Jonathan Jonathan

London Grammar appear to be back at Latitude and Glastonbury. Would make sense for them to do some sort of London show. Probably coheadline like last time. My bet is still on New Order though but they’re definitely a name in the ring.

Death Cab support announced including Phoenix, Sleater-Kinney and the Decembrists among others. Pretty solid line up though still can’t imagine it being a big ticket shifter

Yeah that was my thought. Would be a weird exclusion especially since Manchester isn’t short of arenas right now. Plus no Liverpool or Leeds

Feel like a lot of that line up could appear at ape. The Smile seem likely and reckon Overmono would be a good Field Day booking. Could see Ezra Collective on the undercard somewhere after the Mercury Win. What are people’s Field Day predictions this year? Haven’t seen Jamie XX on any like ups from what I remember this year but assume he’s in album prep mode, so perhaps a festival exclusive, perhaps as a coheadliner. Justice are also around. The Streets and Four Tet seem like they could appear too.

Doha Cat has just announced dates in the UK starting a couple days after Parklife. No Manchester stop so reckon she’s likely.

Yes but have you considered that his music slaps.

I agree. Feel like they’re an awkward size of not quite suiting arenas (eve though they play them occasionally) but being too big for lots of other venues. They suit outdoor/amphitheatre type events well

I could imagine The National playing, they’re in europe late spring/early summer. Imagine they might be at Glasto and another Southern Festival. Feel like it could be their ‘northern date’ like their show at Depot Mayfield last year. Though perhaps they’ll be back in Manchester again since they didn’t stop there this year and went to Leeds instead.

Agreed. Correct me if I’m wrong but the old format was one larger ‘festival’ weekend then smaller headline shows? (Wikipedia implies so, even if the festival never explicitly stated so from what I can find). Feel like they’re continuing that format but in a less rigid way - some smaller days mixed with some bigger days

Reason I suggest 2025 is simply because I feel like his tour is coming to natural conclusion soon and it’ll be when he releases a new album. Could also see him doing his own festival of some sorts in South London alternatively.

Have a feeling Nick Cave is gonna be out with a new Bad Seeds album next year. Might be too soon to be back and he might do a solo tour first, so maybe more likely 2025. Feel like The XX are in the same boat, probably a Jamie XX album next year and then they’ll be back 2025 (and probably a decent booking if they have toured in like 7 years). Could see London Grammar releasing new stuff and returning next year. Feel like even though their last album went number 1 it wasn’t super successful? So probably a coheadline again. Feel like Loyle Carner is a future headliner. He’s been ever present recently but reckon his next album will bump him up to headliner for 2025. Is weird to already be talking about 2025, but kind of scratching my head for next years headliners. Edit: Just to throw some names out…Would like to see Bjork back. The Smile and Beck would also be good return bookings. Glass Animals seems likely (but boring). Would Blondie be an apt booking for APE? Would like to see Blood Orange show up.

I think the tent helped atmosphere significantly. Based on watching someone like Rina Sawyama online looked a bit unexciting in broad daylight but would have benefitted from the added production the darkness of the tent allows. Similarly heard Bicep was a bit flaccid live outside based on a friend’s word, despite them being a massive Bicep fans Though maybe I’m wrong because I wasn’t there.

Echoing others that whilst it felt a bit chaotic/messy with room for improvement the vibe of the festival felt great and authentic - a bit less corporate than most fests and a bargain for 20 pounds.

I’ve basically accepted that 12 quid is standard of what most festival food is nowadays. Weirdly I’ve realised going to the more expensive looking places is a better shout. The cheap burger, hot dog and chips type places know they can charge you 12 pounds for a McDonalds quality burger whilst the fancier places know that most people won’t pay over 15 quid for festival food so have to keep prices more realistic. I went to the poke bowl place at both Field Day and Ape and got salmon and teriyaki chicken bowls for 11 pounds, which is about what a regular poke bowl costs. Felt like I’d found a bargain compared to most festival food. At other festivals this year I’ve had full pizzas and Korean chicken dishes for around 12 pounds too. Also halloumi is the enemy. Halloumi fries, halloumi burgers, halloumi skewers, halloumi wraps - always the biggest rip off.

Grace Jones seems like a good shoot for the ‘oldie’ headliner based on the survey options. Probably a cheaper booking than most ‘oldies’. Could also imagine Liam Gallagher in that role as a bigger ticket shifter Could imagine her plus a 2000s indie act like The National/Strokes or a 2010s more electronic pop act like London Grammar or Jungle. Then round off with a ‘newer’ booking like Fred Again.. (though he seems unlikely), Fontaines or Glass Animals.

Think this hits nail on the head, plus the added factor of a mediocre crowd, as indie oriented festivals seem to attract for some reason? Whilst The Strokes are known to be inconsistent live it didn’t feel like their fault especially. They did what they always set out to do. They’re a relatively no frills live band, so as long as the band (mainly Julian) are tight than that's realistically a good gig from them. My main criticism of The Strokes was perhaps setlist pacing. Between track 6 (YOLO) and 15 (Someday) they went pretty heavy on album tracks. Given that sound improved a bit around YOLO they had opportunity to regain crowd but lost it. I’d normally love deep cuts but think they needed to throw a higher energy song in at some point, because crowd had begun chatting. This isn’t entirely The Strokes fault but whilst their song choice was good the setlist pacing was less so. I think they should have put the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the same stage to get people more hyped and minimising mass movement, especially because it’d have suited those camping out for The Strokes better and created a better ‘vibe’ for lack of a better term. I went from the pit for the YYYs to pretty far back for The Strokes despite a rush from stage to stage. Ended up feeling like I went from an exciting high energy ‘gig’ to a low energy festival show in large part due to the sound.

6 music stage announced. Carl Barat and Gary Powell DJ set for the Strokes day is a pretty fun booking

To answer my own questions: Best act: Wolf Alice (or Sam Fender had I not seen him a couple weeks before) Exceeded expectations: Disclosure, Sports Team and Gerry Cinnamon. New Act: Lyra in the FR stage was cool. Bit Florence and the Machine like. Musical Moment: Live Forever guitar solo. Alfie Templeman playing Smells Like Teen Spirit was also entertaining.

To avoid straying into pessimism, some questions for you all: Best act of the weekend: Act that most exceeded expectations: Best new act you discovered: Best musical moment (song, crowd, etc):

I may consider APE going forward to be honest. I love music and big indie acts. Strokes, National, London Grammar, Massive Attack are all up my alley.

The mosh pits on the first day were all over the place. Inhaler was the peak of this as early on and not loads of people knew the songs. People were opening up pits in the transition from choruses to verses and other odd moments and a bunch fizzled out.

I thought Liam was great but the crowd was mediocre. Obviously very tired and not into it. Gerry exceeded expectations (same for Sports Team day 1, and Disclosure day 2). Crowds did seem a bit rowdy. Some was expected like Slowthai but some were odd like Jake Bugg. Also swear more people on shoulders during popular songs this year. Could barely see wonderwall and I’m not even short. Agree that not every cough is covid give other circumstances. I’ve had a cough two or three weeks and did loads of negative tests but still felt paranoid that people would think I had covid when actually the dust just worsened a regular old cough.

Do we know gaps on introducing today? (R)

? No empty slots though?

In the continued clusterfuckery of Inhaler, it seems they aren’t doing a DJ set anymore and it’s now Let’s Eat Grandma Vs Nova Twins. Irritating that we got neither that nor Squid at Reading