Musical mash-up as veterans meet the young guns

THE REVIEWS:t was the year the stalwarts came out to play in the mud, joined by the hot young things and a lot more besides, writes JIM CARROLL

IT WAS the year of the veterans, all weekend, on stages big and small around the estate. Look no further than the end-of-the-night clash on Saturday. You could go one way and join the nutty conga up and down the field provoked by the resurgent, revitalised Madness hit machine on the main stage, complete with the Lucent Dossier dancers for House Of Fun – or you could go the other way and have your Saturday night fever provided by peerless disco darlings Chic.

But the veterans didn’t have it all their own way.

Stellar sets from new guns like Marina and the Diamonds (a good bet to do a Florence and the Machine in the coming months) and digi-dancehall dons Major Lazer also found happy audiences, while The XX, Low Anthem and The Walkmen also delivered the goods.

Sunday afternoon saw long queues to see one of Barack Obama’s favourite bands, Chicago’s Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.

Irish acts have traditionally enjoyed a high profile at the Stradbally steeplechase. This year, Lisa Hannigan made it to the main stage after an apprenticeship spent on nearly every other stage on the site. Imelda May showed that greasy rockabilly never quite goes out of fashion, and many raved about the rollicking, funky barbershop stomp of Kormac’s Big Band and the bespoke, intense folky pop craft of Villagers.

Naturally, there were disappointments: The reformed Orbital, strangely, did not connect with the crowd.

There is always a sense that everything else at the Picnic – from hot tubs in Body and Soul to kids at large everywhere – can overshadow the music, but there were still enough acts playing out of their skins to make this another one to remember.