by Yvonne Gordon
Posted 27 March 2008
The line-up for this year’s Electric Picnic festival, the boutique music festival in Stradbally Hall, Co Laois, Ireland , has just been announced. The 2008 festival will take place from 29th to 31st August and acts will include Sex Pistols, Sigur Ros, Grinderman, Franz Ferdinand, George Clinton & The P-Funk Allstars, My Bloody Valentine, Goldfrapp, Christy Moore, Wilco, The Gossip, Duffy, Underworld, Tinariwen and CSS.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow, 28th March at €240 each (including booking fee and VAT) for a weekend ticket – an increase of €20 since last year. There are also new family camping tickets (2 adults and 4 children) and campervan tickets available.
Iconic acts
As before, the festival mixes music from around the world, mixing iconic acts with hot new acts, from the incendiary Sex Pistols, who changed the course of rock in their day, to the melodic, classical, experimental Sigur Rós, the Icelandic post-rock band known for its ethereal sound.
Scottish Indie rockers Franz Ferdinand unveil their eagerly anticipated third album with what is just one of a handful of shows they are playing globally this year and another iconic and influential band playing a rare show are My Bloody Valentine whose critically acclaimed 1991 album Loveless was recently voted as the greatest rock and roll album of all time in an Irish Times poll.
Funk legend George Clinton & his astonishing 30 piece P-Funk Allstars will bringing his innovative funk to Stradbally, while Nick Cave's Grinderman appears in Ireland for the first time. Christy Moore makes his maiden voyage to Stradbally and new Motown sensation Duffy will also hit the stage.
For electro pop and upbeat tunes, Goldfrapp, Underworld, The Gossip, CSS and Philadelphia's The Roots will all play.
New Jazz stage
A new stage this year is the accoustic Jazz & World Music, while elsewhere on the site, organizers are promising that there’ll be everything from chamber music and desert blues, to funky organ trios and grooving Balkan brass.
Picnic favourites
Usual Picnic favourites such as the Crawdaddy Stage, Bacardi B Live Arena, Comedy stage, Body & Soul Village , Leviathan Think Tank, Hot Press Chat Room, Salon du Chat and The Word poetry tent will all return to the festival site, joined by new venue the glittering ‘thisispopbaby’ lounge.
For more, keep an eye on www.electricpicnic.ie
Yvonne Gordon is a MelodyTrip writer. View her blogs from Electric Picnic 2007 at: http://www.melodytrip.com/Community/blogs/yvonne_gordon/archive/2007/09/03/first-day-at-the-picnic.aspx