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home » festivals » Oxegen » Oxegen 2008
Sunday reviewOxegen 2008 reviewsSaturday 19th July 2008 Day three is here, and people are looking a wee bit the worse for wear.! We Are Scientists provided a highly amusing set at the O2 Stage, working the crowd with cheeky one-liners, which helped cover up the fact that their music has as much depth as an Oxegen puddle, a statement greatly disagreed with by my photographer who believed their strong happy energy could be felt from the word go, though this could be due to her being only a few meters away from the lively antics of the band.  A man with depth is Lightspeed Champion over at Pet Sounds. They are cool, even ending on a Star Wars medley breaking into ‘Midnight Surprise’. Pure class and the crowd loved it.  MGMT are the big attraction to the Pet Sounds Stage with the tent once again full, and with many fans watching from outside. The set is interrupted half way through by some 'daredevil' fans that climbed one of the tents support beams to the shock of the organizers. It was totally crazy and happily complimented the free spirited feel of the music, which was soon resumed once the fans eloped back down the beam. MGMT start back with ‘Electric Feel’ which kick starts the crowd back into dance mode, followed by hit single ‘Time to Pretend’. Awesomeness!! I caught a bit of The Raconteurs, who got mixed reviews from campers which highlighted that it took a while for Jack White’s performance to reach full strength, though it was worth the wait. Flogging Molly’s (shockingly playing on the ‘new bands stage’?) electrifying full set overlapped the start of The Pogues set, preventing many fans of both from getting into the packed tent for the latter, this type of frustrating overlap was common in Oxegen, though almost inevitable with such a packed and exciting line up. The Pogues received a huge homecoming reception as they played their first Irish festival in nearly 20 years (their first since the 1991 Feile in Thurles, Co Tipperary). Shane MacGowan and co packed the festival's Green Room tent to capacity as they ran through an ecstatically received greatest hits set in front of a emotional audience. Being the height of summer, the band omitted Christmas classic 'Fairytale Of New York' but did play a host of crowd favourites a spine-tingling version of 'Dirty Old Town' getting the biggest sing-a-long of the set. Rage Against The Machine closed the Oxegen Festival with a triumphant performance on the Main Stage. The band, who arrived onstage 15 minutes late, sparked mass mosh pits in the crowd as they blasted through their back catalogue. Despite the sound cutting out briefly on a number of occasions, the band drew huge cheers for the likes of 'Bomb Track' and 'Bullet In The Head ' as De La Rocha strutted across the stage and guitarist Tom Morello riffed through a number of tracks.  The band wrapped up their raucous show with 'Wake Up', which featured in the film The Matrix, and their biggest hit 'Killing In The Name'. I took a break mid-set for refreshments and had to cue up at the ATM for 25 minutes - Oxegen, two ATM’s isn’t enough for a festival! I think I missed ‘Renegades of Funk’ because of the wait and if I'd have gone to the bank earlier on and not during a headliner it could have took me anything up to an hour wait. But overall I was very impressed with the festival. And so Oxegen 2008 lived up to its predecessors, weather side (not as rainy and mucky as the last two years but also not as scorching as the first few years).  Highlights were many but for me Kings of Leon, The National and Rage Against The Machine stood out, with my 'best of rest' including MGMT, Lightspeed Champion, The Ting Tings and Future Kings of Spain. Furthermore we found Oxegen an excellent place to catch newer, lesser known acts, each give you the feeling they had been selected for their high quality and amazing performances, with Blood Red Shoes, Seasick Steve, Powderfinger, The Music, Fighting with Wire, General Fiasco and Liam Finn all must-see acts. review by Lonan O'Neill photos by Eilis Scally
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