Oxegen 2009 was my fourth consecutive Oxegen festival. In order to avoid a huge wall of text I'm going to review it in bullet points under three headings.
The Good
- Getting to the campsite and setting up in good weather.
- AC/DC tribute band Hells Bells playing the Thursday night stage.
- The Xbox Live stage in the Blue Campsite.
- Niall Gaffney's childlike excitement towards returning to Oxegen.
- "I'm sorry, I thought this was America"
- "I like your schtyle!"
- "So basically, we're lucking for trouble."
- Having an awesomely warm and dry tent.
- Having awesomely warm and dry tent mates!
- 'Free' stuff.
- Pendulum playing Master Of Puppets.
- Charming some free Ben & Jerry's
- Good nights of sleep.
- Showering.
- Meeting people from all over the place especially Tyrone (Sean, Shauna and Hannah) and Belfast (Sophia, Meabh and of course Max)
- Trip into Naas and associated 'free' bowl and salt shaker.
- Chancey Tent.
- The relationship between Ken and Ferghal.
- Getting recognised by a random Londoner as 'David Reilly the Comedian!!'
- Seeing my friend Jon Hozier-Byrne's brother Andrew play the IMRO Stage.
- Seeing The Killers play songs from Hot Fuss.
- The random sunny intervals.
- Not having to worry about tents or bags on Sunday.
- Mud fights.
- Learning how to make the Blood symbol.
- The guy in the horse mask doing the 'look'.
- Experiencing Of Montreal's show.
- Toplessness.
- Dancing to Song 2 in my boxers with Conor.
- Meeting Conor and Ken just as the "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhh!" from Sabotage by The Beastie Boys kicked in during The Bloody Beetroots.
- Niall's return from Naas Hospital.
- The Frothy Gashes were the band of the weekend. Followed by The Bloody Beetroots or Of Montreal.
- The rain.
- Sunburn.
- The toilets.
- Niall refracturing his leg.
- Over abundance of chavs, knackers, scumbags, skangers, scobes, spidies, pillheads etc.
- Festival virgins shouting "It's Oxegen!!" whenever anyone did anything sensible like sleep.
- Sleeping on a rock.
- Getting soaked going to the Schuh Welly Exchange only to find it to be closed.
- Being three minutes from meeting Maximo Park but being too pissed off about the Schuh tent to wait.
- Ladyhawke getting sick. (Swine Flu or the good AIDS I reckon)
- The Game cancelling (Shot no doubt)
- People losing phones and cameras.
- Overcrowded tents.
- Knackbags acting the prick during The Gaslight Anthem waiting for The Game.
- Getting headbutted at Pendulum.
- Scumbags moshing. They don't know how to. If someone falls down, you let them up, not swing kicks at them.
- Hearing The Killers play songs from their second and third album.
- Not meeting more Tweeple or friends from Kilkenny or Dublin.
- Dropping medication on the Dance Hall's floor and having to take it anyway.
- Missing some great bands due to clashes or weather; Mars Volta, Regina Spektor, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Digitalism to name a few.
- Not being able to find my tent, regardless of time of day.
- Being chased by a security guard for peeing on a fence while trying to put it away without peeing on myself or catching myself in the zip.
- Foals not playing Hummer.
- Constantly being asked for 'yokes', pills or E's.
The Muddy
- Anto Lynch
- Conor Kelly
- Brendan McKiernan
- Emma Finch
- Ferghal Hand
- Hannah Tyrone
- James Henry
- Joseph O'Sullivan
- Ken Ryan
- Leanne Brady
- Louise O'Malley
- Lucy Doyle
- Marcus Sheridan
- Maxine Clarke
- May Belfast
- Niall Gaffney
- Niall Murray
- Oisin Henry
- Oisin McDonnell
- Rob Hand
- Robbie Kane
- Sam Moore
- Sarah Reilly
- Sean Tyrone
- Shauna Tyrone
- Sophia Connolly
- Sorcha Almond-Murray
- Tereas Cronin
- Me :)
All in all, it was an enjoyable year. Out of the four I've been to, I'd rank it in third place ahead of 2007, and behind 2006 and 2008.Will I go back next year? Can't say for sure, but no doubt, like every year, I'll change my mind 418 times before next July.
