2023 line up thread

[scatteredscreens]

4 minutes ago, homesick said:

Surprised at all the negativity about Future Islands booking. Good live act who are at the height of their popularity (just had their biggest ever show at Alexandra Palace). I understand if people don’t like them but they’re not exactly under the calibre of headliner you’d expect from this festival

And they certainly won’t stink the place out like the boreathon that was Fleet Foxes last year 

they're just a boring act, they were fine in the mid 2010s for mid festival daytime fodder but i dont think they should be headlining festivals (yes even EOTR size) in 2023

[zahidf]

Ill give Future islands a go, but if they are boring, ill go to another stage

[paulwa]

To all the doubters, listen to the playlist. It’s going to be great. There’s something there for many tastes: blues, Americana, rap, world, folk, soul, electronic, indie, psych. #insimonwetrust

[p.pete]

11 minutes ago, paulwa said:

To all the doubters, listen to the playlist. It’s going to be great. There’s something there for many tastes: blues, Americana, rap, world, folk, soul, electronic, indie, psych. #insimonwetrust

And Australian.

Been listening a few hours now and there's plenty that I'll dig into further - love that the festival release comes with a playlist 🙂 

[riverlodge]

55 minutes ago, dreams_burn_down said:

fwiw I actually think the headliners are pretty decent, and there's enough exciting stuff buried in the lower end of the poster that makes me confident I'd find lots of great new acts I'm not familiar with.

I think the middle of the lineup is the weak bit - once you look past the headliners and Angel Olsen, there's no big/medium acts I'd be looking forward to at all.

This is about where it sits for me too. It's just missing one or two 'mid' gems like they have done before-  tea time Shame set on the Woods, Fontaines in the Big Top, PSB late night Big Top, Squid late afternoon Garden etc etc. As said above, I'm also hopeful that once Walkmen clear the majority of Koko gig tix they could be on.

But overall very happy, esp as caroline were one of my top 3 bands of 2022.

[SweepingTheNation]

Noticed that after being announced for 2020, 2021 and 2022 they've given up on Ahmed Fakroun and Ian Noe. Surprising that Part Chimp (and Emma-Jean Thackray, unless she's just chosen to be off the road) aren't back after missing 2022 through injury.

[WM Hall]

I think my problem is the line up seems very split between what the festival wants to be and what it has to be.

There's some really good stuff in the undercard - Oren Ambarchi, Bar Italia, Nina Nastasia, Horse Lords, MC Yallah etc - but the undercard just seems disconnected from the rest of the line up.

The headliners are really stale and would have been passe in 2016. 4 blokey rock bands isn't interesting, but it probably sells tickets.

Really admire the move to booking more leftfield, "world", jazz and hiphop acts but making all these artists fit together in a coherent whole is a the difficult and interesting part  

Altogether it doesn't feel like a unified line-up, just randomly chosen acts who aren't joined by any real thread.

Edited January 31, 2023 by WM Hall

[Wildhog]

3 hours ago, wolfamongwolves said:

Big Brave , Arooj Aftab,  Nina Nastasia hopefully Jim White will drum for her 

No drums on Nina Nastasia's current album, just guitar & voice and her story. My highlight already.

[trucksnbolts]

Christ, has this place ever been this bitchy?  It's a festival... we all listen to different music, it can't please everyone all the time.  For what it's worth, i was mostly bored out of my brain at last years, but i didn't moan about it beforehand, it's one of them things.  This time around, it looks absolutely perfect for me and i can't wait to get down there again.

If it's not your thing, flog your ticket or hang out and catch some films, listen to some chats, discover something new.  It's fine to have a whinge because i know it's a long weekend if the line-up isn't your thing, but sounding like little kids is a bit over the top... it's a music festival, not life and death.

[Nick07]

10 minutes ago, WM Hall said:

I think my problem is the line up seems very split between what the festival wants to be and what it has to be.

There's some really good stuff in the undercard - Oren Ambarchi, Bar Italia, Nina Nastasia, Horse Lords, MC Yallah etc - but the undercard just seems disconnected from the rest of the line up.

The headliners are really stale and would have been passe in 2016. 4 blokey rock bands isn't interesting, but it probably sells tickets.

Altogether it doesn't feel like a unified line-up, just randomly chosen acts who aren't joined by any real thread.

How can a festival that puts on 130 acts be connected though ? 

It’s surely got to cater for multiple genres and audiences hence a disconnect. 

Your point about the headliners stands as it’s too male led but apart from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I don’t who could have played.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Nick07

[The Nal]

12 minutes ago, WM Hall said:

Altogether it doesn't feel like a unified line-up, just randomly chosen acts who aren't joined by any real thread.

Not sure how you can join doom metal bands with people like Angel Olsen. Theres all sorts in the lineup.

[pedrogooch]

The lineup is a bit "meh" (it's fine, I don't love it), but a lot of this is it's been very hard for festivals to book bands this year. The acts available to book are more limited and expensive than ever - tough job for bookers, I've heard.

Some comments I read said they should have put Angel Olsen and Caitlin Rose as headliners above the others on the bill, but unfortunately that's not how it works...

Probably needed one or two slightly more off-kilter names in the headliners, but they don't seem the issue to me - the undercard is what feels significantly weaker than normal.

Edited January 31, 2023 by pedrogooch

[WM Hall]

1 minute ago, Nick07 said:

How can a festival that puts on 130 acts be connected though ? 

It’s surely got to cater for multiple genres and audiences hence a disconnect. 

Your point about the headliners stands as it’s too male led but apart from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I don’t who could have played.

Last year had a diverse line up that felt coherent - you could draw lines from the top acts to the smallest acts.  

[Nick07]

1 minute ago, WM Hall said:

Last year had a diverse line up that felt coherent - you could draw lines from the top acts to the smallest acts.  

Fleet Foxes, Bright Eyes and Pixies were headliners last year. They could be described as dull to some.

I am not sure how any of them linked with some of the smaller acts last year. 

[The Nal]

Just now, Nick07 said:

Fleet Foxes, Bright Eyes and Pixies were headliners last year. They could be described as dull to some.

Give me Gizz and Wilco anyday.

What percantage of the lineup is released now do we reckon?

[Harry49]

Can’t wait to explore the Spotify playlist. As ever I know about 10% of performers but based on previous festivals very confident I will unearth some hidden gems and my Wrapped 2023 will be populated by many of the undercard.

 

[SweepingTheNation]

Just now, pedrogooch said:

The lineup is a bit "meh" (it's fine, I don't love it), but a lot of this is it's been very hard for festivals to book bands this year. The acts available to book are more limited and expensive that ever - tough job for bookers, I've heard.

Some comments I read said they should have put Angel Olsen and Caitlin Rose as headliners above the others on the bill, but unfortunately that's not how it works...

Probably needed one or two slightly more off-kilter names in the headliners, but they don't seem the issue to me - the undercard feels weaker than normal.

I mean, Angel Olsen literally was going to headline in 2020, and while we can only speculate why it's changed they now have four all-male bands.

I think we need to clarify "the undercard". Down the list there's a great variety and strength of acts from country to doom, if you're committed to EOTR you'll find plenty to potentially love there, but the level between headliner and small print feels lacking to me, especially as it needs nine good sized names for Woods subs and Garden/Big Top headliners. Arooj Aftab has in a year gone from third from top of Green Man's Walled Garden third stage to the third line of this poster.

[pedrogooch]

Just now, SweepingTheNation said:

I mean, Angel Olsen literally was going to headline in 2020, and while we can only speculate why it's changed they now have four all-male bands.

I think we need to clarify "the undercard". Down the list there's a great variety and strength of acts from country to doom, if you're committed to EOTR you'll find plenty to potentially love there, but the level between headliner and small print feels lacking to me, especially as it needs nine good sized names for Woods subs and Garden/Big Top headliners. Arooj Aftab has in a year gone from third from top of Green Man's Walled Garden third stage to the third line of this poster.

I think artists, agents, fee and their recent sales history dictates that headliner spot. It's just optics really, but I know how much work and constant back-and-forth goes in to those poster positions (a friend has worked for a big festival before).

You're spot on on the undercard. It's that gap between the headliners that is what feels bigger than usual. Lots of good names in there, but it's almost exclusively up and coming acts, a lot less established names. 

 

[robith]

3 minutes ago, SweepingTheNation said:

I mean, Angel Olsen literally was going to headline in 2020, and while we can only speculate why it's changed they now have four all-male bands.

I think we need to clarify "the undercard". Down the list there's a great variety and strength of acts from country to doom, if you're committed to EOTR you'll find plenty to potentially love there, but the level between headliner and small print feels lacking to me, especially as it needs nine good sized names for Woods subs and Garden/Big Top headliners. Arooj Aftab has in a year gone from third from top of Green Man's Walled Garden third stage to the third line of this poster.

Thank you, you've managed to write down what I was feeling. There feels like a huge gap between the top (a lot of which is super not for me) and what's beneath it.

Also super confused by the "no critique allowed" crew. Sure people can go over the top and I've tried to be measured, but the idea that no one should express a negative opinion, ever, is really really bizarre

[Nick07]

9 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Give me Gizz and Wilco anyday.

What percantage of the lineup is released now do we reckon?

96 bands on poster and 129 played last year 

[Jeel]

Whether you like the bands or not it very much isn't a £235 festival lineup. Very far from it in fact

[SweepingTheNation]

4 minutes ago, Jeel said:

Whether you like the bands or not it very much isn't a £235 festival lineup. Very far from it in fact

If you like the bands surely it is?

[Wooderson]

5 minutes ago, Jeel said:

Whether you like the bands or not it very much isn't a £235 festival lineup. Very far from it in fact

Not going this year (sadly) but think this is harsh. What a £235 line up represented a few years ago vs now are hugely different. Most festival line ups look grim if you compare them pre-pandemic.

 

[thespiral]

1 hour ago, scatteredscreens said:

oh yeah as an actual experience it can get in the bin, hence why im not there this year or have any plans to reattend

I had been before in 2014 and it had none of the issues. Was genuinely shocked how flaky the organisation was this time.. I think they lost control of the numbers - so many tickets rolled over from previous years, then the addition of 2nd weekend, day tickets etc . They also said the pandemic had impacted massively on staffing levels , and general infrastructure stuff.

Hoping they get it together again going forward as would love to attend again . Barcelona + festival is damn near perfect for me 🤩 

[Nick07]

6 minutes ago, Jeel said:

Whether you like the bands or not it very much isn't a £235 festival lineup. Very far from it in fact

In what regard ? 

Wilco would cost between £50-60 to see and similar for other headline acts. 

There will be loads of costs for a festival. I believe that will generate around 2.7 million from ticket sales.