was a
Music Festival sponsored by
Guinness which ran in the
Republic Of Ireland from
2000 to
2003 . It was held originally at
Fairyhouse Racecourse ,
County Meath ; but was moved to
Punchestown Racecourse ,
County Kildare for its final year.
In
2004 , Guinness were replaced by
Heineken as sponsors, and the festival name was changed to
Oxegen .
The last ever Witnness festival took place in a new venue,
Punchestown Racecourse , on
July 12 and
13 2003. The line-up included;
Coldplay ;
Damien Rice ;
The Streets ;
David Gray ;
The White Stripes (cancelled due to frontman
Jack White suffering a broken hand);
Manic Street Preachers ;
The Polyphonic Spree .
The Flaming Lips were stepped up the bill to replace The White Stripes and by all accounts delivered a well-received set which included a version of White Stripes' hit "
Seven Nation Army ".
The
2002 festival was moved from August to
July 13 and
14 at Fairyhouse Racecourse. The lineup included
The Chemical Brothers ,
2 Many DJ's ,
Basement Jaxx ,
The Dandy Warhols ,
Badly Drawn Boy ,
Green Day ,
The Foo Fighters ,
Sonic Youth ,
Mercury Rev ,
No Doubt ,
The Prodigy ,
Damien Rice ,
Mogwai ,
The Redneck Manifesto ,
The Frames ,
Oasis ,
Lemon Jelly ,
Massive Attack ,
The Polyphonic Spree ,
The Coral ,
Primal Scream ,
Nina Hynes ,
Jimmy Eat World ,
The Hives ,
The Devlins ,
Turn ,
The Libertines ,
Hoobastank ,
Spiritualized ,
The Jimmy Cake ,
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ,
Gemma Hayes ,
Idlewild ,
The Complete Stone Roses ,
Rival Schools ,
Cooper Temple Clause ,
Dogs Die In Hot Cars ,
The Beta Band ,
Leaves ,
Starsailor and
David Kitt .
The
2001 festival again took place in Fairyhouse on
August 4 and
5 2001. Amongst the bands playing were
Muse ,
Fun Lovin' Criminals ,
Faithless and
The Avalanches .
Also on the line-up were
Neil Finn ,
The Waterboys ,
Evan Dando ,
Texas ,
Frank Black ,
Snow Patrol ,
Alabama 3 ,
Turn ,
The Frames ,
Relish ,
The White Stripes ,
James , and
David Kitt .
The
2000 festival was the first Witnness festival to be held. It took place on the
August 5 and
6 2000 in Fairyhouse Racecourse in
County Meath ,
Ireland .
The main event was supported by several smaller local gigs in and around Dublin featuring artists playing smaller venues than they would normally play. A promotional
Enhanced CD containing music, videos and interactive toys was distributed free of charge in participating clubs and pubs.
The line-up included
Travis ,
Beck ,
David Gray ,
Bell X1 (band) ,
Marbles ,
Paul Weller ,
Asian Dub Foundation ,
Johnny Moy ,
Badly Drawn Boy ,
The Undertones ,
Paddy Casey ,
Happy Mondays ,
Death In Vegas ,
Hothouse Flowers ,
Watercress ,
Leftfield ,
Toploader ,
Wilt ,
All Saints , and
Therapy? .
