Oxegen '08 was the fifth Oxegen festival to take place, following the dissolution of its predecessor Witnness in 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 11 July, Saturday 12 July and Sunday 13 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. For the first time the festival was a three-day event.
The festival was headlined by Kings of Leon on the Friday, The Verve and R.E.M. on the Saturday and Rage Against the Machine on the Sunday. The festival featured a lineup of over 250 acts across multiple stages, attracting approximately 80,000 attendees. Amy Winehouse performed for 70 minutes despite a recent 14-day stay in hospital and performed hits like Back to Black and Rehab, although her performance was widely debated. Rage Against the Machine concluded the festival, fighting through sound issues during their set.
The festival incorporated environmental initiatives, introducing reusable eco-cups and aiming for carbon neutrality in collaboration with The Carbon Neutral Company. However, the event also faced challenges, including a significant undercover drug operation resulting in numerous arrests and an incident involving a bus fire en route to the festival. Despite these issues, Oxegen 2008 earned accolades such as the Best European Festival at the UK Festival Awards
Build-up
Tickets Presale tickets went on sale at 8 a.m. on Friday 30 November 2007 at a cost of €197. Actual sale tickets went on sale at 8 a.m. on Friday 7 March 2008, with 4-day camping tickets priced at €244.50 and 3-day camping tickets priced at €224.50. Thursday camping passes cost €20 extra. Three-day weekend camping and four-day weekend camping tickets along with day tickets for Saturday 12 July were sold out by Monday 10 March 2008. A limited number of three-day (no camping) tickets and day tickets for Friday 11 July and Sunday 13 July were still available for a period after going sale, before the Oxegen website announced at 14:09 on Wednesday 7 May 2008 that all tickets were sold out. On Friday 13 June, in what they described as "a move to combat touting", MCD put a limited number of extra weekend tickets on sale for Oxegen 2008. The tickets were made available from the official website and Ticketmaster from Friday 20 June. (subscription required)
Line-up confirmation timetable November On 27 November 2007 at 17:00, Kings of Leon became the first band to be announced to play Oxegen. The band topped an online poll which asked festival-goers for their dream line-up and so the band were immediately asked and confirmed. Vocalist Caleb Followill said: "We love playing in Ireland, the fans are brilliant and we can't wait to play Oxegen 2008". They headlined the opening night (Friday) of the festival.
February On 15 February 2008, R.E.M. were confirmed for Oxegen 2008, the second act to be announced and joining Kings of Leon. Meanwhile, Kaiser Chiefs confirmed themselves and Rage Against the Machine as Sunday night headliners on their official website ; however this announcement was edited on 18 February to bear no mention of Rage Against the Machine who had yet to be officially confirmed. The words "directly before headliners Rage Against The Machine" were removed from the page.http://forums.downloadfestival.co.uk/tm.aspx?m=2254108&mpage=2&key=&2259495 Tim Burgess also revealed that The Charlatans would be appearing although that too was hushed up soon afterwards. The Pogues too confirmed themselves online.
On 19 February at 16:29, Kaiser Chiefs, The Raconteurs and Ian Brown were announced on the official website, followed by The Fratellis, Interpol and Counting Crows the next day. 21 February saw Hot Chip, Justice, The Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin and Alabama 3 added to the line-up. Finally, at 09:14 on 22 February, Rage Against the Machine were confirmed as headliners by the organisers. On Sunday 24 February, The Verve were confirmed on the official website for an appearance at Oxegen 2008. Stereophonics, Band of Horses, Seasick Steve, The Courteeners and Future Kings of Spain were all confirmed by the official website on 25 February, with official confirmation of The Prodigy, Panic! at the Disco, The Feeling, DJ Koze, Kaz James (BodyRockers) and Crookers on the following day.
March The e-mail sent out with pre-sale ticket information to those registered on the official site confirmed that Bowling for Soup, Kate Nash, Editors, The Hoosiers, Newton Faulkner, Pendulum, Scouting for Girls, The Zutons, Battles, Róisín Murphy, Lightspeed Champion and David Jordan would also be playing. These twelve and Richard Hawley were confirmed by the official website on Monday 3 March. On Thursday 6 March, Tom Dunne's Pet Sounds show on Today FM broadcast an Oxegen Special previewing this year's line-up alongside festival highlights from previous years. Meanwhile, Hot Press was amongst the first news outlets to confirm that Amy Winehouse would again be scheduled to finally appear at Oxegen. Several bands and musicians such as Echo & the Bunnymen, The Wombats, The Pigeon Detectives, The Subways, Ben Folds, Delays, The Script, Kavinsky, Mindless Self Indulgence, and Boys Noize also confirmed themselves to play Oxegen '08 on their own websites before later being confirmed by the official Oxegen website.
On Wednesday 5 March in the late evening, the Oxegen website began a revamp for the release of the tickets on Friday 7 March. On Thursday 6 March, Oxegen 2008 was officially launched with the confirmation of appearances by Amy Winehouse, The Pogues, The Charlatans and The Swell Season, featuring Academy Award for Best Original Song winners Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. A breakdown of the acts was also revealed for the first time. A spokesman for promoters MCD said: "This year's line-up is one of the strongest ever. Music fans have quite literally the most diverse and strongest line-up of bands we have seen in Ireland. We are expecting tickets to sell very quickly." Glen Hansard told the Irish Daily Mirror: "I think Oxegen is just as exciting as appearing at the Oscars", saying "it's a dream come true for any Irish musician". The festival line-up was widely praised by the print media. The Irish Examiner called it a "fairytale line up for a festival", adding that "the fairytale of Naas will come alive this summer".
May On Tuesday 6 May, Tom Dunne confirmed a host of other acts on his Pet Sounds show on Today FM. These included Manic Street Preachers, Feeder, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Ting Tings, Black Kids, MGMT, Bell X1, The Coronas, Concerto for Constantine and Delorentos. These and others including The Kooks and Groove Armada were confirmed by the Oxegen website the following day, along with details of the Dance Stage. The headliners were confirmed to be Unkle, Justice and David Guetta respectively for the three days. Also confirmed for the Dance Stage on the Friday were Calvin Harris and Annie Mac amongst others, for the Saturday were Boys Noize, Mylo, Kavinsky and The Japanese Popstars amongst others and for the Sunday were Luciano, Kaz James, Crookers and Does It Offend You, Yeah? amongst others. On Friday 16 May at 09:36, more acts were announced; these were The National, Tricky, The Go! Team, Feeder (again), The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy, One Night Only and The Whigs.
June On Monday 9 June at 11:00, forty new acts as well as the full stage line-up was announced on the official Oxegen website. New acts confirmed included Mundy, Aslan, Captain and Sugababes for the Friday and Eddy Grant, Flogging Molly and Fight Like Apes for the Sunday.
July In early July, the showtimes for Oxegen 2008 were released. The line-up for the Bacardi B-Live Arena was also announced.
Cannabis controversy On 27 February, there were calls from the Catholic anti-drugs agency, Crosscare, which runs counselling programmes in the Dublin Archdiocese for teenagers caught with weed at Oxegen not to be arrested. They claimed: "Our time is being wasted every year by mostly Leaving Cert students who don't have an addiction problem but have been arrested for a smoking a joint". Justice minister, Brian Lenihan rejected the proposal saying that it would amount to the legalisation of cannabis, of which Lenihan was severely intolerant.
Events
Platform III Bands with Kildare connections were invited to compete in 2008's Platform III competition to win a slot on the Oxegen bill, in which two winning groups were selected to perform on the New Band Stage at Oxegen '08. Editors and The Killers have previously made their Oxegen debuts on that stage. Platform III Project Manager, Susan Boyle said that at least one band member should have Kildare connections. The winners were Kill City Defectors and Schmackey and the Salads.
Red Bull Local Hero Skate Tour
Four Irish bands playing at Oxegen '08 played free live outdoor performances as part of the Red Bull Local Hero Skate Tour. On Wednesday 18 June, Future Kings of Spain played in Waterford. On Thursday 19 June, The Kinetiks played in Ennis. On Friday 20 June, Concerto for Constantine played in Letterkenny and on Saturday 21 June, they played in Belfast. On Monday 23 June, The Coronas played in Dublin.
Local skaters were invited to skate with the Red Bull pro skate team who then selected the best skater from each venue crowning him or her the 'Red Bull Local Hero'. The 'Local Heroes' from each venue then attended the Red Bull Vert Ramp Camp at Oxegen where they received coaching from some of the world's top skaters including leading European Vert skater Mack McKelton from Germany and European Street Skating champion Philipp Schuster from Austria. The Local Hero's prize also included weekend festival passes to Oxegen '08.
Some of the world's best skaters were invited by Red Bull to perform a series of demonstrations throughout Oxegen '08. The riders performed on the Red Bull Vert Ramp (a skateboarder's Half-pipe) which has been used for professional Skateboarders in such events as X Games and the World Skateboarding Championships. This structure has proved daunting to the world's best riders standing 10m high, 15m wide and 14.2m in length, completely covered over with clear 'window' panels and open on both sides for public viewing.
Production Riders Parsnip crisps, onion rings, energy tablets and "organic ground coffee sourced in Dundalk" were just some of the whimsical desires of the world's biggest music acts, reported the Irish Independent. Organic foods were top of the menu including a selection of organic chocolates and smoked fish. Bands such as R.E.M., Kaiser Chiefs and Stereophonics were very precise in listing their requirements down to the finest detail, such as "Wrigley's Extra Blue Menthol eucalyptus chewing gum". Amy Winehouse's dressing room was stocked up with Kosher foods and crackers. Several acts asked for a steady flow of Red Bull and energy tablets. United States bands such as Rage Against the Machine and Interpol had a basket of American-style crisps "specifically New York Cheese flavour" taking up a corner of their changing area.
The VIP welcome area had an alpine theme with exotic plants, including very rare kangaroo paw plants as well as the exclusive Bluetooth cafe, Xbox area and Wi-Fi cafe. The luxurious dressing rooms were described as "comfortable and stylish with very ambient lighting and comfortable couches". The drinks cabinets contained a selection of world beers in the hope of having something to suit everybody's taste. However, some artists were a little bit pickier, ordering fine wines not by name, but by grape.
Publications Hot Press ran a special issue in the lead-up to Oxegen '08. It featured interviews with Kings of Leon, Interpol, Tricky, The Hold Steady, Vampire Weekend and The Ting Tings. Issues were available for sale at the Hot Press Signing Tent throughout the festival.