Blue Dot Festival

[eFestivals]

On 23/07/2016 at 8:08 AM, shoptildrop said:

..... and the beer selection is ace!!

if that fake-gassed headache inducing shite is what northerns call real ale, I'm never going north again.
 

[eFestivals]

so anyway, shite beer aside  .....

Much of it was lovely. Nice site, nicely laid out (within the limits of the site), ample bar provision, just about enough food stalls, just about enough loos.

It's lucky the rain mostly held off else the campsites would have been a quagmire. A bit too much sound bleed from other stages. But most disappointing for me was the dish not being swivelled around and projected on during any of the sets, the best we got was it 'parked' upright with some pretty (changing) colours projected onto it - nice enough, but I was hoping for something more.

There was a 'special guest' listed for midnight Saturday who I didn't go to see and I don't know who it was ... but was it Badly Drawn Boy? I'm wondering it is was because he was wandering around on Saturday evening, with a 'man' doing things for him (such as asking if the famous one could be let into DJ Shadow, only to be told no ).

[michael eavis' beard]

18 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

But most disappointing for me was the dish not being swivelled around and projected on during any of the sets, the best we got was it 'parked' upright with some pretty (changing) colours projected onto it - nice enough, but I was hoping for something more.

There were some repairs being done to the the dish hence why it was parked upright.

[eFestivals]

3 minutes ago, michael eavis' beard said:

There were some repairs being done to the the dish hence why it was parked upright.

but they wiggled it around during the day!

So they could have done the same at night, surely?

[mandolin]

4 hours ago, eFestivals said:

 

There was a 'special guest' listed for midnight Saturday who I didn't go to see and I don't know who it was ... but was it Badly Drawn Boy? I'm wondering it is was because he was wandering around on Saturday evening, with a 'man' doing things for him (such as asking if the famous one could be let into DJ Shadow, only to be told no ).

I don't know who it was either but had assumed from what I heard as I walked past that it was a DJ.  Was speaking to a really lovely young woman yesterday who told me that she was the sister of the special guest and that he had done it for free on the proviso that a small group of family/friends could get guest passes to the festival.  I didn't get to ask her who her brother was because we got distracted.  She also said that the family originally came from Kirkby Lonsdale - don't know if that helps at all.

On another note, can anyone explain the rationale behind the bottle top thing?  In case you weren't aware most bar staff on most occasions said that they had to remove the tops of any bottles they sold.  (Most times this wasn't so much of an issue but I wanted to carry some water around with me on the Saturday for when I was in tents as they got really hot.)  When we asked why they insisted on it, we were told that it was because the tops could be used as projectiles but then so could the bottles, cups etc if you were that way inclined.  It's not a big thing but really got me intrigued.

[michael eavis' beard]

5 hours ago, eFestivals said:

but they wiggled it around during the day!

So they could have done the same at night, surely?

Was that just on the Saturday afternoon it did that?  Seemed to spend a lot of my time indoors this weekend!

From the blurb they released with the Eno announcement it seems like it was planned all along...

"the Lovell Telescope will be in the zenith position during the festival, tracking the cosmos as it drifts overhead. Jodrell Bank astronomers including Associate Director Tim O’Brien will use the telescope to gather live data which will be incorporated into Eno's installation on the Lovell Telescope."

Agree it would've looked better with the artwork facing the crowd as it has done in previous gigs there but then I suppose you can't gather the data.

[michael eavis' beard]

1 hour ago, mandolin said:

On another note, can anyone explain the rationale behind the bottle top thing?

I don't necessarily think it's the actual bottle tops that are the issue.  But a full sealed bottle of water makes for a heavier projectile.  Take the top off and the water comes out as you throw it making it lighter - the same happens with the cups obviously.

It's a pointless exercise really when you can get bottles with lids on from the ice cream van, food stalls, shop etc...

[Zoo Music Girl]

Just showered at our friend's and getting ready to train back now. Have to say I absolutely loved this festival. Great atmosphere, great site, great crowd and the general science aspect was brilliant. Underworld, PSB, DJ Shadow, Mercury Rev and the incredible Steve Davis DJ set were personal highlights. Some awesome food options - loved that Indian vegan place too - and we had no issues with parking or getting in. Super easy getting out too. I would definitely go again. In my old age I'm starting to appreciate a smaller festival.

[renrutbor]

Agree with everything said above pretty much. Really good little festival, clean toilets and never had to queue long for food, toilets or bar except for Saturday night when the whole place was much busier. Also hardly saw any litter all weekend so the reusable cups were definitely a success.

JMJ, 65daysofstatic, British Sea Power, PSB and Caribou were all fantastic. Henge were great fun on Friday night too.

Shame the dish wasn't used by the headliners for projections as that worked really well in previous years. 

Would have been nice to be allowed in from the Thursday as it was all over very quickly and we would have liked more time to wander round the science stuff and talks. 

Overall a very fun and well organised weekend, will be back again next year if the lineup is as strong. 

[mandolin]

54 minutes ago, michael eavis' beard said:

I don't necessarily think it's the actual bottle tops that are the issue.  But a full sealed bottle of water makes for a heavier projectile.  Take the top off and the water comes out as you throw it making it lighter - the same happens with the cups obviously.

It's a pointless exercise really when you can get bottles with lids on from the ice cream van, food stalls, shop etc...

Thank you - can't now work out how I didn't think of it myself!

[zero000]

Absolutely loved it. Such a great small festival, everyone was really friendly and nice. All three main stage headliners were absolutely cracking too. 

 

[zero000]

Also has anyone read this: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/bluedot-festival-jodrell-bank-drugs-11659757

Dear lord, what a small minded fool.

[Amy Lawn]

2 hours ago, zero000 said:

Also has anyone read this: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/bluedot-festival-jodrell-bank-drugs-11659757

Dear lord, what a small minded fool.

Utter utter dick. Imagine actually going to the papers over it. I hope it's put him off festivals for life.

[Kizzie]

1 minute ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

Utter utter dick. Imagine actually going to the papers over it. I hope it's put him off festivals for life.

The comments after the article are quite cheering though.

[phil the shrew]

Overall really enjoyed the weekend, but there were teething problems

Traffic management was very poor which led to big waits to get on site Friday evening - took me 1.30 to do the final mile. No traffic controls on the roads saw people using back lanes and fair few nasty arguments on the way. Then on site the already wet ground got churned up by cars parking everywhere with no organisation. They were very fortunate rain held off or cars would still be being pulled out now

Saturday saw off site parking laid on and buses to the site about a mile away. Fine in the morning but at night too few buses meant hundreds of people walking dark lanes, and no buses able to get through. Organisation was again none existent and very lucky there wasn't a nasty accident. Really needs working on in the future though 

Once on site festival was great. Mix of science, talks and music worked really well and made it a bit different to the arts/music festivals I go to. Seeing festival veterans holding meteors and learning about Mars missions was lovely as was seeing science fans experience dancing like a loon to Underworld was really good

Agree with others the lack of stage times, and some acts starting at different to advertised times was annoying. Really annoys me festivals still expect you to pay £100 plus to go plus extra to get stage times. Main and second stage were also too close leading to some noise problems, and would have been good to get "curators" on each stage to introduce the acts. At times the crowd was a bit flat

Highlights for me were Doves Moon recording talk; Hello Moon presentation; Actor and Underworld; Floating Point and Mercury Rev, plus the Clangers too! Quite quirky light show of the constellations in the grounds were good too and quite Alice in Wonderland 

Definitely be back next year and hope lessons are learned for next year as could develop into a really nice addition to the festival calender

 

[frostypaw]

Agreed with all above! Lovely little festival and a total home run for anyone with kids who are into space. The science stuff was a mix of easily accessible stuff and real pros there to talk about it who really seemed to be enjoying just how many questions they got too - generally got the impression they were very pleased with how it went and who came. WiFiWars did a Brexit yes/no vote and it was 100% no, just saying.

Underworld were brilliant, and JMJ just magic. Aided by the guy in front having a proper can't-believe-i'm-here wobbly, which made me feel better about the one I was having - plus some crazyass bass! The first thump got quite an interesting noise out of the crowd! All in all very strange thing to be doing there, the Transmissions gigs seem very tame by comparison.

The beers were varied but not being well treated. Food just enough, totally agree some of it should have been spread into the second field, it was a bit hollow over there. The queue for the luminarium was just bonkers, we couldn't face it! The arboretum installations with the constellation garden, freaky jabbering globe, orrery and other bits was very nice but sorta disconnected. Few more bits like that in the main site to fill in the other field and the vast hollow behind the mixing desk and it'd feel very well developed. It was a shame about the dish but the Brian Eno projections it had on it were gorgeous - each evening was punctuated with my mate saying "oh wow look at that one" every 2 minutes

What was the capacity? Despite it not seeming large it felt all spread out and only had a few repeat meetings. Think they'll sort out their teething troubles with traffic and loos, the testing thing will be weather. Was sit down weather almost all weekend in the end, but it didn't feel far from going south either.

[eFestivals]

23 minutes ago, frostypaw said:

What was the capacity?

I think I saw 7,000 mentioned in one of the post-event press releases.

[frostypaw]

I just saw that somewhere too. Kinda surprised! I spotted you way across the crowd once I think, and didn't bump into the others I knew were going - there was a lot to do for a little event. Missed a load of interesting talks for sure let alone the usual bands and bits.

[eFestivals]

32 minutes ago, frostypaw said:

I spotted you way across the crowd once I think

and I spotted you sat on one of the foodie tables munching, so left you to it.

[frostypaw]

Did Underworld compare well with their Glasto set? I loved it and the weaponised haze - Hyde raving out in King of Snake in front of all those strobes was ace.

[Zoo Music Girl]

Can't speak for Glastonbury, but that was the best time I've seen them out of around 4 times in the last couple of years. Absolutely stunning. Such a great festival atmosphere too. Everyone around where we were were fully engaged and loving every second, including the three little girls up on their dads' shoulders!

[eFestivals]

36 minutes ago, frostypaw said:

Did Underworld compare well with their Glasto set?

it was pretty much the same setlist (I think* one song different but can't remember what now), about the same attitude/vibe from the 'band', and just-slightly a better crowd at bluedot I'd say - tho that might be due to Glasto's mud.

(*the downpour half way thru broke my concentration a bit, so I might be more wrong than I was first thinking).

Edited July 26, 2016 by eFestivals

[frostypaw]

That's nice to hear, seems we got the same set as Glasto in a better order from the iplayer - bit more practised I guess. It's actually my second favourite memory of the festival noticing everyone around me taking photos of something off to the right - was some kid on his dad's shoulders raving his heart out to every note of Underworld like he'd been born a 20 year fan it was just joyous. Camera couldn't cope with the fist pumping along, but the rapt breathless look says it all and with the logo right behind it was a must-have pic

I grew up in the shadow of the dish, loved electronica since I first heard it... I'd have thought I'd died and gone to heaven if I'd been taken to that festival as a kid. Got me right in the feels. The winner though goes to the guy in front of me having a meltdown at JMJ which as said made me feel much better about how emotional I'd gotten

 

Edited July 26, 2016 by frostypaw

[shoptildrop]

19 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

it was pretty much the same setlist (I think* one song different but can't remember what now), about the same attitude/vibe from the 'band', and just-slightly a better crowd at bluedot I'd say - tho that might be due to Glasto's mud.

(*the downpour half way thru broke my concentration a bit, so I might be more wrong than I was first thinking).

It was a fantastic crowd and I think the downpour helped people cool down as it was hot near the front....people all around us were totally loving it even the kids

Only marred slight be group of 3  couples who barged every one out the way on the last song, all got up on their fellas shoulders, took their selfies and then pissed off just before song finished idiots!!!

Was one of the best sets of the weekend for us :) 

[dingbat2]

This was my first festival taking the wife and kids and we all loved it, especially the kids, the festival had a really chilled out vibe

My musical highlights were PSB, JMJ, Floating Points, (the bits I did see because I was flicking between them and JMJ) Underworld, 65daysofstatic, Lanterns on the Lake and Mercury RevDidn’t manage to catch the end of any of the headliners because the kids began to flag towards the end so we headed back, via the Arboretum, each night

Thought the Luminarium was a wonderful thing (so did my boys) we were really lucky because we went there early Friday night, when there were no queues. After that we would have had to queue for ages to get in so we didn’t bother going again although the kids really wanted to go back

The thing which really made my festival was how good the science stuff and the speakers were. The presenters seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the audience, and they were all really good and very enthusiastic. I will never forget the look on my youngest son’s face when his little finger got ‘bitten’ by a venus fly trap! And when they saw the night sky projected onto the roof of the Planetarium.

One lesson I did learn about taking my kids to festivals is you don’t have to see something or do something all the time. I think the things my boys enjoyed the most were running around the Arboretum and just sitting on the chairs next to the food outlets sketching the telescope in front of them whilst listening to Everything Everything and Caribou. Happy times

We didn’t experience any of the problems with car parks, we arrived at 2pm on Friday and straight in, I do think they will have issues if the weather gets bad. We went on the heritage tour (which was great, and Tim O’Brien took a photo of our group whilst we were wandering around) The presenter said the site can get really muddy, it has clay soil and had a high water table apparently. I can see the campsites and car parks getting very muddy with prolonged rain.

I thought they could have done with a few more food vendors, especially more for kids, and the back field where the Luminarium needed to have more stuff in it, it was a bit sparse. The family camping area needed to be bigger. Also the mushroom urinals became flooded either side of the main stage. But these are all just teething problems, it was a wonderful festival

My kids are already looking forward to next year already. As am I!

Edited July 26, 2016 by dingbat2