Oxegen - The Aftermath.... whatcha think?

StickyMcGinty

Just back from a great weekend....

70 hours and 36 cans of tuborg later and i'm still standing!!

what did you all think of the weekend!

worth the hype?

girldef

yeah excellent, couldnt get into the chemicals though but seen Massive Attack instead.
Is the site down now?

girldef

muse are the men

Burago

This is my third Witnness/Oxegen and I must say that it's ranks last. I had a really great weekend but the rain almost ruined it. I didn't get to see half of the bands I wanted to (my own fault) and spent most of the weekend feeling pretty damp. As far as differences between Witnness and Oxegen I could see none other than the superficial. I prefered the Witnness signs and graphics but that's not a festival clincher. I will most definitly be going next year though.

Highlights:
*Friday night in Campsite A - :eek: whoaaaw
*Massive Attack and the Chemical Brothers being on so close together.
*Managing to sneak my tins into the festival site EVERY time
*Being searched by 3 Garda because my mate was rolling a joint and finding he left our lump behind, ****ing gent!
*Campsite rugby:D
*Finding dry clothes on sunday

One thing that will stick in my mind about this festival is the ticket fiasco. A lot of my friends decided not to go when they heard about the 2 day camping tickets selling out. I bought a 2 day no camping and paid an extra 20 for a camping pass on the Friday. I also know of people who arrived on Saturday afternoon with no ticket and paid 130 for a campsite wristband. This is simply not good enough for the people who paid over the amount on eBay or to touts or the people who stayed at home and missed the festival.

Creature

I had good craic despite the fact that I forgot to bring any warm clothes and nearly froze to death and also got heavily rained upon several times. Muse, the Darkness and Massive Attack were all excellent, so glad I got to see them. The weather was a serious downer though.

Kappar

A few things that I am upset with is why the **** did they take away everyone's chairs going in saying it's because there's not enough room or "health and Saftey" when the fuc kers where selling them in there. That was a complete disgrace.

The price of food rose too much from last year and even then it was a rip-off. Like €2.50 for a water or coke. €8 for a B. Roll.

Rain and Cold, no one's fault but it deed put a dampener on things.

Chemical Brother's inside WTF, Couldn't get in and TBH even if i did I might have had to leave the heat is unreal in that arena. In fairyhouse in 2002 the CB played on the Upstage/Ticket stage and they were animal.

P.S. Campsite B6 keep it lit.

drane2

I thought it was ****. MCD don't have a clue about how to organise things like this and it was a total mess. Orbital made it worthwhile though. But in future, I'll be spending a bit of extra money to go and see a festival somewhere in Europe where they actually have a clue about how to organise these things and don't totally exploit a captive audience.

evad_lhorg

i thought the weekend was amazing. first time camping. was a great laugh. friday and saturday night. i saw all the bands i wanted to on saturday except chenical brothers. i stood outside looking in for a few minutes and it just looked amzing. I know that would have been the best bit of the weekend but ya cant win em all.

i saw:
scissor sisters(scary gay man)
franz ferdinand(suprisingly good)
Snow patrol(much better than i thought, they kicked ass)
kings of leon(they were really good but they played too many new songs)
the strokes(they were brilliant)


sunday:
Mohair(this band was one of the best bands i saw and they were second on the new band stage. they kicked ass)
acidtone(we went cause they were bollox rap metal and we had a great laugh slagging them. only thing was i missed turn. )
we sat waiting for faithless then while wathing black eyed peas and pink. snore
faithless were the best band i saw of the whole weekend.
muse blew me away as I knew they would. they were the only band i really wanted to see.
ash nearly put me asleep until the thin lizzy guy came out and they played the boys are back in town. that was excellent
i then went to se OCS but it was boring so i left and managed to get back into the pit before the darkness had even started and that was much more fun. the darkness were great fun.

lodgepole

The entrance/exit situation was a disgrace in the dance tent. Besides being borderline illegal, it allowed for virtually no air flowing through.

They completely ignored all the things that people complained about last year which pissed me off no end. They gave out orange wristbands to campers when the blue ones ran out, but still gave you a hard time when you tried to get into the campsite with them. The stewards and security were an even more unpleasant bunch than usual (especially the stewards in the car parks).

The timetable situation... It just made no sense. Contrary to what they said about making times available on the big screens, the only way you could find out was by buying a €10 necklace thing, or looking at the handwritten A4 sheets stuck to a little tent in a tiny corner of the venue. That's ****ing shameful MCD.

Performance wise... The Strokes were fairly brutal I thought, it was too big a crowd for them. They played their songs to the button and the less said about their on stage banter the better. Orbital blew my ****ing mind, they were amazing. Simple Kid was excellent, put on a good show and the crowd seemed really into it. Franz Ferdinand was okay, I quite enjoyed them.

The Cure proved how years of experience really do make a difference. Neither The Strokes or The Darkness should have been in the slots they were, they just couldn't hack it.

Pink, Faithless, Ash and Muse were a really great set of acts to put together. Pink was great for the time of day that was in it. Faithless did a more upbeat show than I expected but it was amazing. Ash and Muse just rocked, they should have been on later with The Darkness playing before Ash.

Wu Tang were a lot of fun for a short while, but got boring.

Cartoon were great, the few minutes I saw of them.

Ocean Colour Scene were amazing headlining Sunday night in the green room. I haven't seen them live since 1997 and I thought it was superb.

The Chalets provided the best on stage joke of the weekend with their "fat Olsen twin" comment.

The rain didn't bother me much even though I was ****ing freezing, and I don't think it really effected the atmosphere. Everybody was still in great form. I'm not sure how i'd rate it compared to all the other Witnness's, but I certainly had a great time.

adonis

How can orbitals stage show be better than the strokes one?
the strokes are miles ahead of OCS in every department...

the rapture were the band of the weekend for me.,..

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

lodgepole

Originally posted by adonis
How can orbitals stage show be better than the strokes one?

Lights, atmosphere and music. Were all better... But if you don't like electronic music (which I don't know) you probably wouldn't like anything Orbital can do.

the strokes are miles ahead of OCS in every department...

Not necessarily... It all comes down to taste. For one thing, I prefer OCS as a band. At the same time, I quite like The Strokes, but I don't pay good money to watch a band play their songs to the button and act like assholes to the audience. There was no real energy in the set, no real buzz going through the audience. The Ocean Colour Scene audience was going ****ing wild, the lads in the band were too. The only gig I can compare it to is Therapy? at the second Witnness where it was obvious that the band were buzzing off the audience as much as we were off them.

adonis

im not saying anything about their songs/back catalogue, or their set (which orbital havent changed in a while mind you) (ive seen them 5 times, theyve played the same set 3 out of 5)
orbital do nothing bar saying "hank you very much"etc...
obviosuly their lights are better/more effective as they are indoors etc..

adonis

also, i thought the cure were diabolical, as did most of the other people i know/talked to

evad_lhorg

that was all i was hearing. i heard the cure were bollox from most people and a few saying they were amazing. i didnt watch them. i heard and they sounded sh-ite.

jebuz

music-wise i taut it was a pretty good festival, muse definatly being my highlight, followed by ocean colour scene and snow patrol, i was well impressed with the latter. I agree that it could have been organised a little better, the 10 euro for a timetable was a joke after paying 130 for a ticket! the rain did kinda dampen things, its very hard to get into a festival mood when ur being pissed on every 5 minutes, but ill be going again next year anywho! rock on

Ronika

went yesterday and tbh wasnt a terrible exp. My highlight was seein OCS, thought they really knew how to entertain. There was a number of low points inc the rain, Pink and The Darkness. Maybe cos we were standin near the back but the feelin jfor the darkness just wasnt there. I was very disappointed and it provide to me that they aren't headlining artist yet. Ash werent too bad but they dont have any real outstanding songs. Would have lovin OCS to do the main stage. Have to say the surprise of the day came from Keane- very good even though didnt know much of there stuff.

StickyMcGinty

great to see most had a great time!!

The timetables were a rip off, especially after MCD pocketing 1mill from bowie cause we wont see that again!

€5 for a burger!! €8 for a brekkie roll!! get up the yard!! disgrace!

Campsite madness was super, car park 3 rave on sunday was fookin fantastic to cap off the weekend, fair dues to the lad who organised it!

muse were poor, he didnt interact with the crowd once, didnt even try to get them going!

that lead singer from ASH is the biggest poser this side of the atlantic.. tosser!!

Cannibal Ox

Organisation was bollox (the timetables were a ****ing joke), people (campsite A) were great.
My favourites were probably OCS, Electric Six, Faithless and Wu Tang (though yeah, after all the "Wu Tang Clan ain't nuthin' ta **** wit" chanting ending they got a little bit boring)
The Matrix on the Friday night was a great laugh too, I remember watching another movie but still amn't sure what it was (pretty wasted by that point)
Overall though, well worth the money (because of the people mostly) but MCD should be ashamed about the organisation of the event.

One more thing, the prices in the camp site were the worst part of the entire weekend. 2.50 for a coke!?!?! Breakfast Rolls 7Û!?!?!!? Come on, we all know it's going to be expensive but that was just insane.

drane2

Originally posted by VinnyL
great to see most had a great time!!

The timetables were a rip off, especially after MCD pocketing 1mill from bowie cause we wont see that again!

*5 for a burger!! *8 for a brekkie roll!! get up the yard!! disgrace!

Campsite madness was super, car park 3 rave on sunday was fookin fantastic to cap off the weekend, fair dues to the lad who organised it!

muse were poor, he didnt interact with the crowd once, didnt even try to get them going!

that lead singer from ASH is the biggest poser this side of the atlantic.. tosser!!

MCD didn't make one million euro from David Bowie cancelling. I think his booking fee is something in the region of 125,000 euro.

Atomic Pineapple

Originally posted by VinnyL
muse were poor, he didnt interact with the crowd once, didnt even try to get them going!

Obviously not a Muse fan, Muse come out play there music and thats it, no bull****, no stupid "your great, blah blah blah" stuff that other bands say to every audience they play to.

To be honest there was no need to get the crowd going, where i was and anyone i talked to said the crowd was going mental (Nothing compare to the gig in the olympia though). There was a lot a idiots standing around waiting for the darkness who didnt know who Muse were........thats disgracefull, no way did the darkness deserve to headline.

Seen Kings Of Leon, The Strokes and Ash, thought they were pretty good, was great to see your man from thin lizzy and hear the boys are back in town, another thin lizzy song would have been nice to hear.

Snow Patrol were class, deadly band. Hope to see alot more of them, only thing was the idiots standing around who thought Final Straw was there only album and didn't know any of the songs from there other albums.

Have to say the biggest highlight of the weekend was see The Killers headline the new band tent on saturday night, they are a stunning band, they were a real breath of fresh air and great to see the tent full too.

As for the Campsite set up.....well its a joke, having two campsites has to qualify as a deadly sin or something we had our tent in A but friends in B the distance is just too far, surely there has to be another solution, also campsite A seemed to be dead after friday night while campsite B was great craic sat and sun night although i left at about 2 o clock sun morning, couldnt understand that as campsite A was great craic last year.

Boston

Tbh the new band stage was the high light for me. didn't have a clue who most of them where, watched razor light instead of the stokes, was extremely impressed by them. Faithless where just something else, can't really describe it. So good. Camp site B was brilliant craic, did get abite out of hands at certain stages.

StickyMcGinty

Originally posted by draffodx
Obviously not a Muse fan, Muse come out play there music and thats it, no bull****, no stupid "your great, blah blah blah" stuff that other bands say to every audience they play to.



Have to say the biggest highlight of the weekend was see The Killers headline the new band tent on saturday night, they are a stunning band, they were a real breath of fresh air and great to see the tent full too.

have to agree with you about the killers....

but the crowd were goin mental for muse, as they were for any of the acts that were near top billing...

a bit of effort from yer man would have been appreciated. i dont want "your great blah blah" just something to get the crowd in on the performance, and EVERY other act came up with a unique way to woo the crowd... except muse.

i liked the 1st two tunes, but the fans that were around me and my mates in the pit were the biggest shower of fukwits i've ever met in my life!

even bands who i didnt really want to see, like pink, were a bit a craic cause of the crowd interaction!!

And about bowie and 1 million.... thats the figure i heard bein thrown around... guess i was wrong!

In_Diana_Jones

The Strokes - Absolutely outstanding..by far the best band of the weekend for me. Although I'm not a complete tosser, so my point of view won't fit in here. People don't appear to appreciate bands with a touch of intelligence and the confidence to play up to that fact. What an outstanding band!

Simple Kid - He am the man....this guy deserves to be huge. Third time I've seen him and he is a legend of an act, his album "#1" is genius too.

Giveamanakick - Quite simply the best drummer ever!!

Saucy Monkey - Hot lead singer, bit annoying though!

Kings of Leon - Pretty good for the bit I saw.

Faithless - They were class...would have appreciated hearing 'Muhummad Ali'. However, 'WMD' was class!

Ash - Great craic...hot guitarist. Fun to be in the pit for.

Muse - Not my thing, but good at what they do. It was an entertaining set.

The Darkness - They were great craic. Loadsa fun in the pit. I was all sung out after them. New song seemed pretty entertaining and I still love the cover of Street Spirit!

[CALIBUR]

ohhohh.... Me Head! I can feel my brain cells poping in my head!!!!

I've took lot of pics with my cam and posting them up soon

D-Generate

Originally posted by VinnyL

i liked the 1st two tunes, but the fans that were around me and my mates in the pit were the biggest shower of fukwits i've ever met in my life!

By saying "tunes" I presume that you don't really know their music and you are not a fan. By any chance were the fukwits the people in the pit going mental which is a common occurance at Muse gigs?
If you can't stand the heat yadda yadda yadda.

I don't mean to be a prat its just that dead center up at the front there was some girls and other people who had no real interest in Muse but tehy persisted in staying there and created a nuisance even if you were only jumping up and down by getting in your way. In all honesty if you are just going to view a band you shouldn't be dead front center of the pit.

Muse were very very enjoyable. Great set I thought.
The Killers were probably the best act, best crowd anywhere during the festival.
The Giveamanakick drummer is indeed fantastic, he is also always smiling!

BLITZ_Molloy

I just went for the day on Saturday. Wandered into the green room tent around 1 and saw a group from Dublin called God is an Astronaut. They're were very cool indeed. Sort of like Massive Attack. Incredibly nifty visuals as well. Very atmospheric stuff.

Then I watched Sissor Sisters. Gay frontman was fantastic. Gyrating around the place for an good hour. Anna matronic was also a laugh.

Franz Ferdinand were pretty cool. They played a song off the next album. Didn't seem quite as initially catchy as their current material.

Think I saw The Rapture next. They were most excellent. House of Jelous Lovers rocked the party.

Snow Patrol started badly but played a solid enough set. I found Wow kind of underwhelming. The album has alot of interesting sampling and the vocals sound alot better than they did live.

Think I caught a bit of Orbital next. Nice atmosphere. Lots of energy.

Then Paddy Casey.. who was ****e. But I had to stay to get right up to the front for..

N.E.R.D who were ****ing mindblowing. Whole crowd bouncing up and down to Lapdance was the highlight of the day.

Tried to get into Chemical Brothers. Waaay too many people in the building. Heat was incredible.

Dashed over to Cure.. who weren't very good.

And finally just went back and watched Massive Attack. I'm not that huge of a fan of them really. They weren't bad but it wasn't really great music for a festival. Organisers should have realised they were more at home indoors and put Chemical Brothers out on the Ticket or Main stage where there was enough room for people.

All in all a cool day. It's a pity there was so much overlapping in the acts. I was pissed off that I missed The Strokes and most of the Orbital set.

conZ

What a weekend.

Didn't have any ticket going up on Friday. Persuaded a friend who didn't have a ticket either to go aswell, so there were two of us out of a group of about twenty who didn't have a ticket. I was optimistic of seeing a tout outside.

Went up, got off the bus with a struggle, started walking the green mile (no ticket touts seen yet) to the ticket checkpoint. Searched aswell, the bastards took my knife and spoon - How am I supposed to eat my crunch corners ffs!.

Stood talking to a legend of a steward along the maze, let us stay there while he had to tell everyone else to keep moving. Gave us a few inside tips on how to get in and ****. We chucked him up a few makins' when we saw him in a tower in the campsite. Anyways, I spotted that they were using the blue Oxegen wristbands. Nice one! I took last years Witnness band from my mirror that morning . Cant remember htf I stuck the band around my wrist, but I got in anyways. Called another friend, who had a ticket. He came in, took my band and handed it out to my other friend who didn't have a ticket. F00kin sweet! We both got in.

Strolled down to campsite A, slowly but surely and had the tent set up fairly lively.
Spent the evening smoking and drinking. Mad night had. Bed late.

Woke up about 9 on Saturday morning - drinking, smoking and wristband making going on in my tent. Friend found a length of blue tape that just fitted around his wrist, made a band out of it. He also found a pen so we could write "Oxegen" on our bands.
Went into the arena about 3. Wanted to see BellX1, but only caught the last 3 songs due to lazyness and waiting around for the bitches. Split back to the campsite to continue drinking.
Was splitting back into the arena about 5 to see the Divine Comedy and the Complete stone roses, and got caught with the wristband due to a friends slowness and my jersey caught over my wristband.
The steward asked me "where did I get that" - replied with "yonder, over there". He called a big cheese (were wearing black shirts) and who told me "you're not getting in here with that" and turned me away.

What a ****ing retard. Why not just take it off me 'cos I'm only gonna go in the other entrance! On our way back around, we met two of our friends who just flew in from Italy, so we split back to the campsite.

That evening, went to the Strokes and The Chemical Brothers.
The Strokes were ****ing savage. We came into the arena just as they were playing Reptilia, legged up towards the front, crowd surfed our way through the crowds, I get up on a wave,, ****ing pulled out by a security guard. We moved too close to the boundary of the pit and didn't realise it. Lost my shoe and took a kick from a bouncer, but persuaded a big cheese to let me back to get me shoe. Noone noticed the fake armband. Walked myself out anyways, and straight into the pit. ****in brilliant. The Strokes were amazing, especially the lead guitarist, Nick. Julian seemed like he didn't give a ****, but at least he wasn't drunk I suppose.
Went over to the dance arena for the Chemicals, got up to right beside the door (after the railing was knocked) and the bastards closed it. "Too many people inside - yis cant come in". Bastard!. Eventually some retarded bouncer opened the door from the inside and everyone pushed in. ****in bangin set, 'nuff said'.

Got back the campsite late enough, and had a mad night. Think we got to sleep about 7 after having a chat with the chicks next door from our tent.

Woke at about 10 on Sunday. Everyone bolloxed, sore heads etc. Started into the drink early. Into the arena about 3 (after listening to the Saw Doctors from the tent) and wanted to see Alphastates, but of course, this never works out. Into the Bacardi bar till 5. Savage DJ's in there, mad craic, though the drink was expensive.

Started back into the campsite (thinking Faithless were on at 5 to 6 as someone said) and had skins in hand in the tent when I heard Insomniac starting. Bitchin. Legged back in. They seemed to play all the well known songs at the start, then moved into the new album and then finished with We Come One which was savage.
Split back to the tent while Ash and Wu Tang were on. Ash seemed ****, but The boys are back was savage (could hear it well from campsite A). Wu Tang seemed **** too - all I could hear was "Wu Wu Wu", "My nigga in the house" etc.
Muse sounded ****in savage aswell, bitchin I missed them.

Went into the arena again in the evening for a bit of FelixTHC and Darren Emerson. What the **** went on there? The Dance arena closed awful early. The black guy, think it was Darren Emerson, was ****in savage. Lethal mix of Nirvana's Lithium at the end. Mosied around for a while afterwards, went to buy a Tshirt, but the Strokes and Buck 65 ones were all gone. Went back to the campsite, friend robbed a large "Irish Times" banner, must be about 15 feet long and brought it back to the tent. He gave it to me this morning, as he couldn't be arsed carrying it home.

Savage night in the campsite last night. Late into the night we set up "The pit" - general drunken dancing and arseing. Got a load of attention, and we all ended up with a rake of railings lineing the walkways - Trapping unsuspecting passers by in railing and covering them in drink and ****. Hilarious, but not if I was on the end of it.
Went up to the hurdles beside the portaloos when the crowd split from there. Hilarious ****.
Some poor fool ended up in a heap beside our tent-area, so we had to cover him in ****. Took out the blue permanent marker and wrecked him hehe.

Got to bed about 8 in the morning. Woken at 9 or 10 to get ready to leave. ****in head on me waking up, trying to roll up a tent. Had a decent game of kicky-uppys in the place after you got the wristband before going in search of Tshirt stands. Continued to walk straight into the arena again, through an open barrier. ****, they must have been working through the night. Stages half down, nothing around, all the litter taken up... Almost perfectly cleaned up. Never did find that tshirt stand .

Wrecked on the bus, but the passing to the left made me even more wrecked. Just got in home there about 8, after feck all sleep and only one hours sleep the night before I left, up money, but down in energy.

Now, onto a few of the bands - after all, it is all about the music.

I saw :

The Strokes - Savage. In the pit - cant beat it.
Franz Ferdinand - From a distance. Didn't look good, in fairness.
Bell X1 - Caught the last three songs. ****ing savage!
Chemical Brothers - Bangin
Faithless - Bangin
Basement Jaxx - Saw these while waiting to get into the dance arena. They looked savage. Everyone in the vacinity was dancing or bopping. I mean everyone.
Felix Da Housecat & Darren Emerson- Dont know which of the two of these I saw - Probably Emerson, but he was savage.
(I know, not many - we were stuck in the tents indulging all day - a waste of €130 on a ticket tbh)


Missed, but wanted to see :

PJ Harvey
Divine Comedy
NERD
Snow Patrol
Simple Kid
Autamata
Complete Stone Roses
Buck 65
Muse
Ash - Just for that Thin Lizzy cover (which the singer ****ed with, in fairness)
The Saw doctors
Alphastates


Now, my friends got a week of a free house (left his parents behind him in Italy) so I'm splitting up there for a while, though I'll probably fall asleep and get the inevitable drawing of fake moustaches and words on my head.

And to the organisers of Oxegen - HAHAH ****ERS! I broke in everywhere - broke all the rules (Hikadoola). Ye're security was ****ing brutal!11111111!

AngelofFire

great weekend.The craic was 90 on the campsite, got to know lots of nice and interesting people,Brought 24 cans and drank them all.got like 3 hours sleep over the weekend, was absolutely shattered coming home, the strokes, ash,darkness, faithless, and franz ferdinand were amongst the best acts.

They only bad thing was the security for the pit before the darkness was on, they made an absolute hash of it. They closed entrance for about half an hour allowing a massive crowd to accumulate, then when it opens theres a big stampede with everyone pushing to get in, people were hurt.

bunnicans

best weekend of my life!!!!campsite A was brilliant,lashing the rugby ball around was hilarious!!ash,muse,paddy casey,black eyed peas.....all good but the best were the darkness,in the pit for it had the best time ever!!!!

Bottle_of_Smoke

well according to me -

Radiators - Good fun Phil Chevron looks so old but he still jumps around like a man posessed, got Cáit the bassist to smile at me by shouting for Pogues songs

Electric 6 - F*ckin great, most enjoyable show I saw all weekend, really had the crowd going even with their non-hit songs which is pretty impressive when a lotta people there only showed to see Gay Bar

Strokes - ehhh... they weren't bad but I liked them a lot more before the show, technically very good if anything

The Cure - I'd only heard Boys don't Cry before seeing them but I think they're getting too hard a time on this board, they played great music (i even ended up buying a tshirt) and for the length of time they've been going their singer's voice is in great condition(whats his name anyone?)

Darkness - I don't like them much but they put on an amazing show, all their songs seem to sound better now!

Seen a few others but they're the only ones i saw complete sets of, saw doctors sounded great from my tent, amazing weekend!

Tusky

I thought it was great. Reading some of the posts above
really anoyed me.Some people just moan moan moan.

The rain was anoying and it would have been much beter if the sun was out but it didnt ruin the weekend at all. The prices of food was crap so I didnt buy any - I brought loads any. What exactly did you expect ? They are always that price at concerts , they were actually more pricey at the pixies in pheonix park.

Music wise I think it was the best year ( was my 3rd time there )

Went to see
-scissors sisters
I was really impressed , they got the crowd going and music was qutie good too

-Franz Ferdinand
Brilliant - should have been on later on in the day really. 3:40 is too early. I really liked them before but they didnt seem great live when I had seen em on tv, However they were really tight. I think they should have been swaped with The Kings Of Leon

-The Kings Of Leon
Seen these in The olympia a while back and thought they were.....ok. On saturday U thought they were very poor and I didnt really get into it.Should have been on earlier.

-The Strokes
WOW! They were amazing. Really good stage stage presence, They all have an individual playing style . I really liked the Clash cover they did too. The crowd seemed really into it as well but I was at the very front so I dont know what it was like further back.They were very tight. Best band of the weekend.

-The Cure
Very poor. I know they are a great band ( I personally am not mad about them ) A headline act should play their hits and please the crowd, If it was a smaller gig for the more die hard fans I would have been a good one but they didnt cut it for me. There were a good few Cure fans in my group who were REALLY dissapointed too.

I saw a load of new bands on the Sat who I didnt know , some were very good!
couldnt get into Chemical brothers !

Black Eye'd Peas
The guy that introduced them aws very entertaining! They put on a really good show , worked the crowd well and put 110% in. Im not a big fan of the music though...

-Pink
ROFL! What was she doing at oxegen ? I went to shout things at her , she was crap. The sound was muffled and where I was the crowd were booing

-Muse
Wow! Such a professional band. I was quite near the back and the crowd still went mental. People were saying they didnt work the crowd ? They didnt need to. I really enojoyed it even though some guy tried to rob my wallet

-Basement Jax
I aint a big fan of their music but they were actually really good live. Good to dance about to. Your man climbing the sound tower was classic !

-The Darkness
Got to see about 3/4 of them - Dont think I could have watched much more. They did what they do well and worked the crowd well. They are really good showmen and filled in for David Bowie well....although him dropping out still pains me . The 20 minute outro was pretty cool!

What was with everyone humming that bit from the song in Kill Bill ? The mexican hurrahs were great fun ! I was in B2 which had a pretty good atmosphere, got barely any sleep.

One thing that put me on a downer - A goupr of 15 travelers moved in next to my friends who were on the other side of the campsite, they were really loud and abusive. When my friends came back to the campsite at the end of Saturday their beer and other things were gone. They knew it was them but didnt say anything. Later that night they came over and started fights and my friends ended up leaving on the Sunday night instead of the Monday. Bastards
:dunno:

Stark

and for the length of time they've been going their singer's voice is in great condition(whats his name anyone?)

Robert Smith.

hacktavist

Tusky, I was in b2 aswell it was mental! were you there when everyone was kickin the football around! Helped a load of people make a tower and went around with a guy in a council jacket who was pretending to be a security guard it was brilliant!

Highlight of the weekend was basement jaxx! Did anyone see the guy on the speaker tower? That was crazy!

DRakE

I thought it was great

Was my first one but anyway.. N.E.R.D ****ing blew the house down.. Pharell seemed to turn the whole crowd into a bunch of screaming 13 year old girls.. even me

Tusky

Originally posted by hacktavist
Tusky, I was in b2 aswell it was mental! were you there when everyone was kickin the football around! Helped a load of people make a tower and went around with a guy in a council jacket who was pretending to be a security guard it was brilliant!

Highlight of the weekend was basement jaxx! Did anyone see the guy on the speaker tower? That was crazy!

aye he almost fell off !

LastIrishMonkey

i tell ya Keane ,Complete stone roses ,Franz Ferdinand ,sissor sisters and Ash (that was so great when they brought out Thin lizzy guitarist and played boys are back in town) they were my highlights amoung others , but my only let down was the strokes because Julian Casablancas came on drunk and went off stage legless , but it was a great weekender and Bowie wasnt missed all that much tbh :dunno: or maybe he was

honru

I went to the two days without camping. Saturday was brilliant while Sunday was only so-so.

SATURDAY

After seeing some of the Scissor Sisters, I began the day with Franz Ferdinand, who I had seen twice before. This was definetly better than their last Dublin appearance earlier this year, they translated to the Main Stage with ease and pleased the crowd well. While I wasn't blown away or anything, it was all good fun.

I really enjoyed The Rapture, was well impressed. Even the belting rain wouldn't stop me from watching them, some quirky shít there. Next saw PJ Harvey and she put on a great performance.

While I thought last year's Witnness had Kings of Leon of one of the highlights, I found them awful this year. Terrible sound and overall lackluster performance.

The Strokes were excellent, although their set became a bit repetitive as time went on. The amount of kids that flushed out of the pit after their set ("I don't know who or what the fúck The Cure are"). I would say most of these people would have moved themselves to The Chemical Brothers, which would explain the bulging Dance... building.

For me, The Cure were fúcking amazing and the best band of the weekend for me. The massive outdoor stage suited them nicely. I think they were far more interesting and captivating than any band I saw that weekend. They did belt out some hits, but managed to play some great non-single tracks too (which are terrific despite what some people may not prefer).

SUNDAY

Arrived in late, caught a bit of Faithless, Bic Runga, and Ash from a distance. Watched Wilco's full set and I was impressed after hearing none of their material.

Saw some of Muse. After seeing them twice, It wasn't my plan to be watching them again (but Bowie cancelled etc.). At this stage I found them fairly predictable and uninteresting so I went to check out The Libertines, who I felt the same way. I don't know if it was because Dougherty was not playing, but it was a fairly weak show.

Ran into the New Bands Tent after the rain began again, saw some of Delays (...again), waited for The Shins. It was funny, they made parodies of The Darkness all through their set (who they could actually see from their stage). It was all in good fun though, was most enjoyable.

After The Shins, I decided to finish off with headliners The Darkness. At this stage, I still liked and enjoyed The Darkness; their Vicar Street gig last year was brilliant. But here, I finally realised why so many people dislike them. Hawkins is so up himself. While I know they have nowt material (especially for a headline act), he talked so much crap. At the last show, they went on, played their songs, rocked, and barely said anything. This was just bad though. He asked the crowd to put up their hands, shake them, and jump up and down. He compared themselves as a live band to Linkin Park (with obvious reactions). He played the drums for god's sake. And went on and on about how great they were.
Even with that, the sound wasn't great, the songs were predictable, and just uninteresting at this stage. I really don't think they are set for headlining the Main Stage this early.

Overall, I didn't come any traces of terrible organisation that I had come to expect, most bands were well on-time. Security were pricks though, and the prices on food were ridiculously high. Timetable fiasco was bullshít though, I thankfully got mine off Hotpress the morning before though.

Doctor J

Did anyone add up how much the weekend cost? The tickets were insanely expensive, then they screw you with food and drink prices - eg €2.50 for a bottle of coke, etc.

How much did MCD really screw out of ye?

lodgepole

Free ticket. e100 on booze, drugs and food. Of that 100, I spent about 20 inside the actual venue, on a couple of snack boxes and a pint. Good value weekend I thought. We drove down so Dublin Bus didn't a chance to screw me either.

Jip

Electric Six were great, the surprise hit of the weekend for me and a few others I spoke to.

MCD are a shower of cnuts though, imagine paying over a €100 for a plane ticket with Aer Lingus and then asking them what time your flight is at, they turn around and tell you that'll cost extra sonny boy, robbing bastids !

Sleepy

Went for the full weekend camping in site A5. Had a wicked time Friday night, playing capture the flag with a few people from the Oxegen Boards. Went to see Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club who as usual were brilliant. Then it was time for The Matrix in Campsite A. Well funny when it broke for the second time.

SATURDAY
Woke at about 7.30, my own fault for not packing a sleeping mat Sat around drinking and smoking in the campsite for a good while before heading into the Arena for Snow Patrol. Caught some of Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club before them then wandered about (read blank spot) until Orbital where we got stoned as **** in the tent right beside a security guard who didn't give a ****. Next I headed for
Hope Of The States in the new band tent who were excellent, caught the start of The Cure's gig and then headed for Belle & Sebastian who were BRILLIANT! Went back to the tent, continued with a few more drinks and spliffs.

SUNDAY
Woke up with a pretty massive hangover and staggered off to see The Saw Doctors, after their set it started pissing so we did a runner back to the tent where we sat drinking and havin' the craic for a while and got completely spasticatedly drunk. Went back to see Keane who I remember as being good through my drunkeness. Think I caught a bit of the Madchester Experience then whilst sheltering from the rain. Then it was off to the main stage for Muse and The Darkness. The Darkness were doing my head in with their ****e so I went to Ocean Colour Scene who I haven't listened to since about 2001 and really enjoyed myself there with a bunch of complete strangers.

So, all in all, good music, great people, **** weather, **** food and **** prices. The beer was surprisingly drinkable for a rock concert (though that could have been because I only bought about 4/5 in the venue and had already had many more out in the campsite). The setlist thing was annoying alright so I ended up forking out a tenner for the necklace thingy which resulted in meeting a lot of cool people so that had a flipside. Was quite pissed off at being woken up by the security guards so early on the Monday morning. I was a fuckin' zombie for the entire of yesterday as a result. All in all a success but it could've been organised a bit better.

wiped

I got a free ticket for the Sunday ....... excellent laugh ... got some great grass too

Drifted in and out of the tents catching 20mins or so of a few different acts ...

Waiting Room are the most aptly titled band to come along in years .... it felt exactly like being in a waiting room .... bye !!!

Wu Tang Clan - absolute sh.ite - thought I might have some tolorence for a bit of Rap ... but they were just nonsense.

Ash - saw a bit of them (thanks to the rain :mad:) - they were OK ...

Jimmy Cliff - fuc.kin superb ... I can't believe no-one mentioned him here yet ... the fuc.kin tent was jammed for him , I know I wasn't the only one there !!!

Then rounded it off with The Darkness - great show , great guitarists - super riff-a-rolla , really enjoyed it but having seen them in Vicar St too and being able to predict the entire set , I think the boys desperately need a 2nd album ...... before it's all stale.

SheroN

The wu tang clan ain't nuthin to **** with. They were class as were Cartoon, faithless, goldie lookin chain and the BEP were surprisinly entertaining (your wan is majorly hot!).

karlh

the whole weekend has left me feelin quite empty tbh.....when the highlight is the black eyed peas, you kow there's something up!

strokes were very disappointing, the cure were unbearable, rain was a bit of a pain. luckily i was with some fun people.

spent about 200 on food, drink, cigarettes, gettin there and back etc - not including the ticket in!!!

MCD should be ashamed of themselves for pricing, i presume they have a hand in setting the levels for food etc.....i queued for 90 minutes to get a cuppa on sat morning

having to pay 10 to get the times of the bands is a joke.

btw, they did get at least €1 million for Bowie cancelling. The Darkness' appearance fee was €1.5 million (staggering but true considering their fee for Glasto last year was €200)

last year of this **** for me. been to every witnness but they got this very very wrong....bring back guinness for next year!!!

Dont be at yourself

Saturday was by far the better day, I thought.

Scissor Sisters: My first band of the weekend, pretty good. Already a fan and saw them before, but they seemed to impress the other people I was with! Shame they clashed with Stellstarr* though.

Franz Ferdinand: Good, if a little too much by the numbers. Front man has much more charisma than you'd expect!

Electric 6: Dick Valentine is the Man. And the tent nearly lifted off during Gay Bar.

Kings Of Leon: Never really heard their stuff before, and I was quite surprised by them. Didn't do anything for me at all.

Strokes: Meh. Thankfully played most of their big ones early, so I could fuck off.

Hope Of The States: Band of the weekend, for me. Despite ****ty sound, they pulled off a great show. And to think, I only caught them because the Strokes were so poor!

The Killers: A bit of a dissapointment, but I was partyed out by that stage anyway.

As for Sunday:

The Zutons: Band of the day, pity about the short set and time of day. Sax player is an absolute ride

Wu Tang Clan: Not into the auld rap/hip-hop but still quite enjoyed it. They do know how to get a crowd going!

Pink: I wished I was in the pit, standing around by the t-shirt stalls wasn't a way to experience it, really.

Muse: Good show, from what I saw. A bit too early for their light-show to work though!

T.G Catter

Best of the weekend::

Goldie Lookin' Chain (such fun to watch)
Snowpatrol (nearly got killed up the front)
Franz Ferdinand (met them too -woo hoo)
Muse (fab,fab,fab)
Iain Archer (set up his own gear)
The Shins (excellento)
The Rapture (surprised me)
The Zutons (loved them)

overall a great weekend!

anyone see that poor guy dressed up as a sperm? hope he was getting paid well.

ClareBear

Excellent! Thought last year was way better though but still a rocking weekend.

My top 5
1 Basement Jax
2 N.E.R.D
3 Chemcial Brothers
4 Scissor Sisters
5 Faithless

BaZmO*

Originally posted by karlh
btw, they did get at least €1 million for Bowie cancelling. The Darkness' appearance fee was €1.5 million (staggering but true considering their fee for Glasto last year was €200)B]

Where are you getting those figures from?

froggie_1

Depression settin in here cos of the Anti climax!

a contender for wknd of my life, i agree that it was the crowd though, we were bein expoited on all fronts but feck it u just have to fight that sh1t, bring all ur own food.

i loved every single minute of it, never had so much fun with random people.

All the people i went nuts with to Paddy Casey.

and as for the campsite...what madness. Big up to everyone in A6!!

no difference between night and day there, just mental.

ORBITAL blew my mind, place packed, everyone lovin it and feelin so lucky to be there.

Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, Keane, all class.

EMERSON and Felix da Housecat rocked...spend from 6 to finish on sunday in Dance Arena. utter madness. never had so much fun.

Spent a small fortune.....fcuk it tho.

cant wait for next year already

Tusky

Originally posted by karlh
the whole weekend has left me feelin quite empty tbh.....when the highlight is the black eyed peas, you kow there's something up!

strokes were very disappointing, the cure were unbearable, rain was a bit of a pain. luckily i was with some fun people.

spent about 200 on food, drink, cigarettes, gettin there and back etc - not including the ticket in!!!

MCD should be ashamed of themselves for pricing, i presume they have a hand in setting the levels for food etc.....i queued for 90 minutes to get a cuppa on sat morning

having to pay 10 to get the times of the bands is a joke.

btw, they did get at least €1 million for Bowie cancelling. The Darkness' appearance fee was €1.5 million (staggering but true considering their fee for Glasto last year was €200)

last year of this **** for me. been to every witnness but they got this very very wrong....bring back guinness for next year!!!

Really glad I didnt go to oxegen with you , you sound like a right dry ****e.