Irish Rain

We've been in Dublin since Friday, and today we finish up the final day of the Oxegen Festival, headlined by Muse and The Darkness this evening.

I'm in an internet cafe on the River Liffey as I write and sad piano music is playing, so forgive me if this entry seems a bit more reflective than usual.

This festival has been much like previous ones, too much like them in many ways. Perhaps after the third year in a row at this one I should break habit and head to T in the Park next year, or even take a break from them all together. As much as I like live music, there's an element of "canned fun" that starts to grate on you after a while.

Yesterday, in reverse order, we saw what I considered to be a rather fine Cure concert which clearly featured a lot of songs from the new album since I did not recognize them and own everything they've ever released for the most part. The oldies moved me the most, I'd saw, "The Primary", "A Forest" and such. They closed out with "Boys Don't Cry" and I took the liberty of being anonymous in a foreign country and bounced around like an idiot with the rest of the punters.

I checked out Vegas's the Killers who started at almost the same time as the Cure. They were one of the bands I definitely came to see. I like what I've heard from their debut album, and I have a copy of it waiting for me at home. The sound seemed a bit off where we were standing, however, and once we moved to find a better spot the strains of the Cure on the Main Stage drew me out of the tent and kept me there. I plan on giving the Killers another chance though. I could see, though not hear, the potential they have.

Jumping back to the beginning, the Scissor Sisters were the first Main Stage act we caught yesterday. Their Elton John influenced disco kept us standing happily in the rain for 40 minutes. It struck me that if Faux Jean had somehow managed to get over to Europe a couple of years ago they would be superstars by now. I'm convinced that what the Scissor Sisters are doing will soon be copied and recopied and like the Darkness is another sign that the 70's is coming back again.

We lay down on the pavement near the ticket stage for a bit and were awakened by more rain in our faces just in time to hear a decent set by the Rapture while sitting under umbrellas and getting our asses soaked. While Sean headed back to the tent with my friends for a spell, I caught a bit of PJ Harvey, Snow Patrol and Electric Six.

It was extremely difficult to figure out what time the bands were actually playing yesterday and where. You almost had to steer by sense of smell. Badges with schedules on them sold out before the music even started for the most part. Though they were only ten euro, I couldn't buy one for 15, and someone even wanted 50 to part with theirs. Screw that. Today I came to the internet cafe with the explicit intention of printing the timeline off the oxegen website, but that is unfortunately down.

Off to more confusion. Then home tomorrow.