Kings of Leon to play at Oxegen

Kings of Leon have become the first act to be announced for next year's Oxegen music festival.

Kings of Leon have become the first act to be announced for next year's Oxegen music festival.

The band, who played at Oxegen earlier this year, made the announcement during the first of two sell-out concerts at the RDS last night.

Oxegen 2008, which takes place from July 11th to 13th at Punchestown Racecourse, Co Kildare, will be a three-day festival for the first time next year. The campsite will open on Thursday, July 10th.

Tickets went on sale at midnight for registered users of the official website. There will also be a limited number of early-bird weekend tickets with camping on sale from Friday. Tickets are at last year's price of €197.50 for early purchasers, but there will be an extra €20 charge for camping from Thursday.

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The official Oxegen line-up will not be announced until February but, based on album release schedules, bands who could feature include the Verve, Kaiser Chiefs, Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, REM, Massive Attack, Orson and the Foo Fighters.

Muse and the Killers, who headlined last year, could also be in the frame again.

Meanwhile, rival promoters Aiken Promotions anticipate all 38,000 tickets for Bruce Springsteen's concert at the RDS next year will sell out by the end of today. They go on sale at 9am.

Aiken spokeswoman Sinéad Watters said it was hoping for confirmation within days of a second RDS date.

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times