Electric Picnicking - Saturday

Thursday morning I get a private mail on Facebook from the most rock and roll person I know to see if I had been sorted for Electric Picnic. He leaves me his phone number and tells me to get in touch. I nearly faint with the excitement.

An hour and a half later the most internetty (not a word, I know) person I know phones me and tells me he has two Electric Picnic tickets for me and to get my arse into town to collect them.

After a week of trying everything from applying for jobs, entering 9 different competitions and trying to score passes for review I was going to Electric Picnic 2010. In pure shock I thanked BP for his very gracious efforts in trying to sort me out and ran into town to meet Darragh Doyle at Boards.ie

Obligatory promo photo

The tickets were provided by the lovely folk over at ESB as part of their Picnic Power ‘Showeroke‘ tent at Electric Picnic. A Karaoke in the shower tent powered by volunteers cycling. (Not the only such powered feature; Mobile phone charging was available elsewhere via pedal power)

Band of Merry Culchies

We missed the Friday due to work commitments but headed down early on Saturday morning, myself and Sarah set up camp in Andy Warhol with fellow Culch.ies Anto, Darren, Blathin, Lisa, Colm, John and Donal. The weather was grand, not hot but not dry. After pitching our weekend’s accommodation we headed down to Heathers at the main stage. The girls were a little nervous but played well. They did seem a little lost on such a big stage though.

Next up was BP Fallon for IGNITE at the Science Gallery tent in the Mindfield. The tent itself was pretty cool with staff sewing glowsticks into clothing and providing equipment to make your own light-up badges. IGNITE featured several speakers who had 5mins and an accompanying slide-show to talk about anything they like. Topics included Genetics, Hiking and Art. BP spoke on the pitfalls of Fame. The spoken word track on the Third Man Records 45.

BP Fallon at IGNITE

A delicious tea and cake from the Butler’s Pantry in the Mindfield before heading to the Body + Soul area for a wander around. What an amazing place. So much detail goes into the presentation it’s unbelievable. Including a house for lost toys, a door to nowhere, three stages, an automated musical house, a hot tub area, massage tents and gong baths?

Door to Nowhere

Wandered over to Villagers playing the Crawdaddy tent which was rammed. Nice to hear Becoming a Jackal and Pieces live. Definitely a triumph for Connor & Co who have announced a follow-up gig in December at Vicar St. Left Villagers early to get over to Ardal O’Hanlon at the Comedy tent. The Catholic church, Teenage masturbation and the awkwardness of being Irish all being touched on by O’Hanlon who refused to sing ‘My Lovely Horse’ despite audience requests.

Seasick Steve at the Main Stage

The next few hours were packed solid Seasick Steve at 7, Hot Chip at 8.45, Cathy Davey at 9.45 and the Frames at 10.30 all meant we were running from stage to stage missing beginnings and cutting short endings to make sure we saw everything.

Seasick Steve kicked ass. His drumming compadre looked like a thinner Rick Rubin belted away at the skins while Steve rocked out. He even invited a young female fan onstage to serenade her during one of the slower numbers. Admittedly I wasn’t familiar with every tune but I did enjoy Diddley Bo (played on one) and Chiggers.

Indie-electronica is defined by bands like Hot Chip. They stuffed the Electric tent and there was a great dancey vibe in the crowd for the whole gig not just the hits. But Over and Over and set closer Ready for the Floor got the best response.

Punter at Cathy Davey dressed as Twister!

Cathy Davey was a delight. Looking gorgeous as ever, I really enjoyed her performance a lot more than I thought I would. Rueben, Little Red and Moving all proved set highlights including a brief appearance by Neil Hannon to provide backing vocals.

Running over from the Crawdaddy to the Main stage, we missed a good portion of the Frames set. Their first live gig in a few years what I did catch was Pavement Song, Lay Me Down, a cover of Mic Christopher’s Hey Day and a rendition of the classic The Auld Triangle featuring special guests Mick Pyro and Damo Dempsey. Amidst the madness giant foam letters spelling out FRAMES were launched into the crowd. Provided by Made in Hollywood.

Arriving plenty late for LCD Soundsystem, which Anto decided was pronounced luckidysoundsystem we resorted to chilling on the grass with a garlic bread baguette and soaking in the tunes away from the masses. Great day, great music, great company.

*Sunday review coming soon*