Music lovers live it up despite the downpours
Ignoring the seas of mud across the site, Oxegen’s music lovers partied on following spectacles from some of the best bands over the weekend.
Unfazed by the heavy showers that saw nearly an inch of rainfall in parts of Leinster, fans lived it up once again when The Killers hit the main stage last night.
Headline acts Kings of Leon on Saturday night had pleased fans with classics like Use Somebody and Sex on Fire.
A heaving crowd encouraged frontman Caleb Followill and his band to return for several encores.
British pop legends Blur treated crowds to favourites on Friday night, with a dazed looking Damon Albarn belting out classics like Country House and Parklife.
Away from the main stages, several bands and artists left their mark at the Kildare festival.
Pete Doherty attracted a large crowd as he played solo in one of the tents, finishing his eclectic set with a rendition of the Stone Roses song, Wanna Be Adored. A pair of knickers were thrown his way at one stage.
Over the weekend, several artists paid tribute to the late king of pop Michael Jackson, doing versions of his hits, including the Blizzards, who induced a mass sing-along on the main stage with their rendition of Beat It.
One reveller paid to tribute to American artist Katy Perry.
“She was amazing, a brilliant performance and fantastic stage production. The outfits were out of this world,” said Michelle Banks, from Kildare.
Gardaí reported that traffic measures introduced to bring travellers busing and driving to the three days of concerts worked well.
About 80,000 fans were on site yesterday, said gardaí.
By yesterday morning, there had been 91 arrests for a mixture of offences, including public order, road traffic issues, assault, theft as well a number of drug offences.
One assault saw a man stabbed with a broken bottle on Friday night in one of the car parks. Gardaí said a man was arrested but the victim was recovering in hospital.
Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen played to a sell-out crowd at the RDS over two nights. The Boss wooed fans to a two-hour medley of his greatest hits.
Playing a mixture of reflective and rebellious songs, the 59-year-old treated fans to classics like Born to Run and The River and, reunited with his eight-piece band, wowed the capacity crowd.
