The good, the bad and the ugly

[Fat_Buddha]

 THE GOOD

The bogs, dunno if I was lucky but every one I used was clean or cleanish and in full working order.

The new stall doing spuds.

The beer

The bands. All the bands. I don’t know how or where I would be able to see such a crazily eclectic range of high quality performers, all day, every day.

Low dickhead count.

THE BAD

Fella we sold a ticket to for 100 quid on Thursday not coughing up was disappointing. Still, hope he had a nice time. We all deserve a nice time.

Security kid at car park at about half seven who decided to play silly buggers and not let us in to pick our nipper up. EOTR steward sorted it out amicably enough though. Hot tip…..the pick up point you see in the second field isn’t in operation on  Monday morning. Also, if returning to site to pick offspring up, don’t bother before 8, which was when the nice stewards turned up.

THE UGLY

There wasn’t any ugly.

 

 

[czuk]

Toilets were a bit grim we thought.  Saw some very full urinals and the one by the Samaritans was overflowing at one point.  We got talking to some workers and they reckoned that some budgets have been cut this year, less free meals for workers, etc. 

[Yokel Again]

First time back for 5 years for me, and pleased to see it hasn't lost it's magic. 

Had the kids with us who enjoyed it, but as a result saw less music than the line-up deserved.

Loos were pretty good I thought, apart from the Thursday eve, but presumably fixed quickly.

Enjoyed all the music I saw lots, but will put in a special mention for Lucy Dacus - magical garden slot! 

Will definitely be back again. 

 

[Limpet]

First time back in a decade and I thought everything was perfect. Great music (seriously did not see a disappointing set all festival), great food and great people. Stayed in Tangerine Fields and the toilets, showers and general hospitality were well worth the extra shillings. Will be back next year

[The Nal]

4th EOTR and thought the toilets were grim at times. Overflowing in some places. Standards have dropped. 

Pints were hit and miss. Bars were ran well though. 

Food on the other hand. Outstanding. Some great options. 

Early birds to be bought this week. 

[Aeroplane Over the Sea]

First time for us, and as Green Man regulars for over a decade I’ve been both desperate to get to End of the Road and curious to see it.

We had an incredible time, really the toilets were the only negative for us, they just weren’t well enough looked after (weirdly apart from the ones either side of the Woods stage) and there weren’t really enough.

The music was sensational and extremely well scheduled we thought. Clashing of similar bands felt minimal, it was well spread over the weekend (our other festival has developed a clear strategy of massively stacking the Sunday lineup in recent years), and the site itself is super, so well thought through. Finally a really good late night offering to keep everyone entertained. A festival that is really fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a terrific vibe.

Hope to see everyone again in the future!

[Bee bird]

 

I was initially underwhelmed at the lineup but saw some great stuff that was new to me. Absolutely loved Aldous as expected, but Taraka and Audiobooks were completely fantastic standout moments too. Also Circuit Des Yeux and Nilufer Yanya. 

I felt the Woods stage was fairly poor this year though. I enjoyed Perfumegenius but don't really get the appeal of Khruangbin. Pixies seemed to be going through the motions. I've always found Fleet Foxes incredibly irritating so steered well clear (sorry - personal taste).

I found the loos variable, but generally quite bad - lots of instances of no paper or gel and broken locks and occasional overflowing pans. I really miss the old Andy Loos with sinks. Handwashing at drinking water points isn't ideal. Nor is having a urinal right next to you inside the campsite cubicles.

I still had a really great time and love EOTR. So pleased that the weather turned out to be kind despite the grim forecasts.

[SweepingTheNation]

Loos by the Woods stage and some in camping were bad on Thursday but mostly seemed to improve, though the hand gel ran out pretty consistently and there weren't a lot of other places where some was available.

Forest seemed a bit sparse compared to usual, though I liked the light-up owls. Boat stage feels like a first draft of something special, given if there were more than three or four rows of people you couldn't see anything of the stage, let alone the Snapped Ankles turnout.

Music came through, as ever. Suspect that before Grove nobody had ever said "I hear you like to whine your waist, End Of The Road"

Saw someone who I swear was Tiny from (late 90s indie-prog nearly-weres) Ultrasound wearing an Ultrasound T-shirt on Friday.

Edited September 5, 2022 by SweepingTheNation

[Nick07]

Tiny was defo there on Friday 

Brilliant weekend and saw so much good stuff 

[Jeel]

6 minutes ago, SweepingTheNation said:

Loos by the Woods stage and some in camping were bad on Thursday but mostly seemed to improve, though the hand gel ran out pretty consistently and there weren't a lot of other places where some was available.

Forest seemed a bit sparse compared to usual, though I liked the light-up owls. Boat stage feels like a first draft of something special, given if there were more than three or four rows of people you couldn't see anything of the stage, let alone the Snapped Ankles turnout.

Music came through, as ever. Suspect that before Grove nobody had ever said "I hear you like to whine your waist, End Of The Road"

Saw someone who I swear was Tiny from (late 90s indie-prog nearly-weres) Ultrasound wearing an Ultrasound T-shirt on Friday.

Apparently it was, but I was roundly mocked for not knowing who Ultrasound were. 

[Harry49]

Good

music was great with special mentions to Porridge Radio, Kevin Morby and Jake Xerxes Fussel. 
Enjoyed the comedy and book talks and of course both delivered at The wonderful talking heads stage.

Food and Beer. Wonderful stuff and prices reasonable.

general atmosphere, met some wonderful people and it was great to be surrounded by smiling happy faces.

Bad

Despite what seemed upgrades to toilets around Woods stages, there are still not enough. More of the urinal facilities would speed things up for both M&F.

Cleaning seemed to be poorer than last year.

Taps and sinks need to be installed in Arena and campsites.

Showers in General camping. Again better quality than last year, but first morning at least 6 were not working out of 20. Blocks were sloped so if you got bottom cubicle you were in fear of drowning as others water came down. Cleaning not great.

Needs major rethink.

Despite these moans had a great weekend, and will be back next year hopefully.

 

 

[Jeel]

Remains my favourite festivals. Not been since 2019 but much still the same.

The good:

Nice mix of bands

Saw some great music on the Talking Heads stage (although they probably need to look into making it a little bit less treacherous at some stage)

I like the new Tipi. Seems to be much more room and the toilets outside are a plus. 

Was the Woods stage narrower this year? Wondered if it just felt that way  after GM

Some great stuff on the piano stage. Shame there's not more of it. 

Lovely crowd. Very little nonsense. Much better mix, from my perspective, than GM. Talking was really bad for The Magnetic Fields but had no problems otherwise. 

Lots of helpful and knowledgeable stewards. The car park felt like military precision on Thursday. 

Good beer. Nice having a few choices on each bar. Could probably benefit for a bit more in the new local breweries location. Missed the batch 'festival' which used to be on the Tipi

Seemed to me more seating than usual and scattered around more, which was good. Could use more undercover (which is a regular grip from me), but not needed this year. 

Having said all that, there are areas which could be better. It's still a wonderful festival but there's always room for improvement. 

Could be improved

There were less food options this year, which caused the obvious extra queuing problems. Not too bad but seems slightly bizarre considering the number of 'wtf are they doing here' stalls. Like a barbershop. Or the numerous clothes stalls. I can understand 'emergency' festival clothes but I have no idea how most could make money! Food stalls all in the same place which does not help. Better at GM as more spread out. 

Toilets. They seemed to be cleaned a lot less than usual and frequent cleanliness, restocking, blockage, locking, empty or vacant issues. Pining for the days of Andyloss, but I know it's a new contractor but this needs a major improvement next year. As do the visible urinals. Pretty sure no one needs to see drunk men peeing, but especially not kids. 

The arena seems squeezed. Like it's being gradually scaled back to increase camping. It could do with being more roomy, which would help with the clear issues around toilets

Sound bleed seems to get worse. It seems that the volume was set up to 11 far too much. The Big Top (which I really don't like as a stage) needs some air coming in. Difficult with the sound but it's too loud and too on the edge of tolerable le at times. 

Not sure what the 'games' outside of the Tipi add every year apart from taking away nice places to sit. There's room elsewhere.

The scheduling and stage location doesn't really make a whole lot of sense sometimes. Similar artists against each other and odd choices.

I'm really happy they introduced the Boat stage but it really needs a bit of thought behind it. Impossible to see unless you get there early. Needs to be somehow raised really. 

But yeah, an other great year in increasingly difficult financial circumstances.

Shout out to the Frank lot for being consistently friendly. 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by Jeel

[Yokel Again]

Could do with a couple more coffee places. 

[Jeel]

1 minute ago, Yokel Again said:

Could do with a couple more coffee places. 

🤣

[Yoss]

No criticisms, really. Must have been mostly lucky with the toilets. Showers were cold in the van field on Saturday morning but them's the breaks. Hardly had to queue at the bars all weekend, very impressive given the issues they seemed to be having getting staff. Couple of scheduling snafus - Snapped Ankles should've been on a bigger stage and Starcrawler a smaller one. But really, I'd hardly change a thing.

Music was great, I had been thinking Green Man beat them on line-up this year, but I ended up seeing probably a dozen excellent sets, both ones that I already was expecting (Mandy Indiana, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Cassandra Jenkins) and several that I'd not particularly picked out beforehand (Nilufer Yanya, Grove, Anais Mitchell, Christian Lee Hutson). Among others.

This year's "Know Your Audience" award is shared between Grove's "fuck landlords" and HftRR telling a field of middle-aged white men (self-included) that "they're afraid of the power that you have".

[Dancers Stand Very Still]

Apologies if this comes across as a negative review overall but I am coming at it from very high expectations of EotR. 

Goods:

• The people! Met some incredible people, one of whom is even staying with us tonight. Almost universally good-natured.
• The showers - warm and no queues whenever I wanted to use.
• Drinks - didn't drink too much but what I had was good.
• Lack of rain! (although mixed blessing because of dust)
• Everything on the talking heads stage! [edit]

Bads:

• Comparatively low quality and low level of eclecticism in low/mid-range acts.
• Toilets / lack of handwashing facilities.
• Dust - horrid. Needs damping down every couple of hours when it's dry.
• People smoking in crowds (please don't do this).

There was little depth during the day and a lot of dross (rather than inspired up and comers). Perhaps it was because I'd seen most of the bands I'd call interesting plenty of times - a result of EotR's place in the calendar. It did seem like the festival had significantly cut back on the money spent on bands this year. That really concerns me for the future of the event (both financially and reputationally), especially if they sell out tickets and then costs continue to spiral by the next edition.

I'll be holding off on buying a ticket for next year and will likely only take the plunge nearer the time if the line-up returns to 2018-levels! I would have no hesitation in coming back again in the future but think I'll most likely try somewhere else and come back fresh to what is still a special place.

Edited September 5, 2022 by JHad

[puppy blip]

Highlight of the weekend was the guy on the WhatsApp chat getting upset about Grove criticising landlords, revealing he WAS a landlord and then getting an absolute pasting from everyone else until he offered to meet them at the Cider Bus for a fRiEnDlY dEbAtE.

Also Scalping and Fat Dog were excellent.

[domjon]

Best 4 days of the year yet again.

Thought the toilets were fine personally...the ones opposite the set times boards always seem the best looked after so I always head there. Obviously Andyloos were better but can't say it ever really troubled me...the ones on the car park were minging this morning but that's always been the case 

Music was incredibly strong for me this year... porridge radio into fleet Foxes into audiobooks was sensational. Saturday weakest day for me but Kevin Morby was fucking amazing and enjoyed the joyous 30 minute bounce around to pixies classics. Sunday's run of Deathcrash, Ural Thomas, BCUC, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Kurt and Bright Eyes was epic. Missed loads of stuff I wanted to see aswell...can't be everywhere I guess.

Actually think the scheduling was on point this year cos crowds seemed incredibly well spread. Was room to have a dance grab a beer etc at everything I saw. 

Food options for me are getting a bit stale now....done most of them to death by now tbh...the Persian Street Foods Pork Shawarma was a cracking addition tho. 

 

The showers moving 100 yards up the hedge reduced my shower count from about 6 to zero...yup I stink right now.

 

Weather was great especially considering the forecast in the days leading up.

Everybody friendly as hell as usual.

 

A shit journey home thanks to roadworks in Bath and the m6 getting shut between 15 and 16 but don't think we can hold Simon responsible for that. 

 

Fucking ace time basically, can we have a settlers week like Green Man please?

[Mardy]

The Good (in no particular order):

1) English Teacher

2)Cassandra Jenkins

3) Mag Fields

4) Los Bichos

5)Landlord Meltdown. And if there's not a band playing mid-afternoon in th Big Top with that name next year, I shall be mightily disappointed

 

We dodged an absolute fucking bullet with the weather. From biblical predictions of doom to sunburn in a matter of days. Once again, @The Nalworked his wonders.

Everything was great, I got to hang out with the loveliest people in the world and watch some phenomenal music. Yes, I agree, a few budgets had clearly been cut, the woods, the literature tent etc etc but it still weaves a unique spell, nonetheless. Early-bird me up.

 

[Vamagus]

Fantastic weekend with great music (as always) with only one real negative - yes it’s the toilets.

Thursday was a total disaster on the toilet front - actually spoke to one of the toilet guys on Friday and apparently they thought “it’s only a half day and not everyone would be there so there were only 2 people on site who knew how to maintain the vacuum toilets” .

He seemed nonplussed when I pointed out most people arrive on Thursday and half the site was closed so the number of available toilets was reduced.

Our experience of boutique toilets was poor - 3 toilet blocks (so 12 female and 12 male cubicles) and one urinal block for the whole of boutique - not enough to start with but then add in the one block appeared to be out of use for most of the weekend and then they’d close one for cleaning at peak times (8am - 9am) and it wasn’t great. My wife wasn’t best pleased to have paid boutique prices and having to use overflowing, non flushing toilets.
 

Bring back Andyloos!

[Mardy]

4 minutes ago, Vamagus said:

Bring back Andyloos!

Yes! Shall we get a quote and crowdfund them?

 

https://www.andyloos.co.uk

[Aeroplane Over the Sea]

1 hour ago, puppy blip said:

Highlight of the weekend was the guy on the WhatsApp chat getting upset about Grove criticising landlords, revealing he WAS a landlord and then getting an absolute pasting from everyone else until he offered to meet them at the Cider Bus for a fRiEnDlY dEbAtE.

Also Scalping and Fat Dog were excellent.

Reminded me of the old Green Man ‘all night disco ruined my weekend’ thread on their forum

[benali]

1 hour ago, puppy blip said:

Highlight of the weekend was the guy on the WhatsApp chat getting upset about Grove criticising landlords, revealing he WAS a landlord and then getting an absolute pasting from everyone else until he offered to meet them at the Cider Bus for a fRiEnDlY dEbAtE.

Also Scalping and Fat Dog were excellent.

That was superb.

I told my son about it and later that day he was in the queue for food telling his mate. His mates dad then pipes up and says "I'm in that group" to which the guy behind in the queue said "so am I" and they all had a massive laugh about it.

[benali]

3 minutes ago, Mardy said:

Yes! Shall we get a quote and crowdfund them?

 

https://www.andyloos.co.uk

They are doing construction sites now. I think I read that on here?

I found the toilets a bit crap on Friday but after that I thought they were fine. For whatever reason the contractors clearly weren't prepared for the number of people on site Thursday which meant they had to play catch up all through Friday.

[ljsawyer]

Another amazing weekend all around - coming to EOTR each year almost feels like returning home as it's such a magical place and I have so many incredible memories of it.

Musical highlights:

The Magnetic Fields - Nothing mind-blowing in the performance, but how could it be anything other than a 10/10 with a setlist like that? It was an unexpected delight to hear 'The Luckiest Guy on the Lower-East Side', which I don't think they'd performed in over a decade before this tour. A lot of people were complaining about chatting during this set, but luckily it was almost silent where I was.

Battles - Some say they're not as engaging live as they used to be when they were a four-piece, but I thought it was incredible. John Stanier is the best drummer I've ever seen live and the atmosphere in the Big Top for 'Atlas' felt totally euphoric.

Durand Jones & The Indications - Third time seeing them and possibly the best - Durand was in top form and the whole band sounded glorious in the early evening sunshine. Witchoo is an absolute banger.

Hailu Mergia - Been wanting to see him for years and finally got my wish. It was a shame the crowd was so small but I thought the set was absolutely mesmerizing. Once the bassist and drummer got locked in to a groove it genuinely felt like one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

The Chisel - An old-school Oi! punk band that put in a ferocious performance in the Tipi. They seemed surprised yet delighted by the decent turnout they got as on the surface they're not a typical EOTR band, though I always feel that the festival would benefit from a few more acts like this.

Alabaster dePlume - Felt more like a spiritual journey than a traditional gig - his enthusiasm was very uplifting, I loved the improvisational aspects of the performance, and his sax playing is just gorgeous. Reminds me of Mulatu Astatke and Hailu Mergia in places. I also really enjoyed his secret set at around 2am on the Tipi stage, despite (or due to?) being heavily intoxicated by this stage.

Priya Ragu - A really fun set of poppy R&B with Sri Lankan influences. She has such a lovely voice and this was probably the most I danced all weekend.

BCUC - Very similar to the last time they played EOTR but still just as infectious and energetic. They had the crowd in the palms of their hands throughout.

Ural Thomas & The Pain - Brilliant energy by this octogenarian and his superb band. His voice has held up really well over time (his four decade hiatus from music probably helped him there). They put in a good set on the Woods Stage in the early afternoon, but it was later during their secret set in the Tipi where they really shone.

Apollo Ghosts - A really entertaining way to kick off the weekend - their jangly sound is right up my street and the frontman seems like a lovely guy too - is it possible for someone to be more Canadian than that?!

I also enjoyed pretty much every other act I saw over the weekend, with a couple of exceptions (see below). Can't say I agree at all with the comment above about the lack of eclecticism - if anything this line-up is the most eclectic EOTR has ever had, and I think my list of highlights shows that.

Non-musical highlights:

The food options were great this year and I branched out a lot more than I usually do (I think in 2019 I had at least 4 meals at The Curry Shed). The crispy duck katsu noodles were absolutely delicious, as was the chilli cheese dosa from the South Indian street food stall.

Watching Come and See at 1am in the Cinema tent on Friday night. One of the most stunning (albeit harrowing) pieces of cinema I have ever seen, especially that unforgettable closing sequence... wow. Also enjoyed The Hitcher in there on the Thursday night.

Lowlights:

I'm not sure why, but Keg left me a little cold. Maybe I was just expecting a bit more given how much I like their EPs.

I only caught the last 40 minutes or so of their set, but from what I witnessed, Pixies seemed to be phoning it in a bit. I was a bit perplexed that 'Wave of Mutilation' was so devoid of energy, but apparently they played a more upbeat version earlier on in the set.

Like many others, I wasn't a big fan of the Boat. It was nicely decorated and could be a great space in theory, but the stage needs to be much higher. I was stood about 4 rows from the front for Jockstrap but I could barely see Georgia and Taylor at all. It was also much too small considering the popularity of a number of the acts who played there - Snapped Ankles for example should have been in the Big Top.

The crowd at EOTR is generally very respectful, but it seemed like there were more people chatting during sets than usual. I actually had to tell a group of girls to shut up near the front of the Woods Stage during Tinariwen because they were chatting obnoxiously loudly during the quiet bits… and don’t get me started on all the yelling/chanting during Jockstrap. It’s just disrespectful to the artists and the people around you IMO, and definitely not ‘normal festival/gig behaviour’ as someone in the WhatsApp chat suggested.

I wasn't all that bothered by the state of the toilets having used far worse ones in the past, but I can definitely understand why others (especially women) would be.

Edited September 5, 2022 by ljsawyer