a great tache on keys

The Unthanks...  gorgeous harmonies lovely arrangements and some very nifty foot work

Django Django....never thought I'd like as much as I did but it was fun and infectious

Mammut..............the very first band on thursday and what a start it was like Bjork was good again

 

THE NEARLY GOOD:

Alvvays................some great pop songs in there but there short set still wasn't quite short enough

Nadine Shah.....   great powerful voice some good songs but maybe the big top sound let her down

 

Jane Weaver...... not such a powerful voice but better songs but maybe .. (see above)

Ryley Walker.......perfect sitting down music but the long gaps between singing were a little snooze making

 

THE VERY NOT SO GOOD:

Slow Club...........should have been great they have the songs but unluckily they also have a bass player

Wand..................they think they're good we think they're good but you have to know when to stop the song

Jessica Pratt.......waited 2 years to see her stayed for 4 songs destroyed by echo and the sound man

Marika Hackman....has someone ever seen her with a band has she ever had a band does she know what a band looks like

 

YOUR HAVING A LAUGH:

As mentioned some of the sound mixing was atrocious and ruined quite a few acts mostly with the bass being far too loud and drowning everything else out. Balloons are fine in some acts but not all the time it's distracting and can spoil the mood. Too many dickheads that won't stop talking is a recurring problem not sure what you can do about them.

 

A PLEA:

Please don't increase the attendance any more or the magic will start to stop

 

WILL I GO AGAIN:

In the words of a Sleaford Mod you ******** bet I will

Edited September 8, 2015 by siro

[paulwa]

Before the festival I was worried that Sufjan Stevens's current album would mean a very gentle, beautiful but ultimately uninteresting gig. But the guy was amazing, with a liberal scattering of songs from Chicago and some great krautrock and electronic reworkings that enabled the softer stuff to be a wonderful contrast. The man is a genius, no doubt.

 

Favourite moment of the festival - the precise second when the radio intro to Foxbase Alpha kicks into the first beat of "Only love can break your heart", closely followed by Nadine Shah apologising to any kids in the audience for "having a mouth like a fucking fishwife".

[5co77ie]

my favourite moment was Madisen of Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear liking my hat!

[Babyquack]

It's interesting to hear that so many people felt the increase of capacity this year. I felt it too on the friday but after speaking to my mate who was deputy manager of the wristband exchange, capacity this year was 12,400 but only 11,900 turned up (this is normal as some people can't make it for whatever reasons).

 

Interestingly though, last year the capacity was 11,500 and 11,100 turned up. So there were only an additional 800 people there this year and it made such a difference! 

 

I love the festival but it was a bit of a different festival this year compared to last. It still won't keep me away next year though

[Leon G]

We just got back! Buddies, nice and warm here, sheesh so cold at nights at fest despite superstrong mints LOL!

Lots of goods and few bads!

Goods:

Fumaca Preta

Juan wauters

Metz

Drugs

Surprise Show

Torres (better than Fernando, ha!)

Cinema - warm at night

Mac de Marko

Bad:

Paella - next year we do ourselves!

Quiet area - where was??? Every time we and friends played radio etc before sleep, complain, complain, complain - no peace for us!

Security no good - my shoes stolen from outside cinema, can you believe?

Inez bit twice by wasps, how unlucky no?

Still had real real good time though, we sure to be back when earlybirds on sale, or stewarding! Victor, steward properly next time, you hear?!

[Nick07]

They need a cap on capacity as guest lists will add more each day and possibly weekend if they stay. Do they sell more knowing a % won't turn up?

An extra thousand people than last year makes a huge difference in my opinion.

[Fareham Grecian]

They need a cap on capacity as guest lists will add more each day and possibly weekend if they stay. Do they sell more knowing a % won't turn up?

They have a cap, I believe it was 14000 this year, to include all performers and staff. I don't think they could oversell.

[5co77ie]

I believe the venue has a max of 14,000

[winterval]

Really interesting to read everyone's reviews and see how we all have completely different experiences of the same event! Here are my thoughts…

 

THE GOOD:

Sufjan – Amazing, beautiful, emotional… I couldn’t believe how quickly that 90 minutes went by. The new arrangements of songs from Carrie & Lowell were incredible – especially All of Me Wants All of You and Fourth of July. Almost ruined by a bunch of dickheads… but I’ll come to that later.

Future Islands – Such good fun! Both my wife and I commented that it would surely be impossible for anyone not to love that performance but reading some of the posts on this forum, it seems we were wrong!

War on Drugs – Awesome, a really celebratory feel.

Alvvays – Effortlessly cool, perfect for Sunday afternoon.

Madisen Ward & the Mama Bear – Amazing voice, really captivating performance.

King Khan – Seems like I’m alone on this one but I had a blast!

Human Pyramids – A bit like a bunch of music students dicking around but much better than that sounds!

Stealing Sheep – Never heard of them before so a lovely surprise.

Oscar – Again, a new one on me but really enjoyed.

The Unthanks – Lovely stuff.

Silent Disco – Always great fun and a beautiful outdoor setting this year.

Food – Pulled pork burritos, toasties from the Cheese Truck, salt beef bagels… yum.

Hot cider – Got us through that cold, cold Saturday night.

The weather on Sunday! Wasn’t expecting it to be so lovely.

The beer in the real ale tent – Had some lovely pints and there was still a good choice on Sunday afternoon.

 

THE ALMOST AS GOOD:

Django Django – Not sure what it was but they seemed a little flatter than I’d hoped. Still enjoyed though.

Ex Hex – Fun if a little disposable.

Tame Impala – Enjoyed for the first 30 minutes or so but then lost interest. Really wish we’d have gone to see Low but my wife was worried they’d be too depressing!

East India Youth – I like his music but the performance felt a little like karaoke with some forced wacky moves.

Most of the comedy we saw – Not bad, and maybe we just got unlucky, but seemed to be a weaker line-up than last year. Only Matthew Crosby had me really laughing. Oh and what happened to Kevin Eldon??

 

THE DULL:

Hooton Tennis Club – We get it, you love Pavement.

Dawes – Stodgy MOR dullness. Wife fell asleep on me so I was stuck watching the whole set…

Charlie Cunningham – The blandest thing on the menu.

 

THE BAD:

The dickheads who barged their way next to us whilst watching Sufjan. Wouldn’t stop talking and acting like pricks. A girl politely asked them to be quiet and their ring leader laughed in her face and purposefully started talking louder, making fun of Sufjan’s lyrics and being slightly threatening in his behaviour. Eventually more people told them to shut up and they finally fucked off. Was our only experience of dickheads over the weekend but it was during the set I was most looking forward to so kind of a shame. Will never bother to go to the front again.

The pie I had from Barnaby Sykes – Watery, tasteless, hardly any meat, pastry too thick. Bring back Pieminister!

Dorset Blue stand – Toasty and soup both seemed very cheaply made. Stood out as being poor quality amongst all the great food available.

 

All in all, a brilliant weekend. EOTR remains my favourite festival and I saw no decline in the quality and variety of music. Also, I can't say I noticed the increased capacity. See you next year!