Ah Sunday. Bloody Sunday. The Sabbath, if you will.

I was wondering actually… there were places at Electric Picnic to bounce about like a mad yoke, to rock your socks off, laugh your ass off, chill the heck out, eat, drink, and indeed be merry – places to indulge your inner child and places to sooth your soul… but I was wondering, was there any place for the religious among us (not that I was one) to indulge their need for a weekly service?

I know there was the inflatable church (on the way in from Hendrix, past the cinema) but all they were doing there, as far as I know, was mock wedding ceremonies (and the reception discos that followed) – and not the normal Sunday service. In fact, I think the closest you could get to a proper religious service (although I could be wrong!) was heading up to the main stage (met my friend Arun from my class in college on the way there, he was working in the bar – and my other college classmate Adam at the main stage itself – he was doing security) to praise the lorrrrrd (halle-bleedin’-lujah!) along with the Dublin Gospel Choir… which was fine by me.

On the only day of the weekend when the heavens decided to open and the rain came down, these guys and girls (including a friend of mine, Meabh) really lifted the damp spirits of the small crowd that showed up and got them moving to the beat. It was a great way to kick off the day.

After DGC, I rushed off to the Electric Arena for one of the acts that were on my “must see” list:-

SUGARHILL GANG

“This guy here,” said Master G, introducing Wonder Mike, “was the first guy to say ‘hip hop’ on a record. Ever. In the world. Show him some love!”. So we did.

The absolutely packed-to-the-gills tent played along happily every time we were told to put our hands in the air (and wave them side-to-side like we just don’t care), make a peace sign, scream, say “Hoo-ooooo!”, freeze, etc. etc. – we were watching a group of musical legends at work, they could have told us to hop on one foot and bark like dogs if they wanted and we’d have done it with no complaints!

After being musical innovators way ‘back in the day’ – and all of them being as old as your parents – these guys have still got it and can still rub some funk on it big-time, getting the audience jumping and singing along through floor stompers like “Apache”, throwing in some nice little extras like “White Lines” and “The Message” and a little tribute to their friend and idol, Michael Jackson where Master G jumped behind the drumkit proclaiming that they don’t just rely on decks and mic’s like some other rap bands. This much was evident in Wonder Mike’s masterful guitar playing also.

But of course their main forté comes with performing with just decks and mics and everyone in the house (sorry, tent) was waiting for the grand finalé, which we knew would come in the form of their era-defining hit, “Rapper’s Delight”. When that beat from Chic’s “Good Times” started, the place simply went nuts and many a pair of eyes squeezed out tears of joy. Unfortunately I got no photos of this gig as my phone was at the battery charging stall at the time.

In one line: The Sugarhill Gang, inventors of hip-hop rocked the tent and really put the ‘fun’ in ‘funky’.

STEPHEN FROST‘S IMPROV ALL-STARS

Remember that funny English chap with the receding hairline and mental bushy eyebrows who was always on Who’s Line is it Anyway (pictured left)?

Well he took over the comedy tent with his “improv all-stars” a couple of times to do a show very similar to the “Who’s Line…” style, taking suggestions from the gathered crowd on scenarios, movie genres, job descriptions, and just generally making fools of themselves performing improv comedy around those scenarios (as well as occasionally picking on audience members who may or may not have deserved it).

The line-up also included a really short chap from Dublin (whose height and home town became the butt of a few well placed jokes) and Richard Vranch, who you may remember as the pianist (who always ended up playing hoe-down music) in the original ground-breaking TV series.

In one line: Sidesplitting stuff and a welcome distraction from a master of improv and his troupe of comedy players.

LAURA IZIBOR

As I’d played tracks of hers a couple of years ago on my then radio show, I had some experience of Laura Izibor and knew, before heading to the Southern Comfort Crawdaddy tent that this was a must-see show and that she herself was one to keep a close eye on and one with a bright future ahead of her. She’s a soulful singer from Dublin with some wonderful songs, a powerful voice, and – let’s face it – a killer body and simply stunning looks.

Since I first heard and played her, she’s released an excellent album – the first album I bought on iTunes, in fact – and one which I highly recommend and has had some great commercial success (you’ll have heard her song “Shine” – how could you not? – in various TV and radio ads, most notable those for Hibernian Aviva Insurance) both here and over in America.

When she strutted onto the stage to rapturous applause, oozing enough sex appeal that every guy in the tent suddenly stopped and stood to attention, her wily smile and the glint in her eye told you this was going to be something special and I was glad it was there that I was and not at The Wailers or next door at Simian Mobile Disco (although from what I heard later, SMD were quite superb!).

After a brief “hi” to the crowd (and a “jaysus, it’s bleedin’ freezin’!” confirming her Dublin roots), we were treated to a run down of the tracks on her début album – including “From My Heart To Yours”, “Don’t Stay”, “(Yes) I’ll Be Your Baby” – as well as a couple from her upcoming release. She sashayed sexily around the stage as if without a care, happy to pose for photos for both the assembled press and the crowd alike and sounding for all intents and purposes like the next Aretha Franklin or Tina Turner while singing, but revealing her pretty strong Dublin accent when stopping for a natter with the all-too eager crowd.

Finally, after belting powerfully through a great set and introducing her highly skilled band members, she finished on a high with an up-beat, sped-up version of the song we all knew, “Shine” and said her goodbyes, confidently marching off-stage to let the band finish up without her.

In one line: A brilliant performance and a triumphant picnic début for the sassy and sexy Dublin soulstress.

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE

Here’s an act that really, without any doubt, should have been on the main stage. Seriously, they could have swapped The Wailers with Florence and still packed each venue. The Electric Arena was so full that, even though I got there 20 minutes before the show started, there was only really space at the back near the entrance to the tent – and when I left, the crowd outside was almost 100m deep back from the edge of the tent.

22-year-old Florence Welch’s voice is simply awesome in its power. To describe her sound as simply soul inspired indie-pop is, while technically accurate, doing her a slight dis-service as it’s so much more than that. It’s ephemeral, thought-provoking, mesmerising and it reaches high peaks of drama, intrigue and wonder… if that makes sense.

I left slightly early (but not ’til I’d heard her triumphant rendition of “Cosmic Love”) in order to beat the crowd – and because I really couldn’t see properly from where I was – but from what I did see, the crowd were entranced, held by her every move and every note from her mouth. “Lungs” really is an appropriate name for her album as she’s got an incredible pair of them.

(video not recorded by me)

In one line: Wish I got closer to the stage as this was one of the most powerful and mesmerising performances of Electric Picnic.

ALABAMA 3

Now I didn’t know that these guys were, in fact British,- hailing, as they do, from Brixton (as do Basement Jaxx, who appeared on the same stage later) and not as their name suggests, from Alabama.

Nor did I realise that there wasn’t just three of them but, in fact, quite a few more. Nor did I know that they had quite a large repertoire of songs other than their most famous track, “Woke Up This Morning” (as featured in the opening sequence of “The Sopranos”) or that their rock, dance, blues, gospel and country mixture would get the crowd bopping around quite as well as it did.

One day, some time ago, someone in the band (presumably the mad-in-the-head high-pitch voiced preaching one in the suit and shades – Jake Black?) decided that if you look in the dictionary, under “cool”, there should be a picture of them, and since then they seem to be endeavouring as much as possible to make that definition as accurate as possible. Of course, who needs a dictionary with pictures anyway?

Disappointingly, despite bopping along happily to everything that they flawlessly delivered before they launched into their defining hit, about half the crowd present drifted off after the performance of “Woke Up This Morning” without giving the guys a proper chance.

In one line: An undeniably and painfully ‘cool’ band that the audience saw as a ‘one-hit-wonder’.

JOE ROONEY

Off back down to the comedy tent with me (sod it, I felt like a laugh – and I’d forgotten about Okkervil River who were on at the same time… damn) for the geniunely funny Joe Rooney – who was introduced exactly as I expected… “you may remember him from such shows as Killinaskully and Father Ted…” … yes.

His set included jokes about parent and children, wellies and the toilets at the festival and a few little guitar driven comedy songs… most of which I can’t remember at this stage, a lot of which seemed very similar to Dermot Whelan’s act the day before, but all of which I found quite entertaining… plus it gave me a chance to sit down for a while, which was nice.

In one line: A genuinely funny fellah, although he did rely on jokes about the festival itself a bit much.

BELL X1

Headline acts time, so I rushed back to the main arena and was surprised to find that, although there were still 25 minutes to go before Bell X1 took to the stage, not much of a crowd had formed there yet. In fairness, most of the people I passed were pretty knackered, which was hardly surprising given the events of the weekend and how close we were to the end of it. Anyway, I took my spot at the far left of front – right at the barrier – and held onto it as the crowd quickly grew and swelled in anticipation of a great gig.

Once the lads took to the stage, they wasted no time in delivering a sparkling set – replete with a mixture of old and new tracks, some rocky, some experimental enough for Paul Noonan to remark that they’d “gone a bit prog there…” – favourites such as current single “Ribs of a Broken Umbrella” along with “Flame”, “The Great Defector” and a gorgeous rendition of “Eve, The Apple of My Eye” really got the crowd going, while other – more “out there” tracks which put me in mind of Radiohead’s experimental era – still managed to hold their attention.

The defining moment of this gig however was definintely the grand finalé of “Rocky Took A Lover” – complete with lyrics to Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” thrown in, in the middle, and the audience participation in the chorus. It felt great to be there as an audience member and as for Bell X1 themselves, performing their first outdoor nighttime gig, you could see that they were loving every minute of it.

In one line: At times wild and fun, at times experimental and interesting and at times hauntingly beautiful, Bell X1 were quite an experience and a properly entertaining headline act.

BASEMENT JAXX

What better way for one of the best known and loved live dance acts to finish and polish off their european festival tour than to headline Ireland’s Electric Picnic? They thought so too, and they revelled in blowing the crowd away with a high-energy, high-octane set featuring all their greatest hits, kicking off with “Good Luck” and going on through “Red Alert”, “Rendez-vous”, “Oh my gosh!”, “Do Your Thing” and a whole catalog more besides with a variety of characters including the irrepressible Vula Malinga and Lisa Kekaula on stage providing both music and lyrics that got the whole field jumping.

It was refreshing to see a dance act who relied very little on DJ decks and the majority of whose output was created by live instruments. Aside from that, they put on an incredible stage show with many costume changes, props, stunning lighting sequences and some fairly awesome moves from their dancers.

The highlight was definitely the calmly introduced stomper “Where’s Your Head At?” – a track that all too well describes the feeling of wandering around, half drunk and covered in mud, after losing your mates at a festival such as this.

When the opening words of that track boomed out through the speakers, all sanity disappeared and the place went quite literally mental as the crowd heaved and bounced around for the last time at the main arena.

In one line: Basement Jaxx were incredible – great looking, perfect sounding, a little bonkers and a hell of a lot of fun!

THE FLAMING LIPS

Because I stayed to the very end of Basement Jaxx, I missed most of the Flaming Lips’ show, which I later heard was a pretty stunning event in it’s own right. I got there just in time to catch the performance of their last song “Do You Realise”, which was – in a word – epic – and which finished with them firing off huge confetti cannons into the audience and saying goodbye in the most dramatic and emotionally draining fashion possible… followed by this:

(I wish I recorded more!!!)

In one line: A fitting end to a wonderful festival – and a show which I wished I’d been able to see more of.

Anyway, that was it for me – my longest festival day over, I trudged down to the Body + Soul arena for a while for a bite to eat and to chill out a bit… taking in all the sights and soudns there, I was feeling a bit spaced out after all the gigs, and it felt like the thing to do at the time… but I didn’t last very long there as tiredness overcame me, so I wandered back to my badly damaged tent and got a few hours kip before getting up at about 7.30am, packing up everything (except for the tent which I threw in the bin… feck it, it had served it’s time) and made my way back to the car and off home to Dublin.

I stopped off in Burger King, Tallaght… and man! The XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger never tasted SO good!