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(Note: All names have been changed to protect my bank account.)

Saturday

Looking back, Oxegen 2004 wasn’t the greatest festival. It was fun and there were plenty of great bands, but it had its faults, all quite clear with the benefit of hindsight. The Darkness performed a great set but they shouldn’t have closed the show, and I’m still peeved about The Cure’s laboured headline slot. And I’ll try not to write about my tent anymore.

This year looked set to blow everything else out of the water. With Green Day and the Foo Fighters headlining, and dozens of brilliant bands playing over the course of the two days, I knew I was in for a great weekend.

Unlike last year, when (perhaps against my better judgement) I braved the journey up alone, this time I hitched a ride with “Mimi” and her husband “Edgar”, as well as Mimi’s sister “Olivia”, who’s occasional similarity in appearance to Avril Lavigne was frightening. We made good time, getting on-site pretty early in the afternoon and pitching our tents in a fairly sparsely populated section of Campsite B. My tent this year was a more durable two-person construction that cost me a whole €19.95. I’d spent the weeks prior to the festival setting it up in my living room, so I’d be experienced in pitching a tent a small area. Having set up camp, we sat back and relaxed for a while, as the site around us filled up. There are people for whom the whole idea of the festival is to just hang out in the campsite, but that was not the agenda of anyone in our group, and we headed into the main area with a map, some times, and the knowledge that ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again were playing over Green Day. Hey, Kurt Cobain liked them. But then he also like heroin.

Anyway, bands. The Kaiser Chiefs were rocking the Main Stage as we entered. I didn’t want to like the Kaiser Chiefs when I first heard them, but it’s impossible to hate songs as catchy and fun as “Oh My God” and “Every Day I Love You Less And Less.” Mimi wanted to see the Eagles Of Death Metal on the Ticket Stage, so that’s where we went. Mimi and her buddy “Beryl” had gotten quite into the festival spirit (or maybe it was just the spirits getting into them) but it resulted in us having to sort of point them in the general direction of the stage, occasionally turning them when an obstacle got in the way, such as a fence or the Ferris wheel. The band itself was pretty good, better than I expected. I’ve always thought the Eagles Of Death Metal were a little repetitive, but live they can be quite heavy. Josh Homme was not behind the drum kit (we would have to wait to see him) but he had replaced by the very able Samantha Maloney, formerly of Hole. Despite singer Jesse “The Devil” Hughes’ cheap, “This is the best show ever!” spiel and the rather disturbing knowledge that he loved us “so hard”, it was an enjoyable show to say the least.

For reasons that escape me now, I found myself standing outside the Green Room tent, waiting for the others while Turn played in the background. Stepping inside the tent, the band was kicking up a storm before a rather large crowd. They were obviously having a great time onstage, and it shone through in their performance, every song welcomed by the cheering audience. You couldn’t help agreeing with frontman Ollie Cole when he bemoaned the fact that Turn always seemed to get stuck with a short afternoon slot and not the longer stage time they clearly deserve.

After that, a sit-down was needed, and we basked under the beautiful overcast sky with Snoop Dogg entering one ear and HAL entering the other. They didn’t spark much interest, but as Snoop finished up his set we ambled down to the Main Stage to get a good spot for Queens Of The Stone Age. Since Nick Oliveri’s departure the feeling is that QOTSA have been a much looser outfit, Josh Homme allowing his Desert Sessions to bleed into his regular band’s work. They certainly didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry. There were occasions when sparks of energy came firing off the stage, but the band also saw fit to regal us with lengthy jams, most notably the ten minute version of “No One Knows” with which they finished their set. It was strange, then, that it didn’t feel like they’d been playing for over an hour. Still, the crowd were up for it, and I don’t think I need to tell you what it was like to stand among tens of thousands of people all singing “Feel-Good Hit Of The Summer.” “Drink and screw, that’s all you gotta-“ said Josh, before his mic was cut and he walked off.

If I may, I just want to take this moment to say to whoever decided the times of each band’s set – you bastard. The decision to miss Bloc Party and Interpol was not one I took lightly. Don’t worry, I’m fine, I’ll get over it. At least I saw The Frames, a band that, it seems, can do no wrong in Ireland. This was their first performance in their home country for quite some time, and expectations were naturally high. Unfortunately at first it didn’t look like those expectations would be met. The band started with a few slow, newer songs, and it didn’t seem to be going too well. But the pace picked up not long after, as the likes of “Revelate” soared over the crowds. Glen Hansard has a very likeable quality about him onstage, and the adulation of the crowd was clearly more than welcome. You wonder if The Frames could actually headline this thing someday, what with the devoted following they have in Ireland. Regardless, I’ve got to believe that there’s no such thing as a bad Frames gig, and this show did nothing to disprove that belief.

Green Day. That’s all I have to say. In fact, is there a point even writing about their headline set? This is the first punk rock band I ever got into, a band I’ve loved since I was sixteen. I couldn’t be objective if I tried. I spent “American Idiot” and “Jesus of Suburbia” sitting on the ground, a huge grin across my face, almost on the verge of tears. Seriously. Only two of my all-time favourite bands are still actually together (hello Pixies), so you’ll forgive me if finally seeing one of them live was almost a Biblical event for me.

Sure, the show is always the same: the kid with the water gun, the cover of Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge” performed by kids from the crowd, “We Are The Champions.” But that’s not the point. Green Day live isn’t just another gig – it’s an extravaganza, designed to entertain and enthral in equal measure. There was the odd surprise, such as discovering “She” and “Brain Stew/Jaded” were in the set, and that the drummer from the crowd was actually really good. But fuck it; these guys don’t have to do squat onstage. They could just stand there and go through a two-hour set, and no one would say anything about it. That they prefer to put on a proper show is to be applauded. And applaud we did.

Mimi and Edgar really wanted to catch the last hour of Ian Brown, so we walked up the Green Room tent to find it almost fit to bursting. People were huddled around every entrance trying to get a decent view. We stayed for a few numbers before heading back to the campsite. It had been a long day and everyone was pretty tired. So tired, in fact, that we actually slept.

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