Oxegen 2011 - Original Rude Boys
Vodaphone stage, Friday, 3pm
Describe in a Tweet: Plan C
What happened: Three young bucks plus what looks like their da's take to the stage. Its a mix of pure Dub backstreet charm, urban rhymes and hippy acoustic tunes a la Jack Johnson. Admitting to only having formed a matter of months ago its a noble attempt, and there is a devoted section of fans who have already jumped onto the Rude Boy bus. Tracks like 'In Too Deep' and 'Sunny Days' point towards an interesting, genuine sound of young working class Dublin, but too often the ideas seem confused and unfinished. The choice of covers, while good (Gnarls Barkley and Mumford and Sons) further pointed to a padding of the set, despite going down well with this younger crowd.
Crazy In Love: There is a really, really good band struggling to get out here. Someone has to take these fledgling artists into a hothouse for a month and work out exactly what this could be, though. They look the part, have enormous charisma with their fans (of which there are a decent number for this time of day). They have the hard part - connection with the audience and songwriting ability - nailed, they just need to work on making this a coherent proposal.
Why Don't You Love Me: The confused nature of the music, with screaming dad rock guitar solos and too many covers gives the impression of something barely half finished. Back to rock school gents, we have hope yet.
Oxegen rating: 6/10
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