The Electric Picnic festival in Stradbally, Co Laois, became a platform to celebrate Irish performances this year, with local artists attracting impressive audiences and generating overwhelming feedback. A highlight was The Wolfe Tones taking the central stage on Sunday afternoon, where they built upon their spectacular performance from last year, during which they joined the festival as a surprise entry and pulled an enormous crowd in the Electric Arena.
Making their way to the main stage this year, they arguably gathered the largest audience of the entire weekend. They entertained the crowd with an hour’s worth of their most popular songs. Their influence on the younger generation is notable, with songs like Celtic Symphony featuring the chant “oh ah up the RA” adding to their appeal. However, the song has stirred some controversy among older listeners, who remember the Troubles with pain and find the chant quite inappropriate, creating a divide between different generations.
The performance was marked by visible showings of Celtic football club attire and numerous tri-coloured flags, with green flares being released as the contentious number was played, adding drama to the entire spectacle.
The Electric Picnic didn’t just highlight musical performances but also celebrated athletes. The crowd was thrilled when double-Olympic-gold-medal-winning pugilist Kellie Harrington was introduced by The Wolfe Tones. Other Olympic participants, including runners Sarah Lavin and Thomas Barr, also graced the festival.
The vibrancy of the Irish music scene was prominently evident starting from Friday, when a massive audience gathered for Jazzy’s performance on the primary stage. Sequential performances at the main place on the upcoming Saturday of Chasing Abbey, Somebody’s Child, Mary Wallopers and The Saw Doctors attracted consecutively larger crowds. The emigration hymn of The Saw Doctors’, N17, was sung enthusiastically by a fresh set of youth mirroring the fervour that their parents demonstrated 35 years back. The Waterboys achieved success in engaging a younger crowd.
Kneecap, perhaps Ireland’s band of the moment, packed out the Electric Arena and are likely to join the ranks of Wolfe Tones in futurist festivals. Consistently political, they expressed their stance of solidarity towards Palestine before the concert and appealed for the expulsion of the US military from Ireland.
Sean McKenna, a member from Mary Wallopers, wore a “refugees welcome” tee and rebuked the Coolock says No alliance for protesting against accommodations for asylum seekers in northern Dublin and then mixing with loyalists post an anti-immigration demonstration in Belfast.
Bambie Thug, who represented Ireland in the Eurovision, attracted a substantial crowd on Sunday at the Rankin’s Wood stage for their first Irish performance since they secured the sixth position in May.
The primary performer on Sunday, Kylie Minogue posted a photo of herself with an umbrella on Instagram the day prior, but the weather proved to be dry with long spells of warmth on Sunday.
Two festival-goers, Michael O’Reilly from Clondalkin and Olivia Gray from Co Mayo, declared Calvin Harris, the Scottish DJ, as the highlight of the show.
O’Reilly expressed that he would be willing to stay another week.
Regular attendee from Gorey, Co Wexford, Triona Murphy, who had experienced the festival six other instances, deemed this year as “the best one yet”.
Festival organiser, Melvin Benn, hinted at the possible expansion of the Electric Picnic beyond its existing 75,000-person capacity for the upcoming year.
“Numerous festival attendees voiced their grievances on Friday night due to the lack of available spaces for setting up their tents, and the extensive trek required to locate an open spot. Despite this, Benn maintained that it was standard procedure to guide visitors to additional camping locations when the assigned areas have reached capacity. “It’s necessary to have a backup plan for camping, and we didn’t anticipate the early arrival of spectators on Friday,” he stated.
Benn has plans to discuss potentially increasing the guest limit with the Laois County Council, although he expressed satisfaction with the current situation, “I’m rather pleased with our standing at the moment,” he confirmed.”