End of the Road line up? so far underwhelmed.

[LowerMead]

This year will be our 8th EoTR and I  have to say if it was my first time, based on the music line-up alone, we wouldn't be going if we hadn't been before.   It just seems to be that bit too much too alt-hipster, even for EoTR.  I might be 44 but have a vague finger on the pulse, 6 Music is on pretty frequently in our house, but I just look at the line up and go 'Nope, never heard of them', continually.

That said, over the years I have discovered some awesome new music at EoTR, but I would like to have, say, three bands a day that I've vaguely heard of.  My only worry is that Band of Horses will pull out, having lost two members last month. I'm hoping they are in South Carolina right now auditioning some session players!

Still, the beauty of EoTR is that it's just a wonderful place to be, and for me always signifies  'end of festival season' before Autumn and Winter roll in. Unexpectedly I had a heart attack six weeks ago, I am recovering well, but having had a bit of a brush with my mortality, lying in hospital bed reflecting on what is good in my life, it occurred to me that EoTR is one of the great things I look forward to every year.

So, with a spirit of positivity, and having bought a campervan pass in the Earlybird sales with a vague plan of buying a camper or caravan, I stopped dithering about it and have purchased a small Eriba pop-top caravan for me, my wife and toddler son to go to festivals in. It will be getting it's maiden festival outing at EoTR 2017, and I will be sat round the fire at the Cider Bus reflecting on how good it is to be alive and hopefully finding some great new acts.   

[xxialac]

I don't mean to be impolite but you can't say you have a vague finger on the pulse of alternative music and not have heard of much of the lineup. The following are very established names in indie and then you have relatively new acts that are getting a lot of profile like Lemon Twigs, The Moonlandingz, Waxahatchee and Moses Sumney and Car Seat Headrest.

Band of Horses
Real Estate
Mac DeMarco
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Father John Misty
Foxygen
Ty Segall
Perfume Genius
Parquet Courts
Deerhoof
Alvvays
Bill Callahan
Slowdive
Japandroids
Pond
Baxter Dury

The lineup looks no more or less hipster than previous years.

[Yokel Again]

Hope you are feeling better Lowermead. Build up plenty of strength for that 1st cider in September!

And you of course are right - EOTR is a great thing and it will be great regardless of the 'bigger names'. Best thing is finding new people, I am not cool at all so looking forward to hearing loads of new stuff come Sept. My spotify is already full of it. Really enjoying Vaudou Game this week (spelling?).

 

[Yokel Again]

This hipster thing....

1st EOTR was 2008 - full of beards and check shirts. I'm sure it wasn't called hipster then? 

One day the hipsters will be doing something else and those of us with long term beards will remain. 

[LowerMead]

2 hours ago, xxialac said:

I don't mean to be impolite but you can't say you have a vague finger on the pulse of alternative music and not have heard of much of the lineup. The following are very established names in indie and then you have relatively new acts that are getting a lot of profile like Lemon Twigs, The Moonlandingz, Waxahatchee and Moses Sumney and Car Seat Headrest.

Band of Horses
Real Estate
Mac DeMarco
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Father John Misty
Foxygen
Ty Segall
Perfume Genius
Parquet Courts
Deerhoof
Alvvays
Bill Callahan
Slowdive
Japandroids
Pond
Baxter Dury

The lineup looks no more or less hipster than previous years.

I beg to differ.  Granted BoH, JAMC, FJM and Slowdive are well known, but the remainder are fairly niche. Perfume Genius I know from a great first time at EoTR. Bill Callahan as a headliner .... hmmmm ... there will be a minority of people familiar with his work, or that of Smog.  Slowdive as a Thursday night in the Big Top is a poor choice of stage IMHO - the only (relatively) big name on, it will be a massive draw and inevitably packed, with a possible 'no room at the inn' on it. It would be far better to have them on The Woods, but that entails running two stages on the Thursday night. Incidentally I thought it was poor form to eject everyone from the Big Top prior to Teenage Fanclub on the Sunday last year, to then have to queue to get in again, (the kind of thing you get at more corporate festivals) and will inevitably happen with Slowdive. Meh.   

Horses for courses though. For everyone I don't fancy I'm sure there will be an Alaskan folk trio on the Teepee mid afternoon that will just delight.

[xxialac]

You make a lot of good points but I can't agree that the other bands are niche.

When I compare the poster with previous years I don't see even one year when there were more established indie acts than there are this year.

Perhaps the headliners were stronger but this year has a fantastically deep undercard.

[LowerMead]

Hopefully I'll find out!  I'm digging into the Spotify playlist now.

In all honesty, having a 2yo running around will be entertaining enough. He's a good lad and this will be his third EoTR, we took him for the first time at 6 months. For the last two he was very much a captive prisoner in his buggy, but this year he is going to want to explore - in a way it's probably best that it's not my all-time stellar favourite ever line-up as I'd get frustrated at not being able to see everyone I want when his attention wanes!  

[xxialac]

Can recommend Foxygen We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, Real Estate Atlas, Pond The Weather and Parquet Courts Human Performance.

Girl Ray another great newcomer I forgot to mention, as is Aldous Harding.

Away from indie, try the fantastically energetic Amadou and Mariam Dimanche a Bamako.

[ljsawyer]

I'd add Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever's 2 EPs to xxialac's list. By far the most exciting new guitar band I have heard in ages.

+1 for Amadou & Mariam as well. Their Latitude performance in 2008 is still one of the best shows I've ever seen, so I can't wait for them to grace the stage at EOTR.

Best of luck with the recovery LowerMead, I'm sure you will find some gems further down the line-up!

[xxialac]

Yeah, good luck LowerMead - huge respect for your approach to life.

(and thanks ljsawyer for the tip)

[juliadevitt]

On 5/18/2017 at 9:56 AM, LowerMead said:

This year will be our 8th EoTR and I  have to say if it was my first time, based on the music line-up alone, we wouldn't be going if we hadn't been before.   It just seems to be that bit too much too alt-hipster, even for EoTR.  I might be 44 but have a vague finger on the pulse, 6 Music is on pretty frequently in our house, but I just look at the line up and go 'Nope, never heard of them', continually.

That said, over the years I have discovered some awesome new music at EoTR, but I would like to have, say, three bands a day that I've vaguely heard of.  My only worry is that Band of Horses will pull out, having lost two members last month. I'm hoping they are in South Carolina right now auditioning some session players!

Still, the beauty of EoTR is that it's just a wonderful place to be, and for me always signifies  'end of festival season' before Autumn and Winter roll in. Unexpectedly I had a heart attack six weeks ago, I am recovering well, but having had a bit of a brush with my mortality, lying in hospital bed reflecting on what is good in my life, it occurred to me that EoTR is one of the great things I look forward to every year.

So, with a spirit of positivity, and having bought a campervan pass in the Earlybird sales with a vague plan of buying a camper or caravan, I stopped dithering about it and have purchased a small Eriba pop-top caravan for me, my wife and toddler son to go to festivals in. It will be getting it's maiden festival outing at EoTR 2017, and I will be sat round the fire at the Cider Bus reflecting on how good it is to be alive and hopefully finding some great new acts.   

I hope you like your new purchase. Buying our Eriba was one of the best things we ever did. End of the Road is one of the great things that I look forward to every year too. Wishing you well and a great festival.