Goldfrapp on the NME stage in 2006. Alison couldn’t do the whole set because she had a sore throat I think. Most bands would probably just cancel and disappoint the fans but she came out and sang some of their best accompanied by girls in bikinis with wolves heads. Brilliant stuff.

Battles were the best live because when I entered the tent last year, everybody was just standing in awe. The beats kept changing and were so irregular. Because of this, when people started to bop their head, they’d loose rythm and have to start bopping again. haha.

James Brown in 2006- fantastic performance, so excited that I finally got to see him, especially as he died only a few months later. I can’t imagine seeing a more energetic set by performers a fraction his age.

animal collective on the new band stage.. i was young and really thought i was the business knowing who they were and seeing them back them

Frank Black & the Catholics in 2001 (at Witnness). Reasons – Gouge Away, Where Is My Mind?, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Holiday Song and Nimrods Son. For someone who thought a Pixies reunion would never happen this was the best gig ever and it still makes me happy when I think about it.

Orbital!

There was a security guy holding back the punters trying to squeeze into the fairly-full tent, minutes before the gig started. There was no way I was missing Orbital – I’d waited years to see them – but this guy was dedicated and, more importantly, strong like bull. In order to get past him, I’d have to be cunning like a cunning fox in Cunningland on National Cunning Day at cunning o’clock, eating a cunning sandwich made of cunning. I racked my brain for a plan. First I tried to go around him – no joy. Then I tried to distract him – nothing. Then I tried to lift his arm (strength in numbers, you see) – nada. So finally I just tickled him and he buckled. Woohoo! In I ran, just as Orbital took to the stage, and I imagine a few dozen managed to get past that poor security guy in my wake. Lights off, headlights beaming into the crowd, atmosphere was unreal. I lost it during The Box. Just as I clambered onto a friend’s shoulders, I came up. It may have been during Satan. I swear Paul Hartnoll shone his shiny lights into my frazzled eyes for a while. Great success!

Mine has to be Oxegen 2005 when Green Day got 2 young lads on stage to jam with them. The dude on the guitar, probably only about 16 at the time was a left hander playing a right handers guitar but he rocked the shit out of it. The boys in Green Day were going at it full gun too … even though I’m not a Green Day fan it was great to see and it drove the crowd nuts!

It was easily THE TEARS, it was the only gig that the former-suede boys did in the republic of Ireland. The band were having setup problems and came on so late at night. Originally it was just hand full of former suede fans in the tent but due to the late start they ended up being one of the last acts of the night, meaning they attracted the stragglers from other gigs – it resulted in a hopping set that pleased old fans and won them a lot of new fans too. Shame they broke up shortly afterwards.

If it weren’t for oxegen I never would have seen Bernard Butler and Brett Anderson on the same stage together. Nostalgia at its very best!

The best live act I’ve seen at Oxegen was probably Arcade Fire in 2008. It was my first time to see them live and it was pretty phenomenal. They came onstage on a gloomy Sunday evening, when people were tired and a bit damp from the spitting showers that had pestered everyone for most of the weekend, to get the biggest reaction of the festival. They played a winner of a set that comprised of a delicate balance between the two albums, but more importantly, they managed to lift the whole crowd at the main stage and instill this sense of joy into everyone (well certainly to the people around my vicinity at the time). People seemed to celebrate during the set. It didn’t feel like a gig, more like a grande occasion that we were all privileged to be part of. It really was great. Standout moment had to be when Richard climbed the side of the stage and proceeded to hammer away at the structure with a drumstick until it broke, a really great live moment. An unforgettable experience

It was an atrociously wet and muddy day on saturday the 7th of july where i witnessed the amazing set of daft punk!!!
Before they came on stage the duo showed a trailer of their forthcoming film ’Daft Punk’s Elecroma’.Emerging to a distinctive sample from the soundtrack to ’2001: A Space Odyssey’ and wearing their trademark metallic helmets, duo Guy Manuel de Homem Christo and Thomas Bangalter stormed through a megamix of their hits for the us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Daft punk played :
‘Robot Rock’
‘Oh Yeah’
‘Touch It’
‘Voyager’
‘Technologic’
‘Television Rules The Nation’
‘Crescendolls’
‘Steam Machine’
‘Around The World’
‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’

among many others,twas classs
pick me
please

I have seen some top class bands, dj’s and perfomers to date,but you never forget your first gig- mine was in 1995 when I was 15, ‘Slane’ in the reverential grounds of Slane castle for the monumental strummings of REM. I was alcohol free (practically- a few cans shared between 10 of us!), fresh faced, wide eyed and naturally pumped on teenage hormones, feeling as free and buzzed as any woodstock hippy. The weather was glorious, the grounds were heaving with happy heads and the music was amazing. I remember some heavy Irish dancing to Luka Bloom and Sharon Shannon, before the arrival of some Mancunian load mouth and lairy band (who threatened to leave the stage after a ‘missile’ was thrown and were promptly boo-ed) called Oasis showed up and played a few tunes. A true ‘back in the day’ memory.

Lordy, that is a tough question!!

Have to agree with a lot of fellow posters though and go with Daft Punk in ‘07 who just ROCKED SO HARD!!! Other highlights for me over the years though: The sun (finally) coming out to Insomnia – Faithless in 04 – Top Moment and then started peeing it down when Ash came in … says it all :) Scissor Scissors closely followed by Franz Ferdinand in the rain in ‘04 back in the day when you could get in and out of the mosh pit with nay bother. What i caught of the Flaming Lips in ‘02, gutted i missed most of the set though :( REM last year – awesome. Green Day ‘05. Ah so many good times. Gutted to miss this year owing to lack of funds (sob sob) as a massive Blur fan and saw them 14 years ago in Belfast and would sooooo like to repeat this!

Sigur Rós in 2006. Impossible to put into words, so how about some facts: completely silenced an unruly festival crowd at 12.30 on a Sunday night for 60 minutes. A special night.

RHCP Main stage 2006.

Everything that goes with Oxegen went down..Copious amounts of Alcohol and an Unbelievable set from The Chillies sun setting just in time for the Stage Lighting show to Illuminate the Whole of Punchestown. Amazing stuff, That only oxegen can provide!

Without doubt the Go team, they define oxegen, party tunes, everyone dancing and happy, and the band are class aswell, if there ever was an advertisment for oxegen, so a video of the go team singing Botlle rocket live at oxegen, there will be no problem selling tickets then.

The year i went (2005) there were loads of brilliant acts but i’d have to say green day were the best. They were amazing, really captured the crowd and had me in a daze. Really gr8 performers! and they sang our graduation song (time of your life) so me and the girls loved that ( (James Brown was unbelieveable as well….RIP James x)

*were

It’s late.

haven’t seen niall dj yet…that would be number one. obviously.
limping in at number 2 would be Sigur Ros last year at Electric Picnic, it’s the first time i’ve seen them and i was just enchanted!

Ive so many great memories of all the festival ive been to but the one ill always remember was the first festival i went to, it was when coldplay played withness in 2003. I didnt particulary like coldplay before this but witness changed that, this will sound cheesey but it was such an emotional set, everyone had their lighters out swinging from side to side and the crowd was singing every word, it was the perfect finish to a great day.
Aww the memories!

that is a very tough question as there have been many amazing acts over the years @ Oxegen, each one deserving a mention… However, i think for me, the answer would have to be James Brown, 2005 Oxegen. he was amazing, moving around the stage like he was in his 20s as well as going through an euphoric list of classics! Such an experience to see him!

i think that a closley followed second place would have to go to the Pigeon Dectectives in 2008, never before have i seen so much energy pumped into a one hour act, he definitely knew how to get the crowd going!

Pendulum at oxegen last year was the most amazing thing I have ever been to!!!

We werent even expecting them to be that good but the tent atmosphere was perfect for the amazing drum and bass sound

Would love to see them again this year. Dont let me down

Oh without a doubt it had to be Ash at Witness 2001. At the tender age of 17 this was my first real festival and the band I was most excited about was Ash. Disaster struck towards the end of the gig when I began to feel dizzy and fainted! I ended up being dragged through thousands of fans at the festival and taken out of the crowd. Everyone wrongly assumed it was related to alcohol or drugs! But I had suffered from low blood pressure at the time and being packed in the middle of the crowd didnt help but im a die hard.. haha. My mate always laughed about it after saying at least I waited till all the best songs were over! The funniest part was that ironally the song that played as I was being carried out of the crowd was “Girl from Mars”. I have stuck with that song as a nickname since that day!….

It has to be the Killers at Oxegen 2007. I couldn’t wait to see these guys and seriously thought the gig was unreal. After their show, I went back to where my tent should have been and it was gone! Not fallen down or flooded but gone! I was still buzzing so I didn’t really care. Had some beverages in the car and my phone and car keys in my pocket and we were put up for the night by our friendly dublin neighbours. I’d just love to see them again and hope that I’d my home would still be there afterwards, or if not i’d survive anyway.
ps. I’d defo be in the Dance Arena at 3.20pm giving it socks if I won. (“,)

The Flaming Lips. The year The White Stripes cancelled due to Jack’s clumsiness of finger. 200(?).

The White Stripes have cancelled. Yet this does nothing to stop the reverberation of drunken imitations of the Seven Nation riff all weekend. I have somehow lost my friends. Again. The Frames are finishing up on the main stage. The crowd are loving it. Wayne Coyne stands offstage, impish grin, impressed. The Frames finish. The crowd bays for more. Wayne walks onstage. Asks the crowd if they’d like another Frames song. The crowd screams yes. Wayne ushers The Frames back onstage. The Frames play a blistering cover of “Debaser”. The crowd is chuffed out to the max. And beyond. To the max.

Confetti is everywhere. Wayne Coyne looks happily possessed. Wayne bemoans the lack of White Stripes at the festival, mentions the honour of being asked to step in for their main stage slot. Then The Flaming Lips launch into an awesome cover of “Seven Nation Army”. The crowd goes apeshit. The Flaming Lips follow this opening with a typically mesmeric and manic set. The festival glee is upon us, one and all.

I find my friends, my Flaming Lips live cherry popped nicely. We walk across the site just in time to grab the start of The Polyphonic Spree, who are fucking awesome too. My friend finds €200. My other friend pukes on a small child’s foot.

The complete festival experience in two hours. My best at Oxegen by far.

Good luck with the set dude!

The Pogues- 2008.

Firstly, I love The Pogues. Probably more than any other band out there. ‘I’ve marched into the station in the rain’ a thousand times, each time with the headphones a little louder than the last. I’m probably the only 19 year old with an almost complete 7″ singles collection by The Pogues, which might impress older people but means nothing to my mates except at Christmas, if you know what I mean….. On the subject of Christmas, I hadn’t missed a Pogues Christmas show in years. My mam started bringing me years back, and today the ritual continues, albeit now with a ‘brief’ stop in O’ Donoghues each year. A brief-stop being the time it takes the support act to get through their set. The only exception to this rule, for what its worth, was The Radiators.

So 2008, and I make my first visit to a festival. Just finished the Leaving Cert. A man. A crap job, the first bank account (seriously) and the need for some sort of post-Leaving Cert ritual. Crete? Not a hope. If we wanted to drink in the sun we’d head off to Wexford for the week. It was booked by somebody else, on the logic that “Sure Donal’d love to go….”

Bollocks to this I thought at first, no showers, rip-off food, security that’d make any League of Ireland ‘orangejacket bloke’ blush. I never really liked the idea of going to a festival, and to be honest I was there to see basically The Pogues, The Hold Steady and The Manics, all solid bands but all bands I’d seen before, in The Pogues case more than a few times. As soon as you walk into that lawless camp site but, you know this ain’t no RDS, this ain’t no Point Depot. It’s a beautiful kind of madness.

By the time The Pogues rolled around on Sunday, I was well on my way. I’d hardly slept, I looked like absolute crap (Regretted not getting that haircut before going, head looked like a bomb-site) and I was down to a hideous pair of shorts I should never have bought and a Clash t-shirt some idiot had spilled his can of Social Welfare on the night before. Who drinks Beamish at a rock-festival? A fucking eejit, thats who. Probably up with the whole Hurling team for “The craic, like” and not seen a band yet. Fuck him, its The Pogues I thought. Probably a tiny one too, they’re not like ‘massive’ or anything.

How wrong can you be? Very.

The place was packed out. Oh fuck. When The Pogues kicked off, to the CLASSIC Repeal of the Licensing Laws, the place went ballistic. I latter seen the NME said they opened with “a short instrumental” It has a name….. and if you’re a fan of The Pogues, nothing kicks you off quite like it.

It was standard affair for The Pogues as far as set-list goes. We were going where Streams of Whiskey were flowing, and watching Frank Ryan deck blackshirts, and piss poor along the Old Main Drag and all those other places The Pogues can take you in a song.

I bought my old man the new Liam Clancy CD last Christmas, and listened to him singing The Broad Majestic Shannon. You’d play it at your funeral, its beautiful. I’ve never heard anyone catch the emotions in a song so perfectly. Its a million miles removed from wat ching Shane spit out the words while Spider and the lads lash through the thing in record time, amid a sea of bog-roll, underpants (no really) and flying booze. Fuck it, shirts already dirty, and its a long way to December. Might as well dance. I wondered how the lads were getting on watching whoever they’d opted for over this, but to be honest I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. This year when I’m drinking shite Guinness out of a plastic cup in the RDS with the 25-40 mob that come out every Christmas, and not daring to let things get too out of hand, in my head I’ll remember that day in the Green Room, in my hideous shorts and not really caring a bit.

I think my relationship with The Pogues will be one of those life long ones, and no band have ever grabbed me in the same way. The fact this year I’d most like to see Telepathe, Crystal Castles and Tiga, and don’t know a tin whistle from a bodhran does make people wonder why I love ‘em so much, but christ has any band got that energy?

david usher’s set back in 2005 i believe, ‘post man pat’ and ‘ride on’ were my favourites. i know that wont win me any ticket but id rather see dublin beat kildare in croke park!!(unless theres a free helicopter service included with the tickets?)

Has to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers a couple of years ago in the phoenix park i was a mad fan back then!!! and couldnt get tickets used to turn down the tv every time an add came on lol…then one day i heard a comp to win tickets had to make up the next line for give it away….was at the time of the whole bo selecta slaggin michael jackson thing so my line went give it away give it away now shamone motherfucka micheal jackson say ow!!! lol….and i won!!! wu!!! then like two weeks before i broke my ankle and was on cruthces but i went anyway on the bus and everything it was my first real gig and it was definitley memeroble….plus!! the pixies and groove armada wer epic…..i hope i win on randomness this is a true story….RESPECT to michael jackson it was down to him lol

iv never been to oxygen but having seen lady gaga in live at the marquee 2 days ago it has made me sooo want 2 go now. she was absolutely amazing and i cant imagine how gud she wud b at a festival like oxegen

Rival Schools – Witnness 2002. I know it’s not Oxegen, but i haven’t been to the festival since they changed the name.

Because Gary Clarke missed them, trying to find a shop outside the festival.

Hi Niall, thanks for this great competition (I’d definitely be down the Dance Arena to see you DJ if I won tickets).

I’ve never been to Oxegen (Hence it would be great to win these tickets), but the best festival set I’ve ever seen would have to be Patrick Wolf playing at Electric Picnic in 2007 (Who’s coincidentally also playing at Oxegen this year).

Anyhow, the fest was jam-packed with everything to promising new bands to legendary acts such as Bjork, The Chemical Brothers, and Beastie Boys, and as it was my first ever festival I spent a couple of hours taking in the equally amazing Body and Soul Area, onsite shopping, Fun Fair and various other sites. Yet a relatively small act, sixth on the bill on one of the smallest stages, made this festival a truly magical event; one which I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

As a huge fan of Patrick Wolf, owning all his music, I was understandably greatly excited when his only Irish date of 2007 was announced, and persuaded my Dad to come along on the promise that we’d to go see his favourite band, The Undertones.

As their set drew to a close, we were approached by a friendly Hot Press steward, inviting us to attend an Undertones slot in the signing tent, which, as poor fortune would have it, clashed with Patrick Wolf’s set. However my Dad, knowing how much I wanted to see Patrick Wolf, accompanied me to the Nokia Trends Lab Stage after refusing to let me go on my own, bypassing the chance to meet some of his very own musical heroes.

As we reached the tent where he was due to perform, the last band to play, 65 days of static, were bringing their set to a close, and the assembled crowd were starting to disperse out into the grounds, so we made our way to the front to wait for his arrival.

Soon enough, a small audience had gathered in the tent, encompassing those of all ages, one rather dour security guard and a few particularly enthusiastic students who were standing beside us, dressed like and singing the collective hits of Patrick Wolf, adorned in glitter and boasting some shocking dyed red hair in the style of the man himself. One other excited fan, who had apparently travelled from Scotland and donned a beer-hat specially for the occasion, questioned us as to whether we’d ever seen Patrick Wolf live, recieving a negative reply. ‘It’ amazing’, she said, and she was right.

As the lights dimmed Wolf took to the stage sporting a typically understated outfit; a turqouise blue sequined T-Shirt covered by a leopard skin hoodie, denim hot pants with an attached rope belt tied to what appeared to be some plastic fruit, red knee socks and mammoth green platforms, looking like he may have just dismounted a unicorn backstage, before launching into a haunting and beautiful version of a track rarely heard live; ‘Ghost Song’.

As he continued to perform, reaching into his back catalouge to play some songs usually committed to record instead of the stage, such as the sweeping ‘Teignmouth’, as well as radio friendly technicolour tunes such as ‘Accident and Emergendy’ and ‘The Magic Position’, he travelled seamlessly from moments of chamber-pop grandeur to quiet shoe gazing.
The audience were captivated and beguiled as he displayed his musical prowess, swapping the ukelele for a keyboard, a violin for a cello and then a theremin, and ended a truly incredible set, at times reminiscent of the live perfromances of another experimental pop wonderkid, David Bowie himself, on the gentle and reflective, yet subtley anthemic ‘The Stars’.

As the set ended with the song’s last beats and Wolf’s moving refrain, ‘Look Up, Look Up, The Stars’, dusk descended over the rolling green fields of the Stradbally estate, day melting into night, with the aroma of cigarette smoke and beer infusing the tent, and the crowd began to take their leave in search of their next musical fix. A suddenly shy artist looked up from his keyboard. ‘Thanks’, said Patrick Wolf, ‘I Love Ireland’, and by the awestruck looks on the faces of those who remained in the tent, and the utterance of one thouroughly impressed on-looker, ‘That’s easily the best thing you’ll see all weekend’, I think it’s fair to say that Ireland loved Patrick, too.

The correct answer here should be Holy F**k last year at Oxegen, but I missed them because I went to see Paul Heaton instead. Not a major fan, but randomly bumped into a mate of mine at the bar, and we were both curious to see what his solo stuff was like, so we decided to go along to the gig.

The tent was sparsely populated, and the music was not a million miles away from his previous projects, but well performed nonetheless. Anyway, it was not the actual performance that made it memorable for me.

During Paul’s set, I had a conversation with my friend about helping me to start some sort of music night in our area. As a result of that conversation I am now regularly running an indie night at a local venue.

So my answer is Paul Heaton – If it wasn’t for his performance at Oxegen, I would still be sitting on my arse thinking about doing something, and the people in my local area wouldn’t have easy access to good tunes once a month.

God my spelling is atrocious

Jimmy Cliff 2004 – First and only time i’ve ever seen the guy. This man is a phenomenal performer. michael jackson dance moves mixed with capoeira martial arts and the splits, a mean feat for any man but Jimmy Cliff’s in his 60’s! I was there with my mate and his mom who as she said “Used to dance to this guy back in the 60’s’.

Coming late to festivals, Electric Picnic last year was my first ever, and I was completely hooked. There were so many top acts that I was discovering for the first time – Elbow, Roots, Herbaliser, Underworld, The Gossip. All were fantastic and I danced ’til I dropped, but the overwhelming highlight for me, undoubtedly, has to be Grinderman.

Already a Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds fan, I was also booked to go to NY to see him in Oct, so being at the *very* front for this set was the icing on the cake.

Nick Cave’s incredibly passionate and intense performance was awesome, in the true sense of the word. Magnicificent and powerful, he screamed out ‘The No Pussy Blues’ at full force and my god it hit you right between the eyes. As did the rest of Grinderman’s set – generally grittier and more anarchic than most of the Bad Seeds’ work. I loved the powerful force and almost-uncontrolled chaos of it. The outlandish creativity of Warren Ellis was quite something to behold too – what a musician. I could’ve stayed there forever, blissfully mesmorised.

I was at Oxegen last year and the best band I saw was Vampire Weekend. The place was rocking – but why has Blake got a new face? I’m still in the dark.

Kaiser Chiefs last year….Ricky Wilson was completely hammered, climbing the rafters and jumping into the crowd being chased by security guards!! It’s always a good sign when the act is having just as much fun as the people there entertaining…and when I say having as much fun I mean are so totally pissed they are just as likely to remember as little as the audience…other than the atmosphere of course!! Totally AMAZING!!!

Hmm, I’ve already got tickets, but I’ve been reminded of some good times by all these comments. I’ve been to every Witnness/Oxegen except for last year’s one, so I’m making a return for this year’s amazing line-up. I’ve seen some pretty amazing sets down the years both as a punter and while working at the gig.

From classic memories like Beck and Leftfield as well as discovering Doves and the insane Happy Mondays debacle in 2000, Muse after the downpour in ‘01 before they became so bloated and boring, Sonic Youth and an introduction to the Polyphonic Spree on Sunday morning in ‘02. Then there was the legendary Flaming Lips set mentioned above when they filled in for the White Stripes and brought joyful chaos to the main stage.

More recent pleasures included meeting the likes of Conor Oberst and Regina Spektor who played a great set that year. Watching Arcade Fire from the side of the main stage in ‘07 with Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon amongst the celebs standing next to me. One of the best sets I’ve seen was again while working on the Pet Sounds stage when Sigur Rós headlined on Sunday night. When they arrived at the stage, I had to ask them who had won the World Cup final. They shared their celebratory Italian wine with me. They played an astounding hour-long set that had entirely different intensity than any of the other gigs I’ve seen them play, even the grandiose set from last year’s Picnic.

This year, I’m dying to finally see TV On The Radio, St Vincent and Friendly Fires and really looking forward to Blur, Florence, Passion Pit, Broken Records, Ladyhawke and tons more. Niall, I’ll only come to your set if you don’t clash with anybody… at all, and you have to promise to play me some Abba. Deal?

I’d be willing to prostitute myself as a jam roll in the middle of route 66, flailing about sexily as a contradiction in terms while Geronimo gets stuck into some dutch horsemeat on the side.

Nah wouldn’t really.

gotta get a gateaux gotta get a gateaux cake.

kDamo: with Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon amongst the celebs standing next to me.

celebs?!
artists!! tim and susan are awesome actors, not mere celebs!

Hot Chip were by far the best act I’ve seen at punchestown. It was one of those shows where you haven’t seen any of your mates for the whole day then you all eventually end up in the same place at the same time. The Pet Sounds tent was packed to capacity and we were half way down the back. Once ‘Over and Over’ kicked in the place hit the roof. Epic…

Ive never been to oxegen and i wanna go but im too scabby to buy a ticket

interpol…a few years back in one of the tents…i remember all the lights were purple and the crowd was glowing from head to toe in anticapation of what was to come….i lost my group of friends in the crowd and stood on my own for the gig..it was the most overwhelming feeling when the band came on stage…the atmosphere in the tent was ELECTRIC…the energy from the crowd even before a chord was strummed….it was a blur of music, dancing and energy….we could have powered the town of naas…it was amazing….i cleary remember when they played “not even jail” which wasnt particulary one of my favourite songs on the album….i remember i stopped dancing and just watched everyone else….dancing and singing, it was like it was moving in slow motion, everyone totally in awe, looking at the stage, uniting as one giant wave moving with the music….i actually had tears in my eyes….when the song finished the crowd started singing “ole, ole ole ole” for a good 5mins and the band, who are well known for not interacting or talking with the crowd, stood watching US perform for them….they stopped playing and stood smiling and shocked at the reception…paul banks was speechless and said he’d never seen or received such a reception before at a gig..and he genuinely looked overwhelmed….after the performance i walked out of the tent and the sun was shining, my friends arrived and i knew i’d never witness such a spectacular performance like it again….i still get chills and think of that moment when i hear that song….amazing

I have not been lucky enough to go to Oxegen yet, i had all my money saved up since last year, but i had to give it to my mum(stupid recession)! The Line-Up this year sounds AMAZING and i’m dying to be there. Every single person my age in my town is going (sucks to be left behind) as a Post-Leaving Cert celebrations please please PLEASE consider me for these tickets!!

With regards to the question we’re supposed to answer obviously i can’t give a great answer at the moment since this would be my 1st festival but if you choose me i will write you a whole essay about my Oxegen experience (which is quite a promise for someone who just did the leavin cert – which included a Saturday exam – to make!).

So please consider me for the tickets i really really wanna go so badly!!sorry if this isn’t this best entry hope i got my desperation across though!!!!!

Fiona M: For me it was the Killers in 2005. They weren’t head liners yet but it felt like everyone was there! All weekend people kept breaking out into song in the camp site singing “I’ve got soul but, I’m not a soldier” and when they played “All these Things That I’ve Done” it felt like everyone as there singing along! It was Brilliant! It felt like the song of the weekend! They were the best!

It says a lot that they are using the crowd sing-a-long of All those things from that set in the TV ads this week.

The best festival set I’ve ever seen was Muse playing at Marlay Park last year. I didn’t even know I was going until about two hours before the gig, which made it all the better, despite it taking ages to find the venue. Glasvegas and Kasabian were pretty awesome themselves, but Muse were definitely where it was at. They opened with ‘Map Of the Problematique’; a truly awesome tune, and as the set went on, I wondered how I never really realized before just how many awesome songs they actually have. And how positively divine their cover of ‘Feeling Good’ is. But it wasn’t just the songs that made the night; the mind-blowing theatrics of forty-foot high satellite dishes, giant white balloons, smoke machines and laser shows made this not just a set, but a spectacle. They finished on the epic, ‘Knights of Cydonia’, with the crowd singing along to every word. For me, at least, that set demonstrated everything that the perfect performance should have; the audience was great, really receptive and game, the band was flawless, the frontman charming and diverse when it came to instrumentation. As a previously reluctant festival-goer, wary of tales of vomit, beer and crowd surfing, this single set completely reversed my whole opinion of fests such as this, and now, improbable as it is I’ll win tickets, I can’t think of anything better than going to Oxegen this summer, not least to experience some sets like this one.

Interpol in a tent was pouring rain and warm out that night, everyone there was having the best time ever, moving with the music. we were in the middle front and had never seen them before. after that gig we were hooked.

daft punk at oxegen 07
they enlightened the spirits of a very dreary weekend that began with a member of the crew loseing there passport leading to us wait in the minor tent for 3 hours till a family member brought her drivers license then walking over an hour in the lashings of rain to the very bottom of the red campsite ….finding the contents of our bags drenched, wearing wet clothes for three days..the tent caveing in,my toenail getting crushed and falling off and my friend in naas hospital with alcohol posioning!! all in all another year in oxegen was well worth it to witness daft punks electric preformance got the audaince buzzing and it was as if the crowd was at one with each other(corny i know ..we desperatly want these tickets!) the lighting and stage was out of this planet even for a gig in the 02 never mind a field in kildare, and whats more they were in tune to there audiance….the crowd screamed “one more tune” and as the spectators began to decend they light up the stage once more with an even spectacular finish. It was a show not just a concert ,way better than watching a group of big egoed commercialy produced band any day….roll on 09….if i have a ticket that is!!

the chemical brothers because of their wacky weird yet wicked performance’s

Mine was Killers 2005 @ the main stage. The whole place was rockin’ ….. Happy memories !

Aslan at Oxegen 08.
Mainly because of the pure emotion pouring out of the tent. It was the 1st time Aslan had EVER played at a major festival. Crazy World was some moment as thousands sang along to a great anthem. After soooooooo long they finally arrived. Great great moment.

Witnness 2002 ~ 2 many DJ’s. My first introduction proper to any sort of dance or electronic music. it absolutely blew me away !

Aphex Twin last year, because the whole set scared the Be-Jaysus out of me.

I now can’t sleep at night and the only thing that would make it all better would be a pair of Oxegen tickets for 2009……….

If there was ever a voice so beautiful and a performance that gave me goose bumps it was Laura Marling in the body and soul area at Electric Picnic last year.
No frills attached, she didn’t need them. Sitting on a stool on the stage in that amazing natural amphitheatre, just with her guitar and her voice, haunting and inspiring. She sings of things beyond her years, but the sincerity with which she proclaims with her voice puts all questions in regards to her age to one side. Not many an artist who can do that.
Of course there have been other acts with big stage performances and ridiculous amount of money spent on such a performance, but the ability to evoke emotion through song without external influences is a talent and performance to behold.

Futureheads when the made everyone sing along to hounds of love…
the left hand side of the tent did one part of the do, do, do, do’s
and the right hand side did the other part…i was someplace in the middle

You are definitely the best act at Oxygen, becuase you have free tickets to give away!

Colm Ó Colm:
celebs?!
artists!! tim and susan are awesome actors, not mere celebs!

Sorry, no disrespect to them. The term celebs was in reference to the whole group standing beside me which also included pointless human beings like Josh Hartnett and Helena Christensen.

Niall: Comment 82 was me by the way.

I was thinking that was a bit rude from Aoife!

I’m enjoying reading these comments. It’s turning into a Leaving Cert creative writing contest. Ha!

coldply they were over the pop, entusicastic, crazy, got into the music brilliant!

kings of leon- upbeat, crazy surreal magic! all the words i would use for their concert!

Audioslave were amazing because I lost all my friends and ended up meeting a bunch of boys in the mosh pit. They were deadly fun and had taken in their own cider in plastic bottles that they had brewed at home.

We got dancing in a really mucky patch. The strong home brewed cider, sunshine, music, muck and new friends were a perfect combo (it also didn’t hurt that they were all fine as hell). We’re all still friends and three of their group ended up coming to college in Galway and we all met up and are still good friends.

Yeah festivals are great for music, but they are way better for messing, getting really filthy and making friends who first met you making a holy show of your self.

The Strokes were the best band that I’ve seen at Oxegen because I got to see the most beautiful man alive, Julian Casablanca, not only sing on stage but also roll around in the mud. Legend!! <3

The National in 2007. Came across them at New Band Stage while waiting for Daft Punk to come on had Alligator but not much else. Problems with sound set-up led to 20 minute delay – bad for such a short slot – but by the time they came on the crowd was really pulling for them to make the most of it and it was an absolute stormer. So good that I stayed there for the whole set even though Daft Punk were well into their set by then. So unexpected and so brilliant, Haven’t missed a gig of theirs since.

2 days before Oxegen ‘08 I was walking through the park when I found a CD entitled “Pendulum ‘In Silico’”. Having never heard of the band before and hence not being that interested I quickly found it’s owner – who outside of thanking me, asked if I was heading to Oxegen. When I replied yes he said Pendulum we’re playing and that it would be the biggest mistake of my life not to go because they are a great up-and-coming live act.

Fast-forward 3 days to Saturday and I found myself in a massive predicament – Go with the flow and follow the masses of people to see Stereophonics, OR, take the advice of a random person I encountered and see newer, less well known Pendulum? For reasons I can’t explain (possibly plenty of cocktails :P), I chose the latter.

Let me ensure you it was the most Overwhelmingly Brilliant live performance of my life! There was a great sense of anticipation to be felt in the Green Room which immediately created a feel-good atmosphere for me (despite not knowing what the excitement was about!)

The band wasted no time kicking things off with a fantastic introduction in which they promised that we we’re “Witness to the Sonic Recreation of the End of the World!” And they delivered that magnitude with their innovative ,heart-stopping explosion of drum and bass. Despite never hearing their tracks before it was truly amazing and memorable experience. A really unique fusion of Elecronica and Rock that people could dance to – AND DANCE WE DID!

The set was 40 minutes but only felt like 5. I had never felt such immediate attraction to music just introduced to me. You the word ‘Fun’ is really all that can truly encapsulate the feeling. At most gigs I find myself standing and just waiting for the good hit singles at the end of a set but with this every second was breathtakingly fantastic!

It’s one year later and Pendulum are returning to Oxegen. I have introduced them to my friends who now also love them. It be a most wonderful privilege to once again see the band that changed my perspective of music for life! :D

Robert Kennedy:
The set was 40 minutes but only felt like 5. I had never felt such immediate attraction to music just introduced to me. You the word ‘Fun’ is really all that can truly encapsulate the feeling.

Ditto.

I have never been to Oxegen or any other music festival. I want to experience the music, atmosphere and thrill of thee most talked about music festival of the year. I want to be able to say, I have been there and done that. I want to go silly and have fun soaking up all of my favourite songs. Music is my oxegen, cant live without it!

Haven’t got to Oxygen, yet, but hoping that you will fix-it-for-me-to-go-for-free!!!!! Ah twould be luvely… but the serious business of who’s best for me live at festival – I’d have to say Prodigy for the pure entertainment value of givin every ounce of energy for each performancy – or at least the one time I saw them!!! :}

Tough Question! I think I’m gonna have to go with MIA, though. One of my biggest regrets of going to Electric Picnic is missing the start of her set, when I arrived she was already rocking the tent, aided by a stunning vocalist, and a leather jacketed disc jockey dropping some backing beats on the turntables. Fusing old skool hip-hop, pop and world music together with breath taking results, the remainder of her slot was a blast; especially prominent among the tunes was the then relatively under appreciated dance floor smash, ‘Paper Planes’ as she made gun actions at the Tent roof. Proper fine set, that was. Thanks for reading; I’d appreciate it a lot if you considered this answer in the running for tickets, I am actually in NEED of them. In fact, I know flattery’s been tried, but I’m even willing to set out along the road less ventured of bribery; If you picked me, I’d bake you a cake. An actual cake. Of your choice ;) Cheers :)

The Beardman in the Bacardi tent, oh my guy what a legend!!! All thought we could beatbox after seeing him ( nothing to do with the mojitos n goon).

Elaine Bogue: Official withdrawing my last comment, Kings of Leon were unreal! I swear they were better their albums if you can imagine that. It was soo crammed you could literally feel the heat/ others ppls sweat rising, which ordinarily would be sick but it was freezing so flog it, who gives a toss!

Elaine Bogue: Official withdrawing my last comment, Kings of Leon were unreal! I swear they were better their albums if you can imagine that. It was soo crammed you could literally feel the heat/ others ppls sweat rising, which ordinarily would be sick but it was freezing so flog it!

Prodigy were the best ever! they get the crowd so hyped up! everyone from the older people to the young people love prodigy. I have yet to find someone i know that DOES NOT like the prodigy.

Wel last year i was at oxygen n it was the best 3 days of my life. It started with “The Coronas”, they were really good. “Heros and Ghosts” was class. We stayed at the main stage to listen to “Kings Of Leon”. They were unreal.

We stayed up all night singing songs we heard on the first day and the songs we hoped to hear the second day. On the Saturday we went to “The Prodigy”, “Scouting For Girls” and “The Ting Tings” just to name a few. All of them were good in their own way.

However, the best act had to be “The Blizzards” on the Sunday. They had a huge crowd and i was at the very front, against the barrier, with all my friends. They interacted with the crowd better than any other act i seen that year. When they started to sing “Fantasy” everyone went mad. “YOU ARE MY FANTASY….”. It was just the best possable way to finish the 3 days.

I would love to go back agen this year but after loseing my job 2 months ago, i don’t have the money to go. i would be unbelievably grateful to you if i won this competition. :):)

bexi: Im a major oxegen fan and so theres a lot to chose from!! I love the vibe of the festivals and find that oxegen is matched by none! Rage against the machine played sunday at oxegen 2008.As the main headliners of the festival and having recently reformed they promised to be an amazing set.My friends and i ran from our tents as soon as we were ready as we had spent weeks preparing for what promised to be an amazing gig! Running past the crowds we settled a distance from the stage not wanting to get caught in the inevitable “killing in the name of” crush that would ensue.We got ourselves a few beers and sat down amongst the excited crowds.We werent sitting long as the crowds grew and we all stood up.The lights went up and the crowd went mental! spontaneous people burst into song and danced all over the place.The place buzzed with excitement and the atmosphere was electric!! Killing in the name of could be heard across naas and the crowd were loving it as they danced around and jumped all over the place.Even on the fourth day of camping and the sunday heat the crowd had obviously been saving their energy for the epic rage against the machine set! They made the crowd go absoloutly insane and proved that they were well deserving of the honour of festival closers!!! So this year im looking forward to oxegen again and hope that i can be a vip since im such a massive fan!!! thank you!

Forgot to mention there that i got a present of a ticket for christmas and im just trying to get vip passes so i can camp with my friends because the green camp is too expensive and i already have a tent! if i do win then give my tickets to someone who doesnt have any and would get better use of them!! thank you x

Wow, a late entry by the looks of things! My favourite moment was at Witnness. Myself and my friends were sitting watching Badly Drawn Boy mumble his way through a set when suddenly we saw a plethora of men heading towards the rising tent. Honestly, it was like birds flying south for the winter. Intrigued, we followed them.

Each man had a guilty look on their face, so we knew it was something sordid. Had a strip club tent been errected (if you’ll pardon the pun)? It turns out that those 2 sisters from All Saints were playing a slot in a band called Appleton, and the place was teeming with drooling guys. The minute they walked out there was one deafening synchronised wolf-whistle, I swear they had been practicing.

The girls said something flirty and launched into their first song. It was god-awful and a few people started to head for the door. But then, something odd happened. The song became an instrumental. The girls looked panicked, the band looked hugley amused. They were miming and their tape had stopped!

To huge cries of derision they walked shamefully from the stage to try fix it. One guy started a massive cheer of “One more tune”. About ten minutes later they emerged back sheepishly ready to try again. The tape stopped at the exact same point. This was the final straw and the crowd laughed them off the stage.

This was my favourite festival moment because it taught me that with good looks and a bit of fame you can attract an audience but without the passion and the music it’s all worthless. We left laughing and caught an unbelievable set from Supergrass and remembered once again what festivals were all about…

Daft Punk were amazing purely for the atmosphere- thousands of us instantly forgot the dark, rain and mud and became mesmerised by flashing pyramids, light beams and lasers – which were a heady backdrop to some of the best anthems of our times!!

to be honest daft punk were unbelievable in 2007 with their encour but im sure thats the obvious choice for everyone…but i’d have to say it would be prodigy in 2005….it was unbelievable the visual lights show was on par with daft punk…but then their music topped it all off..playing all their old hits like firestarter etc it was just mental !!!!!!!!!!!!!

the flaming lips in 2003 were so much fun, incredble energy, wow.

Congrats to the winner – enjoy the weekend. It’s been fun guys.

BTW was anyone else at the Presets in the Village in Dublin back in November I think? That was a hell of a gig too. I wrote it up at the time here: http://bifsniff.com/music/the-presets-at-the-village-in-dublin

Maureen: Has the first winner made contact? Im getting desperate at this stage haha

Same here! Have hey made contact? Really want to go!!!!!

hey niall
can you tell us who it was that won?
so we can read the winning comment.
thanx, c ye all at oxegen, 1 more day, woo hoo!!

Congrats to the winner

Nice:
the winner?

Haha……i wish! :P

Oh well, congrats to the winner. I’ll surely still find another way there! :D

Amber Heather: I’ve never been so I couldn’t say, but I’m absolutely dying to go, I’ve been trying all summer to win tickets and trust me if I had the money I’d buy them in a flash.

I’ll be happy to give you a lift over the fence, or else just buy a friday ticket and stay all weekend, thats what im doing. *shhhh*

I have never been to oxygen and it would mean the world to me if i could go this year, and if i had the monay i’d be going every year (:
So please consider me (: