Melvin Benn: "Artists of Kylie's calibre don’t just play because you make them an offer"

Having made sustainability a cornerstone of the festival since its inception in 2004, Electric Picnic is set to make green history on Friday, August 16 when this year’s Stradbally three-dayer bursts into life.

“Would you believe, I’m the proud owner of a substation for the new electricity powerline that’s being built at Stradbally as we speak,” enthuses Picnic head honcho Melvin Benn. “I’m running the Main Stage this year off renewable energy from the mains rather than a generator. It will be entirely green power through the ESB. We’re the first festival in Ireland and the UK to do that.

“I’m just after meeting with my Head of Sustainablity who’s been going through the reporting I’ve asked her to do with the independent sustainability audit company we use, Ernst and Young,” Melvin continues, “and I’m pleased to say that it’s been ticks all round, which is really important to us as an organisation.”

The Festival Republic MD is having a rare day in the office, following another hectic week of gigs on both sides of the Irish Sea.

“I was over last week for SZA’s Malahide Castle show, which was amazing and we had Hozier end our weekend of Finsbury Park gigs last night with a spectacular 45,000 sell-out,” he resumes. “We also had a wonderful day on Friday with The Wolfe Tones. It was such a celebratory gig for them and the audience. The last time I saw them in London they were playing a 200-capacity pub in Stockwell, so they’re really ending their sixty year-plus career on a high.”

Wolfe Tones at Electric Picnic 2023. Copyright Liam Murphy.

Messrs. Nagle, Byrne and Warfield were such a massive Electric Arena hit last year that Melvin is bringing them back for a Picnic Main Stage lap of honour.

“It was pandemonium in the Electric Arena – but in a good way!” he smiles. “We got a few letters from people who thought they shouldn’t have been invited, but time moves on and I thought it was an appropriate booking for us – and thousands and thousands of Picnic-goers agreed!” he reflects. “Along with the size of the crowd, the other shock was how many young people knew every word of every song. It wasn’t just old codgers, it was every age-group.”

Also on the Finsbury Park bill with The Wolfe Tones and making their EP return are The Scratch. “They’re among my favourite ever live bands,” Melvin reveals. “I saw them first in a tiny little venue and was like, ‘Oh my god, this is mind-blowingly good!’ We booked them for the Salty Dog in 2019 and it was the same – traditional music with pace and energy, which never fails to get the crowd going. I don’t understand why more people aren’t obsessed with The Scratch because they’re that good.”

The Scratch supporting The Wolfe Tones at Virgin Media Park. Copyright Trevor McGrath.

TWITTER BUDDIES

The Picnic is a few weeks earlier this year –“I’m hoping that the sun will be shining in August!” Benn says – in order to accommodate Kylie Minogue who’s been on his Picnic wish-list for a long time.

“We’ve been working hard with Kylie on and off for a number of years to make it happen,” he nods. “Artists of her calibre don’t just play because you make them an offer – it has to fit in with their album and touring plans because they don’t do one-off shows. The days of a headlining act arriving with a lead guitar, bass, drumkit and a couple of amps are long gone. These are all-singing, all-dancing affairs which require the very highest production values. I think we’ve shown in recent years, with everybody from Duran Duran and Billie Eilish to The Killers and Kendrick Lamar, that the Picnic can provide them.”

Has Melvin met Ms. Minogue before?

“It was more years ago than either of us would care to remember but, yes, I met Kylie in the London Hippodrome when she came in on a promotional tour,” he recalls. “It was the briefest of hellos but I got a good vibe from her and, of course, she’s gone on to become one of the greatest pop stars of all time.” I suspect it’s going to be a duke out between The Wolfe Tones’ ‘Celtic Symphony’ and Kylie’s ‘Padam Padam’ for the 2024 Electric Picnic Audience Participation Award.

The Australian legend has become Twitter buddies with CMAT who’s making her Stradbally return after ramming Rankin’s Wood in 2022.

We were very impressed when the Mercury nominated Ciara Mary-Alice recently picked meeting Bombay Bicycle Club in the Hot Press Chat Room as one of her alltime favourite Picnic moments.

“Gosh, that’s a mention of all mentions, I would say!” Melvin notes. “It’s wonderful to see a young Irish woman like CMAT getting that sort of international recognition. She’s become an artist and a person to reckon with. I sadly missed her Fairview Park show in June, but everyone who was there tells me she looked completely at home on the big stage.”

CMAT.

Another artist who’s had a fairytale 2024 is Noah Kahan who’s topping the EP bill on Friday. “Noah was on our radar a year ago, of course, but not necessarily as a potential headliner,” Melvin admits. “He’s just exploded since then with a sell-out 3Arena show in February, which is going to be on a lot of people’s Gigs of the Year list.”

MORE FOLK MUSIC

Asked who else he’s counting the days and hours down to see, Melvin shoots back: “Another of my all-time favourite acts are The Waterboys. They played one of the early London Fleadhs and I still have the t-shirt. They’re just perfect as a band. It’s really good that everyone’s recognising that again and wants to see them.

“Gerry Cinnamon is one of those artists whose personality and performance are intertwined. He doesn’t fit the norm and do what everybody expects him to – Gerry’s very much his own man and we’re delighted to have him back after his previous mid-afternoon set.

“Lankum are another group who are on fire at the moment and high up on a lot of festival bills including ours. Another of the newer acts I’m super-excited about seeing for the first time is Niamh Regan. Generally, there’s going to be a bit more folk and traditional music at this EP to reflect its growing popularity.” As in previous years, Picnic-goers will notice lots of little tweaks to the festival site. “I’m equally excited about buying a load of oil drum bins that I’m going to get the team to paint and put out in the campsites for the waste,” Melvin concludes. “That’s what makes a festival in a way. There will be a couple of surprises on the Salty Dog stage and some changes to the late-night programming in Croí, our arts area which we completely restructured last year. The various spaces worked well – but I think we can make them even better. I’m really pleased with what we have lined up for Croí.”

Check our our full Electric Picnic feature in this month's issue of Hot Press: