Dave’s Rants

Wow, what a great weekend. The Oxegen Festival rocked!

With having a proper job and all that I couldn’t take a load of time off like other years but since I have a full licence now, I decided to drive up Saturday morning and drive back late on Sunday night. I knew I’d be wrecked because of it, but it was so worth it!



Saturday
Well I set my alarm for 6.15 so I could have plenty of time to get ready, but I’m still getting used to the my phone, so I think I didn’t set it, but thankfully Evie was there to wake at around 6.45. We were on the road at 7.30 and made great time. Arrived at the hotel at around 11, checked in and headed for Punchestown.

Bit of traffic on the way there but nothing remotely as bad as when I went to Witnness in 2002. Parked the car and all and I was probably in the festival itself sometime just after one. The weather of course was shite, but I wasn’t going to let that bother me, especially since the nice guy handing out the wristbands gave me a stylish pink poncho, which kept me sort of dry.

First band I saw properly were Sissor Sisters who I’m not a fan of at all, but Evie decided we should go, and to be honest I was quite glad, because in fairness it was a good show, regardless of how little I like them. That’s what I like about festivals you get to see bands there is no way on earth you’d go to see otherwise.



Next up we headed to the second stage, I can’t even remember what gammy name they gave to it, but anyway Snow Patrol were playing there, and it was amazing. In typical MCD fashion, the place was packed, beacause the band were too big to be on at that time of day on the 2nd stage! ‘Run’ was definitely one of the highlights of the festival for me!



Hung around for ages, just sampling some of the expensive culinary delights of the festival, while waiting for The Strokes. The Kings of Leon were on the main stage, but they didn’t deserve to be that high up the bill at all! There was hardly anyone even listening. When they finished, Evie and myself strolled into the pit, because there were so few people there!



The Strokes were much better than when I saw them at Reading, but all the same, every song sounds the same. I seriously don’t see why they are so massive. They’re entertaining but it’s getting a bit tired at this stage.

Finally we headed off to see The Chemical Brothers where MCD’s managerial ineptitude reached new heights, with them being placed inside a tiny venue, when they are among the biggest Dance acts in the world. Despite a crush of Hillsborough proportions, Evie and myself managed to get in and it was great!

That was it for Saturday, saw a tiny bit of The Cure as we left, but the general feeling I got from people is that they were a bit poor and only played from their most recent album. Other bands I saw bits of, Franz Ferdinand, Electric Six and The Divine Comedy, but I didn’t see enough to pass judgement.


Sunday

So I didn’t have to get up nearly as early on Sunday because the hotel was quite close to the festival, which suited me down to the ground, since I was wrecked from Saturday. Got to the festival around 1 o’clock, and unfortunately managed to miss seeing, due to my inability to read a schedule properly! It didn’t matter too much because I was there on Sunday for Muse and Ash primarily!



So having missed Turn, we more or less wandered around for an hour or so. I got a T-Shirt, which as usual cost a mint, and then we headed off to queue for the pit, so that we’d be upfront for Ash and Muse


So we got into the pit but had to endure Pink first. I don’t know why an act like that gets booked for a festival, but it happened! Just mostly chatted to people around me for her set so it was good all the same!


Next on stage was Faithless, who were very good. They worked the crowd quite well, and their big songs were great. They had a lot of new slow songs, which were pretty crap, but all in all, it was good!


Then of course before we could enjoy Ash, there was a big shower of rain, which kinda deadened the athmosphere. Ash were great all the same! Played a really good set, and the band are so much better live than 3 or 4 years ago. The crowd didn’t know much of the new album stuff, but that’s their loss cos it’s a fantastic album


Ash left the stage, we waited for Muse. They had all the good set up! Really cool looking keyboard, it was class. Great lightshow, pity it wasn’t dark enough. Muse rocked the festival the same way they blew everyone away at Glastonbury. MCD fucked up majorly by not having them headline, but we had our fun! A great set, and the amount of people I’ve heard since, who’ve said it was brilliant, “even though I’m not into that music” is huge. Muse will hopefully get a big venue to headline in Ireland soon!


At this stage I was so tired! I’d been on my feet all day, and a set from Muse will always tire you out, but the Basement Jaxx were fantastic, and managed to get me to forget about all the aches and pains. They did a great show, and the crowd were really up for it. I’m so happy I made the choice to go see them instead of the The Darkness

So in summary:

Hot:

• Muse
• Ash
• Chemical Brothers
• Basement Jaxx
• Snow Patrol

Not:

• MCD
• The Weather
• The Price
• The Scum