Daire Collins
Staff Writer
The Gods took pity on us at the weekend and provided the best weather of the summer, For those of us lucky enough to make it down to Laois, the fantastic weather made Picnic all the sweeter. With this year’s line-up, there were high expectations. Big names were making debut appearances and old favourites returning. Even with this pressure, the Picnic held up and proved the most entertaining weekend of the Summer.
Friday is traditionally a slow moving day with most of the working audience only arriving after dark, however the prospect of sun drew the crowds in early and the party kicked off in earnest. One of the biggest breakthrough acts of 2012, Alabama Shakes, hit the main stage early on Friday. Their bluesy rock drew in a decent sized crowd, not bad for a band whoes frontwoman only quit her job as a postwoman a few months ago.
As the sun set and the crowd got bigger, The xx took to the stage. This was the one everyone was waiting for and the minimalist trio gave it their all. A mixture of their much loved first album with the forthcoming Coexist (leaked online already) ignited the audience. The subdued sounds of VCR captivated both that aging stoner crowd and those who had just tagged along with friends. The xx definitely made some new fans that night.
Sigur Rós failed to hold this audience, as the Main Stage proved just too large for their ambient sounds. A smaller arena under a tent would have cut out the loud beer garden talk which doesn’t really have a place at a Sigur Rós event. Those that ventured over to Christie Moore caught the legend at his finest. Playing in front of a jam packed tent, it was clear he was in his element. It was an emotional sight to see “Black is the Colour” belted out by an audience of young, old, drunk and sober.
Saturday began at a lazy pace. Breakfast at half twelve was a picnic set to the backdrop of Trinity Orchestra (playing Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon). Not a bad way to start the day. Trinity Orchestra were incredible, the gig took place at just the right time, suiting the collective mood of the chilled crowd. As the sun beamed down, the Orchestra finished up with a hits of Stevie Wonder covers, getting the crowd off their seats and up dancing. Not easy, considering the major hangovers dotted throughout the crowd.
Ham Sandwich brought their unbelievably energetic show to the Cosby Stage on Saturday afternoon. Guitarist and singer Podge, who can only be described as nuts, got the crowd going with hilarious back and forth. Their incredible cover of “I Feel Love” culminated in the explosion of a confetti cannon and an overpowering cheer from the crowd. Best part was, Ham Sandwich were loving every single minute of it.
Saturday Night was one of the only hip-hop affairs of the festival. Old school legends The Roots brought their tuba backed beats to the Electric Arena. Twitter-hero/Roots Drummer Questlove held the crowd for a ten minute drum solo and the round-up at the end was intense. Couldn’t fault them on this set. At the same time on the Main stage, The Cure did what they do best. A three hour set, filled with loads of classics, was lapped up by all types of fans. Robert Smith, the worlds oldest angsty teenager, is clearly some type of machine.
The true EP experience is found after the music at the Main Stage ends , when you end up stumbling upon the Algorhythm Forest Rave at three in the morning, having crossed a stream and hiked up a hill (not sober – not easy). The base boomed and thumped as enormous strobe lights sporadically lit up the surrounding trees. Making your way along the path (which was rediscovered somehow), the Salty Dog stage is discovered. A sunken pirate ship, this place held big Irish names till the very wee hours of the morning. A favourite here was definitely Ham Sandwich belting out Ants to a drunken but enjoyable crowd.
The first thing noticable on Sunday was that the population of Electric Picnic had seemingly doubled. The hordes of day ticket holders arriving re-ignited that festival mood. The highlight of Sunday afternoon was definitely Michael Kiwanuka. The British soul singer was the winner of BBC Sound of 2012 and he brought his very best to the main stage. It is was easy to tell the day trippers from the weekenders as the veterans took the time to sit down to his soothing sounds.
Sunday night brought out two more huge acts, Elbow and The Killers. Elbow delighted the audience with a brilliantly gritty Grounds for Divorce. One of the best songs of the entire festival was the intense version of One Day Like This. The atmosphere of the crowd combined with the sounds of Elbow and the Irish Youth Chamber Choir made for an incredible finish.
With The Killers on stage next the crowd didn’t disperse too much, hanging around to catch Brandon Flowers and his Las Vegas crew. The Killers failed to ignite the crowd in the same way as Elbow had. One or two oddly chosen covers confused the gig and overall they were mostly disappointing. It was a gig that may have gone down better at Oxegen in years gone by, but fell pretty flat with the Picnic crowd.
Overall, EP 2012 was amazing. The combination of the sun and the impressive line-up meant you couldn’t help but enjoy the weekend. It was great to see that families were still welcome, and still came. The brief worries of the younger Oxegen crowd arriving en masse and changing the atmosphere were quickly forgotten. Nine years running and it has only gotten better. Roll on EP 2013!
