Yeah, went myself also. A friend of mine got some free tickets so along we went. As predicted the skanger element were out in force, I overhesrd one wag saying 'There'll be no break-ins in Dublin this weekend'. Saying that, though there seemed to be little trouble: strong police presence, etc. The security were seriously dodgy though: one group manning a gate near the main entrance were drinking from cans and throwing them into an adjacent field while making stupid comments at passers-by!!!! Where do they find these people!!!! The setting is beautiful, idyllic, all rolling hills and woodland etc. Mike Skinner from The Streets said it was the most beautiful setting for a festival he had ever been to. Pity the line-up was so poor. The main rock stage had The Presets? (anyone?), Alloy Mental???? Battle? (nope, me neither!) Razorlight were passable enough, once they played the hits my interest waned. They have a lot of weak songs. The Streets were ok but are getting a bit tiresome. Mike Skinner has a great stage presence though, great interaction with crowd.

missed the Streets. Thought Razorlight were rubbish. They are probably everything wrong with rock music today: overrated, cocky, egotistical, unoriginal, precious, predictable, ughghhghgh.

granted, there are a few good songs on their debut, but I had to review their second album recently, and it really is lame (despite 2 OK tracks). I played it for my mate when we were driving down the country last weekend, and she actually couldn't stop laughing it was so cheesy. Borrell is a moderately good songwriter, but the problem is, a lot of the music press treat him like a f**king king inflating his ego to supermassiverockstar size. Maybe if this record bombs, they'll get dropped back down to earth and will actually have to concentrate on creating some good, original music...

Borrell is the most ignorant junior cert level lyricist in ''rock '' .... he looks like a child playing a rock star . He knows how to do it but just isnt able to be one.FUUUUUUUCK i hate him ... the guys biggest anthem golden touch is like somthing my 16 year old brother would write coming home after a night out without getting a tap. puure over rated b****xs PLUS there new album is terrible i hate being a snob and il always give a band a chance but the second album is like it was wrote by a rock star as manufactured by the writers of the O.C ..... America is by far the worse song of the year ...

Hola - I have never liked these at all. Someone recommended them to me when I went travelling last year so I stuck them on my iPod, I had to skip and then delete the tunes from the iPod everytime I heard one of their tunes. Sooooooo booooorrrrriinnnggg!!

Gotta agree here.Razorlights first album had some decent moments however the new one is awful.Borrells ego would be easier to tolerate if he could write some great songs but alas no.Antistar is right, a very bad boomtown rats.

It's nice to see this pack of pricks get their comeuppance.

i will probably be slated but i like the new album especially the 2nd song on the album

Departing from Razorlight, here's what MCD had to say about the festival itself. SHOCK! HORROR! They mention arrests and illegal substances, but not in any Oxegen-style cover. I suppose they're trying to deter any more public opinion from their money grabbing hands. And the catering was terrible.

"Approximately 20,000 music fans enjoyed the music and festive atmosphere at Ireland's first ever Hi:Fi/Global Gathering music festival, which took place within the spectacular settings of the 1740 Belvedere House Estate, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath (Sat 5th and Sun 6th August 2006).

Fans celebrated the August Bank Holiday Weekend with over 21 hours of music featuring performances from The Streets, Razorlight, The Prodigy, Ian Brown, Audio Bullys, DJ's Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, Mylo, Deep Dish, Carl Cox, Roger Sanchez and Sasha & Digweed to name just a few of the many artists who appeared.

"Promoters, Angel Music/Live Nation/MCD would especially like to thank all the well behaved fun lovin' music fans for ensuring HiFi/Global Gathering was a great success, the residents of Mullingar and the surrounding areas, Westmeath County Council, the staff of Belvedere House and in particular like to thank An Gardai Siochana (Mullingar) for their continuous support and good natured but firm presence throughout the Arena and Campsite. This positive policing undoubtedly played a large part in the success of the event," stated Brian Spollen Festival Organiser, MCD Productions.

Speaking last night (Sunday 06th August) Superintendent Padraic Rattigan, of Mullingar Garda Siochana, stated "The crowd have been very well behaved and our Traffic Management Plan has resulted in free-flowing traffic to and from the site over the course of the weekend. The Planning meetings played a major role in the success of the event. As expected with a crowd of this number there have been a number of seizures for illegal substances and a small number of public order arrests to date".

"Belvedere House Gardens and Park and Westmeath County Council are pleased to have staged a highly successful Music festival, Hi:Fi/Global Gathering Ireland, working with MCD and the statutory agencies on the extensive preplanning and smooth operation of this large event. Bartle D'Arcy Belvedere General Manager said "We hope to work closely with MCD for future events at Belvedere building on our relationships established with all relevant parties during the planning and operation of Hi:Fi/Global Gathering Ireland."

antistar, you mention the presets - not quite my cup of tea but a decent alternative krautrock type of act if i'm not mistaken - an electric picnic type act... also, you say battle... if by that you mean battles, then they really are a great band... in fact, if electric picnic had booked the type of acts they should have done this year ( instead of selling out ), then the presets and battles would have been two of the bands they might have been looking for

benni, the presets - not rock but electronic big beat krautrock stuff, aren't they?... only seen a couple of vids on that mtv2 120 minute taster thingy... as for battle / battles, obviously mcd weren't as forward thinking as i was giving them credit for, then... never heard of battle but your taste is usually spot on so i'm willing to proclaim them as muck on the back of that

Vitalic was amazin! Probably the highlight of the weekend for me. Big industrial arps and bangin beats! Super stuff!

Didnt dig Battle at all. But there were a few gems in the earlier bands. Sh*t Disco being one of them.