Deckard

Bilbao BBK has free buses from the city up to the festival and back. Accommodation in Bilbao is a bit pricey tho!

Field Day was very busy but managed to get drinks with minimal queueing. Loads of talkers everywhere but just pushed past them until I found people who were into the music. Sound seemed good in most positions at the main stage but dodgy towards the back at the west and north stages. I wonder what local residents thought of Aphex Twin!

My ten favourites Foals Imagine Dragons Ben Bohmer Moderat M83 Caroline Polachek Amyl and the Sniffers Sven Vath Confidence Man The Mary Wallopers

1. Moderat 2. Bonobo 3. Foals 4. Caroline Polachel 5. M83 But also most of the acts mentioned above and several DJs.

Got my ticket today - nice to get an actual physical ticket, although as a science fest you would think they would use the latest technology!

Definitely swore a lot at chairs and people seated on chairs! At the IOW Fest they ban chairs in front of a certain point, I think just behind the sound desk, and I have also seen a steward tell people with about 8 linked chairs further back to leave a gap. It just needs a few signs on barriers and a warning about restrictions when you buy your ticket. At the Opus stage for Ghost I was near the front next to four people with chairs who stood behind them when the band started - at least pack them up if you are going to stand for the last band!!! Other than that sort out the entry/exit arrangements, provide some shade/sheltered areas and book Rammstein and I'll be back next year.

With regard to comments that it was getting a bit crowded, I was also at Cross The Tracks yesterday which was officially sold out, and obviously much busier than Wide Awake. Off course they had all entry lanes open which helped getting in. Big queues for food in between mainstage acts in the evening but that is pretty normal. There were a few pinch points getting around the site but I was able to get decent positions for all stages and the craft beer queues were minimal. Great atmosphere and a really wide range of music covered including jazz fusion, afrobeat and a great set of twisted electronica from Nightmares on Wax to end the day.

Really enjoyed this. Highlights were Civic, A Place to Bury Strangers, Los Bitchos, Butch Kassidy, Jockstrap and Osees (despite the technical issues).

I didn't see any post rock but a lot of excellent guitar based music including punk, metal, and jazz/math rock I agree there is more pop and hip hop these days but that reflects popular tastes. I am partial to a bit of electronic music so it was good to see a "themed" night at St Marys Church. I really enjoyed Haley Blais, Arxx, Hotwax, Coach Party, The Heavy Heavy, Annie Taylor, Ellevator, Eat Your Heart Out, Civic, Plantoid and Traams. I'm not sure there were more delegates than normal but I was told bouncers were holding back queues when there was still plenty of room inside to "give the delegates a chance to get there" which is not ok!

I usually stay in Copenhagen for this festival. The trains run all night to Copenhagen from the west gate but frequency drops to one every couple of hours after 4am. There are also buses from the East Gate which usually run between midnight and 4am every few minutes to the Copenhagen Railway Station. The buses usually take longer but the trains can be the same as they take a while to cram everyone on and then stop at Roskilde Station for many to get off before heading to Copenhagen.

Also they played at Roskilde this year.

NIck Cave and the BS were superb and I was in the front section surrounded by Cave fans who were either singing along or hushed as appropriate. Anyone else get a bit of dust in the eye at the end of "I Need You"? Also loved The Smile, Anna Calvi and Hurray For The Riff Raff (although the sound was way too bass heavy for the latter). I did have to move several times for Tinariwen due to talkers but it was probably my best day at any APE.

Massive crowds at Disclosure in-between stages blocking movement but not many watching the acts. A Lot of underage drinking on display - makes you proud to be British!

Apart from the mostly dismal weather another great Bluedot for me - I thought Bjork was fantastic and happily I was not surrounded by talking twats as at APE a few years ago. Great to meet one of the Halle Orchestra cellists for a chat earlier in the day (sadly she had no juicy stories about Bjork tho!)

Set times now seem to be on the official Woov app