My top moments from 20 years of Electric Picnic
Stevie G recommends checking out Raye at Electric Picnic.
The early days of the Picnic will evoke lots of nostalgia for most of our readers who were there but it’s important to remember that EP navigated a few tricky years too around the time of the global recession from 2008.
Festival Republic eventually took hold of a festival that was originally started by the late great John Reynolds, and in recent years the festival has expanded even more, and there are now more than 70 thousand music fans travelling every year.
The boutique element of the early days, which made such an impact, has been lost, and it’s now very much a mainstream event, but like many others, I’ll be enjoying the annual pilgrimage to Stradbally this weekend to check things out.
This weekend’s headliners are a lot more mainstream than those of the early days, and it’s now a commercial giant where nearly every bit of real estate in the main arena is sold to big brands. As someone who has played here year in year out, I’m not gonna complain about such commercialism, and during those recession years there is no way I would have been able to afford to even travel to the festival had it not been for gigs from the likes of Bacardi, Red Bull and others.
This year I’ll be continuing my long association with Heineken Ireland by playing on their stage tomorrow, and I’m not gonna pretend that the brand association isn’t helpful for those of us doing music for a living.
I’ve played enough Electric Picnics where I didn’t get paid, and sadly it’s a practice that continues in 2024. The price of a ticket may now be fairly big, but I do feel artists should still get paid at least something. Even while working, the festival still costs me money most years, and I’m a single DJ rather than a huge band! Unfortunately, running a stage at even a huge festival is expensive, and those who run them independently without brand funding are up against it too, so it’s a tricky situation.
Anyway, the discussion of what music artists are worth is a deeper one that I will continue to explore here and elsewhere, but for now I’d like to talk about some of the best moments of those 20 years.
Highlights for me included seeing some of the world’s greatest music icons play some of the various stages during those years. Grace Jones, Kraftwerk, Chic and others may be regular enough visitors by now, but each of their first visits to the Picnic were very special moments at the time. I’ve seen rap icons such as Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest and Kendrick Lamar headline the Picnic too, but even though I had already seen each of them previously at better shows, they were still special. My Bloody Valentine’s first show in a long time was epic, and there was one very memorable Saturday night where I saw the XX followed on the main stage by the Cure, who played an amazing set!
In truth, lot’s of my best experiences watching shows at the Picnic took place away from the main stage, and it was great to see the likes of Steve Lacy and Vince Staples play to huge crowds while winning over plenty of new fans.
I’ve enjoyed a long association with Body and Soul, who emerged from the shadows of the Picnic to run their own iconic festival, and who in Electric Picnic’s peak years ran what was effectively a festival within a festival. I was one of their Treehouse DJs for many years, and saw some epic shows over in that special area of the Picnic. My own best ever DJ memory took place there, when I played a closing set one year, but I’ve also enjoyed great shows in Trenchtown, Red Bull, Casa Bacardi and of course Heineken. DJing is a great job and festivals can find stages fairly busy even at early afternoon times, so it’s a great feeling playing music on these stages.
I’ll be joined by Cork singer AbbieLee for my set today, and you can also catch her at Trenchtown later this evening with her band. Everyone will have their own recommendations but if you are travelling up, I urge you to check out Raye, if you get a chance!
