Foo Fighters steal the show on a drab Saturday at Oxegen

First to take the Vodafone stage on Saturday at 14:00 was none other than Amanda Brunker. Who? Hmmm exactly. Amanda Brunker's performance was nothing short of atrocious and had I not watched post performance interviews, I would have sworn it was a joke. The crowd was almost non-existent and those that did show up looked thoroughly shocked and quite frankly, embarrassed to be there. The fact that the Oxegen organisers decided to book Brunker over the large pool of talent that exists in Ireland is at best confusing and at worst offensive.

In an interview she stated that she didn't sing much because she "just wanted to get on and off as quickly as possible." This is not the attitude you would expect from the artist opening Oxegen's second biggest stage on a Saturday afternoon. After performing U2's 'With or Without You', Brunker left the stage leaving the back-up band Gitano to finish out the set. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and don't believe that being Miss Ireland automatically negates that person from being a well-respected member of the music industry. In this case however, it does. I urge you to watch a video online of this performance and dare to disagree!

At approximately 8.05 pm on Saturday Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer and Andy Bell took to the main stage in the form of newly formed band Beady Eye. Oasis this is not so donÂ’t expect it. The days of 60,000 singing along to potential future classics have been replaced with the sad sight of a few thousand clinging on to some faint hope of an Oasis rebirth. I for one am disappointed for I feel that deep inside I am one of the sad few thousand. I desperately hoped for something that would instil some fire in my heart but rather it provoked no feelings whatsoever. This was a generic output of throwback music with no real depth and this festival appearance did not make me feel that I would spend money on going to a show. The crowd looked suitably bored throughout and those who came to catch a glimpse of the former Oasis frontman left rather disappointed. Only those hard-core Liam fans seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show; those on the fence were nudged on to the other side.

After a somewhat drab and disappointing Saturday at Oxegen, it did not take long for a certain headlining act to put the bounce back into everyone's step. Foo Fighters as expected stole the show. They are consistent but that certainly does not make them boring. A crowd reminiscent of the huge legion at Eminem one year previous stood expectantly as Foo Fighters prepared to take to the stage and by the end one would have been very hard pressed to find an unsatisfied attendee to what was hands down the spectacle of the weekend.

Dave Grohl at 41 still oozes the same natural coolness as Dave Grohl at 25 and the crowd could not help but be captivated by his powerful voice, deep lyrics and incredible guitar solos. He engaged with his fans throughout the set and they in turn hung on every word. If crowd movement is indicative of a successful show (and I believe it is for a band such as Foo Fighters) then this may be one of the most successful performances I have witnessed from a rock band. Always a 'giving' performer, Grohl knows what the crowd wants to hear and during his performances of 'Monkey Wrench', 'All My Life', 'Best Of You', 'Breakout' and 'My Hero', 70,000 couldn't help but rock out. The set, in its simplicity, was indicative of a band that can rely on its music to produce a stimulating experience. It did that and more.

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