EOTR 2016 - How Was Yours?

[Yesiamaduck]

And I still absolutely adored the festival despite the rain... which if we're honest didn't really cripple the festival in any way as the worst I seemed to see was a puddle near the toilets, though I'm sure it'd have sucked if you didn't have waterproofs (but £2 for a poncho and you're set)

Highlights: 
Knightmare Live Festival Expansion Pack -> This was absolutely magical and brilliantly funny. A bunch of comedians play a game of Knightmare with few members of the audience and was done with all the heart that you'd hope. WHERE AM I? YOU'RE IN A ROOM!

Thee Oh Sees are a band I seem to miss at every festival I ever attended but boy howdy am I glad I finally caught them. A relentlessly heavy set with a crowd that was very much into it and the sound was bone shatteringly great and despite that still remarkably clear. #

On that note, the sound across the board seemed better than last year with no single show that I saw having bad sound or anything resembling bad sound the whole weekend across all stages.

Savages. Saw them in Brighton at Drill festival a few years back and thought they were dull. Though free from the shackles of playing exclusively new material to a crowd they hit their stride a lot better and the bands stage presences shun through.

Broken Social Scene - Again this wasn't one that I expected to like as much as I did but that was about a good a show I could've ever hoped for. They powered through material, the band seemed taken back by the crowds excellent attentive behaviour and sheer mass that they seemed to put extra effort in. Never sagged and dragged which they have a habit of doing sometimes.

Hard Skin - 2.45pm with nothing else really grabbing my fancy I walked into the tipi tent only to find what appeared to be a very British and very oy! punk band. Basically the opposite of what you'd expect at any indie/art rock festival, yet alone End Of The Road, and it was fantastic. With the bassist making the soundcheck one of the best stand up routines I've ever seen the bands constant bashing of hipsters, grilled cheese costing as much as there merch and Animal Collective was done so convincingly it would be easy to forget that they're actually fans of a lot of the musicians on the bill collaborating with the likes of Joanna Newsome on their last album. Brilliantly funny set with some solid oy! Punk choons they were refreshingly different from the rest of the bill.

U.S. Girls - Very fun to watch, liked the concept and the performance and thought the tunes were good, it was 

Flamingods - Again another band I went in with low expectations but found myself dancing throughout their set.

Ezra Furman - Some early technical blunders aside this show was a ball of energy and the final 10 minutes were pure bliss. Especially the transition to his cover of (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher which was the party moment of the year.

Enjoyed everything I saw. Thought Witney aired on the side of average but other than that I'd rate everything I saw as at least 'good - very good' these were just the ones that I remember best.

Also once again it seemed like an incredibly friendly festival, I lost my phone the first night but someone found it by the Woods Stage and contacted my friend to let me know that it was in lost property! FANTASTIC HUMANS GO TO THIS FESTIVAL and there didn't seem to be a 'Stag Party' type crowd like last year so a lot of the sets were pretty much accompanied with a pin drop silent crowd.

End Of The Road remains my favourite festival, Primevera may have the line up, but it lacks the friendly respectful atmosphere that EOTR has in spades. It's just a completely stress free experience not marred with long toilet queues, bad sound and has some wonderful surroundings.

[gigs]

Got back on sunday evening after another excellent weekend. So lucky, this marvellous festival is 40 minutes from my back door.

 

GOOD...

Fever Tree bar

Games area (despite my lad going for a death or glory shot on the table tennis and hitting a small child on the chops with the ball…If it was your child then i apologise again…)

Margo Price

Broken Social Scene

Bat For Lashes (plumped for them having seen Ezra many times and quite glad i did. Excellent show.)

Steve Mason. Set of the weekend for me. Euphoric.

Devendra Banhart… I mean, how chilled out can one man be.

Cafe Dish. I am not vegan, or needing Gluten Free, but good coffee, cake and tea, sensibly priced, and served with a smile makes this a regular pit stop.

BAD...

Weather (obviously) although not bad enough to ruin the weekend, it was  a surprise as this was the first serious rain in 5 years of attending.

Animal Collective. Maybe an age thing, but that was possibly the worst headliner i have ever seen at a festival. I lasted about 30 minutes, and that was on the basis that it must improve. Hey ho, music is about opinions but not my bag at all...

Tipi tent entry system. As has already been stated, there doesn't seem to be any correlation between people leaving and people going in. How can you attend a gig in a venue where you can't take a leak?

Missing Wild Beasts secret set.

On the whole a good weekend, but possibly looking for a bit more from the top end of the bands next time? The thing i love about this festival is that it caters for all tastes, but it has drifted away a bit from the Folky/ Americana styles so, on a selfish note, some more of that would be welcome.

Will add more thoughts as my mind becomes less fuzzy.

 

 

 

 

[domjon]

First time Ive been back since 2008, absolutely loved it.

Just had a brilliant weekend really, agree that the rain wasn't really a problem, although it sure was nice to get set up in the sun on Thursday.

Missed loads of bands I wanted to see but oh well, you can't watch everything.

Highlights for me:

Thurston Moore...only attracted a smallish crowd (think BSS were on at the same time?) but absolutely blew me away tbh, just a blast of noise that was perfectly on my wavelength.

Steve Mason...was looking forward to it but exceeded expectations, class set.

Beak>...was hard to choose between these and Mothers but I'm glad I headed for the big top...had a right good bounce around and they seemed a really decent bunch.

Money...he seems like a bit of a twat tbh but the music is beautiful and they put it together beautifully. 

Shins...ropey start had me a little nervous but they nailed it in the end, perfect way to start the weekend.

Thee Oh Sees...just ear shatteringly brilliant, anyone who saw it knows nothing else needs to be said :-)

Loads of others I thoroughly enjoyed....dilly dally,pinegrove, Amber arcades, teleman, Laura Gibson, phosphorescent, meilyr Jones, shopping, bill Ryder Jones (great songs but admittedly lacks a bit of enthusiasm)

Felt a bit sorry for James canty, got a stinker of a slot in the tipi getting completely drowned out by (I think) Dr Dog on the woods stage.

Only regrets are missing Jeff Lewis to go back to the tent for a dry off and being too much of a lightweight to keep on truckin for some of the later shows

Will definitely be back next year, ace festival.

[benali]

First EOTR for 3 years for me so it was good to be back. Now the kids are slightly older (10 & 7) and are more into the music it's far easier for us to watch more bands. (I have a theory, possibly misguided, that since EOTR started maxing out the site they have purposefully not provided much for kids to do to discourage their attendance in favour of adults who spend more money. I don't understand why they don't book the Flying Seagulls who play at loads of other festivals, are a charity, and therefore free!)

Highlights:

King Gizzard. Saw them at Green Man and that persuaded me to grab cheap tickets from Twickets and see them again. We were not disappointed. Also fair play to them for being so friendly and accommodating during the signing and for happily posing for pictures with the kids while watching Thee Oh Sees)

Steve Mason. Seen him loads but he's always a treat.

Yak. What a first band to see. Such energy, they got the crowd going and the kids were enthralled.

Thee Oh Sees. First time I've seen them and they lived up to my expectations.

Goat. Bonkers, but bonkers amazing.

Cat Power. Only saw half an hour before going to Animal Collective but she was great.

Cat's Eyes. Opening with Twin Peaks won me over straight away. Annoying that the sound clash from Goat starting on the main stage made the last few songs tough going.

Dilly Dally. Another band the kids enjoyed. Took me straight back to the indie/grunge clubs I used to go to in the 90's.

Broken Social Scene. They seemed to love it as much as the crowd. Such a good performance.

No real lowlights. Missed Flamingods due to queuing for the King Gizzard signing but had seen them at GM anyway. Phosphorescent's secret set got a bit ruined by the soundclash from the horrible wedding disco going on next door but he styled it out and played along to Bad Moon Rising. 

Would like more table tennis tables!

Stewards inside the Big Top to make sure more people can see the bands, the exit only places meant there was plenty of room inside but loads of people queuing to get in.

Wild Beasts were dull. I was hanging on to the hope their slot would be SFA.

As much as I like Beavertown beer there is no way I'm paying £4.50 for a 330ml can. Ridiculous pricing there. 

Weather wasn't great but the site held out fine. Found it a bit weird that plenty of people without kids pitched up in Family Camping but they were all quiet at night. 

The food was great, I could eat a plate of those onion bhajis every day.

The people were amazing. Well done to each and every one of you.

 

Edited September 5, 2016 by benali

[Lonepinksock]

This was my 7th year attending and 3rd as a voluntary steward.

A few points:

The bad:

• The capacity seems to have increased again. Literally people everywhere. This made it near impossible to get into the cinema building, the comedy and the tipi on thursday night. Queues quickly built up trying to get into the big top too.One of the nice things about EOTR was that you could just dip in and out of things as and when you fancied. Now it seems like a real mission to see anything. Trolleys of kids lurking in the dark ready to trip people up.
• The d*ckhe*d quota was up. Talking during sets really isn't cool (although some cackling individuals got loudly SHH'd during Bat for Lashes).
• Destruction of art installations/ general disrespect of the site. I was disgusted to see the decimation of the clay penguin type creature in the woods and the pulling apart of installations that had clearly taken time to put together. The state of the Piano stage by Sunday evening was disgraceful. Thanks to a very tall man who helped us to remove a sticker from the face of one of the lovely Tipi sloths.
• Secret Set information. It's tough to get phone signal on site. What happened to the good old days of leaving notes around site about secret shows?
• The weather. Partly my fault for not having adequate waterproofing - stewarding during a monsoon with no shelter is not ideal.
• Do not many people know how to flush a toilet?!
• Newsom-gate. This includes her very strict sound-check.

The good:

• Generally most people on site are lovely. Making stewarding a much more pleasurable experience. Shout out to the guy who made an effort to vomit into the bin rather than all over the floor!
• Bat for Lashes Saturday night. One of the best performances of the weekend.
• Cider Bus. During the Newsom blackout having an acoustic guitar available to serenade the bar staff with (in return for a hot bevarage!)
• Ringo music bingo. Always puts a big smile on my face!
• Food. So much great food, so little time! Smoked Halloumi burger a big hit this year

Sadly I don't think I will return next year. The festival really has lost it's magic .

 

 

Edited September 5, 2016 by Lonepinksock

[RedRockRick]

What I thought here:

https://www.facebook.com/richardwjp/posts/10210655880576286?pnref=story

[Mardy]

All you need to know about what I thought is that we got earlybird tickets this morning

[LowerMead]

My 8th consecutive EoTR, first 6 were done solo, last year and this year with wife and (now) 18 month old son. Going with a baby means that my Clashfinder is inevitably full of bands I want to see but some of them get missed when Dad duty calls. 

That aside, I really enjoyed (in no specific order) Margo Price, Phosphorescent, Dawn Landes, Eleanor Friedberger, MONEY, Bat For Lashes (superb), Futur Primitif, Steve Mason, Broken Social Scene, Dr. Dog, Scritti Politti, Hard Skin (very funny) and the mighty Teenage Fanclub.

As ever, people were lovely, chatted to lots of strangers about music and life, enjoyed lots of lovely food - a binge at Goan Fish Curry this year - and enjoyed lots of beer and cocktails. Had to laugh at Steve Mason giving it a big 'smash capitalism' message when his audience contained hordes of people happy to pay nine quid for a Gin & Tonic just across the field! 

Only complaint: Newsom-gate. I did get halfway through a ranty email to EoTR this morning about it, but given that I've just bought three Early Birds for 2017 they probably won't listen to it so I binned it, putting my thoughts on here instead. Forcing Teenage Fanclub to go on late caused a (totally unnecessary, in my view) rush to get to see them in the Big Top, and meant that, in advance, it was tricky to determine how rammed that tent would be, and whether it would be safe for us to tuck our boy in his buggy somewhere out of the way at the back. We took the decision it wouldn't be the best idea in the world, so my wife and I drew straws to see who would wait outside with him and who would get to see the 'Fanclub - me, as it happened.

Pretty pissed off that we had to make that choice - had they had Fanclub on at the same time as the whiny Ms Newsom then ther crowd would've been split between acts of their choice and the Big Top would inevitably have coped. This is the second time EoTR have bowed to her demands like this, I really don't see the attraction of her music and find it to be a, well, 'not very End Of The Road' thing to do. One of us missed a great headliner because of a safety issue caused by her and her fucking harp! As Hard Skin put it, "she's great, until she starts to play that bloody harp!" - I know it was done tongue-in-cheek, but I'm inclined to agree. 

Same time next year then?  

[juliadevitt]

My 4th EOTR in a row and my least favourite. The weather had an impact but the line up just wasn't doing it

for me so much.

However I

Loved:

MONEY, Steve Mason, Ezra, Phosphorescent, Hard Skin, Sunflower Bean, Goan Fish Curry! The friendly stewards on the ticket exchange gate.

Enjoyed:

Pinegrove, Younghusband, Blind Shake, YAK, Thee Oh Sees, Teleman, The Shins, Broken Social; Scene,

the showers, Happy Chippy, real ale bars, Sipsmith Bar, being able to park our car next to caravan this year.

Didn't like:

the queues for Big Top and Tipi and loos, Jamie Lee's secret 'set', Joanna F*cking Newsom ( and everything

stopping for her). I like my headliners loud and uplifting. As I get older and it gets later I need something to make me jump about and keep me going!

The (albeit nice) stewards in the camper van field insisting we all squeeze close together and then leaving a 1/3rd of the field completely empty. This happens every year. The organisers know how many tickets have been sold and it is a huge field, please spread it out a little bit more. 

a few drunk idiots being agressive.

I haven't bought early bird tickets and none of our group have, which is unusual. I will probably go down the deposit route but would really like to know some of the line up first.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by juliadevitt

[Fat_Buddha]

2 hours ago, Mardy said:

All you need to know about what I thought is that we got earlybird tickets this morning

Lucky bugger. By the time I got back from taking the dog for a walk they had all gone. 3 tier 2's secured though.

[Fat_Buddha]

Overall it was great. I don't care who the headliners are I don't really go for them. I'm happy if the rest of the bill is packed with good stuff and as usual, it was.

It was good that the Woods was open as well as the tipi on Thursday and even better that Teleman were so surprisingly good. Likewise Baywaves.

I felt that the tosser quotient was down on the previous couple of years......there were some, there is bound to be with so many people spending 4 days getting ratarsed, but not too many and they were easy to avoid.

I found the beer and grub prices this year to be a bit excessive and poor value, with some notable exceptions.

The Ban Mhi at Pho wotsit was delicious but only had about 3 tiny sliver of pork on it and the Beef Pho that my nipper had only had about 3 tiny slivers of beef. May as well have had a pot noodle. 

The garden stage used to be my favourite stage but it has become a pain in the arse. It gets packed with picnic blanket and chair sitting groups long before the acts begin and space then becomes really limited......these early space snatchers won't give up an inch. This always causes a rift between me and my mrs......she will not stand in front of someone who is sitting down. I say if there is no space left, the sitters have a choice.......carry on sitting and listen but not see, or stand the hell up........or eff off altogether. Of course if they have paid extra so that they can take up the space of 4 or 5, fine, but I've yet to see those tickets on sale.

As for Newsom. Can't stand her music. I have no issue with her being there or headlining, but killing the rest of the festie, on the last night is just plain wrong. We agonised, we really did, coz I wanted to see Teenage Fanclub, but in the end we said sod it, packed the car up early morning, then trotted home as soon as Newsom started, which lent out final festie moments a melancholy air.

How come the campervan people get the field right next to the entrance while campers who have to lug all their stuff have to park miles away? 

 

Highlights

Baywaves

Telemann

Ezra covers malarkey

Eleanor Friedberger

Margo Price

Karl Blau in the woods

Methyl Ethel

Beak

Anderson East

Meilyr Jones

Goat

Steve Mason

Dr Dog

JD McPherson

Kevin Morby

Broken Social Scene

BC Camplight

Devendra Banhart

Thee Oh Sees

And that's not to mention little bits and pieces here and there that I really liked. Anyone who says this festival is poor value is off their rocker.

Tickets for next year already purchased......not quick enough off the mark for an early bird though

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by Fat_Buddha
spelling

[wolfamongwolves]

 my 9th year attending still loved it. Larmer tree gardens is such a beautiful place. The woods looked magical. The garden stage is just perfect, great sound

Highlights

broken social scene, wow so good

the shins

whitney

shura

phosphorecent

sam beam & Jessica hoop

M ward ,absolutely fantastic

thee oh sees,incredible 

thurston Moore group

wild beasts except the new songs they played which sounded a lot like muse. 

Lows

animal collective love this band . They were awful. Don't like there current album, there weakest album by far. And they pretty much played all of it. 

Joanna newsom shutdown. It's just wrong. Watched her for half and hour and she was nice enough , but I would have liked the option of seeing someone else

unable to get into the cinema

seemed to be a few more idiots around . Saw someone using the woods as a toilet. 

Destroyed art installations. 

Talking during sets

Edited September 6, 2016 by wolfamongwolves

[Fat_Buddha]

25 minutes ago, wolfamongwolves said:

 my 9th year attending still loved it. Larmer tree gardens is such a beautiful place. The woods looked magical. The garden stage is just perfect, great sound

Highlights

broken social scene, wow so good

the shins

whitney

shura

phosphorecent

sam beam & Jessica hoop

M ward ,absolutely fantastic

thee oh sees,incredible 

thurston Moore group

wild beasts except the new songs they played which sounded a lot like muse. 

Lows

animal collective love this band . They were awful. Don't like there current album, there weakest album by far. And they pretty much played all of it. 

Joanna newsom shutdown. It's just wrong. Watched her for half and hour and she was nice enough , but I would have liked the option of seeing someone else

unable to get into the cinema

seemed to be a few more idiots around . Saw someone using the woods as a toilet. 

Destroyed art installations. 

Talking during sets

 

There was a bloke having a piss against the fence while Devendra Banhart was on. I contemplated chucking a can at him but bottled it. 

[buddiepaul]

3 hours ago, Mardy said:

All you need to know about what I thought is that we got earlybird tickets this morning

I echo your message, as I also purchased early bird tickets for the family this morning.

Hopefully I can get a proper response in later tonight after work

[killyourtv]

This was my review on my retirement blog (a bit beer biased)

http://retiredmartin.com/2016/09/05/sorted-for-bahn-mi-and-black-ipas

Or if you're busy

Highs  - People (you lot), Tom Bell (fishes), Martha, J Jacklin, Joanna N's rehearsal, Hard Skins (see top), Pho Sho, Beavertown

Lows - Our teenage boys not wanting to come (loads of toddlers, few teenagers this year), lack of sun, Beavertown prices, rain

 

The magic of my first EOTR (2011) has long gone, but I got early bird this morning as I wouldn't miss the new music for the world.

 

 

[ghandi]

My first EOTR, went with a long term Party/ Glasto mate also a first timer and we really enjoyed the different vibe and low w*nker count we usually have to endure, I really didn't notice the chatter in whilst the gigs were on. The only real downfall for me was the weather, wet windy, chilly and where was the sun! building up it had been great, just my luck. I really like the way the festival is laid out and we had  great late times at the woods disco  . We discussed at length the booking of the bands and having more ' commercial' bands as headliners, but in doing this the festival would suffer under the strain of the increase of w*nker count because of it. Loved the loo's and showers, again I'm used to Glasto and this was a delight in comparison. I only saw one loo the whole weekend that didn't have a loo roll n it, and the showers are great, ever got a cold one.

Bands I liked

Weaves: really think the are brilliant

Savages : I'm really into these , brilliant live and also have a base crush on Eisha

Cats Eyes : was really pleasantly surprised as to how good this was, and boys she's got a great voice and loved the backing girls.

Steve Mason: A great set , really enjoyed it.

The oh Sees : madness in a good way

Thurston Moore: Thought they were great but was sad that the didn't play more from ' End of days' ( ? last album )

JD McPherson: thought he was really good and everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

Things I didn't like:

My mate pulling me away from a couple of bands I wanted to see because after one song he didn't like them. He has a history of this, tends to go to the toilet and says he'll meet me outside  .

The Weather! Just guess we were unlucky.

Things that made me laugh:

My mate doing his usual late night after beer binge food binge and waking up next morning to see a sickly puddle outside his tent, that'll teach him

The girl who can't dance. Now I think I have rhythm on the dance floor and can shake a leg or two, but and I am not saying this in a condescending way, obviously she was enjoying herself, but boy this girl could not dance, talk about wood legged, sorry to laugh at someone else but it lead to great amusement. Sorry if you think that was you  

Over all a really good time, the usual post festival blues and sleeping in a tent cold has ensued.

 

[Swanmob]

First time at this and it was amazing. I've been to greenman in 2012 and 2014 and it has a very similar feel. The music lineup at EOTR is just as good if not better. 

My favourites were:

thee oh sees - may be the best thing I've ever seen live

broken social scene

joanna newsome

the blind shake

sam beam & jesca hoop

cat power

the shins

fews

local natives

josienne Clark and Ben walker

goat

a great moment happened when someone heckled jesca hoop about swearing during her's and sam's set. She responded with if I remember correctly 'it's my f**cking stage I can do what I f**cking like', the parrots then flew over the crowd and shat on somebody and they managed to work shit in as a lyric in the following song. Lovely stuff! 

 

 

[paulwa]

For me, possibly the strongest ever EOTR for consistently high quality music throughout the weekend. Particular highlights:

Teleman - much better live than on record I thought.
The Shins - a bit stage rusty, but so good to finally see them live.
Lucy Dacus - fantastic solo slot but I hope she comes back with a full band next time.
Imarhan - brought the bass groove back to the Garden Stage.
Kevin Morby - fantastic live slot. Hadn't been all that interested in him before, but he changed my mind totally.
Savages - just an awesome performance. Jehnny Beth knows how to get an audience into the palm of her hand.
King Gizzard - relentless psych rock and a really tight band.

Slightly underwhelmed by:

Cat Power - beautiful voice but the set had no change of pace, it all became a bit slow and dull.
The Blind Shake - would have suited a sweaty underground bar rather than the Big Top.
Thee Oh Sees - had probably built my expectations up too much, but they followed after King Gizzard, who had just blown me away with similar music and better tunes.

My EOTR 2016 favourite tunes playlist

My EOTR 2016 photos

[staffop]

Got there on the Thursday, excited about it opening up to a newer, larger headliner and 2 stages with music. All seemed as usual on arrival which was great (8th time coming for us), so got a couple of ciders from the bus and headed over to Woods stage. Teleman were fun, as were Shins, but we left before the encore to see Ezra’s secrets set in the Tipi which was brilliant – so many cool covers and a fab showman.

Slightly confused by queuing system as lots of people left the tent, but no one was being let in for a long time by security – one in, one out was definitely not being applied. Also slightly off putting as you can’t just nip out to the loo, but have to join the queue again to come back in– grrr! Security seemed more obvious this year and although generally very nice, did seem a bit officious (which goes with the job I guess).

The range of ales was excellent as ever, but costs were excessive - £5 for anything 5% + is prohibitive and £4.50 for the session ales seems excessive - that said, I did almost remortgage my house on the Bloody Mary’s and Fever Tree delights without blinking an eye….

Friday daytime was dominated by country woman for me – loved Dawn Landes and Margo Price both. Also saw Eleanor Friedberger but found it a bit meh. Only realized Souleyman had cancelled when I saw Stealing Sheep playing, but disappointment was offset by great sets from Money, Phosphorescent, Methyl Ethyl and Beak. That said, sound bleed from Woods for Money’s set almost ruined it. Appreciate Savages smashed it, but seems a bit unfair on other bands.

Saw a bit of Animal Collective but found it too annoying - finished off night at Tipi with Big Thief and someone else who I was too refreshed to recall next day

Gutted to have missed Phosphorescent at midnight Piano Stage set but it would have meant missing Beak who were great, so them’s the Brakes (who unfortunately were also absent)

Ezra should win hardest working person of the weekend – in addition to his Tipi set Thursday night, we also stumbled across a secret Piano stage gig Friday pm and watched him headline Saturday – all round brilliance at every stop

Saturday was wet, wet wet, generally, but we carried on regardless. Day opened with Futur Primitif of whom I’m a massive fan. Bought a cd but he seemed a little lack lustre – may have been carrying a hangover… Was hoping he’d also do a secret set later like previously but didn’t happen unfortunately. The Tipi Secret sets seem more organized nowadays rather than the shambolic get togethers I used to love by the likes of SnakeWagon, Jeffrey Lewis, Barr Bros, Brakes etc back in the day

Josienne Clark and Ben Walker performed beautifully with a droll line in banter. Enjoyed Big Moon before heading in to Garden for Jeffrey Lewis. Also on fine form as ever, despite the rain, and loved his newer songs. Sam Beam and Jessica Hoop were amazing (and surprisingly funny) – nobody tells Jessica not to swear when on stage!

Caught end of Cats Eyes were very good but seemed to finish early which was a shame. Was a little bored by M Ward so endured ramshackle queuing system at Big Top to see Steve Mason who was on fire – such a good set. It was then time for Ezra for the 3^rd time who brought some Saturday night joy – loved his James Brown shtick too.

Wild Beasts turned out to be the main Big Top secret band Saturday night, but greedily I was hoping for someone else TBH. Big Moon and Seratones finished off in Tipi, where I was very refreshed and it all washed over me in a most agreeable way.

Was hoping Sunday would turn out to be dry, but unfortunately heavens opened again in the evening, and being a fool I’d left waterproofs back at van. Enjoyed Leaf Library but loved Imarhan – such a groove. Saw Blind Shake who have the heaviest hitting drummer all weekend, then headed over to Hard Skin. Was worried they might be a bit novelty, but they were great and humorously ripped into pretty much everyone/thing at the festival. Mischievously also said they'd be doing the secret set later which was bollocks. Spot on with their Animal Collective references however… Watched a bit of Devendra who’s clearly a lovely chap but was a bit dull, so…

Finished off at Garden Stage for Kevin Morby (sublime), Thurston Moore (mesmerizing) and Thee Oh Sees (awesome). Unlike many others I loved Joanna Newsom on the Woods stage – maybe the best I’ve seen her. Would be nice if it wasn’t bloody raining though which it has done for the last 3 times I’ve watched her.

Agree the universal shutdown seems odd though - I think she'd be better in Garden anyway, just need an alternative at Woods so it wouldn't be too busy. 

Finished off as ever at Tipi for Blind Shakes, Pinegrove and Flamingods before stumbling back to tent at 3ish.

Gutted to have missed Karl Blau and Bats for Lashes, but other than that caught pretty much everything on my clashfinder. All in all another fab weekend, thanks to all who took part

Top 5

Phosphorescent

Sam Beam and Jessca Hoop

Ezra

Joanna Newsom

Oh Sees

(Closely followed by Kevin Morby and Jeffrey Lewis)

Edited September 6, 2016 by staffop

[staffop]

2 hours ago, Fat_Buddha said:

How come the campervan people get the field right next to the entrance while campers who have to lug all their stuff have to park miles away? 

 

 

To be fair though, we do have to pay £80 for the privilege, for which we don't get much else...

I'd be annoyed if i'd payed lots of money for the boutique camping though - they seemed to be miles away!

[Fat_Buddha]

14 minutes ago, staffop said:

To be fair though, we do have to pay £80 for the privilege, for which we don't get much else...

I'd be annoyed if i'd payed lots of money for the boutique camping though - they seemed to be miles away!

 

Yes, I was in it, they should provide a rickshaw service!

[RustySpanner]

Fifth time at the festival for me, and whilst not quite reaching the spectacular heights of last year, it was a fantastic weekend.

Highlights – Baywaves, Shins, Weaves (tightest band of the weekend award?), Savages, Cat Power, Younghusband, Shopping, Martha, FEWS, Wild Beasts (got tipped the wink on Thursday it was them – love them on record, usually find them a bit dull live, but thought they had really upped their game and improved their live performance), Pinegrove, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE!!!, King Gizzard, Sunflower Bean.

Only really one band I saw that was disappointing – Frankie Cosmos. EERA also seemed a bit miserable about something but were okay. Sad to miss Local Natives but just couldn’t drag myself away from ‘Shopping’.

I too was disappointed with Newsom-gate, and did the heading off on Sunday night thing. Had to laugh on the way out when the footpath was closed for 10 minutes due to a bin lorry being stuck in the mud. It was like she had arranged it so NOBODY LEAVES WHILE I AM PLAYING EITHER.

The music has certainly changed a lot since we first started attending. Surely that was an all time low banjo count? Suits me though so I’m not complaining but I’m sure there are some early stalwarts who will be disappointed. There were also far fewer beards this year, and many more small moustaches.

Food was all good; Beavertown prices a bit over the top. Real ale was good though.

Early birds already in the bag. Looking forward to the first announcement and the Spotify playlist already.

[Fareham Grecian]

Nice review here: Festival Review: End of the Road, Dorset, 1-4/9/16 – Between the Wars
https://betweenthewarsblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/festival-review-end-of-the-road-dorset-1-4916/

(disclaimer: I wrote it...) 

[LowerMead]

2 hours ago, staffop said:

To be fair though, we do have to pay £80 for the privilege, for which we don't get much else...

I'd be annoyed if i'd payed lots of money for the boutique camping though - they seemed to be miles away!

Campervans/Caravans used to be in hte field on the left side of the driveway, and everybody including regular cars and coaches entered via the same entrance, whilst the current campervan field was unusued. I think they've moved it to that field in recent years to accomodate the separate entrance, to facilitate smoother entry to/exit from site for all concerned. 

I'm not sure (as a prospective caravanner for next year) what extras they need to provide? There's an Elsan point and showers, they can't do electric hook-ups. What are they missing?

[killyourtv]

On the Newsom, the extended soundcheck was really all you need on a Sunday morning. Wonderful stuff.   My sympathies to the stewards who had to enforce the "rules".

Did forget to say only caught the last half-hour of Phosphorescent but was the best music I heard all weekend.  Saw him in Liverpool on last tour and didn't work, just shows the power of the Garden stage.