OXEGEN – Ar dóigh!

Senan MacAoidh
Ógra Shinn Féin

Bliain eile, oxegen eile, agus ar ndóigh ní raibh an ócáid gan phoilitíocht!

Well, what can I say? Oxegen was brilliant, truly one of the greatest festivals and not one without its fair share of politics. How wouldn’t it be with Rage Against The Machine playing? The famous Metal/Rap/Funk band from California in the USA played at the main stage on Sunday night.


The tension was mounting well before they came on with hardcore fans queuing for up to 10 hours to get into the pit. By the time the Kaiser Chiefs came on, the last band before Rage, the crowd was immense, 10s and 10s of thousands, full of people wearing Rage t-shirts, chanting ‘Rage Rage Rage’ with fist in the air.

I felt sorry for your man singing for the Kaiser Chiefs as he responded in a pissed-off manner, shouting ‘We Are the Kaiser Chiefs!’ and acknowledging that the crowd wanted Rage, singing ‘Angry Mob’. They left the stage with the words ‘Enjoy Rage Against The Machine’. By this time it was undoubtedly the largest and most enthusiastic crowd that had appeared so far at oxegen and it was on fire, the atmosphere was invigorating with the crowd surging.

A huge red star on a black background (symbol of the EZLN) as the backdrop for the band and a portrait of Ché Guevara, it set the tone for the entire performance. They leapt out on stage, receiving the most compelling roar from the masses. The crowd went crazy as they opened with ‘Testify’ they then followed on with the likes of ‘Bullet in the Head’ and ‘Guerrilla Radio’, taking a breather near the end and playing aloud the Internationalé and then finishing with ‘Killing in the name of’.



It was great to see that with Rage back together, their spirit and the spirit of their fans had not gone away. The crowd, mental as it was, sang along to the lyrics and made left fist gestures in the air.

Níor sháraigh aon ghrúpa eile iad ag Oxegen, bhí RATM ar fheabhas agus comh fuinniúil sin. D’fhág siad rian suntasach I measc an tslua agus beidh caint futhu cibé uair a labhraíonn duine faoi Oxegen ’08.

The band always emphasises the importance of activism, that its music is only the beginning. It takes clear stances on many issues and it is openly socialist and fundamentally anti-capitalist. According to their guitarist Tom Morello,

‘America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve.’



Rage Against The Machine were oxegen this year.

And if their support in terms of fans could be harnessed to create action, wouldn’t that be a great thing?