LET’S GET QUIZZICAL #1: THE PICNIC EDITION

I wrote the questions for this quiz for last week’s Daily Ticket at the Electric Picnic, but it ended up not being used – so I thought I’d stick it up here. Everyone likes a good quiz, right? I certainly enjoy Donald Clarke’s Weekly Movie Quiz in The Ticket and I used to love the music quizzes hosted by Phantom FM in The Sugar Club (bring them back!), so I had the idea of hosting a regular quiz here on the blog.

I’ll try to make it a weekly feature (don’t hold me to that) and I’ll cobble together a prize – probably a few CDs – for the winner. By next Wednesday, I’ll put every person (if there’s more than one) who emails theworldwontlisten AT hotmail.co.uk with all ten correct answers into a hat and draw a winner. And remember, if you’re going to Google cheat, that’s between you and your god…

[Disclaimer: These questions are a week out of date and designed for people reading a newsletter on site, but all relate to EP. Future editions will be general music questions.] Go!

THE KILLERS: STONE COLD & ON THE LOOSE

Originally published in The Irish Times, September 14th 2012.

TO DESCRIBE Brandon Flowers as “your run-of-the-mill rock star” would not be entirely truthful. Sitting across from The Killers frontman and his wild-haired bandmate Dave Keunig, it’s impossible to suss what Flowers is really thinking. It seems clear that he’s not a fan of interviews; he constantly glances towards the dressing room door (plotting an escape route, perhaps?), answers most questions curtly and seems generally guarded and somewhat reserved. He looks younger than his 31 years, his voice retaining the twang of his Nevada upbringing, his laugh more of a nervous, high-pitched titter. While the leaders of most rock bands naturally ooze charisma, Flowers’ cagey private persona seems at odds with the man who, an hour later, takes to the stage at Electric Picnic to deliver a supremely selfassured headline set.

ELECTRIC PICNIC 2012: THE REVIEWS

Originally published in The Irish Times, September 3rd 2012.

FRIDAY

GRANDADDY
Electric Arena
4/5

Where do you start after a six-year absence? If you’re Grandaddy, you start with the hits. The Californian indie-rock quintet have made Electric Picnic one of the stops on their month-long reunion lap, but rather than forcing new material on an expectant audience, this was a complete exercise in crowd-pleasing.

Opening with El Camino’s in the West, Jason Lytle and Co may not say a whole lot to the crowd, but with tunes like a Now It’s On, AM 180 and The Crystal Lake in your canon, why waste time with niceties?

Aaron Burtch amusingly puffs away on a cigarette hands-free as he drums, and Lytle swigs from a bottle of wine between songs; they’re having fun and it’s like they’ve never been away. How about you stick around a little longer, guys?

ELECTRIC PICNIC STAGE TIMES

FRIDAY

MAIN STAGE
10:30pm – midnight       Roxy Music
8:45pm – 9:45pm          Modest Mouse
7:15pm – 8:15pm          The Waterboys
6:00pm – 6:45pm          Janelle Monáe
4:45pm – 5:30pm          The Jolly Boys
3:45pm – 4:15pm          Donal Dineen. Niwel Tsumbu & Friends