Oxegen Friday July 11
The new found confidence of Oxegen 08, more than made up for the overcast weather and chilly temperatures. Hot Press were there to catch the best of the best.
Edwin McFee, 17 Jul 2008
It’s only been five minutes since Hot Press arrived on site and already this year’s Oxegen feels different to previous outings. Maybe it’s because the festival’s getting a little older (has it really been four years since the first one?) or maybe it’s because everything is bigger and better this time around (‘08’s bash is the first time we’ve had a world class Friday line-up) but all things considered, we’re liking the new-found confidence of the revamped festival. With oodles of acts to choose from on a daily basis, it’s impossible to catch everyone, but we’re going to make a decent stab at it regardless of the overcast weather and chilly temperature.
First up, we take a quick look into the always-interesting New Band tent to catch some antics from Antipodean indie types Sparkadia Their bass-heavy, foppish noodling seems to have the early birds in a spin, and much to our surprise, dozens of henna tattooed festival virgins pile into the tent eager to get their cherry popped as quickly as possible. Bless. Sparkadia aren’t a bad band, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry – namely a suitably saucy set from the Sugababes on the O2 stage.
The ‘Babes may have taken their sweet time getting onstage but as they appear, heralded by a brief rendition of Rihanna’s ‘Please Don’t Stop The Music,’ some of us scratch our head in disbelief and wonder if we’ve come to see the wrong act. The ladies quickly make up for that creative misfire however, by launching straight into ‘Hole In The Head.’ For their part, the tempting trio look like they’re enjoying the novelty of playing a guitar-heavy festival like Oxegen, and they treat us to pop-tastic renditions of ‘Round, Round,’ and ‘Freak Like Me’ while they battle with their dodgy microphones. It seems even the cameramen are rather smitten by the Sugababes’ style too as every 30 seconds we get some lingering shots of the girls doing their thing. So far so good.
After a quick look at Paddy Casey on the Main Stage we set off to catch the post-apocatlyptic sound of Battles . Easily one of the most anticipated sets of the day, the Pet Sounds tent is rammed and the atmosphere is electric, but their charisma-free performance leaves this writer a little cold. ‘Atlas’ sounds as monstrous as ever, but for some reason their set just isn’t clicking, so it’s off to watch Belgian berserkers Deus on the O2 Stage. To say that the gothic posturing of tunes such as ‘Vantage Point’ are dying on their arse is an understatement. Despite the band’s efforts, there is no connection with the sparse crowd, and that’s a shame, because this set had the potential to be something pretty special.
Page 1/3 <Previous 1 2 3 Next>
Photo Galleries For This Artist
©Hot Press 2011. Why be a member? | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy