Oxegen 2011 - Madisun
Hotpress Stage, Friday, 2pm
Describe in a Tweet: A good effort but not quite good enough to kick Oxegen off with a bang.
What happened: Madisun were never going to be mindblowing, but they gave it their all to no avail. Rock and Roll Swing was an intriguing start, with a nice bit of sax thrown into the heavy on the pop, little of the rock mix, but despite firing on all cylinders they failed to really make their mark. They never really put a foot wrong, in fairness (the only complaint that could be made would be that the frontman's falsetto was less than graceful at the best of times) but for a middle of the road band at such a big festival they needed to do something big and they failed to do that.
On the positive side, there's some genuinely nice slide guitar work and the band can certainly find their way round a melody: if they weren't the opening band to the festival, their decision to take things a little slower in Mystery Train could have worked very well but they simply didn't have the crowd on their side. Fans of the Kooks and the later work of the Shins may find favour with Madisun but they were destined to open with a whimper instead of a bang.
Crazy In Love: The superb drumming was the only real redeeming quality of Madisun: interesting rhythms and an energetic performance that never tried to take the lazy way out. Great work.
Why Don't You Love Me: Jackson was a very forgettable moment of the set: the vocals were strained, the crowd grew even less attentive and it just felt like a B-side from a Script album.
Oxegen rating: 5/10
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