Well, it's that time of the year again. The Electric Picnic line up is being released tomorrow afternoon and I for one can confidently say I will be in Stradbally this summer having missed last years event which followed an immense weekend in 2012. Judging by the sound of things its set to be a great line up this year, so last minute I've decided to get in on the banter and post my own predictions on the line up, much of which I've based on Entertainment's article as well as a variety of other sources, and even some thoughts in my own head.
Headline Acts
Well it looks like there's a 90% chance we'll be seeing Andre 3000 and Big Boi in Laois at the end of August, so expect Outkast to be the first name on the list tomorrow. They've announced a festival tour for the summer so simply put there's no real reason why the hip-hop legends won't have been snapped up by EP organisers if they've any sense at all.
With Arctic Monkeys and Arcade Fire having already announced individual shows, there's two obvious candidates out of the way, so who else will take to the Main Stage? My money is on a few contenders who are currently touring following the release of albums this year; Beck following Morning Phase, Pharrell Williams who dropped Girl and Foo Fighters, who are set to release their 8th album sometime this year. All of the above would be sufficient names, while underneath them, two acts I'd dub as sub-headliners would be Elbow (just for the sake of another beautiful ''One Day Like This'' finale), who have their own show at Royal Hospital Kilmainham in June but really seem to love the Irish crowd, and The Prodigy, who have booked a gig in Cork for the summer while mysteriously leaving Dublin out of the equation, suggesting to me that they're waiting for a festival.
Another wildcard could be Lily Allen who is releasing the wonderfully titled Sheezus sometime soonish and playing Glastonbury, although I'm not sure how the crowd would react to her. Similarly Coldplay have been another name thrown around that I don't reckon quite suit the festival, although they wouldn't be half as bad as The Killers in 2012.
What would obviously be a dream for myself, as I'm sure anyone reads the blog regularly will know, would be for Kanye West to bring the Yeezus Tour to Stradbally, but until I see it on paper I won't start thinking about possibility of seeing the main man live.
The Rest
With Longitude scoring massively in the middlewight department and booking Bombay Bicycle Club, Haim and Chvrches, EP will have to pull out a few surprises to fill their line up with genuine class. Midcard talent could likely come in the form of any of the following acts on tour in support of new material: SBTRKT, London Grammar, Katy B, Azaelia Banks, Temples, Morgan Delt, Mogwai, Young Fathers, MØ, Skrillex, Sun Kil Moon, Maximo Park and Julian Casablancas.
In the veteran category, Blondie are releasing their tenth studio album, Ghosts Of Download this year which could mean a spot for them, while The Proclaimers are a potential throwback too. The Wailers have also been mentioned which would be a seriously feel good show and hangover cure for the Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
Again, it's no secret who I'd like to see personally on this sort of level judging from the site, and I have a sneaky feeling that Tyler, The Creator or perhaps the Odd Future crew in general could be in with a shout here, as the controversial rapper recently announced a tour in which he hits Europe but has omitted Ireland from the list. OF crooner Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar would be two more wonderful additions to the festival, and they are both set to release new material in 2014 so who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.
On the Irish front, electro producer Shit Robot should make the cut, perhaps Damien Dempsey will pop his head in and it'd be no surprise to see the likes of Kodaline, The Strypes, The Original Rudeboys and other small Irish favourites also thrown into the mix.
In any case, if this list is halfway correct I'll be a very happy man come this time tomorrow, so let's wait and see if I had any idea of what I was talking about. Hopefully so. Here are my final predictions:
Outkast, Foo Fighters, Pharrell Williams, Beck, The Prodigy, Lily Allen.
Azaelia Banks, Tyler The Creator/Odd Future, SBTRKT, Julian Casablancas, London Grammar, Blondie, The Proclaimers, Shit Robot, Damien Dempsey, Kodaline.
I'll be bringing you the official line up when it's posted tomorrow afternoon so stick with HMM for more.
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