Oxegen 2010 round-up and review

FOR THREE DAYS it rained, poured and rained some more, turning the Punchestown-based Oxegen site and surrounding camping areas into veritable swampland, despite discussion beforehand that the best June in 40 years would help keep the mud away.
Then, miraculously, on the fourth day - fittingly a Sunday - campers awoke to clear skies and sunshine.
If it sounds like a Biblical scene, then all that was missing Thursday through Saturday was a plague of locusts to complete the effect.
However, as ever at this massive spectacle, the quality of the music on display and the positive disposition of the majority of the crowd, meant Oxegen was once again more about happy festival memories than the already fading scenes of deluge and muck.

In one of the festival’s strongest ever line-ups, there was a virtual array of highlights - Vampire Weekend’s preppy, upbeat tunes warming up a rain-soaked crowd on Friday afternoon; MGMT-lite Aussie band Empire of the Sun donningt mind-bending costumes and employing psychedelic visuals in a heaving Heineken Green Spheres tent; rap mogul Jay-Z performing his mash-up of U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday and the anthemic Empire State of Mind to a heaving crowd, watched by Beyonce and accompanied by an 80-strong entourage; Arcade Fire performing some new material alongside their biggest hits in a very rare balmy and dry hour and a half; Conor O’Brien almost stealing the show with his epic, heartfelt songs in the 2FM/Hot Press Academy tent; Florence warming up yet another sodden crowd with her soaring vocals; Muse belting out their epic rock-opera tunes along with a stunning light and laser show, proving them to be one of the biggest bands in the world right now, and members of the Irish rugby team joining Mumford and Sons on stage for a drum-pounding finish to their upbeat set on Sunday evening.




Despite rumours to the contrary, and after apparently refusing to walk 50 metres at Scotland’s T in the Park on Saturday because of the mud, rapper Eminem did actually make it to Punchestown to wrap up the hip-hop heavy festival, playing some of his biggest hits, including storming versions of The Way I Am and Cleaning Out My Closet in his opening coda.

Securing some or all of these acts was a major coup for promoters MCD, who claimed a crowd of 75,000 - a figure which relied heavily, we would estimate, on the massive crowd of Saturday day-trippers, such was the long lines of queues we saw early that day.

The usual assortment of stars popped into the festival, including the aforementioned Ms Knowles and Messers Jamie Heaslip, Tommy Bowe, Luke Fitzgerald and Cian Healy, as well as Jared Leto, whose band 30 Seconds To Mars played late on Sunday night, while fetching movie star star Rachel McAdams also made an appearance.


On the Beat met a large and varied assortment of fans who made the pilgrimage from Limerick to the Punchestown extravaganza - often seen as something akin to a rite of passage for many in their late teens - while Tim Kelly of Kelly Bus Travel reported a busy trade in those using the round the clock bus services from these parts.
Pleasantly beer prices seemed to have come down this year, making the festival a bit easier on the pocket.
With some of the world’s biggest names appearing on the Punchestown stages, the only thing missing from the line-up was the good weather, but then there’s always next year.
We live and hope it might be better, but the masses will descend regardless, and we will probably be among them.

Oxegen 2009 review

The below piece from today's Limerick Chronicle..

Alan Owens

DESPITE apocalyptic weather predictions ahead of the Oxegen music festival that took place at the weekend, there was really only one serious period of sustained rainfall.

As New Jersey band The Gaslight Anthem - Bruce Springsteen’s favourite band - took to the stage on Saturday afternoon around 3pm, the rain began, coating the mammoth Punchestown site in a blanket of heavy swathes of rain, an incessant shower that remained until around 10pm.

However, as suddenly as it began, so it stopped, allowing the bulk of the 80,000 fans, plus movie-star Natalie Portman, to enjoy a headline set from Kings of Leon - their third show in Ireland in 12 months - while the remaining brave souls sampled the dark and delightfully lyrical wares Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds had on display on the O2 Stage.

The Australian troubadour was joined by Shane MacGowan for a masterful encore, but really impressed with tracks Midnight Man and Red Right Hand.

In that difficult, rain-filled period, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Guy Garvey of Manchester band Elbow, tried valiantly to blast the rain away.

Elbow were resplendent in green ponchos, finishing their blistering set with the rather ironic One Fine Day, while a shower of confetti sprayed over the massive crowd.

Previously, on a bone dry and balmy Friday night, headliners Blur predictably drew one of the biggest crowds of the weekend.

In something of a coup for organisers MCD, the newly reformed band - who haven’t played together in six years - were fresh from gigantic gigs at Glastonbury and Hyde Park, and didn’t disappoint with a 24-strong set that encompassed all of their greatest hits, from opener She’s So High to epic closing track The Universal.

Elsewhere, the post-rock stylings of Mogwai seriously impressed, as did the mash-up skills of Swedish House Mafia and the heavy beat of Pendulum’s set. Even Snow Patrol weren’t too bad, enjoying a massive crowd for a large sing-along.

Cork band Fred opened proceedings on the massive Heineken Green Spheres stage at 2pm on Saturday, drawing a huge and appreciative crowd for a triumphant set. The band boast a Limerick member in bassist Jamin O’Donovan, who hails from Caherdavin Lawn and who spoke to the Limerick Chronicle backstage after the gig.

“The gig was brilliant, we were delighted with it,” said a happy looking O’Donovan.

“We did think, two o'clock Saturday afternoon, will there be 20 people out there - so we are absolutely delighted with it. We think we have found our niche, we think we have found what we like now, and that is playing big festivals,” laughed Jamin.

With a brass and string section backing up their set, the band drew thousands into massive tent, demonstrating why they are one of the finest Irish bands around at the moment.

Another Limerick man, Steve Melling, playing with well regarded band the 202’s, told the crowd that they “can only get wet once”, but at its height, the deluge took no prisoners - sending many running from its unforgiving nature.

Almost predictably, UK band Doves played one of the best sets of the weekend, the edgier material from recent album Kingdom of Rust sitting happily alongside their older material, with finale There Goes The Fear one of the highlights of the weekend.

Although Sunday was reasonably dry, the site had become something of a mud-pit due to the previous night’s rain.

However, Lady Gaga got some temperatures running high with a risqué show that left little to the imagination; the New York popstar strutting her stuff through various costume changes.

UK bands Friendly Fires and Foals played two of the sets of the weekend in the Green Spheres tent, while on the Main Stage mod band the Specials played together for the first time in 28 years - classic track Ghost Town wrapping up an impressive set.

Promoters MCD declared themselves happy with a weekend that saw crowds of almost 80,000 attend each night.

Local Limerick bus service Kelly Travel told the Chronicle that they ferried nearly 1,000 local music fans to and from Punchestown with absolutely no trouble and that they were “looking forward to next year already”.

Smiles all round then, just as long as the rain stays away entirely next year, we will be happy too.

Honourable mentions:

Fever Ray - the quirky Karin Dreijer Andersson (of Swedish group The Knife) played to about 100 people in the Dance Arena on Sunday afternoon. Why could she not have been scheduled for the picnic, where she'd play to a full field of appreciative listeners? Fab, quirky, scary show tho.

Howling Bells - Sydney shoegaze rock, great frontwoman in Juanita Stein (great name too).

The Chapters - great new Irish band, great new album in Perfect Stranger.

The Saw Doctors - Is there another Irish band that could play in the rain on the main stage and still get a massive crowd, singing and dancing and feeling good? N-17 was a popular one..

Not so much:

Kings of Leon - Lads, go away for a year or two and come back then, please..

The Gaslight Anthem - I think all that can be said about the New Jersey band is that Springsteen likes them. Everyone else was hanging around waiting for him to show up, a la Glastonbury.

Lady Gaga - Great look, choreography and decent pop songs, but just too over the top for this reviewer - trying waaayyy too hard for my liking.

Mud - Ok, not an act per se, but what is the story with lads diving headfirst into mud pools, wearing nothing but a pair of GAA shorts? Made me nearly lose my lunch several times..

Five things you may not have known about Oxegen but now you do:

5: There are 700 flags on site.

4: There are 250 food vans on site (that's a lotta food).

3: Dublin graffiti artist Maser did the various artworks that adorned those temporary walls people were pissing up against.

2: €1.5m was spent on erecting permanent roadways and thicker grass to soak up the rain, while €2 million was spent on security, gardaí and medics at this year's festival.

1: The view from the side of the main stage is very, very good - a bit like actually being on stage. The closest I'll ever get to performing in front of 40-50,000 people!!

Update on Cois Fharraige - from today's Limerick Chronicle

Alan Owens
LIMERICK music fans who have flocked to Kilkee in recent years for the Cois Fharraige festival might still be in luck this year, despite fears the MCD run festival would not go ahead.
Cois Fharraige drew 10-15,000 revellers to the small town last year, a significant portion of which were from Limerick. However, the sponsors of the previous festivals have not renewed their interest this year, leaving the three day festival in limbo.
A meeting was held in the seaside resort on Monday evening between local business people and an MCD official with the intention of ensuring the festival goes ahead again this year.
“An MCD official met with Kilkee business people this Monday - for a last chance meeting,” said a source who attended the meeting.
“The festival will be relying heavily on local business people and Clare Co. Council to come up with some form of sponsorship.
We have grouped together and there is a lot of local support for this to still go ahead - there is huge potential with this festival to draw large crowds to Kilkee.”
An official announcement is expected in the next couple of days.

MCD apply for Kilkee Cois Fharraige licence

On the Beat has learned that MCD have applied for a licence to hold Cois Fharraige in Kilkee again this year, with September 11-13 the dates being sought.

This news would bring a massive boost to the seaside town - and the Mid West region - as upwards of 15,000 people have flocked to the idyllic resort over the last two years for the three day festival.

More news when we get it, but see below for a report on last year's festival.

DESPITE predictions it might be a complete washout, somehow the return of Cois Fharraige - held in association with Sony Ericsson - to Kilkee, proved another remarkable success for the small coastal village.

A deluge of rain reaching epic proportions threatened to turn many - this reporter included - off making the short trip from Limerick last Friday.

Like many Limerick natives, Kilkee is something of a second home for me, and this festival was a keenly awaited one.

There must have been shudders in Kilkee when the rains set in on Friday, but despite this thousands of eager music fans flocked to the town, and facilities were much improved this year, with a number of camp sites available to those souls set to brave the elements.

The major feature of last year’s festival were the huge numbers of people who arrived down for the weekend with no intention of taking in the music on offer in St Senan’s GAA pitch at the top of O’Curry Street. Instead, they intended to soak up the atmosphere on offer around the town, and again, this proved the case. Pubs provided music of their own, with some going all out to capture punters.

Meanwhile, up to 6,500 ticket holders took the time to check out the likes of the Coronas, the Futureheads and the Zutons in the kayham tent on the Friday night. Conditions were soggy at best, but the Zutons in particular provided a sparkling performance, with the camera chiefly interested in attractive saxophone player Abi Harding.

Amazingly, the weather on Saturday morning was perfect - blue skies and sunshine were gently tempered by a wind that became merely a breeze as the day wore on. Entertainment was provided around the town and the main street was mobbed from an early hour. Personalities like Munster’s Paul O’Connell were more than happy to sign autographs and pose for photographs in the sunshine.

It was left to bands 28 Costumes and the Broken Family Band to contend with the lure of the Irish soccer international on Saturday evening, before Kila continued their impressive run of spirited performances as they returned for a second year.

However, one of the highlights of the weekend was the dungaree-wearing, Jack Daniels swigging, three-string guitar playing Seasick Steve Wold, who blasted out his hobo-style songs I Started Out With Nothing and I Still Got Most of It Left and Doghouse Blues.

Unfortunately laddish rock band Supergrass were not as impressive, impassively taking to the stage and blasting out six or seven new tracks with little compunction or connection with the crowd, before playing hits Moving and Richard III.

"This is a nice place you’ve got here, we’ve been here now for a few days," singer Gaz Coombes tells the crowd, before the band rush through a version of monster hit Alright - apparently a song they haven’t played in a long time.

As we file out of the tent after Pumping on your Stereo, the party continues downtown as the main street is wedged with people dancing in the street.Incredibly, Gardai later confirm that despite the huge numbers in town for the weekend, the majority are well-behaved with few public order offences.

Sunday brings the undoubted highlight of what has become a very successful weekend, for punters and businesses alike. Scottish legends Travis draw such a roar from the crowd that Fran Healy is forced to stick his fingers in his ears, and the band put on a show that liberally sprinkles classic hits with newer, edgier material such as J Smith and new single Something Anything.

Writing to Reach You, Side, Turn and Flowers in the Window are played with such joy and aplomb that people remember why they loved Travis in the first place.

And the band can hardly be heard over the roar of finale Why Does it Always Rain on Me, happily sung with gleeful irony rather than resignation.

With any luck this festival will return next year, but, if not, we always have two brilliant weekends to look back on.