2024 EOTR - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[killyourtv]

Welcome home. Good of the rain to hold off till we'd loaded the campervan on Monday morning.

 

My 12th EOTR since 2011, a middling one unlikely to match the heights of that first year or 2021, but always a joy, especially with such nice people. Campervanned with Mrs KYTV and 25 year old lad.

 

The Good

 

Musically, it's always it's the variety as much as the quality of the artists I go for. Probably caught more whole sets this year, and thought sound quality was even better than usual, particularly in the "new" Folly which was spectacular.

 

Top 5 moments;

 

Lankum - "Go Dig My Grave"

Deary set, their own stuff great but the cover (Slowdive ?) drew tears

Jess Williamson - "Time Ain't Accidental"

Jockstrap - My lad's favourite band, didn't get them at all, that opening 20 minutes stunning

Ichiko Aoba - Mesmerising

Oh, and Mermaid Chunky were the best sub since Ronnie Rosenthal.

 

We enjoyed all the food we ate, particularly the Persian kebabs and the bhaji wraps, though feeling a bit predictable now.

 

The dark craft beers from Bristol Beer Factory and Lost and Grounded were Mrs KYTV's highlights, particularly the Baltic Porter.

 

The usual two films, with "Perfect Days" about a Tokyo loo cleaner as perfect a cinematic experience as I've had at eotr.

 

Have grown to almost love the compost loos.

 

The Bad

 

Didn't accidentally stumble on anything much new and life-changing.  Mrs KYTV is a bit "meh" about the music these days, doesn't help she prefers to sit so gets duff experience at the back of the Woods and Garden.

 

The real ales are a bit under conditioned and samey, particularly in plastic.

 

The trauma of missing Julia Jacklin, our lad and my favourite, to pop off site to the King John for a pint. Seeing Julia next week, mind.

 

 

The Ugly

 

As aways, it's the chatterers, particularly the groups nearer the front. But it's not that bad.

 

 

 

 

[Fareham Grecian]

The good: everything. Almost literally. Even the toilets were ok and virtually no queues this year.

The bad: nothing.

The ugly: a few chattery groups but as killyoutv says, really nothing major.

 

i’ve been to a dozen EotRs now over 15 years and for me this year was right up there. Just fantastic. 

[The Nal]

The Good - Guinness!

 

The Bad - Nothing, apart from the Big Top but tahts old news and nothing they can do about it I dont think.

 

The Ugly - The three idiots who got mashed and collapsed in the middle of the Ty Segalls gig.

[Pedro_Orange]

The good: some of the best festival performances I’ve ever seen.
 

EOTR does seem to get the best out of many artists. Top 3 musical highlights  for me were Richard Dawson, Lankum and Yo La Tengo.

 

The bad: very little! Despite some of the best ‘known’ performances I had less new discoveries than usual.

 

Perhaps I’m being overly grumbly, but at times there were just too many disinterested children being dragged about in trolleys. Love that EOTR is family friendly, and perhaps this year it was just good timing with back to school, but especially round the garden stage it all got a bit ‘Sunday afternoon at a national trust property’ for me. But really, I’d take that over many of the alternatives. 

 

The ugly: actually nothing. Really improved the toilets this year, fortunate with the weather and I managed to behave myself.

 

Thank you EOTR!

[Yokel Again]

Love EOTR but didn't go again this year... but just wanted to say, love reading this thread every year!

[snipe]

The Good: it's still EOTR.  Music, food, beer, venue, atmosphere.

 

The Bad: Busier.  I said it last year... they've a disconnect between the amount of people and the sizes of the stages and it's getting worse.  Why have top tier comedians if there's no way to see them beyond queuing at least an hour for them?  The Big Top is an oven. 

 

Some water taps I've used in the past suddenly had "not drinking water" signs on them. Were they always not drinking water or did something change?  Perhaps an ugly for previous festivals. Meant a bit of a trek for water from some points now.  

 

The Ugly:  The bits of cover on the Garden grass that had come up and made a lethal tripping hazard!

[Hinn]

The (Really) Good:

- Yo La Tengo covering Michael Hurley's The End Of The Road on Piano stage

- Seeing The Orchestra (For Now)'s journey this past year from ticket stamping at the Windmill Brixton to a Big Top slot at my favourite setting

- Improvements to the toilets and shower blocks

- Jeffrey Martin

 

The Bad:

- Cinema being downsized, underestimating just how many punters in this ex-Americana fest wanted to see that Jason Molina film and hear his songs played

 

The ugly: The handfuls of groups of chatterers near the front who made threats when shushed. Nothing came of these, thankfully. You don't belong here. Go to Reading/Leeds, or just go by the cider bus or the fire.

Edited September 3 by Hinn

[Wakey321]

My first EOTR this year and really enjoyed it. Great little festival with some great areas in a beautiful setting. 

 

The Good - Saw some incredible performances including Richard Hawley, Bill Ryder Jones, Sleator Kinney, English Teacher, Idles and Jalon Ngonga to name just a few. The lesser known bands that I saw I loved in the tents included Deary, Sprints and Gustav. The Garden stage was my favourite and saw a lot there. 

 

The Bad - I am so gutted I missed Julia Jacklin on the Garden and also BRJ and Gruff Rhys do a duet on the Piano stage. Other than that, I thought the lineup was nicely varied and lots going on. Maybe a bit more well known acts on the main stage?

 

The Ugly - What the hell is going on with the signal on site? Its non existent! Could benefit from a mast or something? Also thought the way finding / signage was pretty poor. Getting out of the car park at 6am was pretty confusing but thats my only grumbles!

[Hinn]

As a veteran of around 10, 11, its actually refreshing as to the consistent lack of signal at EoTR. Hardly anyone faffing about on phones. People engaging with their friends, strangers, familiar faces from previous editions. Looks like the traders' WiFi improved this year so there was hardly any payment issues to speak of.

[carwynnen]

3 hours ago, killyourtv said:

 

...my favourite, to pop off site to the King John for a pint. Seeing Julia next week, mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Am i right in thinking the King John has shut?

[killyourtv]

12 minutes ago, carwynnen said:

Am i right in thinking the King John has shut?

Definitely open ! Doing a roaring trade with well-dressed locals and scruffy Roaders.

 

I think it re-opened a couple of years ago under Butcombe Brewery, who bought the small upmarket pub chain that included the Museum in Farnham, our normal pub visit at EOTR.

 

The real ale was average, the burger superb.

 

We walked back alongside the Tollard Royal the church and ended up behind the Talking Heads stage but I'd best not say any more about that !

[The Nal]

39 minutes ago, Hinn said:

As a veteran of around 10, 11, its actually refreshing as to the consistent lack of signal at EoTR. Hardly anyone faffing about on phones. People engaging with their friends, strangers, familiar faces from previous editions. Looks like the traders' WiFi improved this year so there was hardly any payment issues to speak of.

 

Yep. I only had signal in the Garden Stage area. Basically nothing anywhere else so was rarely on my phone apart from the linep/clashfinder.

 

Very refreshing.

[bvane]

My 3rd time at EoTR (previously attended in 2012 and 2022).

 

Good

Variety of acts and ease of transitioning between stages can’t be matched, I’m always pleasantly surprised by how much I see and how little effort it takes to navigate the line up. As ever the arena feels safe and welcoming even for a lone woman wandering through the forest after dark.
 

CMAT was joyous, English Teacher were electric, Richard Hawley was a delight and pleasant surprises from Molly Lewis, Sprints, King Hannah, Lip Critic, Jelly Skin and Mermaid Chunky. Couldn’t fault any of the acts I saw, they all performed marvellously. 
 

After feeling intensely apprehensive about the composting toilets (I have a dodgy knee and the steps sounded lethal) I thought they were fine. Plenty of loo roll and clean enough across the weekend. The ones with the wooden steps were the best - positively roomy. Barely queued to wee once. 
 

Bad

It felt busier than previous years and my experience at the stages was mixed, lots of time spent towards the back of crowds with restricted views (or no view at all). I hate to say it but I think they need screens at the Woods and the Garden so that everyone can see the acts rather than just hear them, or else we need a new stage or revised scheduling to reduce the audience sizes across sets. I queued to get into the Big Top and Folly more than once, and gave up on Talking Heads.
 

On a similar theme, more seating needed everywhere especially covered seating like by the Big Top. There’s space for more benches so let’s have them - it might reduce the number of people hauling their own chairs around. 

 

Ugly

I saw very few sets where I wasn’t stood next to several groups who were just straight-up gabbing away to their mates at normal volume. It didn’t matter where I was in the crowd, people were chatting and laughing without any consideration for others or the musicians. 
 

I was surprised by the ages of some of the people doing this, the worst culprits (in my experience) were people in their 40s - 50s who had been to the festival a few times previously. Is it boredom? Arrogance? A lack of self-awareness? It was particularly bad at Bonnie Prince Billy, Lankum and Camera Obscura. I don’t want to hear about how much you enjoyed so-and-so back in the day while there’s another act on now, live, right in-front of you. Please shut up.
 

There were also *a lot* of parents with very young children. I like that the festival is family friendly and it’s magic to see slightly older kids having a dance or their first experience of crowd-surfing, but sometimes it did feel a bit odd to see babies in without ear defenders or toddlers being carted around far past midnight. Several times I nearly stepped on little kids lying on the ground within crowds and had to steer a few infants back towards their frantic parents who had lost sight of them in the dark of the Big Top.
 

And don’t get me started on the poor kid that spent every morning from 6:30am - 8:30am bawling her eyes out in our camp site, she was not a happy camper, and neither was I by Monday morning.

Edited September 3 by bvane

[robith]

SLIFT

[soarous]

My 7th EOTR, and the 3rd with a kid in tow. Me and my wife had a great time. Early birds already booked.

 

The Good

 

Music

Gurriers. Full of energy, my three year old's highlight, watching from the back whilst Mum got up front.

CMAT. What a presence, even from back near the sound desk, her vibe was infectious. 

Mermaid Chunky. The moment the dancer can on stage was probably the highpoint of the festival for me.

Lankum on the Garden. What a beautiful marriage of staging and sound.

Girl and Girl. Nothing like a mental health crisis set to music to kick-start a Sunday.

 

Festival

The Replacements. Imagine finding one artist to join last minute is stressful, let alone a headliner and a handful of daytime acts, the bookers played a blinder to get so many new names sorted so quickly.

The Loos. Better than last year. Still not Andy Loos. But tons of urinals and barely queued once.

The Marble Run. So glad it was back, my son could have spent all day with it.

The New Folly. Felt like a proper festival venue, rather than a village fête hosting a band. Yes it felt pretty different, but I enjoyed everything I saw there, and love how it still opens into the bar on the side.

The Crowds. So many friendly people to chat to, no complaints.

The Piano Stage Design. Didn't catch a band on it this year, but seeing a full meme brought to life was great.

The Song Gallery. Was worth the wait to catch that Ezra song, hope to see it back. Lovely idea.

 

The Bad

 

IDLES. Turns out a full headline set is too much IDLES for me, still enjoyed the first half, and it meant we caught the second half of Lankum.

The Rain. Sure, it didn't stick around, but could have done without the (unfounded) fear of mud and wet clothes.

The Cancellations. Overheard a few people talking excitedly about Fever Ray. Probably needed signs on all the program stalls telling people of massive changes like that.

 

The Ugly

 

Ugly. They were great, what harmonies. Not sure why they get their own section in this thread...

 

Edited September 3 by soarous

[Dark Star]

The Good: So much great new music to discover. It was my first EOTR and a real voyage of discovery. No mobile signal!

The Bad: Idles/Lankum clash. Ale tent running out pretty quickly. Merchandise not being restocked over the weekend seemed odd, plenty of lost revenue?

The Ugly: Three very loud and obnoxious "chatterers" behind me during Phosphorescent who, when asked to be a bit quieter, decided to be even worse and agreed "only for this song". I think a few others may have asked them to be quiet, as their excessive volume was soon gone. 

[The Nal]

34 minutes ago, soarous said:

 

 

IDLES. Turns out a full headline set is too much IDLES for me, still enjoyed the first half, and it meant we caught the second half of Lankum.

 

 

Ooof, you left Idles before they played The Beachland Ballroom, Never Fight a Man With a Perm, Danny Nedelko and Rottweiler. 

 

Like ordering a steak and chips, eating a few chips and then binning the steak.

 

Re: the chatting cúnts. Seems to be fueled by a bit of sniff. Good bit going around this year. Lots of hard bastard chat about people "taking on" their boss at work etc. In the middle of a gig. Wasnt too bad but I did move a couple of times.

Edited September 3 by The Nal

[Sunday scaries]

Good

 

Terrific line up this year, especially the Sunday which had as diverse a selection of artists as I can remember seeing at any festival, let alone this size (I saw Molly Lewis, Sahra Halgan, Florence Adooni, Slift, Nation of Language, Altin Gun and Floating Points - all of them majorly turned up). Excellent atmosphere as ever. Pity about the drop-outs but you can't put that down to much besides bad luck and the replacements were generally good, even if I'd seen most of them the week before at APE or Rally.

 

Bad

 

Apart from Idles, who were dire, the lack of any kind of internet signal wasn't great. It was impossible to see anything at the Folly unless you were near the front, same with The Boat (brilliant acoustics though, we didn't see a bad act there all weekend). Shuttle buses were all behind schedule too, though that isn't really the festival's fault.

 

Ugly

 

Not so much ugly, but it was a concern that the festival didn't sell as many tickets this year, despite what they say. The campsite was noticeably emptier throughout and several of the spaces - notably, the Folly and Cinema along with the food options - were reduced from last year. I felt the need to buy an early ticket for 2025 this time as a result.

[carwynnen]

31 minutes ago, The Nal said:

 

Ooof, you left Idles before they played The Beachland Ballroom, Never Fight a Man With a Perm, Danny Nedelko and Rottweiler. 

 

Like ordering a steak and chips, eating a few chips and then binning the steak.

 

Re: the chatting cúnts. Seems to be fueled by a bit of sniff. Good bit going around this year. Lots of hard bastard chat about people "taking on" their boss at work etc. In the middle of a gig. Wasnt too bad but I did move a couple of times.

Plenty of times two people went into the one cubicle at the tipi, coming out wide-eyed.

[RustySpanner]

10th time for me, and certainly up there with the best. Had a few concerns about the line-up initially but have to say they absolutely struck gold once again. Was gutted about Fever Ray but obviously cannot be helped. Was meant to be the last show around 'Radical Romantics' so I wonder if that ship has now sailed for some time.

 

The Good: Saw fewer sets than in previous years but all were good. Personal highlights were Slowdive (absolutely majestic), Heartworms, Gurriers, Bill Ryder-Jones, the Julia Jacklin tear-fest, Sextile in the big top, Jockstrap and Nation of Language.

Persian kebabs, curry shed and pies great value and good quality food. Enjoyed all the ales I tried from the beer tent.

Didn't attend last year so was apprehensive about the toilet comments prior to arriving but couldn't fault them. First time I have ever showered at a festival and they were great too. Liked the new Folly set-up (although see also The Bad below).

 

The Bad: It does feel every time that the infrastructure is getting more and more stretched due to capacity increases. Have seen 17000 quoted as number attending this year. Queues for The Folly and Big Top at times are getting pretty bad.

Not a fan of the backing singers for Maple Glider.

 

The Ugly: Nothing at all. Had one brief issue with chat this year but moved away. I would agree if you keep experiencing it though it does get very frustrating.

[accordionandvoice]

THE GOOD:
1. Music: Cornelius, Bonnie Prince Billy, Nourished By Time, Ugly, Mermaid Chunky, Chanel Beads, MC Yallah, Molly Lewis, Ex-Easter Island Head, Lankum, Ichiko Aoba, Yo La Tengo, Blue Lake, OTG, Sam Amidon, Richard Dawson, Water From Your Eyes, The Lemon Twigs, Sanam, Florence Adooni, Sahra Halgan, Laetitia Sadier

2. All the food

3. General vibe

 

THE BAD:

1. Sextile

2. The oceans of Idles t-shirts

 

THE UGLY:

1. So. Much. Chatting. During. Sets. Shut. The. f**k. Up.

2. Compost toilets

Edited September 3 by accordionandvoice

[noisenoiseandmorenoise]

My 4th time but staggered over many years (I went the first time in 2008). So always interesting to see what has changed and whether it lives up to the festival in my mind. Long post ahead.

 

The good

Before going, this was my lineup of the summer. So many favourites (new and old) and I'd say that they pretty much all delivered. Hard to pick favourites but YLT delivered and that Cornelius set to end was pure joy. The Jason Molina film was it's own special bubble. 

 

Once I got passed the first 'layer ' of crowd, I found fewer talkers than I remember. The Folly update is a triumph.

 

Toilets-especially given the epic thread (which should now have the title changed), I don't know if they made changes or more people are used to them but they were fine.

 

The bad 

 

I get my proper grandad slippers out here- the musical variety is great but with it, there feels like a loss of roots/spirit. Every review mentioned the importance of Bonnie Prince Billy to the festival but when you are surrounded by a crowd who have never heard of him, there is a disconnect there. I see some discussion of electronica on the garden stage. Not for me.

 

Maybe a generational thing but on the coach and walking around, so many people appear to know very little about who is playing. I'd say this also accounts for the complaints about talking. It appears that  music is a backdrop to the festival instead of the other way around.

 

The only way I see to fix the comedy/cinema crowds is through multiple performances a day. 

 

I didn't find the stages busy but I found the site busy. Meaning i didn't have that sense of wonder and discovery that I'd had at previous editions. 

 

The ugly

 

In my mind the old Big Green Coaches have reached legend status compared to what we have today (Green Man last year was worse). Little organisation and everyone blaming someone else. 

 

 

[rwa]

GOOD
---------
* Great acts (CMAT, Sleater Kinney, Idles, Rob Auton, Palehound, Camera Obscura, Jock Strap, Slowdive, Nation of language, Floating Points, Cornelius and a bunch more)
* Incredibly speedy rebooking work after all the pull-outs.  I'm sure a few might have been on standby, but others must have been last-minute.
* Some cracking food & drink
* More urinals than last year, always good.
* Shower queues being short

 

BAD
---------
* Some pretty overpriced food and drink.  I paid 15 for a meal on one stall and I was nowhere near full, so ordered a shwarma straight after which hit the spot.  Probably the fault of my own expectations.

 

UGLY
---------
* How dare it be really chilly on thurs night  (yeah, I'm stretching for an ugly)

 

SMUG 
---------
* found a bankcard, handed it in
* ordered early birds

[Hinn]

2 hours ago, Dark Star said:

The Ugly: Three very loud and obnoxious "chatterers" behind me during Phosphorescent who, when asked to be a bit quieter, decided to be even worse and agreed "only for this song". I think a few others may have asked them to be quiet, as their excessive volume was soon gone. 

They left. One was a guy with a bad orange dye number 5 buzz shave? After you made a first call, 4 or 5 others and myself repeated that. Didn't see them for the rest of the festival.

[rwa]

Oh, also, the lack of phone signal was really bad to coordinate meeting up with friends arriving on site later.  But quite good once we were all there.  We could switch off from the outside world.

 

However, I sneakily managed to see the pw for one of the many wifi networks being shared by a member of staff to their friend, so our group was then able to go to a particular point on site and use that wifi at will after that point 😄  It'll be interesting to see if the pw remain the same for that network next year.