Tickets for Electric Picnic are e61 - I presume that's just a single day price.

Kings of Leon are playing over the summer too as far as i know, and don't forget Bud Rising too

yeah KOL are supporting Pixies

bloody hell, they have KRAFTWERK playing!!! Kraftwerk! In Co Laois! this is turning into one hell of a summer, isnt it? Springsteen in the point to Kraftwerk in Co Laois and everything inbetween including Marley Park, Oxegen, Slane, HWCH, Mor, that castle in Balbriggan, Kilkenny, Killarney, Bud rising x 2. One of these festivals HAS to be a flop attendance wise because people just dont have the dosh to shell out for all of these - what do u lot think? anyone care to guess?

Upon mature reflection I'm changing my stance to: "Wow, there is some complete crap on that lineup, but there is some great stuff there too." Anyway, flop gig, Franz Ferdinand and Scissor Sisters at Lansdowne, what are they thinking?

i think you forgot the gem on the Scissor Sisters / Franz gig. MAROON 5. Oh dear, oh dear. Fair f**ks to Electric Picnic - pulling it out of the bag with Kraftwerk. tickets e135 for two days + camping. Oxegen is going to suffer big time. It will lose the mid-late 20s and above crowd totally looking at the EP lineup. Oxegen has bands for a way younger audience - with the problem being under 18s have to be accompanied by an adult and sign some bulls**t disclaimer. Our survey says NO.

THE ELECTRIC PICNIC – Boutique Music Festival Stradbally Hall, Co Laois - 3rd and 4th September 2005. September 4th 2004 saw the birth of Ireland’s first boutique festival. Described as “A veritable smorgasboard of sounds, vibes and people”. With all 15,000 tickets selling out, it was the ideal way to bid farewell to the summer months. The evolution of the Electric Picnic in 2005 sees it grow into a two day festival with camping on the 3rd & 4th September in the idyllic and picturesque surroundings of Stradbally Hall Estate, Co. Laois. The site this year will be almost 4 times the size of last year’s site, with a capacity limited to 25,000. The 'OFFICIAL' line-up confirmed so far is: Fatboy Slim Kraftwerk Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Flaming Lips Royksopp Arcade Fire Mercury Rev Damien Dempsey Toots & the Maytals Goldfraap Stereo MC’s Mixmaster Mike DJ Sneak Asian Dub Foundation Laurent Garnier De La Soul Radio Soulwax/2 Many Dj’s Human League Amp Fiddler Nouvelle Vague Mr Scruff ...with many more acts to be announced. The hugely popular INTERNATIONAL COMEDY CLUB STAGE will be once again hosted by TOMMY TIERNAN and DES BISHOP featuring many of Ireland’s most popular comedians. Apart from the five stages this eclectic conveyor belt will have a much enlarged BODYSOUL massage & therapy area where you can chill out and recharge at the Electric Picnic’s calming healing zone, this tranquil area will be tucked away beneath a clutter of oak & chestnut trees. For the first time in Ireland, from the outlandish cosmos of Glastonbury Festival, the outrageous “LOST VAGUENESS”, a veritable collection of theatrical flamboyance manifesting itself in two tented structures with can-can girls, a 1950’s cocktail cabaret, a sexy, swinging, slightly punky burlesque theme with some 21st Century Hints. Also making it’s maiden voyage downstream at this quirky event is the SILENT DISCO, Cinema (800 capacity), a larger and more diverse food market and the FAIRYLOVE FAIRIES who will host a fairy lounge, glitter wish pool and parade the site each day and other novelties in this mini village of multi sensory delights. As with many new ventures, particularly festivals there are inherent teething problems. From last year we learned that there were three particular areas in which our customers expressed dissatisfaction in which we hadn’t delivered to the extent we aspired to, these being the loos, the bars & the buses. They were the first three things that we set out to solve on planning this year’s event. We will have a greater proportion of loos per person on site than is the industry standard, more bars and better service and this year JJ Kavanagh’s, Ireland’s biggest private bus operator, has been appointed to coordinate the nationwide transport from all of Ireland’s major cities. The Electric Picnic, boutique music festival with 5 stages, camping, Ireland’s quirkiest festival experience. Tickets are priced at €62.50 for one day ticket, €105 for two day and €135 two day & camping. Tickets include booking fee. Phone & internet bookings subject to €5.95 service charge. Agents €2 per ticket handling charge. Avail tomorrow morning from www.ticketmaster.ie / 0818 719300. JJ Kavanaghs are providing a nationwide bus service from Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Dundalk, Drogheda, Sligo & Athlone. Bus info Ph. 01- 6791549. Bus tickets available through Ticketmaster.

Electric Picnic is really turning out to be something special. Kraftwerk! Amazing. Already the music event of the year. Utmost respect to everyone involved.

PLUS, what a brilliant idea for the guestlist: Anyone who is on the Guest List at Electric Picnic is asked to pay a compulsory charity donation of €5 payable on site by each guest. The proceeds of which are donated to Laois Hospice Foundation. The Electric Picnic 2004 raised €2,552. Thank you for your generosity. Laois Hospice Foundation has a staff of around 100, who help provide free-of-charge palliative care to patients whose illness no longer responds to curative treatment and to their families. This total care involves doctors, nurses, a team of therapists, clergy and a range of volunteers, all of whom are concerned with enhancing the quality of life of their patients. There is a mortablity rate of approx. 95 people per year. They are currently fundraising to build a support unit and are deeply indebted to everyone who contributes at this year’s Electric Picnic to help them raise the necessary funds. Laois Hospice Foundation, Market Square, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. Tel: 0502 21199 / 0502 72536 / 0502 46311

That's a nice touch.

they used to do something similar at Reading - all money went to Cradle I think. A great touch

Then there is the Lollapalooza lineup, $85 for both days: July 23rd & 24th Grant Park Chicago, IL The Pixies Weezer Widespread Panic The Killers The Arcade Fire Liz Phair The Black Keys Death Cab For Cutie Cake Dashboard Confessional Dinosaur Jr Kasabian Kaiser Chiefs Louis XIV Tegan & Sara M83 Los Amigos Invisibles Blue Merle The Redwalls The Changes The Dandy Warhols Digable Planets Brian Jonestown Massacre Billy Idol The Bravery Blonde Redhead G. Love & Special Sauce The Walkmen Sound Tribe Sector 9 Z-Trip Soulive VHS or Beta Ambulance LTD Shout Out Louds The Warlocks DeSol World Leader Pretend Chicago seems to be the place to be this summer, Pitchfork are curating a festival there that features Broken social scene and The Wrens, $10 each day.

Yeah I defo wanna go to this. Have been waiting ages for the line-up to be announced.

good lineups are a bonus when it comes to festivals. It's really just about dissapearing into another world with your mates for a weekend where there never seem to be any laws.

agree with Una there, its usually more about the experience. That said though, i would say lineups are more than a bonus, theres nothing worse than watching s**t bands, once theres one or two bands a day worth seeing im usually happy

totally. I've head some of my best times (and strangest) at festivals. The journey home is the WORST though.

Electric Picnic was great last year. I had just back from Glastonbury in the realisation that there isn't and never has been a good festival in Ireland. Usually the 3 main reasons are....sound is sh!t, food is sh!t and overpriced and the security companies and garda are facist c*nts. However at EP last year, these lads were really trying to get a Glastonbury thing going. The people in Stradbally were amazing. They embraced the day with open arms. So instead of the usual moaning and whinging, they sent the local GAA club out collecting and all the locals were in great form. People were lining the streets drinking bottles, cans and pints and the gards never batted an eyelid, they actually were laughing and cracking jokes. All this positive mood rubbed off on everyone and it had a fantastic effect. At the EP itself, there was an eclectic selection of food, which definitely beat the 8euro c0ck on a roll you get at witnness. The music on selection was excellent, better than the usual mainstream fare. (by the way Laurent Garnier is one of the best music producers around and I've been at lots of his gigs without any hassle) The sound issues I'm sure will be worked out better this year. Basically I hope this festival carries on for a long time and might make the w@nkers who organise oxygen cop on.

Apparently the Optimo DJs are playing as well.

they played Backlash recently, didn't they?