With such hype at the moment about Europe’s largest music festival you would have to bury your head in the sand and think the world only stretches to the inside of your bedroom door not to realise that you should be robbing your granny to try and get tickets to Oxegen 10.
After the success of last year’s festival (I can only speak about last year as it was my first time attending) we can picture how extraordinary this year’s will be. The 09 line-up was in a word “UNreal”. The Killers, The Corona’s, 2manyDjs, Deadmau5, The Saw Doctors and many more made up the celebrity filled selection of acts that filled out the epic weekend. There were so many high profile acts that the only problem that faced the 80,000 strong attendees was choosing which acts to go to and which will have to be sacrificed.
This year however, the festival is taking on a whole new lease of life. Instead of the traditional Rock n’ Roll theme we now have an electro, techno and RnB weekend ahead of us. Acts like David Guetta, Fatboy Slim, Calvin Harris, The Prodigy, Faithless, Jay-Z and the eagerly awaited Eminem will be collaborating to form the most unbelievable string of concerts that you could only expect to see on an MTV awards night.
For such a line-up it is a small price to pay in €224.50. Tickets are on sale from Friday March 12th in Ticketmasters nationwide and all the details are to be found at http://www.oxegen.ie as well as the complete line-up which is being updated daily as the latest acts are being named.
I can’t even begin to imagine a better way to spend a weekend than sitting in a field taken over by music lovers from all over the country and even different parts of the world, sipping on a few cold ones (if you can find away to keep them cold) and enjoying the sunshine. Even if the weather does not favour us and it pours rain down from the heavens, as it tends to do in this country of ours, the fun will not stop. There is plenty of mud fights to be had, wet t-shirt competitions to participate in (if that’s what you’re into) and other activities which some may find themselves getting involved in around the grounds of the spectacular festival venue that is Punchestown Racecourse.
Essentials for surviving the weekend
• Wellies – I cannot stress how useful these are. Without them you would be like a cow in an ice-skating rink. The more colourful the better, pink polka dots are the most common so be creative.
• A pair of sunglasses – last year the craze was Kanye West glasses, this year my hot tip for you would be Aviators (preferably cheap knock-offs as they will be nicked on you) or else Calvin Harris style fly glasses which will require a bit of arts and crafts work but are totally worth it.
• Toilet paper – turns into gold-dust when you’re up there. Remember you are spending a weekend in a field and your diet will more than likely consist of curry chips.
• Alcohol and energy drinks – the alcohol is just to keep you in good humour for the weekend but brace yourself for a monstrous headache the day you come home. The energy drinks are just so that you have enough energy that you don’t spend the bones of €225 to sleep in a tent for the weekend.
• A visit to the Xbox live stage in the blue campsite on the Thursday if you go for the four day option to avoid the rush in the gates. This stage is dominated by tribute bands but cannot be beaten for pure adrenaline rush in the mosh pit.
• If you tend to be slightly faint-hearted stay away from the mosh pit.
• A wheelie bin to carry your belongings – believe me this is vital.
• And finally if you think you have it in you to stay 90 seconds on the bucking bronco at top level in the funfair, go for it. I made 2nd in all of Oxegen with that time so if you beat me let me know.
So if you find yourself looking for something to do to keep you entertained during the summer this is your solution. The 9th to the 12th of July should be free on your calendar, if you have a job book the weekend off, if like me you are in between occupations save every last copper penny you find beneath the couch and get yourself to Oxegen 10. It will be the weekend of a lifetime that you can’t afford to miss.
I strongly urge everyone to go!!!
Great stuff, Donal. That's a well-written piece with a nice blend of humour, opinion and advice. At first glance, it looks like a lot of text to read but I breezed through it quite quickly. I think that's because (perhaps subconsciously) you've written it in a conversational style and kept it simple. I'm impressed by the fact that you've avoided using difficult words. It can often be tempting for a new writer to show off their use of language by using words that they (and their readers) don't understand. In addition, you've avoided spelling errors and have taken care with punctuation. If I had once complaint, it would be that some of your sentences are too long, particularly the first one. My only advice there would be that sometimes it's better to divide a really long sentence into two smaller ones. It's obvious from the post that you have a strong interest and passion for the subject (in this case, music and, eh, festival-going). Finally, you've made a strong case for urging people to attend this year's festival. You've even made an old guy like me think about going! Well, I do have a tent. I look forward to reading your blog in the future.
ReplyDeleteHaving attended last year's festival, I can relate to this article, and safely say it was one of the best experiences of my life. Sure, it's 4 days of living in filth, but it's most definitely worth it. The craic had makes up for this and the music is quite simply brilliant. I hope to make a trip to Punchestown once again this year and enjoy the weekend all over again. This article is well written and entertaining, and I particularly liked the "essentials" section.
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