On Wednesday, the line-up for Electric Picnic was announced and, as usual, was met with equal amounts of derision and excitement.For the record, I'm planting myself firmly on the 'excited' side of the fence. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the likes of Jónsi, LCD Soundsystem, Fever Ray, Massive Attack, as well as checking out some of the names on the list I'm less familiar with.
The full line-up is as follows:
Roxy Music, Leftfield, Massive Attack, Gil Scott-Heron, Fever Ray, The Frames, Public Image Ltd (PiL), The National, Hot Chip, Jonsi, Caribou, Villagers, Imelda May, Mumford & Sons, Seasick Steve, Modest Mouse, Crystal Castles, Beach House, Redneck Manifesto, The Horrors, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Bad Lieutenant, Here We Go Magic, Memory Tapes, Field Music, The Big Pink, 808 State, The Low Anthem, Monotonix, Liquid Liquid, Steve Mason, Cymande, The Alarm, Messiah J & The Expert, Adrian Crowley, The New Pornographers, Edan, Breakestra & Chali 2 Na, Mr Scruff, Dublin Gospel Choir, Afro Celt Soundsystem, Booka Shade, Bloody Beetroots, Death Crew77, Steve Earle, The Waterboys.
The Electric Picnic line-up is inevitably going to be compared to the Oxegen line-up, these being the two largest draws in the Irish festival season. The consensus seems to be that Oxegen has attracted the more star-studded line-up this year but, according to some, this equates to a rowdier, more 'mainstream' crowd.Personally, I don't see the point in this sort of snobbery. If you don't like the crowd, don't camp. I've spent some of the best weekends of my life at Oxegen (and indeed at 'Witnness') so you can bet your smelly wellies that I'll be back this year.
The full Oxegen line-up so far is:
Arcade Fire, Fatboy Slim, Eminem, Muse, Kasabian, Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, The Prodigy, Florence & The Machine, Paolo Nutini, Faithless, Stereophonics, David Guetta, Vampire Weekend, John Mayer, Calvin Harris, Newton Faulkner, Gossip, Temper Trap, Empire Of The Sun, Goldfrapp, La Roux, Wolfmother, Rise Against, The Coral,Broken Social Scene, Ellie Goulding, Two Door Cinema Club, Armand Van Helden, Steve Angelo, Simian Mobile Disco, Erol Alkan, Steve Aoki, A Trak, Aeroplane.
Provided I have the requisite funds, expect to see me at both Punchestown and Stradbally for the festivities. Who knows? I might even venture further afield...Tickets for both Oxegen and Electric Picnic can be bought here.
[Imagea: Lomo D, Turgidson and Lavinia Amaldi]
