:Panic :Over – Official Final Headline Act of Electric Picnic 2025
:Panic :Over
When legs were sore and faces were burnt (from the full 20 minutes of unbroken sunshine) at Electric Picnic last weekend, there was still one group of people that were not done partying yet. The staff.
Every year, somewhere in Stradbally, there’s a secret afterparty held for all the incredible people who work so hard to make Electric Picnic a safe and enjoyable event for all of us, and forego the chance to enjoy it themselves.
:Panic :Over, who had been playing in Kavanagh’s in Portlaoise just the weekend before closing out their ‘Irish You Were Here’ tour, were spotted by Aaron Cleary, owner of one of EP’s Production Teams (Nord Events). He invited them to come back down the following weekend to play the staff afterparty.
When asked about the surprise booking, the :Panic :Over boys said, “We really should’ve carried a watermelon into this epic, post-Picnic Party. It felt like we’d gatecrashed some sort of secret club”. And they had. The lanyards and wristbands were off, and the party was ON. Stalwarts from Festival Republic, Nord Events and Clan Events, finally took their turn to let their hair/dreads/skinheads down. Some were still resplendent in their hi-vis, not ready to say goodbye to the weekend just yet.
Aaron said, “The crew really put their heart and soul into making the festival happen, and it's really special to see everyone coming together to unwind and share in the well-earned craic! Bringing in :Panic :Over to play with the Trad Folkin’ Rocks crew made it feel like a big family celebration. The perfect way to close out another Electric Picnic”.
Celebration is an understatement - they had the place absolutely bouncing. It really was like that scene in Dirty Dancing – but mainly because most of them hadn’t had a proper wash since the previous Thursday. Despite never having played a gig in Stradbally before, there were a few in the crowd that knew all the words to :Panic :Over’s original songs, not just the banging version of ‘Psycho Killer’ that they recently recorded for Warner Music Group’s ‘Cover Nation’ campaign (coming soon). They closed the set with their hit ‘Paper Planes’ and the promise to return next year – only this time - at the festival itself.
