Hot Press’ Electric Picnic starts with a four o’clock visit to the Chatroom by Martin Fry, the disgustingly well-preserved ABC mainman who’s tickled all sorts of colours that his The Lexicon Of Love II album has just debuted at number 5 in the UK.
Two hours later, resplendent in a dark navy single-breasted number, Fry treats the Main Stage to a pop masterclass with ‘All Of My Heart’, ‘When Smokey Sings’ and ‘The Look Of Love’ (“30 years later people still ask me, ‘Martin…’”) the holiest triumvirate Stradbally is likely to hear all weekend.
New tunes like ‘Viva Love’ and ‘Flames Of Desire’ might adhere a little too strictly to the ‘80s New/Old Romantic formula but, like that suit of his, are impeccably tailored.
Before him on the Main Stage we’d gotten to see how far Ryan Sheridan has come since his Temple Bar busking days. Standard singer-songwriter fare has been replaced by numbers like ‘I’m Alive’ and ‘Superpower’, which have a bit of a Coldplay fronted by Peter Gabriel vibe. Flanked by some seriously heavyweight musicians, Sheridan doesn’t say a lot between songs but still connects powerfully with the early evening crowd, several hundred of whom jam into the HP Chatroom later for his stripped down acoustic set.
It looked a few weeks ago after Longitude that Kendrick had Irish Hip Hop Performance of the Year sewn up, but he’d reckoned without that pesky Nas and his turntablist foil DJ Green Lantern whose fanfared arrival on stage is no less dramatic than Conor McGregor leaping into the octagon.
Looking genuinely blown away by the warmth of the EP welcome, the Brooklynite spits out ‘Hate Me Now’, ‘N.Y. State Of Mind’ and ‘The World Is Yours’ with the same high-speed velocity as the M16s that he’s partial to namechecking in his lyrics. There’s a loving nod to Michael Jackson during ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell’, a smart cover of Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’ and a ‘Woke up this morning, got myself a gun’ sample that must make Alabama 3 extra sick they signed away the publishing rights to the future Sopranos theme for a few thou. Almost but not quite as wonderful as the Wu Tang’s Picnic performance a few years ago, it’s the weekend’s first ‘pinch me’ moment.
I’m quite enamoured of their I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unware Of It album’s retro stylings but live The 1975 are just a little too pristine and boy band choreographed for their own good. I keep writing ‘Chocolate’ in my notes only to realise 30 seconds later that it’s another song, which sounds almost identical to their monster hit.
The mainly female crowd couldn’t be any more adoring, but tonight Matt Healy and his floppy-fringed comrades leave me cold.
As does the prospect of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra banging, parping and sawing away as 2fm’s Jenny Greene spins a set of chart-bothering dance anthems in Rankin’s Wood. Far from being the heinous waste of the licence fee I'd imagined, it turns out to be an absolute hoot with Snap!'s ‘Rythmn Is A Dancer’ transformed into the most joyous of electro symphonic noises. By the end they’re queued 30 deep trying to get into the party. Which is bad news across the way in Electric Arena for Todd Terje whose tech house seems a little dull in comparison. He’d have worked a lot better later on in more intimate surroundings.
Having had their demo thrust into my hands earlier in the day, I decide to check rascally Mullingar rapscallions The Resurrection out in the tiny Word tent where amps are firmly on '11'.
Along with the influences that are obvious from their name, the likes of ‘Look In The Mirror’ and ‘Football’s Greatest’ also contain trace elements of the Stones, Rocket From The Crypt and Nirvana. Lad rock with both balls and brains, they’re definite ones to watch.
Last up on the Main Stage are the Chemical Brothers who as usual dazzle and delight with their sensory overloading array of guest vocalists, musicians and circus performers. Actually, no, they plug in, press ‘play’ and stand there while their glorified mobile disco sends tends of thousands of Picnic-ers into paroxysms of delight. Go figure.
A friend of mine who’s been living under a very remote rock for the past 20 years and has no prior knowledge of Super Furry Animals is perplexed at first as they amble from the dreamy smooch of ‘Juxtapozed With U’ – I still reckon it's a ringer for the Love Boat theme – to the whigged-out techno madness of ‘Bing Bong’, the unlikeliest football tournament song since ‘Vindaloo’.
By the time ‘The Man Don’t Give Me A Fuck’ comes around, she’s idiot dancing with a grin on her face like the rest of Electric Arena.
I only catch the briefest glimpse (boo!) of Rusangano Family at Other Voices, but they’re in typically incendiary form with Denise Chaila guesting on ‘Isn’t Dinner Nice’, a song that’s as empowering as it is old skool groovy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; these guys deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as NWA and Public Enemy. They’re that good and that important.
Due to the, er, high pollen count I’m a little dazed and confused by the time All Tvvins dep for Whilk & Miskey in Body & Soul, but they too go about their business with trademark synth rock gusto. When Conor and Lar return to EP, expect it to be on the Main Stage and with an even bigger mosh pit down front.
STUART CLARK