Electric Picnic Live Report: Nell Mescal is invincible on the 3 Music Stage

Nell Mescal has had a very good year.

The Maynooth native opened for a series of internationally renowned acts, starting off with indie melancholy queen Phoebe Bridgers before touring with the likes of P!nk and Florence + The Machine. She currently has only released a series of singles, but she’s collected over 30k monthly listeners on Spotify, a statistic that’s growing by the day. And it isn’t hard to see why– not only does she understand the nuances of the best of modern indie, but she also has a unique voice that sticks with you.

I’d gotten a brief introduction to her live act earlier in the day at the Hot Press chatroom, in which she performed acoustic versions of ‘Homesick’ and ‘Teeth’, a single due to release next week. That performance had been great, Mescal undoubtedly at home singing along to the acoustic guitar, but Nell Mescal with her entire band in tow is Nell Mescal at full power.

“This is my first Electric Picnic,” she told the crowd, who cheered in response. “I hope I’m here next year!”

Liam Murphy.

She wore a stunningly flattering corset with "IRELAND" proudly emblazoned on the front, with a long flowing white skirt to match.

Returning from where she's now based in London, she kept recognizing people in the crowd. At multiple points during her set, she waved excitedly at people she knew, at one point pointing out her parents in the audience and telling people to say hi to them with her. It was undoubtedly a homecoming, and she seemed more than comfortable onstage, to the point where it was as if she was playing at a small hometown venue.

But it’s abundantly clear that she deserves this stage: she has a hypnotic voice, one that keeps taking you by surprise. I kept expecting her to stick to a soft falsetto like many of her contemporaries in the indie scene, which is why I was constantly getting blown out of the water at her strong head voice when she belted out notes.

Liam Murphy.

She played a couple of deep cuts like ‘Cruel’ and ‘Hate You’, songs that she hadn’t played in some time. “We haven’t done this one in a while, I hope it goes well,” she introduced, grinning at her bandmates.

She ended her set with ‘Homesick’, bringing onstage the girls from The Last Dinner Party to dance along behind her as she sang about roaming charges and wanting to go home. But the song was almost out of place– because on the 3 Music Stage today, she was home.

Stay tuned for more live reports, photos and all things Electric Picnic, live from Stradbally.