Oxegen Friday July 11

It’s only been five minutes since Hot Press arrived on site and already this year’s Oxegen feels different to previous outings. Maybe it’s because the festival’s getting a little older (has it really been four years since the first one?) or maybe it’s because everything is bigger and better this time around (‘08’s bash is the first time we’ve had a world class Friday line-up) but all things considered, we’re liking the new-found confidence of the revamped festival. With oodles of acts to choose from on a daily basis, it’s impossible to catch everyone, but we’re going to make a decent stab at it regardless of the overcast weather and chilly temperature.

First up, we take a quick look into the always-interesting New Band tent to catch some antics from Antipodean indie types Sparkadia Their bass-heavy, foppish noodling seems to have the early birds in a spin, and much to our surprise, dozens of henna tattooed festival virgins pile into the tent eager to get their cherry popped as quickly as possible. Bless. Sparkadia aren’t a bad band, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry – namely a suitably saucy set from the Sugababes on the O2 stage.
The ‘Babes may have taken their sweet time getting onstage but as they appear, heralded by a brief rendition of Rihanna’s ‘Please Don’t Stop The Music,’ some of us scratch our head in disbelief and wonder if we’ve come to see the wrong act. The ladies quickly make up for that creative misfire however, by launching straight into ‘Hole In The Head.’ For their part, the tempting trio look like they’re enjoying the novelty of playing a guitar-heavy festival like Oxegen, and they treat us to pop-tastic renditions of ‘Round, Round,’ and ‘Freak Like Me’ while they battle with their dodgy microphones. It seems even the cameramen are rather smitten by the Sugababes’ style too as every 30 seconds we get some lingering shots of the girls doing their thing. So far so good.

After a quick look at Paddy Casey on the Main Stage we set off to catch the post-apocatlyptic sound of Battles . Easily one of the most anticipated sets of the day, the Pet Sounds tent is rammed and the atmosphere is electric, but their charisma-free performance leaves this writer a little cold. ‘Atlas’ sounds as monstrous as ever, but for some reason their set just isn’t clicking, so it’s off to watch Belgian berserkers Deus on the O2 Stage. To say that the gothic posturing of tunes such as ‘Vantage Point’ are dying on their arse is an understatement. Despite the band’s efforts, there is no connection with the sparse crowd, and that’s a shame, because this set had the potential to be something pretty special.
Ben Folds also comes a cropper on the O2 stage shortly afterwards. Not only does the piano-man neglect most of his back catalogue, he’s also met with as much apathy as the announcement of an O.T.T. reunion. When he gives us a beautiful cover of the Postal Service’s ‘Great Heights’, we’re almost ready to forgive his lacklustre effort though, and as his young daughter comes out to dance along to her dad’s music, we are even a little charmed.

Still, we can’t really complain when we’ve got Interpol laying waste to the Main Stage. Simply put, tonight the New Yorkers are giving us their most arresting performance to date. As the night sky begins to darken and lovers hold each other close, it’s hard to think of a better setting for Paul Banks’ heart-broken threnodies. ‘Obstacle No. 1’ sounds as beautiful and bruised as when we first heard it, and we’re starting to think that it’s only a matter of time before they make it to headline status. They keep their onstage banter to a bare minimum, but no-one complains when we get to hear ‘Evil’ and ‘Slow Hands’ in such a unique setting. World class.
We miss the first few songs from Kings Of Leon in order to catch Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) over in the Pet Sounds tent at witching hour. If you don’t know much as Ms Marshall’s work, let us just say that she has a voice like melted chocolate and sings deliciously dark songs soaked in whiskey and wisdom. Oh yeah, she’s also a bit of a lunatic, and has been know to play only one song before running off-stage in a panic, so a Cat Power show can always be a bit hit or miss. These days we’ve heard that the singer and multi-instrumentalist has gotten over her love affair with the bottle and kicked the drugs too, so we’re hoping for something special. Sadly, what we get is a pained performance, Chan hobbling around like an old woman as her band try their best to muffle her truly unique voice. Quite frankly it bums us out a little. Oh well. There’s always next year.
The real stars of the show were Kings of Leon. Proving to be the perfect antidote to Cat Power’s earlier fall from grace, Kings Of Leon’s brand of no frills, guilt-free rock ‘n’ roll cheers us up rightly. Clearly glad to be here again, KOL singer Caleb grins as thousands of punters sing along to his good ole boy anthems as if they’d known them all their lives. Note-perfect throughout, the band are easily the highlight of the day and it’s only when you hear tunes like ‘Molly’s Chamber’ and ‘On Call’ back-to-back that you realise these guys have a formidable back-catalogue of festival crowd pleasers.
Just before his band unleash a savage rendition of ‘Charmer,’ Caleb tells us that he will always remember this night for as long as he lives and toasts us with a glass of whiskey. How apt. Some have attacked the Kings for their sometimes shy demeanour in the past, but tonight it just makes their performance that much more endearing.
Day one’s highlight (and first true festival moment) comes when the band encore with an emotionally-charged version of ‘Knocked Up’ that puts goose-bumps on top of goose-bumps as the stars on their backdrop tumble down. The band know they’ve played a blinder too, and as they wave goodbye to the assembled masses, they have a look on their face that says, “Beat that R.E.M.” Over to you Michael Stipe...