Oxegen 2011 was the eighth Oxegen festival to take place since 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 8 July, Saturday, 9 July and Sunday, 10 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. Arctic Monkeys, Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Foo Fighters and The Strokes were among the headlining acts. On the final night of the festival Christy Moore came on stage to sing with headliners Coldplay at the end of their set.
Tickets Early bird tickets were released for purchase on 15 December 2010, with a four-day camping pass available with a discount of €25. General tickets were scheduled to go on sale in March 2011, and did so immediately after the festival's official launch on 8 March with four day camping ticket costing €244.50.
Promoters MCD spent a lot of money on advertising the 2011 festival, with ticket sales being slow.
Official announcements On 13 December 2010, Foo Fighters was announced as one of the headline acts of the 2011 festival, the first act to be announced. The band's album was scheduled to be released prior to the performance. On 14 December, Arctic Monkeys became the second headline act to be announced. It was scheduled to be their first performance at Oxegen since 2006. On 15 December, Blink-182 was announced to play the festival for the first time. It had seldom performed in Ireland in the previous 15 years. On 16 December, Paolo Nutini was announced, having performed at the festival in 2010. On 22 December, The Black Eyed Peas was announced, having also performed at the festival in 2010.
On 8 March 2011, the festival was officially launched, with Coldplay announced as the bill-toppers in what would be their first appearance at Oxegen. Dave Grohl hosted the presentation of the announcement on the festival's official website. Other artists to be added included Bruno Mars, All Time Low, Brandon Flowers, Beady Eye, Swedish House Mafia, My Chemical Romance, Weezer, Plan B, Tinie Tempah, Primal Scream, Two Door Cinema Club, Eels, Calvin Harris, Jimmy Eat World, Hurts, Ryan Sheridan, Bipolar Empire. Bright Eyes, The Bloody Beetroots, Paolo Nutini, The National, Deadmau5, Pendulum, Leftfield, Imelda May, Eels, The Vaccines, Noah and the Whale, Tiga, Sven Väth, Friendly Fires, Crystal Castles, Afrojack, Chase & Status, Ocean Colour Scene, Fight Like Apes, The Naked and Famous, Mona, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Royseven, Fenech-Soler, Madisun, Consumer Love Affair.
Slash, OFWGKTA, Metronomy, Manic Street Preachers, Glasvegas, The Saturdays, Peter Doherty, The Pretty Reckless, Professor Green, Ke$ha, Eliza Doolittle, Example and Cherri Bomb were officially added to the line-up on 18 April.
Blink-182, earlier announced as a headline act announced on 18 April that they were moving their European tour to 2012. So therefore have pulled out of this year's Oxegen festival.
Beyoncé was officially added to the line-up on 5 May. She, along with Coldplay, performed at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival ahead of Oxegen, leading to reports that tickets would start selling quickly again.
On 31 May, the Red Bull Electric Ballroom was launched.
On 27 June, the stage breakdown was announced. On 30 June, the stage times were announced.
Jessie J was forced to cancel her appearance at Oxegen 2011 due to a broken leg.
Signing tent The Hot Press Signing Tent returned. It featured Two Door Cinema Club, Peter Hook, Royseven, Ryan Sheridan, Friendly Fires and Bressie. Goody bags also featured.
Broadcasting rights RTÉ 2fm broadcast more than 30 hours of live coverage throughout Oxegen 2011. RTÉ set up a live Oxegen website to share its content between RTÉ Ten, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ 2fm's YouTube channel and RTÉ News Now.
Incidents On the first day of the festival a teenager from Wexford was slashed with a knife after being set upon by a group in the festival campsite. Overall the Gardaí made a total of 90 arrests at the festival over the weekend, including assault, theft and drink-driving. There were also 308 drug seizures, and 28 arrests for alleged drug dealing.
Stages Oxegen 2011 had at least five stages, minus one from the previous year. The Redbull Electric Ballroom appeared for the first time. The Main Stage was headlined by The Black Eyed Peas, Foo Fighters with Beyoncé and Coldplay. The Vodafone Stage was headlined by Swedish House Mafia, Deadmau5 and Pendulum. Heineken Green Spheres was headlined by Leftfield, Propaganda DJs and Primal Scream. The 2FM/Hot Press Academy was headlined by Glasvegas, Eels and Bright Eyes. The Redbull Electric Ballroom was headlined by Sven Väth, The Bloody Beetroots and Afrojack.
Day/Stage Breakdown + Times
Main StageFridaySaturdaySundayThe Black Eyed Peas 23:15 The Script 21:10 My Chemical Romance 19:25 Weezer 17:55 All Time Low 16:30 The Blackout 15:15 Fun Lovin' Criminals 14:00Foo Fighters 23:25 Arctic Monkeys 21:40 Beady Eye 20:05 Plan B 18:25 Two Door Cinema Club 17:00 Jessie J (cancelled) 15:30 Big Country 14:00Coldplay 22:25 Beyoncé 20:25 Slash 18:55 Manic Street Preachers 17:35 Ke$ha 16:15 Ryan Sheridan 15:05 The Rubberbandits 14:00 Vodafone StageFridaySaturdaySundaySwedish House Mafia 23:30 The Strokes 21:30 Tinie Tempah 19:45 The Saw Doctors 18:10 House of Pain 16:50 Original Rudeboys 15:40 The Plea 14:45 Glen Call 14:00Deadmau5 23:05 Paolo Nutini 21:20 Imelda May 19:50 Bruno Mars 18:30 Hurts 17:15 British Sea Power 16:00 The Minutes 14:55 Alice Gold 14:00Pendulum 22:15 The National 20:40 Jimmy Eat World 19:10 Friendly Fires 17:50 Fight Like Apes 16:30 Royseven 15:15 The Kanyu Tree 14:00 Heineken Green SpheresFridaySaturdaySundayLeftfield 23:30 Calvin Harris 21:30 Example 20:00 Whipping Boy 18:30 Peter Hook & The Light 17:00 Her Majesty & The Wolves 15:50 The Riptide Movement 14:55 Gypsies on the Autobahn 14:00Propaganda DJ's 23:45 Brandon Flowers 22:00 The Vaccines 20:40 Professor Green 19:20 The Pretty Reckless 18:05 Bressie 16:50 Cashier No.9 15:55 Fox Avenue 14:55 Little Green Cars 14:00Primal Scream 22:20 Chase and Status 20:50 Crystal Castles 19:25 OFWGKTA 18:10 Ocean Colour Scene 16:55 The Saturdays 15:50 Grouplove 14:55 Neon Trees 14:00 2FM Hotpress AcademyFridaySaturdaySundayGlasvegas 23:55 Noah and the Whale 22:25 The Naked and Famous 21:10 Metronomy 20:00 Clare Maguire 18:55 Tame Impala 17:50 Keywest 16:45 Cherri Bomb 15:50 Readers Wives 14:55 Madisun 14:00Eels 23:50 City and Colour 22:40 Mona 21:30 Miles Kane 20:25 Eliza Doolittle 19:20 Kitty Daisy & Lewis 18:20 Frankie & The Heartstrings 17:20 Braids 16:25 Sweet Jane 15:30 Consumer Love Affair 14:40 Touchwood 14:00Bright Eyes 22:50 The Airborne Toxic Event 21:45 Jenny & Johnny 20:30 Patrick Wolf 19:25 The Twilight Singers 18:30 The Pierces 17:35 Bipolar Empire 16:40 Viva Brother 15:45 The Kapitals 14:50 Fox E And The Goodhands 14:00 Redbull Electric BallroomFridaySaturdaySundaySven Väth Tiga The Shit Robot Show Justin Robertson Maverick Sabre Bitches With Wolves Fenech-Soler Colin PerkinsThe Bloody Beetroots Philth Diplo Steve Aoki Retro/Grade Psycatron Anthony Remedy Freaks From DublinAfrojack Crookers Fake Blood Alex Metric Al Gibbs TEED
Aftermath OFWGKTA announced a performance at The Academy in Dublin on 23 August. Calvin Harris announced a show at Mandela Hall, Belfast in September. Noah and the Whale announced two performances in October. One in Mandela Hall, Belfast and one at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. Dublin band The Minutes will perform at The Academy, Dublin on 15 October. City and Colour announced they will play The Academy, Dublin on 20 October. Patrick Wolf announced a performance at The Speakeasy, Belfast on 23 October and The Academy Dublin on 24 October. The Naked and Famous announced a performance at Dublin's Olympia Theatre on 13 November. Example announced he would play The Olympia Theatre in Dublin on 30 November. Friendly Fires performed at Dublin's Olympia Theatre on 7 December. The Saturdays announced two shows in December at The Odyssey Arena, Belfast and The O2 in Dublin.
References
External links Official website Official broadcaster site (MTV) Oxegen 2011 RTÉ Site