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NOS Alive Festival 2015, formerly Optimus Alive!


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Just seem that Jessie aware has cancelled tonight - one of the acts the misses wanted to see so she's a little annoyed. Capitão Fausto are the replacements. Guessing they're local.

Heading up there in next few hours. Had a great day drinking beers by the pool. Totally different festival experience so far.

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The replacements for Jessie Ware were half decent though the sound in that tent is a bit muck in general. Had a good time last night. Practically no hassle getting in. Pints are cheap though I didn't see anywhere doing spirits. By the end was suffering from that much shitty Heineken. Some good food to be had. Place near the second stage does decent beef sammich. Queues got silly for food at times. Toilets are fast moving. Decent set from Muse. Not overly heavy on the new stuff which was great. Getting home was a chore. Got the wrong train but realised pretty quick. Got a taxi from the next stop. Probably quicker than waiting in the end at the festival site for one.

Edited by snipe
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The replacements for Jessie Ware were half decent though the sound in that tent is a bit muck in general. Had a good time last night. Practically no hassle getting in. Pints are cheap though I didn't see anywhere doing spirits. By the end was suffering from that much shitty Heineken. Some good food to be had. Place near the second stage does decent beef sammich. Queues got silly for food at times. Toilets are fast moving. Decent set from Muse. Not overly heavy on the new stuff which was great. Getting home was a chore. Got the wrong train but realised pretty quick. Got a taxi from the next stop. Probably quicker than waiting in the end at the festival site for one.

If you're staying in Lisbon itself, get the 201 bus to Cais do Sodre. We're in Bairro Alto and managed to get back after Flume before 0500.

Thought young fathers were great on the Heineken Stage, lots of energy and probably my act of the day

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Decent day yesterday. Really enjoyed Ben Harper, James Bay and Tiga.Alt J were interesting but I think they need a couple of bigger songs to make the step up to headliners.

Food cheaper than I remembered and pretty good, beer cheaper than at home. Knackered by the end of the day though, heat kills me.

Most confusing booking was Cavaliers of Fun, almost empty tent, never heard of them. Did they win a competition our something? It feels like someone on the booking committee had expected then to have blown up by now, and they haven't.

Looking forward to Marmozets today, saw them in Belgium last year, great live and the lead singer is nuts. Her between song chat was hilarious. Future Island should me good too, and Ting Tings for a bit of a giggle.

Didn't realise Sintra was so costly. Might just get the bus there then the bus round the sights.

Edited by TheNewUnion
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As long as you don't want to go into any of the buildings the tourist bus is a fiver. You can see plenty on that route. The charges are just to go into the various sites. Pena is worth the money but the palace interior was a bit rundown. Didn't pay into the moorish castle as already did the st George castle in Lisbon and it looked like more of the same but id say there are some good views if you did.

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Who replaced Jessie ware? I thought they were good, and bang up for it so fair play to them

Couldn't be arsed with muse so didn't bother with them. That mercy song drives me mad. We just stuck around for django django and got off soon after that I think. Looked like murder with the queues for trains and that but thankfully my girlfriend blagged a taxi driver and we got back to lisbon,sharing a taxi with a portugese lad

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Managed to see most of Ben Harper, Metronomy (who are always brilliant), Alt J (good light show but still a little bland for me live), Muse (fantastic - crowd was rammed but also dead other than for about 5 songs) and Django Django (fun). Leaving was a nightmare though, proper bottle necks tying to get near the station and queueing for taxi was a waste of time - waited half an hour, no movement so left and got train into centre of Lisbon. Taxi waiting time was 5 mins from there.

Let's hope tonight will be a little easier, seems everyone was there for Muse and these other 2 nights have yet to sell out. Did feel extremely busy everywhere though, especially waiting times for food. Had people que jumping at the bars too which was very frustrating. Totally different experience to a British festival in many ways but also reminded me of V fest and Reading with the constant advertising/branding and inclusion of a sponsors village.

Was very impressed with the lighting and sound though, especially for Metronomy which was super loud where we were. crowd were super into them too. Really like the camera work on the Heineken stage shown on the screens, gave it a real TV/big gig feel.

Hate Heineken beer, shame there's no Super Bock (rival festival sponsor I know),need to try the wine today! Cannot wait for Prodigy tonight!

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That was a decent set from the prodigy. Kinda wimpered out at the end but I liked the messing around with expectations opening with Breath and stuff. Got full search on the way in today. Asked me about everything, reckon heading in late had them more cautious. Gave out about my water, camera etc. Got in with everything but was a bit intimidating. My body is starting to reject Heineken as a form of booze. We tried the local liquor cocktails but they were hella sweet. Need to smuggle some vodka in today but need not to get that search again.

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Couldn't hack the Heineken myself yesterday so started drinking red wine from a stall opposite the Heineken stage- £3 euro for basically half a bottle - mental! Hanging a bit today though but it did the trick last night!

Prodigy were amazing we thought, 3rd time seeing them and this was the best performance is seen! Mumfords were very disappointing though, something didn't feel right and not liking the new stuff in general. Future Islands were fantastic fun and totally mental.

Felt the festival was a lot less busy last night, very easy getting home compared to the night before. Much more space around the stages too and got closer than the night before without any crushes.

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We got the train back last night. I checked the prodigy recent setlists beforehand and decided that a quick getaway to the trains was more important to me than the songs for the encore. Whether ut was that which nade getting home or there were just less people about indont know. One final push today! Haven't been searched properly yet thankfully. Have got vodka in every night so far, but the beer is cheap anyway really

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Search was pretty harsh last night. No pat down, but even had to take my hat off. Strange.

Thought Marmozets were great yesterday. Between song chat not as amusing now they've got some gigs under their belt, but lead singer still bonkers.

Enjoyed Kodaline too, they were really well received. Mumfords as dull as ever for me.

Just chilling at the beach then heading in earlyish as the band that are opening sound decent.

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How's everyone feeling after a day at the beach, post festival? Not a bad way to spend the day. Certainly better than a 4 hour queue in a muddy car park eh?

Some good stuff on Saturday. HMB and Counting Crows were great. Mrs loved San Smith and I was pretty impressed too, despite my scepticism. Jesus and Mary Chain were impressively noisy too.

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How's everyone feeling after a day at the beach, post festival? Not a bad way to spend the day. Certainly better than a 4 hour queue in a muddy car park eh?

Some good stuff on Saturday. HMB and Counting Crows were great. Mrs loved San Smith and I was pretty impressed too, despite my scepticism. Jesus and Mary Chain were impressively noisy too.

We slept in until 4pm, so don't think I could tell you haha.

Sam Smith was fun and impressive, while I thought Disclosure were lacking something from being a headline set.

Overall the festival was great, with a much more relaxed atmosphere to Leeds. Tomorrow we fly to Valencia to do it all over ago at Benicassim - can't wait!

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Just arrived home to a wet and very grey England.

Saturday was a pretty chilled one for us - Mrs only wanted to see Sam Smith so we got there just before that and hung around for Jesus & Mary Chain. Must say, went into Sam Smith expecting to hate every minute but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Probably my biggest surprise to the weekend and it truely felt like a headline set so went away happy that day.

Yesterday we spent the day relaxing around Lisbon centre, took in a boat trip, ate tapas and drank our body weight in Sangria.

Top 5 acts of the weekend for me (in order):
1. The Prodigy
2. Metronomy
3. Sam Smith (yikes!)
4. Muse
5. Future Islands

Biggest disappointment were Mumford & Sons. Have seen them 7 times before and they unfortunately really seem to have lost the energy that once made them feel special. Plus, really think the new songs have exposed their weak and one dimensional song writing. It felt like we were watching a christian band at times on Friday.

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Saturday was noticeably quieter in terms of people and acts. The site is better when it isn't completely jammed but I would have been nice to have some more sing a long moments on the last day. Wouldn't be in a rush to go again without a stellar lineup. Loved Lisbon but the sound in that second stage was shocking throughout and on the busy days the place was a pain to deal with.

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Here's my take on NOS and Lisboa.  We had a great week, 4 days taking in the sights of the beautiful city and then NOS to finish the week off. Loads to see and do in Lisbon, stunning place, perfect weather and cheap as chips for food, drink accommodation.

 

NOS itself - we stayed at the campsite which was absolute top notch, facilities on site were ideal everything you could want. The pool area with DJ(actually playing decent chilled tunes all day) cheap beer and hog roast has to be the best day time festival warm up going. Only slight complaint was that it did get insanely busy.

 

The bus service to and from the campsite to festival was first class, they literally ran all day/night from 3pm to 5am and longest I waited each time was a few minutes. Having said that it was a 10 min ride each way and then a 10-15 min trek into the festival to stages, so popping back to your tent for a few hours and then going back into NOS like you freely do at fests where the campsite is within the grounds isn't really do-able. 

 

The site itself wasnt huge or too well layed out for me and on the first day (which was easily the biggest turn out) the crowds were a bit of hassle and the site/stages struggled to cope.  Much better on the Fri and sat. Queing for food was ok i found on the other side of the heineken stage, but the que's for food between the heineken and main stage did look ridiculous at times. also lack of any spirits being sold was a pain.

 

So overall a great trip but while the festival itself was good, it could have been so much better for me. Dont think i would rush back.  It does lacks that festival vibe with the campsite being a few miles away and when it doesnt start till 5 or 6pm(compared to say Coachella which also deals with the heat but runs from 12pm-1am)  So you have no choice but to hang out all day, rather than getting into and enjoying the fest at mid day etc.

 

My top 5 acts from the weekend were:

 

Prodigy (first time seeing them and didnt dissappoint)

Metronomy

Future Islands (7th time and one of the best, possibly the best crowd since I first them at Coachella)

Bleachers (biggest surprise)

Young Fathers

 

Biggest let down were Muse(second time seeing them, werent terrible by any means but didnt nail it in the same way Prodigy did) and 3 of of my favourite acts Django, Chromeo and Flight Fac all being on at daft o'clock 1.30am and 3am. Was a killer hanging on/saving energy that late after being at the fest from 6-7pm, actually missed Chromeo due to being wrecked/dead on my feet.

 

Edited by redstar99
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Got back last night and mixed reactions from myself and group I went with. We stayed in Lisbon at some cool quirky apartments very central, loved the city and the best part of the stay was really doing Lisbon and Sintra which was fantastic. Only negative and I know they've decriminalised drugs but it was getting seriously annoying being offered sunglasses, then hash, then quickly escalating to crack every 500 yards in the centre and while eating if we ate centrally. Would do more research next time for more out of the way eating places.

 

The festival ... and odd one. It felt a little cold and didn't feel like a festival experience say like Benicassim has done when I've been there. It also felt like very few people in the crowd were getting into it at pretty much any stage. Not sure if this was due to lack of people drinking? The stage layouts seemed to cause congestion and bottleneck issues, having a clubbing stage with no one of any note on seemed odd, why not just have a standard third stage? Then the whole overall line up and the timings of the bands. Have to say the post headline 'dancy' slot at Beni is a great idea and perfect for a band like Disclosure who just didn't justify a headline slot. Initially thought the way they timed stuff with little major overlap was a great idea, the problem then starts when the line up was so weak you couldn't find anything that grabbed you to watch. After the reviews here I'm now disappointed we didn't bother with Sam Smith on Saturday as the rest of that day was so poor we actually left half way through Disclosure just to get back to Lisbon. The food wasn't too bad, but the drinks ... easy to get drinks, queues virtually non existant for them but I'm not surprising with pretty much a single choice of drink. Where were the spirits?

 

Best Acts: Prodigy, Metronomy (probably my fav act as I'm a big fan anyway and they seem to get better each time I see them and it was the most reactive crowd all the three days), Muse and suprisingly Ting Tings plus I enjoyed Kodaline.

 

Biggest Disappointment: Future Islands. Didn't know a lot about them, but people seemed to be saying go see them. Started watching, had no idea what he was saying, someone then said is this Vic Reeves and that was it. Couldn't take it serious after that!

 

Everything else that I saw was pretty vanilla and as mentioned above, seemed to be a serious lack of energy all round.

 

Positives ... the train service back to Lisbon was extremely cheap, efficient and easy to use even very late on. If that was the UK they wouldn't even put it on and if they did 2 coaches would turn up for 1000s of people!

 

Would I go again? I'd have to see pretty much the full line up before I put my hands in my pockets. Would likely look at Benni again next year, depending on first few announcements or even try Sziget Festival. I'm certainly planning on going back to Lisbon though.

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Must say, went into Sam Smith expecting to hate every minute but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Probably my biggest surprise to the weekend and it truely felt like a headline set so went away happy that day.

 

 

 

My experience exactly. Really surprised how good he was. Definitely felt like a headline slot.

 

(to redress the balance, I have listened to him on Spotify since I have been back. I really dislike his whiny nasal falsetto again. So, in summary, good fun live, as bad as I remember on record)

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