2017 - How was it for you?

[Yokel Again]

Put your verdict here!!

Had an absolute blast. 6th EOTR, 2 with the good wife, and now a further 4 with young kids.

Had a great time! 

Would have liked to have seen more music but that's the way it is at the moment. Everyone I saw was great: FJM being a highlight (strings brass and projections!), also, the better tracks from Pure Comedy and not the long dull ones. Didn't think much of MDMarco but could be as we were at the back and it all seemed a bit random.

Loved the extended disco ship / cinema area - worked really well, much more space over in that part of the site.

Loved Band of Horses = all the 'hits'.

Margaret Glaspy, Real Estate, Courntey Marie Andrews, Nadine Shah - all impressed.

Enjoyed the conga during Vaudoo Game, in the rain. Great start to a miserable day.

Disappointed to have missed CarSeatHeadrest - caught the last song and looked good.

Had to bail late sunday afternoon, school for the kids this morning and the weather wasn't great for absoutely shattered kids. But the weather was great really wasn't it? 

As always, a special mention to Andyloos. Didn't walk out of a loo at any point and some were cleaner than my home (don't judge!). Is it the company or is it that lack of big boozy groups that mean the toilets are always immaculate/

Can't think of one negative thing to say really.... we will be back!

 

(Not sure if it will be next year as we tend to try to mix things up year to year at the moment).

 

 

 

[OddRon]

first time and I thought it was fantastic, will hopefully be going again and again, does anyone remember what Car Seat Headrest played other than vincent, fill in the blank, destroyed by hippie powers, drunk drivers, maud gone, james brown cover, america and beast monster thing or was that it, I cant find setlist anywhere

[robbiez666]

Shame about the weather on Sunday which messed it around a bit.

Great time though and some great bands,  ridiculously clean toilets and very nice food.

A few minor moans.

It did seem a bit like they've increased the capacity but not increased either the facilities (much more queuing than last year for loos, food and showers)

Lessons not learned from the rain last year. Again comedy moved and tipi becomes a refuge for people with no interest in the music

which lead to  more talking during sets (in general across stages)

It needs more covered areas, maybe a seated area with djs in. 

That being said, minor quibbles as it's better than any other festival. 

[domjon]

Talking during sets was the worst I've known it tbh, across all stages. Fair enough at the back you expect it...but down the front, c'mon.

I did think it was a slightly different crowd this time tbh...a few more dickheads in attendance...maybe Mac De Marco attracted a few? Or maybe I'm being biased there cos I had to get a couple of his entourage shifted away from our tent on Saturday afternoon. ( The two extremely dodgy looking characters sprawled out on the path up to the arena who seemed to be casing various tents)

 

[Yokel Again]

I thought the loo queues were very minimal all things considered. Seemed to be visiting them every 5 mins with one sprog or the other, and can't have queued at all more than once. 

same with the food!

Maybe we were off schedule with everyone else. 

Agreed on the food - was disappointed wasn't able to eat more of it!

[Fat_Buddha]

We'll be buying early birds again tomorrow, so they must have got something right.

A few negatives: More 6music indypop stuff than I care for, although I enjoyed every single band I saw .

Standpipe in the glamping was ridiculous 3 little push button things providing the tiniest trickle of water isn't too good for a field of hundreds.

Seemed to be fewer bogs and showers than previously in the glamping

Tipi tent sleepers

Dickhead quotient up

Chatterboxes

Seitan Burgers

Beer prices

All the above had little impact though, overall it was brilliant, saw great bands  from a variety of genres, the dickheads are far outnumbered by fine folk, bogs are fantastic and I can't wait for next year.

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Fat_Buddha
forgot something

[Yokel Again]

Couldn't decide if there was a bigger numbers of DH's or I am just getting old & grumpy.

Still better than all other festivals regarding DH numbers though as you say. 

[domjon]

1 minute ago, Yokel Again said:

Couldn't decide if there was a bigger numbers of DH's or I am just getting old & grumpy.

Still better than all other festivals regarding DH numbers though as you say. 

Nah there definitely was...it wasn't overrun with them or anything but there were definitely more.

Throwing cans into the crowd...man that drives me crazy and saw it a few times at the Woods.

[MattL80]

My 8th EOTR and up there with the best - an improvement on the last couple of years musically. The only real downer was the weather on Sunday, and also thought Sunday's lineup was the weakest of all the days, so struggled to live up to Friday and Saturday (although Bill Callahan was great).

Musical highlights in no particular order were Ryley Walker, Parquet Courts, Lucinda Williams, Pond, Real Estate, Courtney Marie Andrews, Alvvays, Car Seat Headrest, Ty Segall, Bill Callahan, and no real duds at all in the 30+ bands I saw.

The food was great as always - not enough time to eat everything I wanted to. The lack of Bhatti Wraps was slightly devastating. I didn't notice it being any busier than the last few years - some queues for food at peak times but that's to be expected. I didn't queue for the toilet all weekend - it's always easy to find empty ones. I also thought there were fewer dickheads than the last few years (although still more than the early years). Didn't really notice much talking in the crowds, whereas last year thought it was particularly bad.

Pretty bloody good overall.

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by MattL80

[eagles69]

Can throwing, Chatters and umbrellas are all things I hate in the crowd. Did see all of them over the weekend, but also so many great people staff and punters. stuck out the whole weekend but sunday was tough going. Same as last year too many loitering in big top and tipi just to shelter. Maybe more sheltered areas maybe an option 

[eagles69]

Saturdays Let's Eat Grandma, Car Seat , Romare and FJM then Gold Panda was amazing. All were amazing but the whole weekend was great. My ninth and will be my tenth next year and nothing will stop me getting a ticket tomorrow

[paulwa]

Compared to previous years, every stage seemed busy this time. Numbers were definitely up. I didn't see a big increase in DH quota, but there were a few there. Musical highlights included Lucinda Williams, Band of Horses and Father John Misty, who was the closest to one of those 'wow' moments this year. You know when you can just see the extra professionalism and stage craft oozing out of someone with star quality? That. Also, Vaudou Game just brilliant. They made a rainy day that bit happier and seriously moved some butts. It could have been awesome in the sunshine with one of those Bloody Mary's in the system, but it was still great.

Low point... Julie Byrne. Dull as dishwater. And was Ryley Walker completely off his doughnut?

I also wonder whether the Woods Stage headliners get their sound fed through a different mixing desk, or perhaps more attention to detail with the sound check, because there was quite a leap in sound quality over the earlier acts.

[paulwa]

I put my musical highlights from this year onto a playlist: 

 

[Mardy]

Back home, about to start the washing. Great weekend, apart from the awful weather yesterday. Every year since I've been on efests and every year since I've been going to EOTR I've read 'more dickheads this year', but I see no real evidence to support this, it's an incredibly friendly, civilised festival and I've seen no decline in that over the last few years. I thought the food variety and choices were better this year than the last couple too

Highlight of the weekend by a country mile for me were 'The Burning Hell'. Absolutely tremendous band. Also loved Ryley walker's set. Second time I've seen him this summer and I'm more and more convinced he's the real deal. Rolling Blackouts CF were good, Enjoyed Lucinda Williams, although not sure about that setlist.

One of the best weekends of the year for me, always and we'll be getting earlybird tickets tomorrow morning.

[xxialac]

Can we talk about the amount of drunk teenagers. They weren’t of the ‘lad’ variety but a few of them were still massive twats.

At first, I thought it was just a one-off when I was being constantly butted in the chest by one girl but by the fourth time some kid was massively ruining a set (in that case I got punched in the face, albeit accidentally and then the guy’s mate became aggro with me), I realised it was a theme. In each case it was at the Woods Stage.

Not only were they smashing into people during the gig (I’m not talking about moshing bands, happened even at Real Estate) and pushing people out the way to get to the front, they were also talking (though shouting would be more accurate) incessantly through songs and often were disinterested in the music despite being in the second sodding row. Never experienced this at the dozens of festivals I’ve been to outside the UK.

Going to Bill Callahan last night with the impeccably respectful crowd made me realise that it doesn’t have to be this way. All the adults I spoke to over the 4 days were genuinely some of the nicest folk you could hope to meet (and of course there were some nice young kids too).

Didn’t ruin what was a fantastic festival overall. Can’t say enough good things about the organisation and I loved the lineup.

 

[The Nal]

1 hour ago, Mardy said:

and we'll be getting earlybird tickets tomorrow morning.

Whats the deal here chief? Cant see anything on the website for 2018. Is there a deposit scheme? Do I register etc?

Edited September 4, 2017 by The Nal

[Mardy]

2 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Whats the deal here chief? Cant see anything on the website for 2018. Is there a deposit scheme?

they always relese a few tickets tomorrow lunchtime, 155 quid. Also a deposit scheme too for the next tier up, think they're about 165 or so..

[Mardy]

16 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Whats the deal here chief? Cant see anything on the website for 2018. Is there a deposit scheme? Do I register etc?

you thinking of coming next year, then?

[The Nal]

4 minutes ago, Mardy said:

you thinking of coming next year, then?

Yeah it looks the biz, but can't commit 100% this far out so a deposit scheme would suit nicely. Think it was £45 this year. 

[robbiez666]

3 hours ago, Fat_Buddha said:

We'll be buying early birds again tomorrow, so they must have got something right.

A few negatives: More 6music indypop stuff than I care for, although I enjoyed every single band I saw .

Standpipe in the glamping was ridiculous 3 little push button things providing the tiniest trickle of water isn't too good for a field of hundreds.

Seemed to be fewer bogs and showers than previously in the glamping

Tipi tent sleepers

Dickhead quotient up

Chatterboxes

Seitan Burgers

Beer prices

All the above had little impact though, overall it was brilliant, saw great bands  from a variety of genres, the dickheads are far outnumbered by fine folk, bogs are fantastic and I can't wait for next year.

 

Tipi daycare services.....

The glamping seemed to have many more people in it than last year but no extra showers or toilets. That Saturday morning queue was amusing. 

[Yesiamaduck]

I had a truly fantastic weekend, may have been my favourite yet if I’m honest

First things first. I consistently amazed at how well this festival is ran on a year to year basis. The only thing that went ‘wrong’ (aside from Julie Byrne tech issues) was the gates opened 25mins late… and that’s about it.

Great.
Jens Lekman
Blanck Mass
Bo Ningen
Moon Landingz
HTMLTD
Omni
Pixx
Perfume Genius
Timbre Timbre
Jesus & The Mary Chain
Father John Misty
Deerhoof
Romero
Vadou Game
Tootin Ard
IDER
Alvvays
Sinkane
Catching Lego Batman Movie at 10am on Sunday was a GREAT hangover cure. Also the new Cinema is really good, completely dark, tiered seating, powerful soundsystem and great screen. Could comfortably hold 150 - 200 people (seated) I reckon.

Good
Slow Coaches
The Surfing Magazine
Waxahatchee
Parquet Courts

Meh
Mac DeMarco (found the constant stream of ironic covers played poorly really tedious) and his sound doesn’t transfer to a large stage
Shane
Let’s Eat Grandma

Bad:
Julie Byrne  I felt so bad, appeared to have catastrophic issues with their monitors whenever the 2 supporting band members were on stage, ran 20mins late and when they came on the set abruptly stalled after 2 songs. I couldn’t wait for a second longer and decided to bin the set despite being one I was very excited about.

Biggest Surprise: IDER were so charming <3 I love them
Jesus & Mary Chain are the best headliner I’ve seen across the 3 EOTR’s I’ve been to (2015,2016,2017) and considering I almost binned them off to get more cheese because I wasn’t fussed that’s saying something.

ALSO… no wasps this year? That was pretty rad but I missed the dopey drunk bastards bumping into my pint in a strange way.

[robbiez666]

Did anyone see Julie Byrne's 'sublime' set?

[killyourtv]

A mixed bag for my 6th EOTR since 2001, still my benchmark.  We nearly didn't make it as Mrs KYTV is a bit immobile at the mo, and we came late Thurs and left Sunday afternoon, so I only took in 20 odd artists.

BEYOND GREAT - Car Seat Headrest  - (almost) never heard of them - one of the most euphoric 40 minutes of my life.  Mrs KYTV blown away as well, standing toward the front with all the young lads singing along was something else.  In contrast, the silent reverence for Aldous Harding was what you'd hope for but rarely get at EOTR. "Here is your princess, and here is the horizon" the line of the weekend

GREAT - The people, the Beavertown beer, nearly all the food (particularly Pho Sho, Manna and Pizza Tabun), weather on Fri/Sat, and the contrasting films we saw (Lady Macbeth and My Life as a Courgette). Julia Jacklin was even better than a year ago, Nadia was spellbinding, and Alvvays were better than I could have hoped. Baxter Dury was the big, cheery, brassy surprise.

OK - Most of what we saw was pleasant, but I didn't make the revelatory discoveries (CSH apart) I come for in the undercard, and the headliners do nothing for me (Bill apart).  Alex Cameron was hilarious, intentionally or otherwise, but I could have done with a bit more oddity.

DISAPPOINTMENT - A fair bit of sound bleed during Aldous's set and into the cinema, but otherwise the organisation at EOTR is better than ever.  I will NEVER forgive Nadia for not playing "Preservation" though.   ;-)

There did seem to be a younger crowd (early 20s); nearly all at Car Seat Headrest, but the chatter bothered me less than previously and to be fair the older picnic crowd as just as guilty. 

What time are early birds again ?

 

[paulwa]

53 minutes ago, robbiez666 said:

Did anyone see Julie Byrne's 'sublime' set?

Technical issues aside, she was just bloody awful.

[Sean1234321]

I'm afraid if you book Mac DeMarco then you're going to get a lot of dickheads....I personally love the guy (not sure about him being a festival headliner though), but whenever I see him I always make sure I'm nowhere near the front as he just attacts them by the hundreds.

WH Lung were sensational....so many thanks to the person here who recommended them.

I think the rain helped to produce one of my favourite sets with TootArd in the Big Top yesterday....it was absolutely rammed, presumably as people just wanted some shelter, but they completely knocked it out of the park and got some of the biggest cheers I heard all weekend.

Personally this was my favourite of the three years I've been, it was day after day of amazing sets and I'm sad it's over.

Big thanks to Mark and Janis (I think that's their names) who were working in the car park this morning and tried to help when our car wouldn't start...unfortunately it led to five hour wait in the car park while a mechanic tried to fix it (he couldn't and it's now in a garage in Dorchester whilst we got home to Kent with a courtesy car), but they were both very helpful even though sadly nothing could be done.

Anyway, bring on the first 2018 lineup announcement!