Oxegen 2009 was the sixth Oxegen festival to take place since 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 10 July, Saturday, 11 July and Sunday, 12 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol, Blur and The Killers headlined.
The festival took place over three days, with reports of a four-day festival proving unconfirmed as did rumours, described as "ridiculous", that a 6 pm curfew would be imposed on the Sunday.
The festival slot was the only Irish performance by Kings of Leon in 2009. It also featured the only Irish live performance of Blur in 2009. The Killers were voted most popular band in an official poll conducted on the Oxegen website after the event. The band later used footage from the festival on their live DVD Live from the Royal Albert Hall, released on 6 November that year. Oxegen 2009 was officially opened by the Artane Band on 10 July at 14:00. The festival was heralded as "a marvel of organisation" when compared to the Woodstock Festival held in the United States in 1969.
Oxegen 2009 was also the first European music festival to have an X-ray machine onsite. It was also praised for its greenness and recognised as the largest 100% CarbonNeutral event in Ireland.
Build-up
Tickets Tickets for the festival were on offer as prizes to those who filled in an online survey won by Kings of Leon, the first headliner announced for the second consecutive year on 28 January 2009. A similar survey led to them being booked for the 2008 festival. Early Bird tickets went on sale to registered online users on Friday 8 August, and to all-comers on Friday 15 August at the 2008 price of €224.50 (including booking fee). These were limited to four per person, with a free car park space with every four tickets. Tickets went on general release on 6 March 2009 at 08:00. Once again, it was possible to buy an additional Thursday Camping Pass for €20. As of 23 April, Oxegen 2009 had not yet sold out. It had not sold out by 20 June either. It eventually sold out on 12 July after a sudden rush for day tickets. As with the 2008 festival, the campsite opened on the Thursday evening to prevent traffic queues forming on the Friday.
The popularity of a ticket deposit scheme introduced in March 2009 was confirmed when it returned in May.
Early reports On Thursday 17 July 2008, just days after the 2008 festival had ended, Phantom FM published a report suggesting that organisers of T in the Park, Oxegen's sister festival which traditionally shares many of the same bands as Oxegen, were reportedly seeking David Bowie to headline the 2009 festival which took place on the same weekend. The 62-year-old was previously due to headline both T and Oxegen in 2004, but had to pull out due to illness. Klaxons put themselves in contention to play at Oxegen 2009 after announcing that they will "play every festival possible" in 2009. But they didn't.
Official announcements
Kings of Leon were again the first band to be confirmed for Oxegen in 2009, with their announcement coming on 28 January 2009. They headlined for the second consecutive year, having won the approval of fans in an online vote for a second consecutive year as well. Hot Press then announced what they claimed was a "world exclusive" late on 28 January 2009 that Snow Patrol and The Killers, headliners in 2007, would be co-headliners in 2009. An appearance by Snow Patrol was confirmed by the organisers within two days, with Katy Perry, Bloc Party and The Script also being confirmed on 30 January 2009. Kings of Leon played Oxegen's sister festival T in the Park on its Friday whilst Snow Patrol played T on its Sunday night. Also from T in the Park persistent rumours have forced the organisers to deny that AC/DC are the other headliners.
On 5 February, the reformed Blur were announced as the remaining headliners in what was their only Irish appearance of the year and their first in Ireland since three shows in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin in 2003. It will also be only the third time that all the original members will be together since 2000, with the second occurring a week earlier in Hyde Park, London at a 55,000 sell-out show which followed an appearance at Glastonbury 2009. The Killers were named as headliners on 18 February.
On 12 February, The Irish Times announced that Pete Doherty would be playing the festival. Doherty was confirmed within twenty-four hours alongside nine other acts: Razorlight, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Elbow, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Ting Tings, White Lies, Fight Like Apes, Pendulum and Jason Mraz. On 24 February, Keane, Lily Allen, The Specials, Paolo Nutini, Wallis Bird, Digitalism, The Mars Volta, Swedish House Mafia, Miss Kittin/The Hacker, Crookers, and Hockey were confirmed by MCD. The Specials were announced after they reformed to celebrate thirty years in the music business, although it was unclear at the time if founding member Jerry Dammers would be included. The Truffle Shuffles learned of their invitation to perform whilst live on Rick O'Shea's RTÉ 2fm radio show on 25 February. On 3 March, eleven new acts were added to the line-up for Oxegen 2009. These were Lady Gaga, Manic Street Preachers, Florence and the Machine, TV on the Radio, The Game, Ladyhawke, James, Foals, Of Montreal, Friendly Fires and Squeeze. James will play a warm-up show in The Academy on 8 July. On 5 March, Oxegen 2009 was officially launched by the organisers, with an initial stage breakdown unveiled and a number of new acts announced. These included Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, Pet Shop Boys, Glasvegas, The Saturdays, Doves, Eagles of Death Metal and God Is an Astronaut.
Techno/electronica musicians Niall "Mano le Tough" Mannion and Ruairi Donohue of the Red Bull Music Academy also performed at Oxegen in 2009. On 8 April, 202s announced they would be performing on the Friday of the festival. Calvin Harris, Noisettes, The Saw Doctors, The Coronas, The Blizzards, The Answer, The Horrors, Iglu & Hartly, Starsailor and Spinnerette were added to the line-up on 28 April. La Roux cancelled citing "touring commitments". One DJ or VJ was offered a half-hour slot at the festival in association with Xbox. More dance acts, including Felix da Housecat and The Japanese Popstars, were announced on 7 May 2009. On 14 May 2009, Therapy?, Tinchy Stryder, Boys Noize and Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife) were all announced.
MCD announced the stage breakdown on 18 May 2009. The return of the Hot Press Signing Tent was confirmed on 21 May 2009. The line-up for the Red Bull Music Academy was confirmed on 22 May 2009. The Hot Press New Band Stage line-up was announced on 27 May 2009. On 3 June 2009, the IMRO New Sounds Stage line-up was announced, with David Kitt, Director and Villagers confirmed as headliners. Also performing on that stage are C O D E S, Heathers, Blood or Whiskey, Juno Award winners Wintersleep, Broken Record from Scotland, Home Star Runner and Concerto For Constantine.
On 12 June 2009, the entertainment line-up and further details of facilities for campers was announced. The campsite remained open until 18:00 on the Monday after the festival. The Thursday night entertainment featured bands such as Snakes of Desire, The Stone Roses Experience, Definitely Might Be and Hells Bells. The Xbox Live Stage was located to the Blue Campsite and ran each day of the festival from 14:00 until late into the night and the Headphone Disco is available to a maximum 2,500 campers per night. A funfair was present in each campsite (the previous year had one shared between all the campsites) and other features included barbecue areas for those with disposable barbecues, the Pull Parlour Salon and better facilities for phone charging. Scouting Ireland returned to offer their free tent pitching service.
Several acts were added to the Bacardi Arena on 25 June 2009. The return of Heineken Greenspace was announced on 29 June 2009. The stage times were released on 1 July 2009.
Related events The Blizzards performed a live online show on their website in association with Xbox on 27 May 2009. The webcast preceded appearances by the band and the return of the Xbox Live Stage to Oxegen 2009. Xbox also ran a competition with a top prize of a half-hour DJ set on the Xbox Live Stage at Oxegen 2009.
The Irish Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan endorsed a "Rock the Environment" competition designed to promote Oxegen 2009 as being a "green festival". Ryan said the festival was "sustainable, green and fun". Competitors were asked to send in their environmentally-friendly videos to the Oxegen Muzu TV channel. Winners will have their entries broadcast in the green Ecogen area.
Two acts from County Kildare featured at Oxegen in 2009; these were decided via the annual Platform V contest. Box Social, Colin Scallan, I Phoenix, The J-Walkers, The Resistance and Seven Days were the six finalists; two were selected in Naas, County Kildare on 19 June.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA), Kildare County Council and MCD used youth radio stations to front a road safety campaign throughout Oxegen 2009. Billboards of four young persons from County Kildare who died in 2005 and 2007 were on display onsite. Mobile messages and the big stage screens were also used to promote road safety.
The Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Northern Ireland jointly produced a festival guide aimed at fans, issuing advice on walking, camping and how to dance appropriately and pain-free.
Publications Several newspapers and magazines issued special editions for Oxegen 2009.
Hot Press featured the Ultimate Guide to Oxegen '09 prior to the festival. It included the favourite Oxegen moments of six Irish musicians and interviews with Brody Dalle of Spinnerette and Dave Keuning of headliners The Killers. They also made several music videos of artists performing on the New Bands Stage available on their website.
One week before the festival, Gary Lightbody of Oxegen headliners Snow Patrol was chosen as guest editor of The Ticket, The Irish Times weekly music supplement. Lightbody selected two musicians whose performances were covered in that week's edition—he chose Lisa Hannigan and Josh Ritter—and also chose which bands Jim Carroll would write about in his column about new music. Lightbody also wrote a guide to surviving festivals, interviewed Glenn Moule of the band Howling Bells and wrote a piece on which artists he intended to see perform at Oxegen, including Lily Allen, Republic of Loose, Patrick Wolf, TV on the Radio, Annie Mac, Elbow, Friendly Fires and Crystal Castles.
The Irish Independent featured numerous Oxegen-related articles on 3 July 2009. These included reports on Blur, Fight Like Apes, Snow Patrol, The Ting Tings, Jerry Fish, a piece on Northern Irish acts such as David Holmes, That Petrol Emotion, Therapy?, Duke Special and The Answer, a piece on newer acts, twenty selected facts and an A–Z of festival fashion. Gary Lightbody talked of his first time when Snow Patrol were in their early twenties and spent the night drinking and "being silly".
Traffic Traffic delays were encountered by fans on their way to the festival on 9 July. MCD suggested fans ought to expect an additional three hours of travel time. Buses in Limerick and Waterford were full since that morning, whilst those in Cork and Galway were said to be "meeting demand". Northern Ireland also experienced what was described by media as "a mass exodus" of fans to Oxegen 2009. Dublin Bus, which operates public transport from Parnell Square to Punchestown, said its journeys were running at one hour and ten minutes, a "good" time according to the company. 30,000 campers were on site by the Thursday night.