Oxegen Part II

This may not be as in-depth as I had hoped, mostly because it's almost a week later now, and I can't read most of my notes. My entire body is so congested I feel as though I may explode. But that did not stop me from seeing A Winter's Tale at the famous Globe Theatre last night and then hitting up The Metro for some £1.50 mixed drinks and killer tunes (Editors, Maximo, Futureheads, Bloc Party, etc -- I love London). Regardless, here is the recap of the second day of Oxegen, as promised.

We woke up late. My plan was to let my concert accompanists sleep a little longer than the day before, but insisted we make it in time for Rilo Kiley and Maximo Park. My alarm never went off. I woke up at 12:15, just as Maximo Park was to take the stage. Big bummer.

So the first act we saw was an old favorite Josh Rouse. If you have yet to hear this guy, please do. He is ridiculously catchy, but utterly talented. He played all my favorite songs and more, and unveiled some new songs from an up-coming album, rumored to be released this fall. Can't wait.

Suzanne Vega was up next and Liz is a big fan. So as Josh opted out of this set, Liz and I swayed along with some very dedicated fans. I only knew that one song with the do do dos, so that was fun. She had a very talented bass player up on stage that did some crazy fingerings. Never seen anything like it.

The day was starting off slow, but I knew that we had many long awaited acts later that night. It was the most beautiful day ever, the mud had dried and the Irish were slowly getting more and more burnt. We sat outside by the main stage for a bit to listen to Feeder before heading over to the Ticket Stage for The Ordinary Boys. Luckily we ran into my cousin who was working at the Waffle Wagon that day, who hooked us up with some free food. Nice to have family in opportune places. The Ordinary Boys, who I had seen play with The Five O'Clock Heroes and The Bravery back in New York put on a fantastic show. I see these boys making it big pretty soon.

We caught a little bit of alt-country act Mundy on the same stage before I started to get really excited. The Futureheads were up next. Hands down one of the best live bands I've seen this year, I could not have hyped this band up enough to my two friends. Playing to a huge crowd in the Green Tent, they did not disappointt. The "House of Love" audience participation will always give me chills, and my only qualm was the fact I had to leave early to head to the New Tent to check out The Editors.

Introduced to me in the last few months by bloggers extraordinaire Nora, Jeff, and Eric, The Editors was one of the highly anticipated bands of the weekend. I ran over to the stage, excited for the band as well as some shade and walked in just as they were starting their set. They pulled a decent crowd, and were dead on with each song. I have to get this album ASAP because each song was equally as progressively haunting as well as impressive. The lead singer was so into the songs that at times I thought he might tear his face off (literally). And when they played "Munich" and "Bullets" I loved every second of it. Bravo.

We then trekked our way back to the main stage (alongside 70,000 people) for the big act of the day, The Killers. I think every single person at that concert was there. I'm not a hater of this band, in fact I do quite like them, but unfortunately this set was awarded as the worst of the weekend. Clearly nervous and uncomfortable on stage, Flowers awkwardly tried to connect with the large crowd that all gathered to hear the band play. The majority of their set, at least half the crowd could hardly hear the band, due to a few speakers malfunctioning. What resulted was a large amount of people looking around at each other, attempting to sing along, and eventually checking their schedules to see what other bands were on stage instead. I was one of them.

While Liz stayed for a sing-a-long to Keane (who from what I heard sounded great), Josh and I headed back over to the New Band Stage (with some waffles on the way) for The Magic Numbers and Brendan Benson. We caught the last 15 minutes of the Magic Numbers, who are getting a lot of press over here and walked into a big dance soiree. It was crazy! And the band loved every second of it. I was patiently waiting Mr. Benson's set, and when he came on 10 minutes early I was thrilled. Despite having some very strange and bordering on creepy people next to me, I googly eyed my way at Mr. Benson while singing along. 20 minutes later, he was off the stage, and I was still standing there bewildered. I don't know why this set was so short, but I was inevitably disappointed.

I was content with my weekend, and as were my pals, so we thought we'd wander for the remainder sets to catch a little bit of Foo Fighters on the main stage and the godfather of soul himself James Brown. The stages should have been switched, as the Green Tent was overflowing with people trying to catch a glimpse of the sparking green jacket Mr. Brown was pimping. After a little dancing to some great funk, and heading to the Foo Fighters for one last beer, we called it a day, a weekend, a great experience and hopped on the bus back to Dublin. Boy did I sleep well that night, and am still wearing my wristband. Tickets are already on sale for next year, and part of me is figuring out how I can make my way back to Ireland for another great weekend.

I swear I'm going to have a ton of pictures up hopefully next week. I have my appointment to get my computer fixed at the Apple Store tonight. I'm interviewing The FeverKings tomorrow and checking out their gig, and got a bunch of shows booked for next week. A big hello to everyone at home that bothers to read this and check up on me, and a happy birthday to Dr. Nick and Sara. Wish I could be there to celebrate!