The Clink went on tour to Stradbally, and what a weekend it was. Peter scored a last minute ticket, which meant we were all there to enjoy the music and madness that was to come.
Friday Highs and Lows:
MGMT, this was the first act I caught due to arriving late. The sound wasn’t great, and to be honest I don’t think they are a main stage band yet. Still had a dance around to Time to Pretend, but after that it was time to leg it and go see Seasick Steve, which was well worth it.
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Super. Why have I never made the effort to see this band live before? I caught around half of the set in the Electric Arena, and was thankful for the screens seeing as I was near enough to the back. The guitar playing was mesmerising.
Arcadia – sent the rest of the friday night partying there, great fun.
Saturday Highs and Lows:
Marina and the Diamonds – This girl is going to be big. The gig was the perfect kick off for Saturday. Friends of mine that hadn’t heard of her left the set converted fans (or ‘The Emeralds’ as she likes to call us irish fans). Highlight of the set was ‘Obsessions’. She mentioned that she’ll be coming back to play in Ireland in November, horray.
Jape – Jape is great. Simple. And bringing that guy up onto the stage was hilarious to was hilarious!
The XX – I’ve had their album on constant rotation for the last month so was very excited to see them. Their performance saw recreate their album exactly, no interaction with the crowd at all. I’m not necesiarily going to hold this against them though, The XX are a new band, and they just need a bit of time to come into their own.
Bat for Lashes’ cancellation was a disappointment, but even more annyoing was the fact that I only heard David Kitt filled in when it was too late ☹ and I missed him on the Friday night also.
Sunday Highs (There wasn’t really any lows) :
Florence and the Machine – Wow. Seriously, for me the whole weekend was a build up to this performance on Sunday. It was worth the wait. We caught Florence’s short Poetry Reading in the Literary Tent (front row ☺ ). It was a nice extra to the weekend. Seeing her transform from the almost shy girl at the poetry reading to owner of the Electric Arena Stage was amazing. The gig was highlight of the whole weekend. Mind blowing. ‘Between Two Lungs’ and ‘Dog Days’ were my two favourites of the set if I had to choose. Only downside was being so squished up at the front – looking forward to the upcoming Olympia date, already have my ticket!
Passion Pit – Passion Pit are a band that make you feel good. Sleepyhead got the whole tent jumping. Meeting Jeff Apruzzese outside the tent afterwards was a nice bonus also!
The Flaming Lips – On sunday for a moment I thought about going to see Basement Jaxx instead of The Flaming Lips, I’m glad I didn’t. The Flaming Lips were a perfect festival closer. The stage show was amazing, who doesn’t love giant balloons filled with confetti? But it not just all about the extras – the music was spot on too. I don’t have every Flaming Lips album but of the tracks that were played I was a happy camper.
On Monday I had a bit of a delusional moment when I thought to myself I’d happily stay another day if there was more music. But then the reality of sleeping in a tent and the three day tiredness and hangover kicked in. God the walk back to the car park on Monday was so much fun!
Check out the thumbnails below for some pics from the weekend:
5 Comments on this post
Leave a CommentA very good roundup of the weekend Lucia.
Defo agree with your verdicts – PP, Florence, Jape, Marina and Rodrigo were the big highlights for me. I also thought 2 Many DJs were class, and Madness put on a good show – but dont think you remember much of those
Comment left on 9.9.2009 by Peter
Yeah memories of being at Madness and 2 Many DJs is a tiny bit vague! :)
Reply left on 9.9.2009 by Luo
Great weekend.
I agree about MGMT. I left Rodrigo Y Gabriela early as I thought it got a bit tiresome and the sound wasn’t great. Catch them in a smaller venue if you can, much much better.
I wouldn’t complain about being squished at the front for Florence as we were somewhere in the middle of the electric arena and were only able to see her when she climbed the scaffolding. A little underwhelming for me. How have you got tickets for the Olympia already?
I went to Lisa Hannigan instead of Bat for Lashes so I’m kinda glad she cancelled. Hopefully she’ll be back sooner because of it!
Marina and the Diamonds and Passion Pit were my top bands of the weekend.
Comment left on 9.9.2009 by ChrisNoise
Yeah i was more than happy to be at the front for FATM, looking forwad to the olympia gig – at least the amount of people attending is under control then so it wont be over packed.
Got my ticket in the presale tues morning (im signed up to their mailing list) – tickets go on general sale Friday morning though.
Also Marina and the Diamonds has announced a Dublin date – Nov 11th @ The Academy, horray.
Comment left on 9.9.2009 by Luo
[...] This is my second year in a row missing Electric Picnic, it doesn’t get any easier! It’s by far my favorite irish music festival, ah the memories. [...]
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