Oxegen 2010 was the seventh Oxegen festival to take place since 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 9 July, Saturday, 10 July and Sunday, 11 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. Eminem, Muse and Arcade Fire headlined. A total of around 150 acts performed over the three days.
Oxegen 2010 was Arcade Fire's first Irish appearance since performing in the Phoenix Park and was their first 2010 European show to be confirmed. Drummer Jeremy Gara also admitted it was their first major show since the band's Neon Bible tour and was awestruck at the idea of performing on the Main Stage directly after Jay-Z. Bell X1 gave their only Irish performance of the summer at the event on 11 July. Muse debuted a new song when they headlined the Main Stage on 10 July.
The Capitals became the youngest band to play Oxegen in its history. Pop act Jedward, known in the UK for their appearances on The X Factor, asked to be allowed to perform. It was later suggested in an interview that they were due to perform until one of them tore their ligaments open.
Jim Carroll of The Irish Times named several Oxegen 2010-bound acts in his "20 hottest acts playing this summer" on 28 May 2010: these were Jay-Z, Arcade Fire, The Middle East, Villagers and O Emperor. In a later article in the newspaper he named his "10 must-see acts on his Oxegen timetable with a big, fat yellow highlighter": Jay-Z, Arcade Fire, The Prodigy, Florence & The Machine, Vampire Weekend, Cathy Davey, Julian Casablancas, Laura Marling, Hot Chip and Tinariwen. Tony Clayton-Lea, writing in the same publication, suggested 10 upcoming acts for readers to see: Kassidy, Lissie, Two Door Cinema Club, Kids in Glass Houses, Ellie Goulding, Daisy Dares You, Professor Green, General Fiasco, Example and Cécile.
Build-up
Dates
The dates for Oxegen 2010 were announced on 23 July 2009, following Oxegen 2009.
Tickets
Early bird tickets went on sale on 4 December 2009 in 2007 prices in an attempt to generate interest.
Tickets were still available as the festival began, with 5,000 tickets available on the Wednesday before the event. This led to an increased promotional push by the organisers in a bid to sell as many tickets as possible.
Official announcements
On 23 February 2010, the first acts of the Oxegen 2010 line-up were announced, including Eminem, Muse, Jay-Z, The Black Eyed Peas, Kasabian, The Prodigy, Florence and the Machine, Paolo Nutini, Faithless, Stereophonics, David Guetta, Vampire Weekend, Mumford and Sons, John Mayer, Hot Chip, Calvin Harris, Newton Faulkner, Gossip, The Temper Trap, Empire of the Sun, Goldfrapp, La Roux, Wolfmother, Rise Against, The Coral, Broken Social Scene, Ellie Goulding, Two Door Cinema Club, Armand Van Helden, Steve Angello, Simian Mobile Disco, Erol Alkan, Steve Aoki, A-Trak and Aeroplane. The launch took place at The Academy. 33 acts in total were announced at this time, including the first Irish act (Two Door Cinema Club).
On 8 March 2010, two more artists were announced; headliner Arcade Fire as well as Fatboy Slim.
On 30 March 2010, further artists were announced: Dizzee Rascal, Laura Marling, Diana Vickers, Earth Wind & Fire, The Black Keys, Julian Casablancas, The Cribs, Chase & Status, The Stranglers and Fox Avenue.
On 9 April 2010, it was reported that Kassidy would perform at the festival on 9 July.
On 21 April 2010, the Red Bull Music Academy's return was confirmed, with The Drums, Broken Social Scene, Delphic, Dirty Projectors, Gabriella Cilmi, Chipmunk, Tinie Tempah and Wild Beasts among the acts scheduled to perform there.
On 28 April 2010, Bell X1 announced an appearance on their website, stating the band's only Irish appearance of the summer would be at Punchestown on 11 July. Kate Nash was also announced that day. Later that night Bell X1 and Kate Nash were officially announced alongside eleven more acts: Doves, Editors, Scouting for Girls, Ocean Colour Scene, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Courteeners, Joshua Radin, Airbourne, The Coronas, Republic of Loose and The Middle East.
On 19 May 2010, the return of the Hot Press signing tent and the line-up for the Hot Press Academy Stage were announced; new acts included Ash, We Are Scientists, Kele Okereke, Cathy Davey, Villagers, Wallis Bird, Mystery Jets, Shed Seven, Diana Vickers and 3OH!3.
On 24 May 2010, Local Natives, Plan B and Biffy Clyro were officially announced.
On 1 June 2010, it was announced that Wolfmother were forced to cancel all their summer European dates, including their announced oxegen performance. Airbourne also cancelled.