More Acts Added To The Oxegen Bill - My Thoughts on the Whole Thing So Far!

They've managed it yet again. The organisers managed to build up the excitement with a cryptic "Next announcement in next 48 hours" via their facebook page, and today we were given a less than exciting list on TodayFM between 7 and 8pm.

The acts confirmed were as follows:

DIZZEE RASCAL, JULIAN CASABLANCAS, LAURA MARLING, JAMIE T, EARTH WIND & FIRE, GROOVE ARMADA, THE BLACK KEYS, THE CRIBS, CHASE & STATUS, THE STRANGLERS, FOX AVENUE.....

Of that list, the only ones I'm remotely excited about are the Black Keys, Julian Casablancas (i do prefer him with the Strokes than solo but one is better than none!) and Laura Marling.

The most high profile act, Dizzee Rascal, joins an ever growing list of urban and pop acts to play this years festival - Eminem, Jay Z, The Black Eyed Peas, David Guetta to name but four, while there is a shocking lack of rock acts being confirmed. Heavy rumours hinting towards Dirty Projectors and Queens of the Stone Age have proved to be untrue thus far, while also this week we have seen acts such as Doves, Fionn Regan, the Maccabees and many more being confirmed for English festivals.

Let's look at Reading & Leeds for a second. The headliners include Guns & Roses, Arcade Fire and Blink 182 - an intriguing mix to say the least. Further down the bill we come across Weezer, Queens of the Stone Age, Paramore, Klaxons, Crystal Castles, Pendulum, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Yeasayer, Modest Mouse, Cypress Hill, Limp Bizkit, We Are Scientists, Band of Horses and more.

Granted, quite a few of the above are not to my taste (Limp Bizkit? Really?) it is commendable that Reading & Leeds are pandering to a different crowd. The rock & roll spirit is alive and well in this festival, something that is severely lacking in Oxegen so far.

I hope that Oxegen can put things right between now and then. The rock & alternative crowds are screaming out for more to be put alongside Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, the Black Keys, Muse, Kasabian, Vampire Weekend...

And taking one look at the line-up for Electric Picnic... Makes Oxegen look even worse than they are making themselves look!