A Flavour of Irish Music Festivals

The first announcements for Electric Picnic, one of the most popular (if not the most popular) Irish festivals, will be unveiled on the 2nd of March and the anticipation is building, the whispers of who will be headlining hover on many eager lips.This has got me thinking about the festivals I've been able to go to, and I thought I'd have a bit of an ol' retrospective on them.

Music and Ireland go together as a horse and carriage, or a cup of tea and dreary day (or everyday). Irish people are known for being some of the most enthusiastic punters around, and so the music industry always does well out of having many festivals here all throughout the year. Unfortunately for festival goers, the Irish weather is never compliant to their needs of sunshine and warmth, but if you don't mind the possibility of constant rain and mud, then you'll be fine no matter what. A lot of the larger festivals feel like a weekend of one huge party, with some negatives to go with the positives of that outlook. Needless to say there is a lot of drinking and people going a bit mental, but that doesn't have to be the focus of a festival if it's organised well, with good security and has a lot of events to offer. Overall I think they are some of the best events that Ireland have to offer during the summer, and deserve some praise.

 Unfortunately, I have no good pictures from these festivals that I can find, most of them are too dark or too blurry, as I'm no expert photographer. Hopefully I can illustrate them with my words, and you can imagine the rest. To start off my retrospective, I must pay homage to a festival of the past...

Oxegen

Image taken from musicscene,ie

Yes, I have had my own Oxegen experience, though I feel it was a lot different to some of the war flashbacks people have of the infamous festival. For those who aren't acquainted with it, Oxegen was the biggest music festival for mainstream pop and rock music in Ireland a few years ago. However, when the line ups shifted more to a Dance and R&B focus, it lost some of its original audience, which may have led to it's downfall.

I went to Oxegen in 2011, for only one day with two of my friends, as I was still quite young so I could only afford a day ticket. Plus I really didn't want to go camping (the stories of the camping were never good). I really enjoyed the acts that were on that Sunday: I jammed to Fight Like Apes, Friendly Fires was like a dance party, I was dying to see Patrick Wolf live for the first time, Bright Eyes was brilliant, and of course I had to see Beyoncé, because she is a fantastic performer and hypnotic to watch on the stage. The negative part of my experience was just a few annoying people in the crowd and the amount of rubbish on the ground was despicable. Other than that, I think I had one of the tamest Oxegen experiences anyone probably had.

It was a good taster what Irish Music Festivals were like and so got me excited to save up for the next summer.

Longitude

Image taken from Longtidue News on their website

The first year of Longitude in 2013 for me was fantastic. Again I only went for one day, but I went on the Saturday and it was a perfect day. Because it was the first year of the festival it didn't feel too crowded and there was a really relaxed atmosphere from the crowd. It was an extremely rare sunny and balmy day in July, so it actually felt appropriate to be sitting out in the sun in the grass, wearing sunglasses and drinking Capri Suns. I didn't know too many acts but I got to hear a few new bands and acts while lounging about like MØ and Young Wonder. I was really happy to see Villagers again, Conor O' Brien and his band are always a delight to see. I scurried up the front for Vampire Weekend, which turned out to be the one of the most excellent sets I've ever been to. It was picturesque in its perfection with the sun setting as they played and we danced and sang along to every song.

I managed to get a Saturday day ticket last minute for Longitude in 2015. Again I didn't have a huge list of bands I wanted to see but I did get to see Alt-J and Glass Animals which were my priority. Unfortunately the weather let us down a bit; I was wearing jeans and heavy shirt as well as a rain jacket but I was shivering from the strange wind that was constantly blowing. I know I said that sunshine isn't often seen in long spells, but the wind is not normally so cold in July either. I think I was focused a lot on comparing the first year I went to last year, hence why I was so hung up on the weather, and the crowds being a lot bigger and a lot noisier. However I got to go with a group of my friends, so fun was had regardless of the weather and the crowdedness.

A note I will make about Longitude is that there is no camping which makes it a lot less messy than other festivals. People still throw rubbish on the ground, but it doesn't accumulate so much, and there's less of a chance that you'll have someone who's been partying non-stop all weekend (though I wouldn't put it past anyone!) It's a bit of a nuisance I'll admit for those from outside of Dublin, and very convenient for those who do. 

Electric Picnic

Image taken from Electric Picnic's Twitter feed

...And now for the pinnacle of music festivals. It has grown in popularity in the last 12 or so years it had been on, and has charmed musician and fan alike. For once, I attended an entire festival and I completed the rite of passage that is camping (they should give out scout badges for that achievement). This was in 2013, and it was a great line up. I got to see a plethora of acts that I knew and had never heard before, and got a great mix of music into the weekend: Bjork, Two Door cinema Club, Arctic Monkeys, Noah and the Whale, Franz Ferdinand, Lady Lamb and the Bee Keeper, Little Green Cars, My Bloody Valentine,Wu Tang Clan, Fatboy Slim, Warpaint and probably a few more. The camp site my friends and I decided to stay was right beside Trenchtown, where rasta and reggae style music could be heard twenty-four seven, but otherwise was quite a quiet spot to pitch our tents. With a combination of a bag of snacks, some earplugs, baby wipes and shampoo, I thought I had a pretty pleasant camping experience. I was so happy that the Salty Dog stage was so close by as well because every morning I got the most delicious sausage and tomato relish buttie you've ever had, I guarantee it. It kept me alive, even when I was tired and greasy from not showering for three days. 

My favourite thing about Electric Picnic was the added touch it has over the other festivals I attended: the art installations in the woods, the crafts stalls, the comedy tent and the Mindfield arena, not to forget the larger variety of food stands and other atmospheric areas like Body and Soul. There is an added dimension of culture and interest put into this festival and I loved that the most. It only contributed more to the music part of the festival for me as I wasn't bored during the day waiting for the bigger acts to come on, I could go listen to Paul Murray and Lisa Hannigan or Dylan Moran chat in the literary tent, or rummage in the Oxfam tent for bargain spare clothes, or go laugh myself silly at David O'Doherty's Beefs 2013. I only went with two other friends, but we had a great time, because we did our own stuff during the day and met up in the evening to go to the bigger acts together. There were only a few moments that I was annoyed my the crowds at Electric Picnic, like when I nearly got squashed by a group of guys pushing and screaming "KING OF THE NORTH!!!" at Franz Ferdinand (not their best set anyway), but  I wasn't put off too much with the people there, as there was always somewhere to escape to when things got noisy. Overall I think EP has been my favourite of the festivals I've attend.

In the future I hope that I get to attend some of the smaller music festivals as well, like Body and Soul or maybe Castlepalooza or Forbidden Fruit, depending on their line ups and my availability. I'd love to hear some suggestions on festivals to attend in and outside of Ireland (I'd love to go to Festival Number 6 or Glastonbury someday), if anyone would like to share their wisdom. 

Here's to another year of music festivals, I hope if you attend any of them that you have an amazing time worth remembering!

So long for now,

A