Best Bands at the 2010 Oxegen Concert
What, when, and where is Oxegen 2010?
Oxegen is an annual music festival held since 2004, sponsored by Heineken. Now Ireland’s biggest festival and the largest 100% CarbonNeutral event in Ireland, it was previously called Witnness, which ran from 2000 and was sponsored by Guinness. The event is promoted by MCD. Oxegen was originally a three-day festival but for 2008 was expanded to four days. It takes place at the Punchestown Racecourse in County Kildare, Ireland and has an average attendance of around 90,000 a day, with around 80,000 of these camping on site for the duration, and the rest traveling to the site each day. Oxegen 2009 was heralded as “a marvel of organization” when compared to the Woodstock Festival held in the United States in 1969.
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas is a Grammy Award winning hip hop group that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1995. The group is composed of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Will.I.Am and vocalists Apl.De.Ap, Taboo, and Fergie. Since their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group’s hip hop/dance-oriented style has sold an estimated 35 million albums worldwide and 41 million singles. They scored their first worldwide hit with “Where Is the Love?” in 2003, which topped over ten charts worldwide. Another single was the European hit “Shut Up”. Their next album Monkey Business was another worldwide hit, certified 3x Platinum in the U.S., spawning two hit singles “My Humps”and “Don’t Phunk With My Heart”.
Origin: Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres: Hip-hop, electro-hop, R&B, dance-pop, dance
Years active: 1995–present
Labels: Interscope, A&M
Associated acts: Atban Klann, Cheryl Cole, Esthero, Dante Santiago, Sergio Mendes, The Pussycat Dolls, Macy Gray, Kid Cudi, Meanz of Operation, David Guetta, Wild Orchid, Stefanie Ridel, Renee Sands
Website: www.blackeyedpeas.com
Kasabian
Kasabian are a Brit Award winning British indie rock band that formed in Countesthorpe, Leicestershire in 1999. Originally comprising vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and keyboardist Christopher Karloff, guitarist and backing vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, bassist Chris Edwards and drummer Ash Hannis, the band have released three studio albums. The band currently features Meighan, Pizzorno, Edwards and drummer Ian Matthews, who replaced Hannis in 2004.
Origin: Countesthorpe, Leicestershire, England
Genres:
Alternative rock
Indie Rock
Space rock
Neo-psychedelia
Electronica
Years active: 1998–present
Labels:
RCA (2003–2005)
Columbia (2005–present)
Website: http://www.kasabian.co.uk/
Fat Boy Slim
Fatboy Slim, is an English DJ, big beat musician, record producer and pioneer of the electronic dance genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s. Cook has achieved considerable success in the UK charts, performing as Fatboy Slim and with The Housemartins, Beats International and Freak Power.
Birth name: Quentin Leo Cook
Also known as: Fatboy Slim, and others. See pseudonym section
Born: 31 July 1963
Origin: London Borough of Bromley, Brighton, United Kingdom
Genres: EDM, Big beat
Occupations: musician, producer, disc jockey
Instruments: Turntables, keyboard, bass guitar, guitar, drums
Years active: 1981–present
Labels: Skint, Astralwerks, Southern Fried,
Associated acts: The Housemartins, Beats International, Freak Power, Brighton Port Authority
Website: FatboySlim.net
Stereophonics
Described as “classic UK rock delivered with whiskey vocals,” the band have been summarized as possessing a sound akin to the genres of alternative rock and “British traditional rock.” Stereophonics’ debut album, Word Gets Around, was released in August 1997 and instantly charted at number six in the UK, aided by the singles “Local Boy in the Photograph”, “More Life in a Tramps Vest” and “A Thousand Trees”, all of which failed to affect the top 20. The band reached mainstream success with the release of Performance and Cocktails in 1999 and have achieved a total of ten top-ten singles as well as one number-one: 2005’s “Dakota”. The band have also been praised for their live performances, which have landed them headlining slots at many of the UK’s most high-profile music festivals, including Reading and Leeds in 2000, Glastonbury in 2002, V festival in 2002 and the Isle of Wight in 2004 and 2009.
Origin: Cwmaman, Wales, United Kingdom
Genres: Rock, alternative rock, Post-Britpop, indie rock
Years active: 1992 – present
Labels: V2
Website: www.stereophonics.com
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English alternative dance group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method, as well as other acts they are pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s, and are known for high-quality live performances. They have sold over 20 million records worldwide which is unequalled in dance music history.
Origin: Braintree, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Genres: Alternative dance, big beat, Rave
Years active: 1990–present
Labels: Take Me to the Hospital, Ragged Flag, Cooking Vinyl, XL, Beggars Banquet, Mute, Maverick, Warner Bros., Elektra, SHOCK Records
Website: www.theprodigy.com
Muse
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon. Since their inception, the band has been composed of Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard. Muse are known for their energetic and extravagant live performances and their fusion of many music genres, including progressive rock, classical music, heavy metal and electronica.
Origin: Teignmouth, Devon, England
Genres: Alternative rock, Progressive rock, new prog
Years active: 1994-present
Labels: Warner, Helium 3, Taste, East West, Mushroom, Dangerous
Website: www.muse.mu
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is an indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and fronted by the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. In addition to instrument mainstays guitar, drums and bass guitar, members play piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, French horn, accordion, harp and mandolin. The band takes most of their instruments on tour, and the multi-instrumentalist band members switch instrumental duties throughout their shows.
Origin: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres:
Indie rock
Post-punk revival
Art rock
Baroque pop
Years active: 2003–present
Labels:
Sonovox
Merge
Rough Trade Records
City Slang
Spunk
Associated acts:
Bell Orchestre
Final Fantasy
Wild Light
Website: ArcadeFire.com
Faithless
The three principal members of Faithless are Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The band was formed in 1995, the debut single “Salva Mea (Save Me)” was released that same year. Jazz acts as a vocalist in mostly rap format with lyrics that have strong spiritual or socio-political content. Bliss constructs most of the music herself electronically, but is talented in playing the piano, violin, saxophone and bass. Rollo heads and produces the band. Lead female vocals for many of their songs are performed by Pauline Taylor, who also performed lead vocals for singles by Rollo released under his monikers Rollo Goes Mystic and Rollo Goes Spiritual.
Origin: London, England
Genres:
House
Trance
Trip hop
Electronica
Years active: 1995 – present
Website: Official site
Paolo Nutini
Paolo Giovanni Nutini is a Scottish singer/songwriter from Paisley. Both his parents are Scottish, although his father is of Italian descent, from Barga, Tuscany, and his family has been in Scotland for four generations.
Birth name: Paolo Giovanni Nutini
Born: 9 January 1987
Origin: Paisley, Scotland
Genres: Pop rock, Blue eyed soul, reggae, folk, blues
Occupations: Singer-Songwriter
Instruments: Vocal, guitar
Years active: 2005–present
Labels: Atlantic
Website: http://www.paolonutini.com/
Hot Chip
Hot Chip formed in 2000, though members Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard had previously worked together and had been at Elliott School in Putney, London since 1991. In an interview, Goddard jokingly compared early Hot Chip releases to sixth-form poetry with acoustic guitars, although an interest in dance music rhythms and electronic experimentation is present in even the early recordings and releases such as the ‘Mexico EP’. The current line up was completed when occasional collaborators Owen Clarke, Felix Martin and later Al Doyle joined the band full time in 2003.
Origin: London, England
Genres:
Synthpop
Electropop
Alternative dance
Years active: 2000–present
Labels: EMI, DFA
Associated acts: LCD Soundsystem
Website: www.hotchip.co.uk