It was a rainy start to my Electric Picnic experience when I eventually arrived on Saturday evening, but it did nothing to dampen my spirits. Thankfully there were no tents to be pitched as the group I was with had set up camp in a terrific location at the Artist Camping zone backstage the previous day. And it was only when I ventured to the main camping areas that I realised how lucky we were with our location (in case you’re wondering, it took me 20mins to walk from stage to the yellow camping zone, not to mention navigating the assault course of tents).
Due to my late arrival I missed pretty much half of the festival (Anthony Hegarty of Anthony and The Johnsons and PJ Harvey), but on the upside I also missed the gale force winds that battered the site the night before. I guess it kept everyone festival fit if anything else.
I didn’t see that many performances to be honest, but Groove Armada, Basement Jaxx, the Bodytonic arena, New Order and the Pet Shop Boys were all pretty memorable. I also managed to catch highlights from Abie Philbin-Bowman's hit satire “Jesus: The Guantanamo Years” which was on at the popular Leviathan tent. The Bacardi B-Live area was pumping at all times with great sets from Disconauts and IG Culture among other top acts.
Backstage in the Bacardi B-Live VIP area I spotted George McMahon, MTV presenter DP Fitzgerald, singer Jeanette Cronin, Niall McCrudden, Channel 6’s Taragh Loughrey – Grant, David Cavanagh and Richie Stokes.
The place to be though was the VIP area, with its massive marquee, comfy beanbags, full bar, outdoor seating and covered balcony which looked on to the main stage. In times of rain this was the place to take refuge. Some of the faces there included Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kelly Osbourne and her boyfriend Matty Derham, Louis Walsh, Nadine Wai – O’Flynn, Sinead Ryan and Malachy Geelan, Naoise and Ashley Nunn, actress Bronagh Gallagher, Norman Pratt, Tom Dunne and TV star Lucy Kennedy.
David McWilliams was with his wife Sian, after a hectic day hosting at the Leviathan marquee. Triona McCarthy, Bubble Hits presenter Liam McKenna, publicist Andrea Horan, TV chef Andrew Rudd, Lee Walsh, James Hyland, Anna Lavery and Paul McGuinness were also among the VIP guests.
Monday morning came all too soon though and there is no such thing as a lie-in when umpteen trucks arrive to dismantle tonnes of equipment. As I strolled around the grounds one last time, met by a small army of people whose job it was to erase all sign of Electric Picnic from the Stradbally Estate, I thought of what a magnificent weekend it had been.
Electric Picnic was voted best music festival in Europe last year. I hope there’s a bigger award for it to win this year – best in the world maybe?
