Electric Picnic, Day 2 review: Calvin Harris, Kneecap, support for Palestine...
Electric Picnic headliners on Saturday included Calvin Harris, the Mary Wallopers, and Kodaline. Picture: Kieran Ryan-Benson
In recent years, some of the Electric Picnic's grumpier critics on social media claimed the festival was “out of touch” for allowing a DJ to headline. Much like Fred Again last year, Calvin Harris’s headline performance will have shut them up.
The sheer size of the Scottish spinmaster’s back catalogue meant that he had the crowd absolutely bouncing late into the Stradbally night sky after a two-hour set.
You know that a festival area has hit the sweet spot when it reaches all of the five senses.
The sound of a sizzle as meat hits a barbecue. The dozens of different smells as you walk around. The sight of masters of their craft putting together as many concoctions as they can. The feel of the heat in the portable kitchens set up across the Theatre of Food. We shouldn’t have to explain why the taste is felt.
Saturday’s highlights in the area included a repeat of last Sunday’s Intermediate Camogie final – only this time Cork and Kilkenny clashed in a ‘toasted sandwich off’ with 51CornMarket representing the Rebels against Aran Bakery.
There was an as-ever excellent chat from the Beer Ladies podcast, as well as a hybrid of cooking and cavorting in the Dishes and Discs, ably provided by Marcus O’Laoire and Kevin O’Donnell.
We tip our hats to the curators of the main stage on Saturday. Kicking things off with the highest selling Irish artist of 2023 in the form of Chasing Abbey, it flowed nicely into the magnificent Somebody’s Child, whose belting performance of 'I Need You' was a particular highlight. An utterly epic hour and a half followed.
First, you had The Mary Wallopers making their return on main, with the crowd left almost disappointed by their departure after 45 minutes of just pure fun (even though one member of the band was 10 minutes late!) I say almost disappointed, because they were followed by arguably one of the best live acts Ireland has ever produced: The Saw Doctors. Want proof? Try find a video or overhead shot of the crowd on social media of the choruses of either 'N17' or 'I Useta Lover'.
Just a perfect Saturday afternoon - with Kodaline rounding out the Irish involvement on main stage a couple of hours later.
Absolute best hour of my life @sawdoctors #ElectricPicnic pic.twitter.com/EARt06DZ43
— Cathríona Ní Ifearnáin (@itsHeffo) August 17, 2024
We had the past and present on main stage but there’s only one answer as to who is the future. Regardless of whether or not they get the nod for an Academy Award nomination, you get the feeling the red carpet will be rolled out for Kneecap if their meteoric rise continues at the rate it’s going.
While the Belfast rap trio didn’t quite hit the crowd mark in the same stage as the Wolfe Tones's iconic performance last year on , being in the crowd as thousands of people belted out ‘C.E.A.R.T.A’ and Get Your Brits Out like they had been taught it in school was quite an experience.
This included one man who said to me that he had never heard one of their songs before, but had seen the movie during the week and “liked them.” There was a powerful moment before hand as images were projected on the screen demanding the "US Military out of Ireland" for their complicity in Israel's invasion of Palestine via Shannon Airport.
If DJ Próvaí, Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara do come back to Electric Picnic, there is no argument: they have to be on the main stage.They will more than have earned it.
Across all the major campsites, you would struggle to go more than 100 yards or so without seeing some representation for Palestine.
Keffiyahs, watermelon badges and shirts or just the flag outside a tent, the support shown for the invaded nation was heartening to see.
The Mary Wallopers repeated ‘Free Palestine’ throughout their set, as did the aforementioned Kneecap.
Flags were also easily spotted amongst the crowd around the main stage for both Kodaline and Calvin Harris’s performances.
Cork’s own Izz Café are due to appear at the Theatre of Food for a discussion on Sunday.
A long-running joke or tradition for veteran attendees at Electric Picnic has been keeping an eye on what performers know where abouts they are in the world.
This year was no different - we won’t name and shame, but there were plenty across Saturday that arrived on stages with a big ‘Hello Dublin’ to the crowd.
Now, we can partially forgive our friends from the US or Canada because they would have likely landed in Dublin Airport, been driven an hour down the road and then put up in a hotel or glamping.
But we are less forgiving when it comes to the acts from Britain. Get your atlases out next time lads.
If you had said this time last year that there would be hundreds of people avidly awaiting the arrival of a group of schoolchildren from Cork to a stage at Electric Picnic, you would have caught a fair few strange looks.
But such has been the rise of the Kabin Crew (ably assisted by the Lisdoonvarna Crew), that’s precisely what happened on Saturday afternoon.
The hundreds in the crowd at the Today FM Soundgarden were left full of energy - and they'll tell you all about it. Pure daycent.
