Live Report: Kodaline softens the Electric Picnic Main Stage with emotional set

Kodaline are, by any means, a well-seasoned band, and even more experienced performers – it’s confirmed the second they start playing, the immensity of the stage long replaced by a feeling of being at home, a gentleness wrapping around you as the members perform with a grin stuck on their faces.

Impressively, given the size of Electric Picnic’s Main Stage, each person in the audience seems to know every song, every beat back to back, clapping back without being asked to and accompanying Steve Garrigan’s words like they were always meant to be part of the show.

Kodaline at Electric Picnic 2024. Copyright Liam Murphy.

There is something deeply soft, and romantic about Kodaline’s sound, each new song reminiscent of a sunset and yet deeply at home under the night sky, reverbed instrumentals resonating throughout the whole festival. The band can clearly feel how stirring their sound is – and yet they still look out onto the festival like they quite can’t believe how far they’ve made it.

Kodaline at Electric Picnic 2024. Copyright Liam Murphy.

With the crowd sufficiently warmed-up, slightly dazed from the dreaminess of the set, Kodaline offer their hit single ‘High Hopes’, with surprise guest Cian Ducrot walking in for the second verse and sending the Main Stage into an absolute frenzy that proved the dedication of both of the artist’s following.

Kodaline at Electric Picnic 2024. Copyright Liam Murphy.

Closing the set with ‘All I Want’, Kodaline left their audience in a state of starry-eyed wonder, friends and strangers offering each other whole-hearted embraces that reflected how emotional and nostalgic the whole show was, and proving that the band have lost nothing of their sincerity since their debut.