Live Review
Oxegen 08 – Vampire Weekend, Richard Hawley, The National, REM
VAMPIRE WEEKEND are a perfect festival band, treating a stuffed Green Room to a rip-roaring set that has the entire tent dancing, arms in the air. The New Yorkers seem to be having just as good a time as their fans, and that's saying...READ »
Oxegen 08 – The Ting Tings, Amy Winehouse, Alphabeat, Prodigy, The Verve
Day two of Oxegen and the overwhelming feeling is of greyness. Not just in terms of the weather – only broken by the odd, ferocious shower – but also in terms of the music. The early hours are a blur of workaday rock (Powderfinger, Newton Faulkner, One Night Only), indie by numbers (Scouting For Girls, The Music, Delays) and the odd curve ball (Camile...READ »
Oxegen 08 – Yeasayer, Black Kids, Hot Chip, Manics
YEASAYER ARE awesome. Put them in a small tent after midnight and you have proper party full of people whooping and hollering that but playing at teatime on the second grey-ish day at Oxegen doesn’t show them in the best light....READ »
Oxegen 08 – Editors, Interpol, Kings of Leon
State coverage of Oxegen '08 continues with a look at Main stage performances from Editors, Interpol and Kings of Leon. See sidebar for more...READ »
Oxegen 08 – Battles, Tricky, Aphex Twin
To New York math-rock whizz-kids BATTLES we go. Playing Ireland just six weeks after their fourth Irish performance, one had to wonder whether Battles fatigue had set...READ »
Oxegen 08 – Ben Folds, Go! Team, Groove Armada
With only his two customary cohorts huddled around him, BEN FOLDS looks rather small on the large O2 stage. The crowd here to see him are of a similar nature, but Folds manages to turn the open air space into something intimate....READ »
Oxegen 08 – FKOS, BellX1, White Denim
After a ridiculously easy entry to the Punchestown site from State mansions in downtown Dublin we arrive with one minute to go to launch and manage to wind our way through strange cocktail stalls and Europop-blaring amusements over to the O2 stage to catch local openers FUTURE KINGS OF...READ »
Interpol, Ã…rhus, Denmark
Ahead of Friday night's much anticipated set at Oxegen, State managed to get a ticket for the first date of the tour in Ã…rhus, Denmark along with roughly 800 others. Here's how it went...READ »
State @ Roskilde ’08 – Day Four
It is with considerable difficulty at this stage that we have to drag ourselves out of bed and get on-site on the fourth warm and sunny day of this festival. Surviving solely on gourmet burgers and beer for the last three days has us craving a nice salad, a cup of tea and a lie down, but once more into the breach for you, dear State.ie...READ »
State @ Roskilde ’08 – Day Three
Well we’re still alive, despite a little liver damage, and the good ol’ sun keeps shining down on us. Just getting to site in time for Jose Gonzalez’ rather early slot, we encounter - well, everyone. Hordes are off to see the Swede play in Odeon, one of the smaller...READ »
State @ Roskilde ’08 – Day Two
How good is life when on a Friday afternoon with a cold beer in hand you can walk through a sunkissed field and enter a packed tent to hear the leader of a Band Of Horses, announce "This is the greatest day of my life. Thanks for being here to share it†?...READ »
State @ Roskilde ’08 – Day One
Mother Nature is firm, but she is also fair. After last year spent pissing all over Roskilde’s festival – relentlessly – she makes amends by bathing us in a cloudless sky and temperatures in the high 20s. Wellies have been replaced by roman sandal-type footwear and rain jackets have been replaced by, well, golden Scandinavian skin everywhere you look. Spirits are high and with good...READ »
Erykah Badu, Vicar Street
Arriving on stage to the sound of Lil Wayne's 'A Milli' and her band's warm-up soul jam, Erykah Badu is fitted in a billowing black dress and a bouffant head-wrap. Her band is 10 strong with keyboards, guitar, percussion, drums, DJ, flute and backing singers in the...READ »
Glastonbury: Diamonds, Punchups and Hip-Hop
A roundup with videos of the most "controversial" Glastonbury in recent years starring Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse, Kings of Leon, The Verve and a fan on the receiving end of a dig from Ms....READ »
