THE EYE-BROW RAISERS
The surprisingly good new acts
THE BRILLIANT THINGS/MESSIAH J & THE EXPERT
Quality live acts, instantly attractive.
PAOLO NUTINI
Despite the disturbing vanity, he was very good live. Threw in ‘Ride On’ & Christy Moore nod.
LITTLE BOOTS
Overcame mike trouble to woo the crowd.
The first newbie pop act to pull off a big outdoor stage
KATY PERRY
Who would’a thought? With props, comedy, hit songs & a Queen cover, she owned the O2 stage. No mean feat.
The old-timers who still have it
SQUEEZE
Could’ve done with a later slot to get more of the older crowd but still good
THE SPECIALS
Nothing like a good ska band to get the crowd going. I don’t know if they realised that at least half the crowd were hoping that they’d start with Ghost town and repeat it for the set in imitation of the Fr Ted classic.
JAMES
Held out for ‘Sit down’ and it was worth it
THE NOT BRILLIANT
The plastic mould pop band
THE SCRIPT
Surprising number of hit songs, danceable but a bit plastic.
The plastic mould rock bands
THE KILLERS/RAZORLIGHT/KINGS OF LEON
There’s something Stepford wives about the new generation rock band. One thing to be said is that Brandon made an effort to ditch the Killers’ universal reputation as worst-live-band-ever by small-talking the crowd; worked for the fans.
The tried too hard
WALLIS BIRD
Gave it welly on stage but didn’t filter out into the crowd for me.
The ‘Amy Winehouse’ car-crash attraction
LADY GAGA
She can sing, play piano and change costume, but the latter meant she only got a handful of songs out in the time given, including an acoustic and original version of Poker Face.
The quality act cursed by the Gods
ELBOW
Couldn’t be heard through the Saturday evening storm
THE THUMBS UP
The knew they were gonna be good and they were
FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS
Smooth. Infinity.
DUKE SPECIAL
We miss the eclectic percussion but still.
TING TINGS
Bigger stage than last year but held it well
REPUBLIC OF LOOSE
A disturbingly groomed Mick Pyro didn’t take away from the Loose’s performance
PET SHOP BOYS
More of a show than gig with novelty dancers and lip-syncing but their music is such quality it was still brilliant
The knew they were gonna be brilliant and they were
MANIC STREET PREACHERS
Could teach those Stepford rock bands a thing or 20. Great use of lighting, focusing on new album tracks to give them a lift over their more familiar rock anthems. Mr. Bradford knows how to work a guitar.
The knew they were gonna be the performance of the weekend and they were
BLUR
All hail. Hit after hit, after hit. Quality live songs in End of Century, Parklife, Song 2 and Universal, which was dedicated to Joe Dolan. Is there anything they can’t do?
THE FESTIVAL
Fair is fair - despite the Slane/ACDC traffic fiascos, a great job was done with traffic control at Oxegen, even late Sunday night.
The weather – all you can do is blame our ancestors for moving to a country that’s not fit for human habitation.
Who cares about the rain? Really? It just adds to the atmosphere.
You forgot Regina Spektor! She was amazing.
I was really disappointed with Elbow but it wasn’t their fault. I’ve been listening to their album all day to make up for it.
Blur only OK, they could have done better. Damon was stoned and it showed in a lacklustre performance.
Janes Addiction were absolutely fantastic entertainment, other bands could learn a thing or two there.
Killers were much better than at Marley Park last year, a great finish and well deserved crowd pleaser.
Manic Street Preachers, a great gig, but the performance was spoiled by the poor sound quality.
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Thanks Osborne!