My review...for what it's worth...

[Velvet Overground]

I thought this year's festival was excellent. It's my sixth and ranks in my top 3 so far. Lots of new discoveries, and for me, the line up was ace - but I guess that all comes down to personal taste.

Music highlights: Pokey LaFarge, Landshapes, Public Service Broadcasting, Barr Brothers (esp. the late night Tipi set), Fossil Collective, Damien Jurado, Efterklang, Teleman, Jens Lekman, Dawes and Parquet Courts. And lots lots more.

Non-musical highlights: The weather!! Best yet. Food excellent as ever, reasonably priced with good sized portions. The new additions of Meatcure and Balkan Grill were excellent choices, hope they'll return. Toilets clean as ever. And everyone was just so bloody friendly. I met lots of lovely folk - a particular hello to anyone who was dancing outside the cider bus about 4:30am on Monday morning - you were all very jolly, and we did a note-perfect (ahem) a capella rendition of Sloop John B during a gap in the music... wonderful stuff.

Musical misfires: Sorry, but Sigur Ros didn't quite do it for me. I also thought Allo Darlin were disappointing (seen them 4 times now and definitely my least favourite - they hugely neglect their first album: remember lots of us End of the Roaders were with you from the start!). Woodpecker Wooliams - certainly an interesting start (roaming amongst the garden stage crowd stark b0llock naked with a megaphone - anyone else see that?) but the music itself was overblown nonsense.

Non-musical irritations: Too many people sitting down in the Tipi. This really annoys me - it's fine when it's quiet, but when there are 100 or more people stood outside the door, straining their neck to perchance catch a glimpse of a guitarist's right arm, while people inside are sprawled out on blankets eating houmous and bread - that's just selfish. Real ale bar - all been said, completely agree. The glacial pace of the phone charging queue. I only wanted my phone to take pictures (forgot my camera - so yes, I know, my own stupid fault) but lots of people probably needed to be in contact. Pick it up, guys!

Oh, and just to add - did anyone see Pappy's Fun Club (about 4:30 on Sunday in the comedy area)? Genuinely one of the best things I've ever seen. I was in tears of laughter on more than one occasion.

Overall - a truly excellent time. Will definitely be back next year. Well done to all involved.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Velvet Overground

[Completewasters]

Without wanting to generalise too much Security will often do only what they are told - so if they are not specifically told to challenge people with glass they wont - dispite the common sense reason to do so - broken glass can be very dangerous whether broken accidently or in rage (appreciate the later is unlikely at EotR). It also means another waste stream to deal with.

On a side note I was thinking about next year organising a flash mob litter pick of the Garden Stage at some point perhaps after the second to last act on the Saturday night (so the 2014 equivalent of after Daughter and before Ed Harcourt). Would any eFestival forumites be up for it? I appreciate it might depend on whether there is a personal must see band elsewhere. The Garden Stage is such an amazing space, imagine how great it would look if it was litter free as people came into it in readiness for the headliner. would take 10 or 15 people 10 or 15 minutes probably (obviously less time the more people) - i know this kind of thing can be very satisfying.

[killyourtv]

Riverlodge - agree about the issuing of tasers to quieten the chattering hordes (a.k.a. picknickers). Few of us want to engage in a debate about it.

Also like to see the 5p deposit on plastic return, though did get quite a few children taking cups from my mouth in 2011.

Will also add that toilets were very good, especially the white ones.

[thespiral]

Fifth in a row for us and enjoyable as ever.

Music highlights - Overall thought the actual sound quality on all stages was fantastic. King Khan and then Eels on Woods stage was just awesome start to Friday night, followed by King Khan again in the Tipi. Prayers answered Daughn Gibson, Joe Gideon And The Shark, Sigur Ros - what I saw, Cayucas - perfect Sunday afternoon blast of Californian vibes, Bo Ningen, Public Service Broadcasting, Dinosaur Jr ...even if no encore.

Music misfires - Deap Vally proved to be the one trick pony I suspected - and it was laughable that an announcement was made warning us how loud it would be only to find that you could quite easily have a conversation over it if you wanted. Single worst set we witnessed was Seventeen Evergreen in Big Top, they did seem to have tech probs, but it just sounded terrible, and they were clearly having a bad one, proceeded to lose most of the smallish crowd within about 10 mins. I did feel for them as I quite enjoyed their latest album.

I have to say I did personally find the Saturday day music lineup a little underwhelming, verging on dull, really had to wait a while for something to get the party started.

Other thoughts and minor gripes.....

Security/Stewards - thought they seemed fewer and a bit *too* low key this year. I know its a fine balance but I was asked maybe once to show wristband. As others noted - also saw a lot of glass on site. One of our party had folding chair taken from outside tent, ok prob just a drunken idiot but still slightly annoying

Bars - fine but yes the ale at Black Crow was a joke. Big board needed, more tills/staff for the barrels. Not hard really.

Food - lovely as ever, The Breakfast Club really need to sort it out though - took us best part of 30 mins on Sunday to get a few fresh juices. Shambles.

Silent Disco - Huh ??? why did this replace the Big Top disco this year ??? None of our party were interested in dancing Silent style. I'm sure this just added to the crowds at the Forest disco. Hope they rethink it.

Early bird just bought

[eFestivals]

provide tazers for shutting chatterers up during sets;

[cmouse]

Very happy camper over here, already got next years tickets :-) Lots of music, lots of comedy and lots of good food & drink, though I am likely to bring more drinks next year to save time at the bars even if you do end up chatting to people while waiting (broken collar bone chap I hope your back recovered enough to keep you dancing!). Tough choice on Sunday night but managed to do half of Belle and Sebastian and half Dinosaur Jr so didn't miss too much. My top 3 for the weekend were definitely Dutch Uncles, David Byrne & St Vincent & Dinosaur Jr. Pondering a water pistol for the chatty people next year (might be slightly less hazardous than a taser?) even if they deserve much more. Best drunk of the weekend was the lady trying to light her cigarette during Frightened Rabbit who dropped her lighter and then took out 3 people in front of her as she overbalanced and keeled over trying to pick it up. She was still gently swaying in no breeze as we wandered off to take a look at the Walkmen.

Minor bad points are - Rubbish! Why are people so damn lazy there are so many bins available yet people just can't be arsed to step a few meters to a bin.

I think I must have been going at different times to everyone else as I entered more than one grim toilet over the weekend (the polyvacs were great when working) but tbh still not that bad really maybe the emptying just needed to be done a little more frequently for some of them.

[Infinite Jest]

Sixth in a row for me. While it wasn't the best of the six, an average EoTR still beats most festivals.

Obviously opinions are subjective: I'd planned for at least 18 months to leave the UK after this edition of EoTR. I'd set it up as a grand finale, so it had a lot to live up to.

The good:

- Plenty of decent bands: Eels were excellent especially the mashup finale; Public Service Broadcasting; Allo Darlin'; the end of Bob Lind; a decent run on the Woods stage on Saturday from Evening Hymns to Pokey LeFarge; David Byrne/St Vincent; Frightened Rabbit; Sigur Ros; William Tyler.

- the food as always

- General site vibe. Plenty of nice people (big shout out to the Guide leader who spent time helping to take down our tent)

- I didn't think it was too crowded - felt less crowded than the last few years (possibly because I was at Glastonbury in the interim - EoTR is always going to seem small after that )

- Didn't notice much chatting during bands, though I wasn't at the Garden much

The bad and indifferent:

- Not much to my taste on Saturday after the Leisure Society, conversely a huge number of clashes on Sunday

- Overdoing it and not having the energy for Joe Gideon on Saturday or Bo Ningen on Sunday.

- Agreed about the bars. No information in the Tipi (I was reduced to "I'll have what he's having") and for some reason the barman stopped off for a chat with his colleague while bringing back my change, leaving me stood five feet from him waiting.

- Andys Loos did a pretty good job on the toilets, but it was disappointing how much rubbish was strewn around them (especially people throwing beer glasses into the urinals) - never used to be like that

- General mess around the campsites. Again, people used to be more responsible

- The shift in audience. The younger indie kids are OK; the Festival Lad types less so (you know what I mean - people who go to festivals in order to tick it off a bucket list or because it's cool, versus people who go because they love the atmosphere of a particular festival (EoTR, Glasto) or the lineup of a particular edition of a festival). EoTR used to pride itself on attracting real music fans, and while that crowd is certainly still there, so are the others.

- I may be alone in this, but I'd be happy for EoTR to keep a narrow music focus - there's nothing wrong in being a niche festival that focuses on Americana, folk, psych/garage, post-rock - I don't see the need to include the latest NME/indie favourites, I'd rather it was smaller and more focused, like it used to be (or failing that, NDH to come back and book those bands).

- Absence of several of the festival friends I've made through this forum...

OK, my bad is a lot longer than my good - i still had a good time and would almost certainly go again, just not a great time

[talulah]

Fourth EOTR for me and although not the best of the four, I still had a great time and will be back next year (early bird purchased)

Good bits

• One of the best things about the Festival for me is the range of music on offer and because the stages are so close together you can 'try before you buy'
• Best sets for me were Eels, David Byrne and St Vincent, Dawes, Futur Primitif, Sigur Ros and a stand out performance from John Murry in the Tipi took the award for most emotional performance of the festival - young guy standing next to me was in tears
• Selection and quality of food was good as always - hope the paella place is back next year
• Loos - I didn't find a bad loo all weekend, although for the first time I found one without any loo roll on Sunday night (or was it Monday morning?)
• General friendly vibe - loved catching up with festival friends

Bad bits

• Litter - can't believe people can't be bothered to put it in the bids provided
• Chatterers - particularly bad at the back of the Garden Stage but for me it was people at the Woods Stage who were the worst (especially as the day wore on and more alcohol had been consumed). Had to move about half a dozen times when Sigur Ros were on as I was getting so wound up! Love the tazers suggestion
• May have just been me but the chap in the festival supplies shop was really 'take it or leave it' both times I went in - a bit of competition might help sharpen up the customer service skills
• I know it's voluntary but the phone charging queue system was a bit shambolic - I only wanted to charge my phone in case of emergency on the way home but queued twice and gave it up as a bad job both times

[Blannyboy]

Although (IMO) I thought last year's line up was stronger, probably because there were a more acts that I particularly wanted to see, there were a lot of acts this year that I found really excellent:

Thumbs Up to:

Eels

David Byrne and St Vincent

Diana Jones

The Leisure Society

William Tyler

Sigur Ros

Pokey Lafarge

Special mention to:

Valerie June

El Perro Del Mar

Dinosaur Jr

Dawes

Warpaint

Polica

Four Mile House

Fossil Collective

War Paint

PBS

I had waited nearly a year to see John Murry, and perhaps it was the weight of expectation but I was slightly underwhelmed

Wish that I had got to see Daughter, Dutch Uncles and Depford Goth.

The festival finished in fine style with me when I caught the Barr Brothers secret set on Sunday night, particularly their version of Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone, with Daniel Lefkowski(?) on vocals

No complaints at all regarding food, drink and the toilets (well done again Andy's Loos), my wife was particularly impressed with the posher white ones. Was pleasantly surprised that the gates opened earlier than 3pm on Thursday.

Like a few have already commented I was surprised by the amount of glass around the site, and my pet hate of the chatterers during acts, not even in quiet tones, some even had their backs to the stage completely oblivious to what was going on onstage.

Overall a great weekend, helped by the weather, really enjoyed by both myself and wife, hopefully will make it back next year

[Maoster]

Got to agree with those who said EOTR has "lost its magic".

Had a good time but the crowds were noticeably bigger, especially the Garden Stage which was rammed all afternoon.

Music generally gone downhill IMO, apart from headliners which were OK and the odd gem like Pokey Lafarge.

Generally a more commercial, bigger festival vibe, so for the first time in 6 years will not be buying an early bird and will only be going again if the line up looks good.

Oh and I'm not sad to be seeing the back of the army of families with babies/toddlers with their Panzer type wagons charging into the midst of everything.............................

[ivan]

Regarding chatter's I also had to move at Sigur Ros a few times.

The first time cos my mate would not shut up !!! - she got chatting to a couple near us and i gave up telling her to shush , so i just move about 12 feet further into the crowd.

[GTG]

Woodpecker Wooliams - certainly an interesting start (roaming amongst the garden stage crowd stark b0llock naked with a megaphone - anyone else see that?) but the music itself was overblown nonsense.

[LowerMead]

This was my fifth consecutive EoTR and although not my favourite line-up I still enjoyed it, despite having to leave early on Sunday and miss The Walkmen, the band I was looking forward to the most. *sobs*

Highlights: Futur Primitif, Efterklang, Evening Hymns, Fossil Collective, Dawes and Sigur Ros.

Lowlights: a friend of mine had billed Daughn Gibson as a must-see. I found that he came from the Robbie Williams School of Self-Adoration, ejected sharp left to The Cider Bus.

I didn't really notice the increase in physical numbers much, but it did bring with it a bit more litter (of which the volunteers do an excellent job clearing up) and loo/bar/food queues were all reasonable. That said, I didn't use the Real Ale bar much this year, but it was a bit of a clusterf*ck to get served/what you wanted. That's a shame, because EoTR seem to organise everything else so very well. I worked round this by taking enough on site myself so that I always had a reserve beer on hand if there was a queue, feeling happy that I wasn't have to shove £4.70 a time in the direction of Festival Republic as I did last weekend at Reading. That 'bring as much booze on site for your own consumption' rule is a real plus for me, one that I hope EoTR continue. I'm happy to use their bars, but it's nice to have a stash of beers at your tent, or one in your bag when you don't want to queue before or during an act you really want to see.

As other posters have noted, there did seem to be a greater prevalence of in-song chatters this year, especially at The Garden. I don't know where these muppets get off, it's downright disrespectful, I always describe EoTR as 'a festival for real musos, where you can hear a pin drop during the songs, people will shush you if you talk during a set'. I felt it had lost this vibe a little this year, hopefully a blip and possibly just bad luck for me this time, as it's never been an issue before. Good shour on the Tasers, will happilly volunteer to hand them out.

What I particularly liked was that I arrived at peak time on Friday morning and the entire entry queue was being managed by one security guard, and he wasn't having to work too hard! Contrast that with the larger festivals and their armies of neon-clad goons, it says a lot about the type of festval goer that EoTR attracts. Log may that continue - I'm early-birded up for 2014!

[airboy paul]

and thankfully not that many clashes for me. I went to every festival from the first one up until 2009, but not been since then. So the Woods stage was new for me, but it didn't seem too big at all, which was a pleasant surprise.

My absolute favourites:

Efterklang (must have almost seen them about 20 times now, they're just such a solid amazing band)

Jens Lekman (always lots of fun)

Sigur Ros (my friends left after about half an hour, but I was enthralled by it all)

& finally Broken Twin. An amazingly haunting girl singer playing piano, with a fascinating guy on violins - loved all the stuff he did with the violin and vocal effects. Really can't wait for them to come back to the UK/release something in addition to their one ep. Danish awesomeness.

Other highlights:

Deptford Goth, Polica, Public Service Broadcasting, the forest disco dancing (Saturday night was so bizarre - immensely squashed on the dancefloor, but still having fun. & Sunday with Jens Lekman dj'ing was just sublime. Wish I could go to a club night with him dj'ing each month), Golden Suits, Marika Hackman, Ichi, Indians, Night Beds, East India Youth, Wall.

I'm still not keen on the current Eels line-up (reading the interview in the programme about it being the same line-up for the last three tours just makes me miss the variety that they used to be about), especially with the newer songs, but I did really enjoy all of the songs they played from Shootenanny! and before. But at least E is always good entertainment.

I'm pleased that the tipi tent was a lot bigger than when I last went, meaning that there was more chance of seeing acts in there, although it was strange seeing it varying from being super packed at some points, only for the following act to be near empty. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people came along to see Ichi, definitely the craziest act of the weekend.

Early Bird ticket bought.

[juliadevitt]

Firstly, let me say that I loved this festival overall and have bought my early bird tickets for next year.

It was our first EOTR and there are so many things that we liked:

Choice of music - immense.

The Spotify playlist was invaluable research as we had an idea of who we wanted to see. Saw most of those and dipped in an out of lots of other stuff.

Loved David Byrne at St Vincent, PSB, Crocodiles (on way too early!), Damien Jurado, Duologue, Eels, Frightened Rabbit (incl secret set), Filthy Boy.

Stumbled on Anna Von Hausswolff in the Tipi tent and was blown away by her.

Campervan field - loads of space where we were, flushing loos and water close by. Our neighbours were all lovely and quiet too. I have never slept so well at a festival before.

The smallness of the site and distance from camping. It was easy to race between stages and head back to our caravan for more booze etc.

The friendliness of everyone including the stewards. It was so refreshing not being searched all of the time.

The loos almost always being clean.

The fire pit

The food/drink choices and prices for beer.

The woods disco.

The lights and art and just niceness of the whole Woods area.

What I wasn't so keen on:

The stewards not being very organised in the campervan field. The dots and fire lanes were all marked out beautifully but the stewards didn't really have a clue. Once everyone was parked up there was loads of space in the lower part of the field but some people who arrived earlier was really squashed in.

Also, people saving spaces in the campervan field, just sort yourselves out and arrive together.

No one was enforcing the 'one pup tent' rule either. Near to us there was one big camper with at least 5 tents! Actually, there were loads of tents in the campervan field.

The no bbq/fire rule was a bit of a joke too as there were plenty of people using them.

Queues for the toilets in the evening were a pain. More needed next time.

Queues for showers. We need more please.

The garden stage always being so busy, I like to move from stage to stage and that one was always so difficult to get down to ( I agree with the idea of a lane for non picnickers).

The chatterers - tazers - yes please.

But definitely many more positives than negatives and I am starting to get the post festie blues after such an amazing weekend.

[GTG]

The glacial pace of the phone charging queue. I only wanted my phone to take pictures (forgot my camera - so yes, I know, my own stupid fault) but lots of people probably needed to be in contact. Pick it up, guys!

[GTG]

I also thought Allo Darlin were disappointing (seen them 4 times now and definitely my least favourite - they hugely neglect their first album: remember lots of us End of the Roaders were with you from the start!).

[Nigey_boy]

I'm really surprised at that. It was my 5th sighting, the 4th at EOTR, and I was close to tears more than once during what I thought was a tremendous set, just at how far they've come. Unlike many, I do prefer the first record to Europe, but I thought they got the balance right, and the new songs sounded strong. Great to have Bill and Paul getting to sing as well and Paul seems to have more room to play too. My mate saw them for the first time and was cursing me for not having dragged him to see them in a little club in Newcastle last year.

I thought they'd be lost on the Woods stage, but I really thought they nailed it. (Generally, I thought the Woods stage seemed much less 'too big' (?) than 2 years ago). Bill must be the happiest man in the music business, never seen someone look so happy in their work, although Mike Heron pushed him close.

[Infinite Jest]

I'm with GTG, I thought AD had a good mix of songs - my memory's fuzzy and I may be mixing the set with their Half Moon gig a few months ago but I remember three unreleased ones (Kings and Queens of Love, We Come From the Same Place, the one Paul sang), Darren (which they really had to play seeing as it's about being at EoTR listening to Mr Hayman); a couple off the second (Capricornia, Europe - they must have played more?); and at least four off the first (Kiss Your

Lips, Dreaming, the Polaroid Song, Silver Dollars).

And yeah, it's always a joy watching Paul make music

[killyourtv]

You remember right about the set list IJ, and it was a wonderful show. My 14 year old son (thankfully not able to see me dad-dancing at the front) said he recognised several of the songs (which shows I have at one parental quality at least). Saw Bill with his own child while queueing for a Bhatti Whap and smile never left his face once.

[riverlodge]

one of the nice aspects of their set was Nigey_boy beyond the barriers, periodically remembering that he ought to take photos of band members other than Elizabeth

[HRL]

Me and my OH heart Bill. When my OH popped off to the loo and came back to the Garden Stage, he walked through the library and Bill's daughter charged at my OH with some shrubbery she had picked up and he apologised, so sweet. Apparently they both chuckled about it

[shoebox]

I'm with GTG, I thought AD had a good mix of songs - my memory's fuzzy and I may be mixing the set with their Half Moon gig a few months ago but I remember three unreleased ones (Kings and Queens of Love, We Come From the Same Place, the one Paul sang), Darren (which they really had to play seeing as it's about being at EoTR listening to Mr Hayman); a couple off the second (Capricornia, Europe - they must have played more?); and at least four off the first (Kiss Your

Lips, Dreaming, the Polaroid Song, Silver Dollars).

And yeah, it's always a joy watching Paul make music

[Mardy]

We'll definitely be going next year, I realise my post above might have seemed a bit grumpy. I had a great time overall.

[Hotcider]

Still a great festival but no doubt with the increase in capacity and the change in musical direction the 'magic' has lessened.

My highlights :

David Byrne

King Khan

Caitlin Rose

Mark Malchay

Dinosaur Jnr

Allo Darlin

Parquet Courts

Deap Vally

Catfish & The Bottlemen

Mark Watson

Robin Ince

Eels

Agree with the beer festival and bars in general really. To run out of most beers written up in the programme by Friday was a bit of a joke

I really didnt get what the Uncut 'curating' of the Tipi brought to the festival. Clearly just sponsorship as far as I could see. Same witht he Line of Best Fit secret sets.

Some of the band scheduling was a bit odd but maybe thats just becasue of my personal music tastes. I also agree that there was less of interest outside the top few bands each day.

The food was generally great as usual although I did miss the thalis and curry goat.