Wide Awake 2023

[suttttttt]

Would love this in full

[bleeegghh]

Are we sure Caroline is even headlining out right? feels like a similar situation with amyl this year who also played brixton academy the same week. 

Understand they might be downsizing but I wouldn't put it past them to get a bigger act as well

[evilduck]

It says on the top of the announcement:

Caroline Polachek to headline Wide Awake! Also joining us etc etc..

That seems pretty unambiguous to me. If she was headlining a smaller stage they would have said so. 

[The Crimson King]

7 hours ago, evilduck said:

It says on the top of the announcement:

Caroline Polachek to headline Wide Awake! Also joining us etc etc..

That seems pretty unambiguous to me. If she was headlining a smaller stage they would have said so. 

She pulled one of the biggest crowds of APE, very close to full capacity. Only Fred Again was bigger in support capacity. Played a similar slot to Primal Scream there in 2019 as well. 
 

[gfa]

1 hour ago, The Crimson King said:

She pulled one of the biggest crowds of APE, very close to full capacity. Only Fred Again was bigger in support capacity. Played a similar slot to Primal Scream there in 2019 as well. 

There was nothing else really on at the same time as her (bar about 5 mins of caribou at the end of her set) and it was the weakest day?

Not doubting shes headlining but the APE statement is a bit of a strange one

[collectivisedfarming]

I've heard of Caroline mainly through her previous band but not really sure how big she is and if as a headliner she's much of a draw but then the first year of Wide Awake was a bit odd in that I imagine Idles would have headlined the evening rather than the afternoon but for their own schedule. Any of Squid, BCNR, Black Midi or Shame could have played the last slot on the mainstage really. All had one album out at the time? There was quite a strong lineup on the other stages still running, Yard Act, Daniel Avery, Self Esteem and Kokoroko (who I went to see) which felt well chosen in terms of diversity of genres. That would be my favoured approach over one big act to close the day and not much competition. I can't see Daniel Avery and OPN not being tent headliners.

Primal Scream seemed an odd fit last year. And not to be unkind because I love Bobby and they did have sound issues but their best days as a live band feel very much in the rear view mirror. 

[The Crimson King]

4 hours ago, gfa said:

There was nothing else really on at the same time as her (bar about 5 mins of caribou at the end of her set) and it was the weakest day?

Not doubting shes headlining but the APE statement is a bit of a strange one

Just saying what I saw. It may have been the weakest day line up wise but still outsold the National day by nearly double. 

[2loor2iller]

With Caroline, I imagine they (rightfully) probably expect her second album to take off massively and so her headlining come the time the festival comes around won’t be questionable at all. She just needs to get the fucking thing released after almost two years of teasing and playing songs from it. 

[Field Commander Jefferson]

Ok having listened to some stuff recommended here and watched some live stuff it still seems an odd booking IMO for wide awake and I haven't liked anything I've heard but she seems popular on here which is cool. edit. just listened to 'billions' which has at least slightly more leftfield to the rest of the stuff

 

I guess with it going one day you;d think that there'll be several headliners on at once so I'll go and catch Daniel Avery instead

Edited November 11, 2022 by Field Commander Jefferson

[Enkidu]

In all fairness, her London show was meant to be this Halloween, but got moved to February. So I doubt it would have seemed so strange if it was an almost 7 month gap between the two shows.

Anyway, good on them for giving a bump up to someone instead of giving it to someone like Hot Chip or whatever. She's great and I'm sure she'll deliver a seminal headline set

[jannybruck]

46 minutes ago, Enkidu said:

In all fairness, her London show was meant to be this Halloween, but got moved to February. So I doubt it would have seemed so strange if it was an almost 7 month gap between the two shows.

Anyway, good on them for giving a bump up to someone instead of giving it to someone like Hot Chip or whatever. She's great and I'm sure she'll deliver a seminal headline set

The tour got moved because loads of the venues weren't selling (and the London show still hasn't sold out yet), which makes this doubling up even weirder from a ticket shifting perspective – it's not like she's coming off the back of three nights at Brixton like Bicep were last time. Maybe they're banking on her having a profile rise or something in the coming months, who knows, or maybe the budget's just slashed because it's one day again which is understandable.

Hot Chip would be a great booking for this at some point to be fair, right size for it. I'd love to see them at Wide Awake at some point.

Edited November 11, 2022 by jannybruck

[gfa]

4 hours ago, The Crimson King said:

Just saying what I saw. It may have been the weakest day line up wise but still outsold the National day by nearly double. 

Didn't know that wow

2 hours ago, jannybruck said:

The tour got moved because loads of the venues weren't selling (and the London show still hasn't sold out yet), which makes this doubling up even weirder from a ticket shifting perspective – it's not like she's coming off the back of three nights at Brixton like Bicep were last time. Maybe they're banking on her having a profile rise or something in the coming months, who knows, or maybe the budget's just slashed because it's one day again which is understandable.

Hot Chip would be a great booking for this at some point to be fair, right size for it. I'd love to see them at Wide Awake at some point.

I wonder if bookers have heard unreleased songs making them take the gamble - is this ever a thing? Could just be a good special guest coming too potentially

Definitely - doing that ally pally fest this year though

[lessthanwill1]

Think it’s great that Wide Awake have chosen to give a female artist her first ever festival headline slot rather than a safer booking.

I personally don’t think it matters that she’s playing a London show in the same year.  Not all of her fans (me!) are able to get to a mid week show so I’m thrilled she’s doing a weekend festival.

[scatteredscreens]

19 minutes ago, lessthanwill1 said:

Think it’s great that Wide Awake have chosen to give a female artist her first ever festival headline slot rather than a safer booking.

I personally don’t think it matters that she’s playing a London show in the same year.  Not all of her fans (me!) are able to get to a mid week show so I’m thrilled she’s doing a weekend festival.

I'm with you on this. Her tour being in February was a pain for me given how many gigs are happening then. I also don't see what the issue with her style of music anyway given there's lots of other post-punk stuff there for people. 

And as others have said before, Idles and Hot Chip don't need to be going around headlining London festivals all the time. Get some variety.

[Muppetmark]

16 hours ago, The Crimson King said:

She pulled one of the biggest crowds of APE, very close to full capacity. Only Fred Again was bigger in support capacity. Played a similar slot to Primal Scream there in 2019 as well. 
 

I didn't think her crowd at APE was that big. Absolutely nowhere near full capacity 

[gfa]

10 hours ago, scatteredscreens said:

I'm with you on this. Her tour being in February was a pain for me given how many gigs are happening then. I also don't see what the issue with her style of music anyway given there's lots of other post-punk stuff there for people. 

And as others have said before, Idles and Hot Chip don't need to be going around headlining London festivals all the time. Get some variety.

They wouldn't have one not sold out brixton show though (thats apparently being rescheduled already due to poor sales). Thats the issue people have 😂

[scatteredscreens]

3 hours ago, gfa said:

They wouldn't have one not sold out brixton show though (thats apparently being rescheduled already due to poor sales). Thats the issue people have 😂

If it was some middle of the road post punk act there would be complaints that its too boring. You literally can't please some people. I don't really care if she has a sold out brixton date, the brixton date is likely before her album is out and also isn't part of a festival with a broad line up of electronic music, post punk and some nice international bands. 

[scatteredscreens]

I will caveat my take on Caroline that I'm a big fan of hers and also got my ticket for Wide Awake on the early bird £30. But I don't think it's a horrendously diabolical booking as some have made it out to be.

[gfa]

I'd also say it doesn't have to be IDLES or Hot Chip but theres heaps of artists around that size they could have booked that sell out brixton instead i guess. If it sells poorly they'll just add someone else to it 

[churlie100]

Throwing my hat in to say I booked a Wide Awake ticket basically solely because of the Caroline Polachek announcement (with Jockstrap and Oneohtrix as nice bonuses). As people have said above, it's not just that I'm a fan of hers but also because it's cool to see a festival taking a gamble on giving a burgeoning female artist a headline slot instead of one of the other bands mentioned here who seem like considerably safer bets.

[scatteredscreens]

2 minutes ago, churlie100 said:

Throwing my hat in to say I booked a Wide Awake ticket basically solely because of the Caroline Polachek announcement (with Jockstrap and Oneohtrix as nice bonuses). As people have said above, it's not just that I'm a fan of hers but also because it's cool to see a festival taking a gamble on giving a burgeoning female artist a headline slot instead of one of the other bands mentioned here who seem like considerably safer bets.

She's insane live. I've seen Idles like, 5 times? In small venues and in Ally Pally and I think Caroline's roundhouse set was better, so good. I haven't seen her outdoors however so be interesting to see how that goes.

[churlie100]

1 minute ago, scatteredscreens said:

She's insane live. I've seen Idles like, 5 times? In small venues and in Ally Pally and I think Caroline's roundhouse set was better, so good. I haven't seen her outdoors however so be interesting to see how that goes.

I was at that Roundhouse show! Had rubbish seats though (by Roundhouse standards) so I'm looking forward to seeing her with a good view at what will certainly be a monumental set for her.

[lessthanwill1]

I had tickets to see Caroline at Heaven in London a few days before the first lockdown was imposed.  I decided to leave it as I didn’t fancy risking it at the time, thinking I’d see her pretty soon after. Still not seen her and very excited to finally get a chance to!

Also, don’t skip Arooj Aftab!  You might think it wouldn’t work as well outdoors but her set at Green Man this year was so good, and that was outdoors in the sunshine.  

[scatteredscreens]

1 minute ago, lessthanwill1 said:

Also, don’t skip Arooj Aftab!  You might think it wouldn’t work as well outdoors but her set at Green Man this year was so good, and that was outdoors in the sunshine.  

I think I was mid-shift when they were on and didn't know much about them but lots of people on were talking about them afterwards.

[collectivisedfarming]

6 hours ago, lessthanwill1 said:

Also, don’t skip Arooj Aftab!  You might think it wouldn’t work as well outdoors but her set at Green Man this year was so good, and that was outdoors in the sunshine.  

Ideally she'll play the smaller outdoor stage at wide awake as I'd like to see her and she'll get drowned out by talkers like Faye Webster did this year if she's in the tent.