We've been counting down for months but FINALLY, Electric Picnic 2015 is here. Cracking international acts, a stellar comedy line-up, an amazing Literary tent and annual favourites like the Salty Dog and Trenchtown will all be vying for fans' attentions, but one of the big highlights of EP every year is the focus on Irish talents. While homegrown heroes like The Coronas and Gavin James will have no trouble drawing a crowd, you really should make it your business to see some of the lesser known locals on the bill (and those who have been around since your mam and dad's day - more below). Then, when they return to headline in a few years, you can talk about preferring their earlier stuff in true hipster style, and boast about being at that gig in 2015, right before they hit the big time.

See our pick of the international acts at EP here.

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Villagers

Conor O’Brien plays every single instrument on every single track on his third album Darling Arithmetic. If you’re feeling bold, take a sip every time he switches from guitar to keyboard and the rest during his live set. But cut out the messing when he plays Courage. That shit’s for real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UsYbProrac

 The Boomtown Rats

So that when your parents ask how you got on, they’ll have actually heard of one of the acts. We know Bob Geldof can talk. A lot. Let’s find out if he still has the chops for a gig. We’ll find out very quickly if the comeback is just for the money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opd14v2I7Ik

Little Hours

Little Hours are a rising star on the Irish music scene. Their debut album is still in the making and they’ve yet to headline their own tour but they made a lasting impression at the Meteor Choice awards and went down a bomb at the first ever Sunday Sessions live at Whelan’s. There’s something a little heartachey in their acoustic pop sound, but you can hear just a hint of their Donegal accent and the Beyonce cover they did for Sunday Sessions shows they know how to have fun to: Crazy In Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNFr5z642HU

Colm Mac An Iomaire

Colm Mac An Iomaire has spent 25 years making people wilt. Every time you’ve heard a big soaring violin solo in a Frames song, it was him and now he’s taking some time to do his own thing. His second album, release in April has the most Irish sounding title ever – And now the weather. We could tell you to get your Frames fix by checking him out on the Other Voices section but we reckon their a chance of something really special down at Mindfield where he’ll be accompanying 2015 International Griffin Poetry Prize Michael Longley.  There’ll be a similar gig for Lisa Hannigan so don’t just expect Mindfield to be all about economists claiming they were the first to predict the recession.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j7z20kvE2g

SOAK

SOAK played Electric Picnic at the tender age of 16 in 2013 and we were one of the people sitting on the grass taking in her sweet melodies and her ‘wise beyond her years’ lyrics. Although we’re still not sure if  ‘I think she's just a fish’ is a put down or not. Expect standing room only this time around. She’s single handedly making the name Bridie cool again and we’re excited to see what this Derry teenager has in store fresh off the back of the release of her debut album Before We Forgot How To Dream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YwKPmYouLE

Riptide Movement

The Riptide Movement are the only Irish act on the main stage on Saturday and they’re worthy of the slot. We’ve been long time fans.

Some of our favourites nights out in Dublin have featuring these Dubliners playing Drums on their heads and with their heads. They are self made musicians and their swamp rock style still has plenty of raw energy to go with the polished new look that coincided with their deal with Universal. It’s clear this is a band with notions of taking on the world. Come for that anthem you know off the Discover Ireland ad with Amy Huberman ‘It all works out’ but stay for stompers like Keep On Keeping On and Thieves in the gallery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd5sgBxi0yM

Printer Clips

The name Printer Clips might not sound like all that much, but it’s actually the new side project of Bell X1’s front man Paul Noonan. For a band as well established as Bell X1, it was clear from the crowd that they won over a lot of new fans in supporting Ed Sheeran at Croke Park recently (hats off to the GAA for their pro-irish policy for concert line-ups). Noonan’s new gig is premised on the fact that he always liked singing with girls and Bell X1 is ‘too much man’.

‘Just two guitars and two voices and sort of leave it at that.’ Is what he’s going for here. Expect the second voice to be Gemma Hayes with the possibility of maybe the likes of Lisa Hannigan popping up for a song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd41gDeJ87E