Music Blog - The Lightweight's Oxegen

Fleetwood Mac at the RDS in 1988
Sunstroke in Dalymount Park in 1993
Bruce Springsteen in the RDS in 2003
Metallica in the RDS in 2003
Roskilde in 2005 (no camping)

As you can see, I've no cause to take offence if you accuse me of being a complete lightweight when it comes to outdoor gigs. Someone once said to me that if you wouldn't go to see a game of football in Whelan's, what was the point of watching a band in a field? I tried to live by that motto before I knew it even existed and, thinking of the above shows, the only bands I've seen in the open air that were really amazing were Fleetwood Mac (first gig) and The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy at Sunstroke. So, while I figured I should step outside my comfort zone, I prepared for Oxegen with the Optimism Counter at an all-time high. And that was even before the weather forecast was announced.

Time to 'fess up: I only went on the Saturday and Sunday and was out of there by 8.30pm on the Sunday. But over those 18 hours (I honestly didn't count every minute) I reckon I managed to see more bands than a lot of people - and can actually remember who I did see. My Oxegen was: The Saw Doctors, Gary Go, Daniel Merriweather, Regina Spektor, TV on the Radio, Elbow, The Pet Shop Boys, Kings of Leon, That Petrol Emotion, Friendly Fires, two minutes of Lady Gaga on top of a piano, Foals and The Specials.

You may notice a pattern here that most of these sets were in a tent - I've an aversion to rain and from when I first arrived in it on the Saturday afternoon I thought that big tent had one thing which the outdoor stages lacked: atmosphere. Outside the weather was too hellish and the people were too messy and wasted to get any enjoyment out of the music. For me it's no fun watching a band wondering if you're going to get a complimentary mudbath from teenagers or of if the barely-standing-up guy to your right is looking at you the same way that a dog eyes a lamppost. I saw that happen, incidentally.

As for the backstage area, if you're expecting celeb stories and Lady Gaga playing crazy golf with Katy Perry and The Game doing doughnuts in a golf buggy, forget it: backstage was cleaner people standing around drinking, working or posing and better toilets. Maybe there was a 'backstage' backstage for all the stars.

One thing I've noticed in my very limited festival experience is that the highlights of the weekend turn out to be the acts you had no intention of seeing in the first place. And so Pet Shop Boys, Friendly Fires and Foals were amazing, while Jane's Addiction and The Mars Volta weren't seen. Like the best pros, what Pet Shop Boys, Friendly Fires and Foals did was create a bond between them and the crowd - Kings of Leon must've missed that class at rockshool. I couldn't believe how dull they were.

By the Sunday evening I was too tired and too dreading Monday morning to stick around any longer. I would've liked to have seen Florence and the Machine, but no doubt she and it will be back before the year's end. As for me going back to Oxegen, well, while I really enjoyed my time in the tent, I would only go back if a very special guest was confirmed for next year.

The sun.

Harry Guerin