Oxegen 2008

Republic of Ireland | 16 July 2008

For the first time, the Irish festival is running on the Friday as well as the weekend, bringing it up to speed with Scottish counterpart, T in the Park, and providing a whole extra afternoon of music and frolicking for its entertainment-hungry punters.

Friday’s activity doesn’t kick off until late afternoon – not that this seems to bother anyone. Festival spirit is in full flow, occasionally dampened by the sporadic showers that have the majority of the crowd heading for the tents. New Zealand based Liam Finn (2FM New Bands Stage) thrills the soggy crowd with his fascinating live show, which sees him switch from guitar to drums at various points of the set, amid his blend of beautiful and upbeat songs. The much talked about and hotly-tipped Noah & the Whale play on the same stage a short while later to rapturous applause from the ever-increasing audience. Rattling through a set that includes ‘2 Bodies, 1 Heart’ and ‘Shape Of My Heart’, the London troupe seem a little taken aback at the response, but none more so than when latest single ‘5 Years Time’ is received with deafening cheers and the whole tent singing along.

Elsewhere, a handful of fans brave the weather to watch Ben Folds (O2 Stage) perform from his catalogue of piano-pop gold before Editors (Main Stage) chase the clouds away with their brand of soaring indie, including polished renditions of ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ and ‘Sparks’. Back on the 2FM New Bands Stage, Friendly Fires bring the indie disco to Punchestown Racecourse, cavorting across the stage enthusiastically to crowd-pleasers ‘On Board’ and ‘Paris’, making the St Albans’ boys a hard act to follow. Lucky, then, that the Rascals are on next with their darker, 60s garage inspired sound, satisfying their fans with sublime versions of ‘Fear Invicted in the Perfect Stranger’, ‘Bond Girl’ and ‘Freakbeat Phantom’. Midway through the set, singer/guitarist Miles Kane launches into a mini tirade against the other acts playing at the same time, telling the crowd to “fuck Kings of Leon, fuck Groove Armada”, before continuing to thrill the fans with more songs from the just released album ‘Rascalize’. Eventually, the time comes for the Wirral lads to leave the stage and their fans follow suit, heading off to continue the party elsewhere and no doubt long into the night.

The mood is more subdued the following afternoon, as festival goers stumble from tents perhaps slightly regretting some of the previous night’s activities. Those revellers who walked into the Green Room feeling a bit worse for wear may well have wished they hadn’t as local rock band Concerto for Constantine probably aren’t the best cure for a hangover. Southampton’s Delays, however, may well be with their uplifting dream-pop that makes you feel like you’re floating on clouds, bathed in sunlight. ‘Long Time Coming’ and ‘Panic Attacks’ especially prove this and get everyone moving and in the mood for a good second day at Oxegen. Later, the notorious and unpredictable Brian Jonestown Massacre grace the same stage for an uncharacteristically quiet set. Front man Anton Newcombe quips “I summoned the spirit of Jimi Hendrix on that one” after one song, in a rare address to the crowd. The set passes by without much distraction from the music and, if this was your first time watching BJM, would make you wonder why they have such a reputation for being so erratic.

Canadian electro experimentalists Holy Fuck are greeted in the 2FM New Bands tent by the chanting of their name, before they launch into one of the sets of the weekend, performing tracks from their self-titled debut album. Over in the Green Room, another band from across the Atlantic are also about to play a set of songs from their eponymous first record, albeit to a much larger crowd and a hell of a lot more hype. Not that that seems to faze Vampire Weekend, of course. If it wasn’t already bright and sunny outside of the confines of the tent, you have a feeling it would be after the New York quartet had completed their Irish debut. Predictably, ‘A-Punk’ and ‘Oxford Comma’ get the loudest cheers of the set but the rest of the album goes down a storm as well, only serving to prove just how much the chatter following this group is deserved.

Across on the O2 Stage, the now punctuation-free Panic At The Disco are playing a selection of songs from their two records to a crowd mostly made up of screaming girls. The high-pitched wails reach their peak when guitarist Ryan Ross announces his band mate Brendon Urie is single and that he hopes he “finds true love by the end of the song”, before the Las Vegas group launch into the ridiculously titled ‘Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off’. In contrast, Pendulum (Green Room) attract less screaming girls and more drunk, sweaty men. The audience go mental as the Australian drum’n’bassers kick things off with breakthrough track ‘Propane Nightmares’, with the raving carrying on right through to the very last beat of ‘Hold Your Colour’. The tent empties and the testosterone to oestrogen ratio is back on a more equal footing as Mancunian legends The Charlatans prepare to delight the crowd with songs old and new.  Singer Tim Burgess prowls across the stage, putting in an impassioned and zealous performance in a set whose highlights include ‘You Cross My Path’, ‘Weirdo’ and closing track ‘How High’. Welsh stalwarts Manic Street Preachers finish proceedings for the second day of the festival, watched by their fanatical audience, some of whom have been staking out places at the front of the stage all day.

The third and final day sees constant sunshine and, as a result, an equally as cheerful atmosphere. Sing-a-longs are the order of the day it seems, as The Subways, The Courteeners, We Are Scientists and The Pigeon Detectives all perform on the O2 Stage to enthusiastic and vocal fans. The talking point of the weekend, however, comes with MGMT’s set in the Pet Sounds tent. It feels like the whole of the festival is trying to squeeze underneath the bright blue canopy as the wait for indie’s hottest property to appear begins. The first half of the set flies by, with ‘Weekend Wars’ and ‘Pieces of What’ whipping the crowd into a frenzy. By this point, the tent is so packed it’s hard to see anything but the back of the person in front, prompting some fans to climb the scaffolding that holds up the tent. Stewards and festival organisers start to panic and cut the power to the stage until everyone gets down. Slowly but surely, the climbers dismount their perches and return to the ground. Apart from one determined girl, who climbs right to the top of the pole, before gradually heading back down, met by a shower of bottles thrown by the increasingly frustrated crowd below. When MGMT finally are allowed back on stage, there’s only time for three more songs. Restarting with ‘Electric Feel’ is more than a little appropriate as the atmosphere couldn’t be more electric if the endless sea of people had volts coursing through their veins instead of blood. ‘Time to Pretend’ only heightens the excitement before Andrew Van WynGarden and Ben Goldwasser ask their colleagues to leave the stage for the set finale of ‘Kids’. Soon, its all over but the crowd refuse to stop singing, the melody of the last song echoing round the tent for a long time after the band have left.

There’s not really much that can better that, although the rest of the bands will try. The Fratellis and Kaiser Chiefs provoke mass sing-a-longs on the main stage before Rage against the Machine battle through sound problems to perform to a surprisingly underwhelming crowd. The Chemical Brothers drop all the hits and more over on the O2 stage, and appear to be why there're not that many people watching the Main Stage. Los Campesinos! draw a modest crowd in the 2FM New Bands tent, but probably also attract the most animated audience as they play songs from their flawless debut record ‘Hold On Now, Youngster’. Before set closer ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’, front man Gareth turns the monitors at the front of the stage on their ends and tells the crowd “this is a song called Killing in the Name of.” By the end of the track, the majority of the band are stood on top of the monitors, shouting their lungs out, whilst the remaining members stand sandwiched in between. It’s a beautiful way to end the festival, with band and fans united in roaring the words to songs they love and care about. And it finishes just in time for the crowd to exit the tent and catch the real ‘Killing in the Name of’ being performed back over on the Main Stage.

by Rhian Daley