Blue Dot Festival

[tillyandthewall]

It was a bit weird how soft the grass was, considering it was boiling the last few weeks. 

Anyway, it was good for me, pluses were the small friendly crowd, exhibits being staffed by those doing the research, and the Arboretum area being an oasis of calm.

There was a bit more of a 'daytripper' vibe for Saturday, the other two days felt more relaxed.  The tents were small and hot, and DJ Shadow should have been on the main stage.

Musical highlight would have been Underworld, with Everything Everything a surprising second place.

[Nebulous]

A few minor teething problems aside, it was a great festival for me, most folk were extremely well-behaved - least police I've ever seen at a festival. I personally thought the food was outstanding, just the right amount of stalls, very varied and not too much price-gouging.

The sound quality was excellent overall, a little too much bass-bleed from the Nebula tent on occasion (DJ Shadow) but given the size of the site that's unavoidable. Some of the set times were brought forward on the Sunday which was a bit annoying, Dutch Uncles seemed to start half an hour early.

The strawberry cider was lovely but sadly it was the only real cider available and they ran out after two days. Agree the Brian Eno installation was a double edged sword though, great to look at during the night but I would have preferred the dish pointing toward the stage for projections during the headliners. 

Some great lectures and science talks, including the excellent Prof David Nutt and his Psychedelic drug therapy study, no wonder the government fired that guy, far too much truth for them to handle.

Musical highlights for me were Underworld, PSB, Floating Points, Beth Orton, 65 Days of Static, also Phoria were an unexpected pleasure. Hilarious amount of middle-aged snooker fans visiting the DJ Thundermuscle set last off, only to come back out 30 seconds later looking bemused by the left-field techno and still not sure if they'd actually seen Steve Davis!

Will be back next year with friends in tow.

[strangegoose]

I shall definitely go again next year 

[Zoo Music Girl]

16 hours ago, Nebulous said:

The strawberry cider was lovely but sadly it was the only real cider available and they ran out after two days.

I have to agree about the cider - it was ace to have an option other than Strongbow, but as I get older I find it difficult to drink too much fruity sweet cider for too long... And as you say it ran out. I thought the Real Ale Bar was great but it was always so busy that it might have been better to have two of these, perhaps one with a few more cider options. Definitely not the worst cider selection I've come across though!

16 hours ago, Nebulous said:

Musical highlights for me were Underworld, PSB, Floating Points, Beth Orton, 65 Days of Static, also Phoria were an unexpected pleasure. Hilarious amount of middle-aged snooker fans visiting the DJ Thundermuscle set last off, only to come back out 30 seconds later looking bemused by the left-field techno and still not sure if they'd actually seen Steve Davis!

 

Steve Davis was so awesome! If I ever hear about him DJing again I'll be there. We waited for the queue to die down and then had a great time in there. Was funny to see people taking selfies with him afterwards. I thought the programme was a bit pricey, as others have said, but I'm quite glad I got one as I would have missed him otherwise!

14 hours ago, strangegoose said:

I shall definitely go again next year 

Yeah, my thinking too. How I'll afford/survive this and Glasto (hopefully...) is anyone's guess but I'm well up for it. 

[shoptildrop]

well I have to say I was very much impressed, loved the site, though both the food and drink selection was spot on but they definitely underestimated the popularity of the real ale bar they could have easily doubled what they had and still sell it!!

Music highlights - Underworld just wow, great crowd around us as well which does help alot, Lanterns on the lake was just awesome, pleasantly surprised by Everything everything who I really enjoyed  Jean Michael Jarre well what can you say??? I really enjoyed him but fella was a little disappointed he didn't play more old stuff...

Other music highlights - Sundra Karma, Stealing Sheep, British Sea Power, Public Service Broadcasting and funnily Be One was great about the conservation of bees to music & visuals

Infinite Monkey Cage was hilarious and watch Charlotte Church trying to string a sentence together about quantum physics was too funny 

Didn't see many talks but did go round the star field to see the demos and stuff which was pretty cool, couldn't get anywhere near the luminarium as queues were crazy but youtube is your friend for catch up lol

all in all I'm definitely going again as is my friends who just did the Saturday, can see this being a regular haunt as only 25 miles down the road

[naarjtie]

Re the telescope, there was a problem just before with the ball bearings which took it out of commission and isn't particularly easy to repair due to its uniqueness. But it's my understanding they managed somehow to repair it on the Saturday (perhaps temporarily?) which was quite a surprise to everyone involved! Oh well, it's something to look forwards to next year!

[mandolin]

Did anyone ever find out who the Saturday night special guest was?  I'm guessing someone must have been there! 

[Zoo Music Girl]

Anyone else get an email about registering for pre-sale access for 2017? I don't think it sold out this year so I'm not sure it will be necessary but I've done it anyway

http://prereg.ticketline.co.uk/bluedot-2017?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=28198-349123-160802-bluedot-pre-reg

[dingbat2]

Yes I got the email as well, and have registered. As you say, I don't think it will sell out that quickly next year, not until the line up gets released anyway, if at all, although it did seem very popular so I wonder if demand will be higher now 'word is out' about the festival..It does need a couple of decent headlines (my money is on Kraftwerk headlining Satursday next year!)

I would expect the presale would be at this years 1st release price (£119) so you will probaably get them a bt cheaper than if you left it. This year the 1st release tickets sold out within a few hours of going on sale so you might get them £10 or £20 cheaper now than if you left it til later on 

[Zoo Music Girl]

I didn't get mine until the second or third release this time so it would be nice to get the early bird price next year. From memory they announced the bands when tickets went on sale but I wonder if that was just because it was the first one? £119 is crazy good value for that I reckon. 

I'd already said Kraftwerk would be a good shout to my other half Who else do people think? Maybe Gary Numan?  New Order? Too big probably but would suit the demographic if not overtly spacey. Orbital would be perfect if active. 

[zahidf]

late review, but i very much enjoyed it. good bands, talks and atmosphere.

mpre toilets/buses from london/less of a full bag search causing massive queues would be an improvement.

next years headliners i reckon should be charlatans, hot chip and pet shop boys

[loulouboo]

On 30 July 2016 at 4:30 PM, mandolin said:

Did anyone ever find out who the Saturday night special guest was?  I'm guessing someone must have been there! 

I asked one of security at the door to the tent, it was a dj  can't quite remember the name - bondax? 

[loulouboo]

I really hope they stick with the electronica/ synth based kind of programming for bands and musicians with lots of space connections . It was really such an interesting line up for me - quite different to most festivals! Even if lots of the music was quite intense and dark .. and required concentration!! 

Is it too early to do wish lists for next year?

If so.. Bjork headlining would be perfect!  Jon Hopkins , the orb doing UF Orb ( 25 years since - seems perfect!) Vessels , bonobo

[eFestivals]

14 minutes ago, loulouboo said:

I really hope they stick with the electronica/ synth based kind of programming for bands and musicians with lots of space connections 

I think there might be limits to that.

Did you notice the main stage between-acts playlist? I can't recall how many times i heard Bowie's 'Starman' and Oasis' 'Champagne Supanova' ... and then whoever put the playlist together seemed to run out of ideas.

(I do recall also hearing Jamiroquai's 'Cosmic Girl' too ... but just the once, and nothing else [tho there probably were other songs too])

Anyway, it's not a theme that can run and run forever, and I reckon it would be a mistake for the long-term to box themselves too strongly into just that area.

[Zoo Music Girl]

35 minutes ago, loulouboo said:

I really hope they stick with the electronica/ synth based kind of programming for bands and musicians with lots of space connections . It was really such an interesting line up for me - quite different to most festivals! Even if lots of the music was quite intense and dark .. and required concentration!! 

Is it too early to do wish lists for next year?

If so.. Bjork headlining would be perfect!  Jon Hopkins , the orb doing UF Orb ( 25 years since - seems perfect!) Vessels , bonobo

 

13 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

I think there might be limits to that.

Did you notice the main stage between-acts playlist? I can't recall how many times i heard Bowie's 'Starman' and Oasis' 'Champagne Supanova' ... and then whoever put the playlist together seemed to run out of ideas.

(I do recall also hearing Jamiroquai's 'Cosmic Girl' too ... but just the once, and nothing else [tho there probably were other songs too])

Anyway, it's not a theme that can run and run forever, and I reckon it would be a mistake for the long-term to box themselves too strongly into just that area.

I agree with both of you - I'd love to see them stick with the spacey/electronic theme but they will run out of options quite quickly. I love the suggestions of Hopkins, Bonobo and Bjork through. And I'd like to see more cool stuff along the lines of the bee symphony thing - that was ace.

We were laughing about the between-acts playlist too

[shoptildrop]

Get Sigur Ros or New Order there, as both have played the transmission gigs at Jodrell and would be the right size for this festival  

I'm all registered as I bought tickets in 1st wave in March when the initial lineup was released

[DDave]

Kraftwerk do seem the no.1 obvious choice for a headliner. Moby would be a great fit as well, as would Royksopp.

[eFestivals]

3 minutes ago, DiscothequeDave said:

obvious choice for a headliner

don't forget tho, there's a difference between the punter's-obvious and the organiser's-available/affordable/sellable.

I reckon it must be hard enough trying to book a festival of this size while keeping the necessaries balanced, without throwing in the curveball of something a bit special expected because of the site.

[Zoo Music Girl]

I actually have no idea how they pulled it all off, without evidence of major sponsorship (I know there was probably some). It must have cost a fair bit. 

Edited August 4, 2016 by Zoo Music Girl

[Amy Lawn]

13 hours ago, eFestivals said:

I think there might be limits to that.

Did you notice the main stage between-acts playlist? I can't recall how many times i heard Bowie's 'Starman' and Oasis' 'Champagne Supanova' ... and then whoever put the playlist together seemed to run out of ideas.

(I do recall also hearing Jamiroquai's 'Cosmic Girl' too ... but just the once, and nothing else [tho there probably were other songs too])

You undersell them Neil, there was Man On The Moon by REM quite a few times too!

[loulouboo]

21 hours ago, eFestivals said:

I think there might be limits to that.

Did you notice the main stage between-acts playlist? I can't recall how many times i heard Bowie's 'Starman' and Oasis' 'Champagne Supanova' ... and then whoever put the playlist together seemed to run out of ideas.

(I do recall also hearing Jamiroquai's 'Cosmic Girl' too ... but just the once, and nothing else [tho there probably were other songs too])

Anyway, it's not a theme that can run and run forever, and I reckon it would be a mistake for the long-term to box themselves too strongly into just that area.

I don't remember hearing any of those songs!! how odd, was probably dashing around too much!

did anyone else find the late night music quite samey, after a while I was longing to find a bit of disco or something more silly- kitsch space tunes.. Maybe I just never found it!  

 

Other  bands M83, spiritualized playing laser guided melodies , lamb 

 

[Rumblestripe]

Steve Hillage to play the whole of Motivation Radio please

You yoofs can go do something else while I get my thing on.

[Zoo Music Girl]

By the way did anyone here do the fine dining thingy? Would love to hear what it was like as might consider for next year...

[mandolin]

43 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

By the way did anyone here do the fine dining thingy? Would love to hear what it was like as might consider for next year...

We did the Sunday lunch thing.  Overall impression was a bit "meh".  There was nothing wrong with the food and it made a nice change from festival food but I didn't think it was anything that special - and certainly not £40 special.  That said, some of the others around our communal table had also been there on the Saturday for some 7 course thing and they said that the food had been really great but that it took over 3 hours and meant that they missed some of the live music and science stuff that they had wanted to see.  

Don't think I'd book it again for next year personally.

[Zoo Music Girl]

16 hours ago, mandolin said:

We did the Sunday lunch thing.  Overall impression was a bit "meh".  There was nothing wrong with the food and it made a nice change from festival food but I didn't think it was anything that special - and certainly not £40 special.  That said, some of the others around our communal table had also been there on the Saturday for some 7 course thing and they said that the food had been really great but that it took over 3 hours and meant that they missed some of the live music and science stuff that they had wanted to see.  

Don't think I'd book it again for next year personally.

Ah, interesting feedback. Doesn't sound like it was massively worth it. I feel like it would bother me too much to miss three hours of other stuff. I wonder if it was booked up and if they'll do it next year.