Twas a weekend so civilised even the bouncers wore tuxedos, writes RONAN MCGREEVYin Stradbally
It was a trip outside their comfort zone, but the journey to the Electric Picnic was more than worthwhile for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
A late addition to the Picnic line-up, the orchestra provided the perfect soundtrack for an equally perfect late summer's morning with what its conductor David Brophy described as the "weirdest" set they ever played. Movie themes from films including Star Wars and James Bond, classical standards such as Beethoven's Fifth Symphonyand Bob Marley's No Woman No Crydrew a huge crowd to the Body and Soul area of the Electric Picnic yesterday at lunchtime.
It was a civilised occasion in a rock festival with a unique reputation for civility. Even the bouncers wore tuxedos and the crowd called out for Strauss.
Electric Picnic 2010 will be remembered for its good weather, with only a smattering of rain on Saturday morning and yesterday evening and plenty of sunshine, and as a triumph for Irish acts.
Yesterday afternoon was one of those clashes that music fans dread when Irish bands Two Door Cinema Club and Fight Like Apes drew packed crowds to their respective tents side-by-side with each other.
Imelda May turned the spotlight on the huge crowd which attended her set on the main stage on Saturday night where she debuted songs from her new album Mayhem. “I know I’m home,” the London-based singer said and pointed out that her proud mother and father were in the audience. It was also a triumphant homecoming for The Frames in their first appearance in Ireland in two years. They ended their set with a singalong version of The Auld Triangle.
Later lead singer Glen Hansard tweeted: “Thank you Electric Picnic! We were totally humbled by your response! You gave The Frames the best best 20th birthday party!!” There were good notices for Bad Lieutenant, the band set up by Bernard Sumner, who delighted the crowd playing a set full of old Joy Division and New Order songs, finishing with Love Will Tear Us Apart, Mumford and Sons who expressed their delight at being back in Ireland and American singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe.
Keyboard player Ben Lovett congratulated Tipperary on winning the All-Ireland, a gesture which delighted the large crowd of Tipperary supporters who crowded round the RTÉ Radio 1 roadcaster to listen to the match commentary. This year’s festival was not a sell-out, but joint promoter Melvin Benn of Festival Republic said he was pleased that 30,000 of the 32,500 tickets had been sold for the three-day festival which takes place in Stradbally, Co Laois. “Quite frankly, when you look at the level of recession, for the Picnic to be holding its head high in terms of sales speaks volumes for it. I am delighted with the ticket sales. I’m thinking ‘wow’,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, Tony Blair did not turn up as was rumoured before the festival, but his arch-nemesis former Labour MP George Galloway did belately on Saturday evening after his flight was delayed.
He was involved in a frequently rambunctious debate with right-wing columnist and former Fox News journalist Rachel Marsden about the Middle East in which moderator David McWilliams had to call for civility. Mr Galloway praised the protesters who threw eggs and a shoe at Mr Blair outside Easons in Dublin’s O’Connell Street on Saturday afternoon.
“Shoes are too good” for Mr Blair, he said, and predicted that Mr Blair could expect the same reception wherever he goes in the world. “It is important that his remaining steps in this world are dogged by people recognising him for what he is, a war criminal,” he said. While Mr McWilliams called for civility in one debate, he laid into Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan during the afternoon, calling the Government’s banking policy “bullshit”.
Mr Ryan, a frequent visitor to the festival, faced a hostile crowd when he came to talk about the vision of Ireland in 2020 at the Mindfield Leviathan tent.
For most festival-goers, the recession was the last thing they wanted to talk about. Chef Richard Corrigan said the vibe had been the best he had ever seen at the festival – more so because people needed the escape very much. He said Roxy Music saxophonist Andy Mackay had hung around after the band’s headline performance simply because he liked the atmosphere so much.
“Outside these walls and these fences, there is a lot of crap going down socially and economically. What I feel in here is that everyone left that at the gates on Friday afternoon,” he said.