New additions • A competition was held in the run-up to the festival to determine the identity of the two bands which would open the New Band Stage. The winners were My Ok Hotel and Miracle Bell. • The Laughter Lounge was added to the festival. It was headlined on the Saturday night by
Joe Rooney and the Sunday night by
David McSavage. • The
NME Stage was rebranded as Stage 2/NME. • For the first time in 2007, there was a special family area in the campsite reserved for festival-goers with children under 12. However a special car pass was needed for entry to this area and this could be booked via the official website. •
Tangerine Fields was a scheme whereby the festival-goer's campsite was ready pitched. The tents, tipis and yurts were located in a private campsite, with its own showers, toilets and parking areas. • Camping packs were available to purchase from the official website and included a substantial range of items including a sleeping bag, torch and tent. •
Tent Aid was a scheme operated by
Scouting Ireland. For campers who had trouble pitching their tent, members of the Scouting agency assisted for a charitable donation. Campers wishing to recycle their tents after the festival could leave them to be collected by
Tent Aid where they were sent to Africa to be reused.
Weather performed at Oxegen 07. Rainstorms lashed Punchestown for much of the weekend as the campsite descended into a muddy wasteland by the Friday evening. By the Saturday afternoon the arena too was caked in mud. Sunday saw the mud worsen with festival-goers finding the long trek between the Main Stage and Stage 2/NME even more difficult as they trudged through knee-deep layers of mud and dirty water. There were some sunny spells but these were eventually replaced with frequent rain showers which drew fans away from the main stages and into the marquees. The mud saw much cause for fun as, in particular during
The Kooks's performance on the Main Stage on the Sunday, music fans frolicked in the tedious conditions and sparked off a sequence of raucous mud fights which led to many being bustled away by stewards. Conditions made the car parks untenable and
gardaí eventually took the step on the Saturday morning to shut down all car parks on the Punchestown site, asking those day-trippers who had not yet arrived to avail of the
free public transport from
Naas. Punchestown Racecourse was later compared to the
Somme.
Performances Notable performances at the festival included
Muse's' headlining performance on the Saturday night, complete with the sensational sound and spectacular pyrotechnics that wowed Wembley Stadium earlier this summer,
Daft Punk's light show on Stage 2/NME Stage on the Sunday night, The Killer's performance the same night, which featured an impressive visual spectacle,
Scissor Sisters (at which frontman
Jake Shears's drew attention to himself by stripping down to a towel and rolling around in the mud in front of the moshpit, after previously climbing the stage rigging), a bewildered
Lovefoxxx of
CSS being corrected by the crowd after she asked if they were in Dublin, as well as
Bloc Party's rousing performance on the Sunday afternoon as frontman
Kele Okereke leaped off the stage and called for the crowd to get "violent".
The Kooks followed Bloc Party by playing to a mud-soaked crowd, notable mainly for the chaotic mud-slinging that saw a number of security personnel humbled by raucous festivalgoers (and slippery surfaces)
Arcade Fire were next on the Main Stage to receive a rapturous reception from the Punchestown crowd, especially when frontman
Win Butler claimed that
Razorlight were "responsible for the rain". He also stated that their performance, along with many of their other Irish shows, had been one of their best. This set featured, amongst other things, a rainbow to accompany "
No Cars Go" (pictured), band members
Richard Reed Parry and
Will Butler duelling with drum sticks on the stage rigging, and singalongs to set closers "
Intervention" and "
Wake Up".
Editors, playing in the Green Room on the Saturday night, and
The Blizzards, playing on the Main Stage on the Sunday afternoon, both made their third consecutive appearance at Oxegen. on Stage 2/NME at Oxegen 07 Some fans awaiting the arrival of
Interpol on Stage 2/NME on the Saturday were surprised to witness
Kings of Leon, fresh from their Main Stage set, walking through the crowd to gain access to the backstage area to watch Interpol's set. They briefly stopped for photographs with amazed fans. Interpol's set was also well received and they were one of the first bands to use lights and smoke in their set as the night progressed. Watching
Brazilian band,
CSS on Stage 2/NME were members of
Arcade Fire alongside
Susan Sarandon and
Tim Robbins. Fears over the ability of
Pete Doherty to appear proved unfounded as he was reported to have gone on a booze session and then slept on a mattress for two hours in his dressing room before taking to Stage 2/NME with
Babyshambles. The band then went on to watch
Bright Eyes perform on the Pet Sounds Stage. However
Amy Winehouse threw the Sunday line-up on Stage 2/NME into chaos by pulling out of the festival. As a result, many of the acts performing on that stage, such as
The Thrills,
CSS,
Dogs and
My Chemical Romance, began earlier or later than planned, to the disapproval of some fans. Another casualty was
Snow Patrol keyboardist,
Tom Simpson who was arrested following the band's appearance at
Live Earth on the same day as their Oxegen performance. Despite this misfortune, the rest of the band carried on as planned as they performed a well-received headlining set that included "
Run", "
Chasing Cars" and "
Open Your Eyes". They even questioned if their loyal fans would rather be over in the Green Room watching
Editors instead before dedicating a song to the band. The presence of members of R.E.M. preceded their appearance at
Oxegen '08 as Saturday night headliners.
Crime Gardaí arrested approximately 80 people at Oxegen 2007 which, according to official reports, is about the same number as the
2006 festival. 45 people were detained for public order offences, while one person was arrested for
assault. 17 people were detained by gardaí at the concert site for possession of drugs whilst more than 20 people were arrested en route to the festival, following finds of small quantities of drugs in searches of coaches and cars. Judge Flann Brennan, who heard these cases at
Castleblayney District Court on Monday 16 July, jokingly suggested that the festival should be renamed
Intoxegen because of the number of fans arrested for alleged drugs offences. == Aftermath ==