REM to play at Oxegen festival

REM have become the second act confirmed for Oxegen 2008, which takes place in July.

Lead singer Michael Stipe was a guest at last year's festival with his friends Helena Christensen and the actor Josh Hartnett, and was clearly undeterred by the atrocious weather conditions.

The band have built up a strong rapport with Irish fans. Last year they showcased material for their new album at five successive sell-out nights at Dublin's Olympia Theatre in what was billed as a "working rehearsal".

They followed that with the release in October last year of a live album from those gigs and a DVD of a concert they recorded at the Point Theatre in 2005. REM's new studio album, Accelerate, is set for release on April 1st.

The band are expected to headline the main stage on the Saturday night of Oxegen. Kings of Leon are also confirmed for the festival.

The rest of the line-up will be announced over the next fortnight, but the release yesterday of the line-up for its sister festival, T in the Park, gives a strong indication of who will feature on the bill for Oxegen.

REM, the Verve, who headlined Slane in 1999 and have reformed, and American agitprop rockers Rage Against the Machine have been confirmed as headliners for T in the Park, which takes place in Kinross-shire on the same weekend as Oxegen and is also promoted by MCD. The two festivals have traditionally shared acts on alternative nights.

Other bands confirmed for T in the Park are Stereophonics, KT Tunstall, Kaiser Chiefs, the Fratellis, the Kooks and Interpol.

Oxegen will be a three-day festival for the first time this year and takes place from Friday, July 11th, to Sunday, July 13th, at Punchestown Racecourse in Co Kildare.

Festival-goers registered to the Oxegen website will have limited pre-sale access to tickets from Monday, March 3rd, until Thursday, March 6th. Tickets go on general sale on March 7th.