Interesting article from the Sunday Tribune about the madness that occured in the Oxegen Campsite. As I was there I can tell you it was pure madness but was well sauced and didn’t give a toss. Its crazy the censorship MCD are trying to impose. I hope this forum doesn’t prevent such discussion and debate for fear of the big boys bringing inthelaw.
So what did happen at Oxegen 2006? (SundayTribune)
WHEN rain pelted down on tens of thousands of fans at the Oxegen Festival
in Punchestown, Co Kildare on Saturday 8 July, the promoter MCD was worried
that for the first time in its brief history, the two-day show . . . the
country’s most popular music event . . . would be a wash-out. The festival
had sold out of its 80,000 available tickets months before. According to
gardai on site, 53,000 cars arrived on Friday, with 70,000 camping music
fans keen to get the best spots in the campsite. But as water gushed down,
the marquee tents in which stages had been located became so sodden that
some revellers began to pack up and go home. Almost miraculously on
Saturday night, however, the winds eased and the clouds lifted. Overnight,
the mud dried.
The next day, the atmosphere was as optimistic as the sky was bright.
But almost as soon as the festival wrapped up, stories of what really
happened outside the main music area began to circulate.
Tents had been burned, according to some eyewitnesses. Rampaging gangs of
youths had caused chaos.
Some campers said they had feared for their safety while at the festival.
The promoters deny claims of rioting and looting.
Confusion still exists about where and when alleged incidents of violence
took place in the sprawling campsite, which was divided up into two
sections . . . A and B . . . and then further divided into numbered
sections. Some attendees maintain that the burning of tents began as soon
as Saturday night.
Following interviews with numerous attendees who camped at Oxegen and
witnessed violence and the destruction of property, it can be concluded
that the worst incidents took place late on Sunday night and early on
Monday morning. MCD initially maintained that just two tents were set
alight, and the fires were quickly extinguished by security officials.
Eyewitness evidence, as well as videos from the campsite posted on the
video library website YouTube by people at the festival, suggest a
different version of events.
Shortly after the festival, MCD made a post on the main page of the Oxegen
website. “Superintendent Tom Neville, of Naas gardai”, it said, "stated
'the crowd have been very well behaved and our traffic management plan has
resulted in free-flowing traffic to and from the site over the course of
the weekend. The pre-event planning meetings played a major role in the
success of the event.
There have been a number of seizures for illegal substances.’" This
statement is remarkably similar to another made by MCD following the Hi: Fi
music festival in Mullingar two weeks ago, which was attended by 20,000
people.
"Superintendent Padraic Rattigan, of Mullingar garda siochana, stated, 'The
crowd have been very well behaved and our traffic management plan has
resulted in freeflowing traffic to and from the site over the course of the
weekend.
The planning meetings played a major role in the success of the event. As
expected with a crowd of this number, there have been a number of seizures
for illegal substances and a small number of public order arrests to
date.’" Speaking to the Sunday Tribune, Superintendent Neville was slightly
less positive about the success of Oxegen. At least two investigations are
ongoing following incidents at the festival, he said. One common assault is
being investigated along with a serious sexual assault. The superintendent
would not confirm whether the sexual assault occurred in the campsite area.
Other crimes at Oxegen included 386 drug seizures . . . mostly for personal
use.
Around 50 people were arrested on site.
Last Friday, MCD released a statement entitled “The Facts”, with the lofty
heading, “Can we eliminate all anti-social behaviour? Well, that is a
greater social question” . . . an attempt at preempting a flurry of Oxegen
news stories. In the statement, the company acknowledged that it would
assist the gardai with the investigation into a sexual assault. It also
revised its figure on the number of tents burned from two to 23.
Denis Desmond, managing director of MCD Productions, was quoted in the
statement as saying, “With all major events, there are always a number of
lessons to be learned. Anti-social behaviour cannot and will not be
tolerated at any MCD event. We will continue to provide a high standard of
care for our customers. And our security team along with the Garda will
provide all the appropriate protections and those individuals found to have
caused any unnecessary distress for other customers will be dealt with
appropriately.”
The main criticisms of the campsite relate to a lack of visible security.
MCD refused to respond to questions put by the Sunday Tribune regarding its
security.
However, this newspaper understands that up to five security firms were
employed by MCD to police the event, which was eventually attended by
between 70,000 to 80,000 people. MCD told the Sunday Tribune that the
gardai in charge of policing Oxegen received a list of each member of
security staff and were able to conduct background checks on them. This
assertion was refuted by a garda press officer: "We have no legal
obligation to do that, " she said, adding such a practice would be
infringing on the rights of citizens.
Ronan Flynn from Cork stayed in campsite A (12) for the weekend. He claims
that “many people arrived without tickets and walked in”, a claim
reiterated by others the Sunday Tribune interviewed. By Sunday night, Flynn
realised he was situated in an area where some of the worst violence was
taking place, “In campsite A, between midnight on Sunday and 6am on Monday
there were an average of six to eight fires burning at any given time. . .
I was camped right at the edge of one of the main tent-burning groups,
watched them throw cans, knock fences and pull down the security tower,
having bottled the staff until they deserted it, then tied ropes to it and
tipped it over. . . On Monday morning, the security finally started making
a proper presence in our campsite, but only in kicking everyone in our
campsite area out at 6am. We had been packed up since 5am and our
neighbours had already left; none of us felt safe.”
From similar accounts, it appears security initially made attempts to
extinguish fires in the area, but gave up late on Sunday night, only to
return between 5am and 6am on Monday morning to eject people from their
tents.
Privately, MCD denies that people walked into the festival unchecked by
security, but those who attended the event say otherwise. Peter Reilly from
Dublin told the Sunday Tribune he still has the ticket he bought for the
festival for the simple reason that security didn’t ask for it.
"I nor my friend I was going with were asked for tickets, or searched. In
fact, I didn’t even notice any security guards. We just walked straight
through without question. I still have my ticket untouched in the envelope
I brought it to Oxegen in. After the gig finished up on Saturday night I
went home, but I know a few people who walked straight into the campsite
without being asked for wristbands or tickets or anything, who then stayed
for the Sunday too, with only a one-day ticket.
This puts some perspective on the actual campsite trouble in my opinion. If
literally anyone who wanted to get in could just stroll through and into
the campsite, then you have to wonder how on earth they were expecting the
event to be trouble-free."
Five days after the festival, the message board on Oxegen’s official
website . . . the forum of a heated discussion of events in the campsite .
. . was shut down. MCD maintains that the message board was due to shut
down at that time, and reopen when tickets go on sale for 2007’s festival
this November, but the move was interpreted by users as an attempt at
censorship.
Outraged, many transferred their arguments to other message boards, namely
Ireland’s largest, Boards. ie. A post on its message board, which referred
to an article written about the festival in the Irish Independent, prompted
MCD to send a letter from its solicitors Arthur Cox, to Boards. ie seeking
its removal. Boards. ie chief Dr John Breslin told the Sunday Tribune: “At
the time, feelings were quite high and we felt it would be safer to remove
any discussion relating to MCD.”
The first solicitor’s letter he received notified him of the correspondence
MCD was having with the Irish Independent regarding criticisms of Oxegen.
The second demanded an apology. It’s an apology Breslin has yet to give.
Breslin said he was confused as to why MCD decided to send a letter from
its solicitor, rather than simply contact the website directly to remove
the offensive post, something, he says, he would have happily done. When
contacted a second time, Breslin said he “couldn’t say anything” about the
current legal situation, although a post on the Boards. ie website again
warned users not to discuss MCD: “As of Friday, 11 August 2006, MCD
Productions has entered into legal proceedings against Boards. ie Ltd. At
this time we cannot make, or allow, comment on an ongoing legal action
against Boards. ie.”
When Boards. ie posted the initial notice on its site saying any discussion
relating to MCD, any of its festivals or related bands would be removed,
ire directed towards the company increased amongst music fans. Many
believed it was simply censoring discussions and criticisms of the
festival. “MCD has said it has no interest in censoring our discussion of
anything it is involved in apart from discussions of the negative rumours
regarding the Oxegen festival”, the notice said.
"Unfortunately, as the administrators of Boards. ie, we cannot guarantee
that discussions involving MCD in any way will not prompt a user to post
something regarding the negative rumours. As our moderators are not
full-time, paid staff members, we cannot guarantee that we can catch such
references immediately to delete them.
Subsequently, we feel it is more sensible to veto all discussion of MCD and
related bands, events, venues, dates, festivals, concert dates, ticket
sales, competitions and promotions, lest MCD be defamed during these
discussions, " the post read at the time.
Many people contacted and interviewed for this article refused to go on the
record.
Amongst some in the media, there is a reluctance to criticise the
organisation, as many believe that such action isn’t worth the hassle that
inevitably follows. Given that MCD is by far the biggest music promoter in
the country, one can understand such reluctance.
But such obedience is now changing. Music fans were outraged at how MCD
handled the post-Oxegen backlash. Instead of acknowledging there were
problems in the campsite, MCD initially went on the defensive, rubbishing
claims of violence and damage to property and threatening those who
repeated them with legal action. At least one national newspaper was sent
solicitors’ letters from MCD’s legal representatives after it became clear
that it would be reporting on allegations from those who camped at the
festival. How welcoming MCD will be of online criticism when the official
Oxegen message board reopens remains to be seen. Elsewhere online,
ex-Oxegen messageboard members have moved to a rival festival’s message
board . . .
Electric Picnic . . . while other forums have been set up.
"We must warn you that in the event that an article critical of the event
is published, we will take whatever action is necessary to prevent damage
to the Oxegen event or MCD Productions, " was the response from Justin
Green, publicity and marketing director for the company, and the man at the
front line of MCD’s inhouse PR machine, when the Irish Independent reported
on the Oxegen festival, although no legal proceedings have been brought to
date. Music journalist Jim Carroll mentioned the trouble at and after
Oxegen in his Irish Times column and called it “the story which refuses to
go away”.
MCD refused to accept allegations made to the Sunday Tribune from people
who were at the festival as truth. It asked for the contact details of
those interviewed for this article to be forwarded to them. "MCD takes all
complaints very seriously and fully investigates all such matters.
Accordingly, we would kindly request that you forward contact details of
the complainants, to enable us carry out such an investigation, " it said.
Following a further request from MCD, the Sunday Tribune contacted all
those interviewed and gave them the opportunity to contact MCD about their
Oxegen experiences.
Campsite B was not without incidents of violence too, according to those
who pitched there.
Brian Kavanagh from Co Meath stayed in campsite B and witnessed “tents
being emptied of all the bags, and then thrown up into the air so the tent
flies through the campsite. I also didn’t really see any security guards in
our campsite for the duration of the festival.” Joe Heron, who stayed in
campsite B11, said: “Security in the arena all seemed more professional and
better clued in than in previous years. But security and garda presence in
the campsite was negligible.”
The majority of those interviewed said the Oxegen campsite had been on a
“downward spiral” over the past few years, and that this year was a
manifestation of a more drunken, boisterous crowd that had been let away
with much during past festivals. Most punters praised MCD for better toilet
facilities, better food and other new elements that have been adopted from
Pod Promotions’ Electric Picnic festival in Co Laois . . . namely a cinema
and ‘silent disco’. Of course, part of the problem lies in personal
responsibility.
You can’t blame MCD for people getting drunk and causing trouble, but
concertgoers who spoke to the Sunday Tribune insisted that Denis Desmond’s
promotion company has a duty to maintain the safety of those who wish to
enjoy themselves without the threat of violence or injury. “Why were the
gardai not brought in?” Ronan Flynn asked of the violence in campsite A12.
"Oxegen is a good event, " maintains Joe Heron who camped in B11, “but
security is a key feature in any such large gathering. The gardai and MCD
need to get this sorted. Otherwise it will either die off, or worse still,
people will get really badly hurt.”