Creamfields Ireland 2001 took place on this day 18 years ago… [June 2001]

Following its inaugural jaunt across the Irish Sea in June 2000, Creamfields Ireland 2001, which took place on this day (23 June), 18 years ago, stepped things up with an eclectic lineup that boasted artists as diverse as Beck, Paul Oakenfold, Outkast, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and a host of house, techno, trance and drum’n’bass legends.

Some 34,000 made the pilgrimage to Punchestown Racecourse for what was a largely sunny day (a miracle, especially in Ireland!), with the event set across six areas, the Main Stage, Cream, The Boutique, Metalheadz (making its last appearance at an Irish festival), Bugged Out and, as was obligatory at any dance gathering of the time, Lush.

And as this video shows, the craic was 90.

As a somewhat quaint Irish Times report from the festival put it at the time, “Lots of dilated pupils and teeth-grinding suggested plenty of drugs were in use at the event, which attracted 34,000 clubbers. However, the huge bar wasn’t doing too badly either. Most punters bought two, three, sometimes four drinks at a time to avoid the long queues.

“Despite this, there was little of the excessive drunkenness that characterised the Feile concerts of the 1990s. Instead, chilled clubbers strolled around the Punchestown site with their arms around each other.”

All together now… awwww.

A personal memory of mine from the day was the scheduling of Richie Hawtin at 2pm, meaning you had hundreds of techno enthusiasts scarpering for the Bugged Out arena literally JUST after the gates opened.

By around 3pm, with the last bars of Minus Orange fading out, the place was a sweatfest… and we still had 11 or so hours to go.

Good times. 🙂

[Main picture from MrSpring.info]