A large part of the Irish summer experience is making your way to one of the big music festivals, living it up with a huge group of friends, foregoing showers in favour of baby wipes, getting lost and drinking warm beer from plastic cups.
What about the recent events of this year’s Slane? It seems the organisers really messed up, with a flurry of media coverage and attendees on Twitter calling it “poorly run”, “a disgrace” and “horrific”.
Irish web designer, part-time journalist and blogger Gav Reilly gives a good overview of what he thinks went wrong. Calling it a “shambles”, he documents the complete mismanagement of transport, with people stuck on buses for hours and walking for even longer.
Yes, there are always a few sacrifices to be made when you’re attending a huge open-air event, but swollen feet and a six-hour journey from the end of the concert to Dublin city centre is a big ask.
There is a knack to surviving the summer festival, however, and this helpful blog post will make sure you are as prepared as any boy scout worth his weight in badges.
Don’t pitch your tent too close to the path in case people trample on it or mistake it for a seat/bed/toilet. Good advice I wish I had read before my camping experience at Electric Picnic last year.
Thankfully, my tent was not used as a toilet, but I was semi-trampled on almost all night long as some decent folk decided it was a short cut to their own camping area!
If you are one of those who has vowed never to set foot at a music festival ever again, or maybe the crowds and camping are not your scene, then you can be sure to keep up to date with album releases, small gigs and other music news on the famous Nialler9’s (founder of State magazine) music blog.
Whether you’re into rock, jazz, folk or electronica, this blog, like all good music blogs, is nicely eclectic.
And now for something completely different. Rock ‘n’ roll isn’t always for the young, but bluegrass is usually for the more mature audience, and surprisingly there is a lively bluegrass scene here in Ireland.
The only bluegrass I’ve ever listened to is the haunting sounds of The Be Good Tanyas, proving that it’s not all banjos and blue jeans. This blog is a good guide to all bluegrass gigs going on around the country, so shake off your prejudices, slip on your cowboy boots (I’m kidding) and try one out.
By Marie Boran
