Big Day Out @ Olympic Park 26.1.2012
January 28th 2012 01:16
It has become the Australia Day tradition in Sydney for the last 20 years for anyone under the age of 35.... The Big Day Out festival! A day of sun, beers, friends and music. Sadly the sun was hungover like me and didn't feel like coming out until later in the day, but it didn't stop 30000 faithful from cramming into trains and avoiding sniffer dogs to head out to one of this countries most premium music festivals.
Abbé May kicked it off just as the downpour stopped. Her PJ Harvey style voice and deep blues rock riffs drew a reasonable crowd. Playing mostly tracks of her debut record “Design Desire”, Abbe really kicked off the day nicely. Stonefield were over at the Converse Green stage. The four piece outfit are too young to be around when Led Zeppelin were, but they still manage to capture the energy of the iconic band. I was really impressed by their awesome set.
Early on I got the impression Calling All Cars were going to put on a memorable set. Half way through he first track Haydn gave away his guitar to the crowd. Second song he dove off the stage and caught a random elbow to the head. He was knocked out cold. End of the set! Which meant I had the time to catch all of Frenzal Rhomb’s set. The punk veterans delivered with a ripping set. 20 songs in 45 minutes, plenty of jokes (at Kanye’s expense) and crap thrown up on stage from hats to thongs to shoes to kids toys. Of course the classics like “Never Had So Much Fun”, “Genius” and “Punch In The Face” drew the biggest singalongs but tracks of their latest album also got the crowd singing.
Over in the boiler room, Bluejuice hit the stage in fluorescent glow in the dark suits and another high energy electro pop set of some of their best tracks. Songs of “Company” where well received but again it was older tracks like “Vitriol” and “Broken Leg” which fired up the boiler room. (and what was the deal with the ferris wheel indoors?) Back outside in the now blazing sun, hardcore screamo band The Amity Affliction. The guys are still on a roll after the release of “Youngblood” a year ago and they were in fine form again ripping up the Essential stage.
I caught the end of The Jezabels and wished I got to see more of their set. They are one band whose songs I always like when I hear them but have never given them my full attention. Hilltop Hoods were back with a new album about to drop and the hip hop crew put on a fine set. The new tracks sound great and the boys did a workout running around the stage. The Living End followed with one of the better sets of the day. Playing fan favourite tracks, they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Big Day Out by playing a cover of Nirvana’s “On A Plain”. They could’ve played another 45 minutes and the crowd wouldn’t have minded.
It was hard to think that today was the first time I’d seen My Chemical Romance. I’m not ashamed to be a fan of the band. Kicking off with “Na Na Na” they played a good mixed set with at least something off all four albums. Highlights were “I’m Not Ok”, “Teenagers” and “Planetary Go!” The newly re-blonde Gerald Way lead his Black Parade of fans into singing along and with Tony Hawk on half pipe at the other end of the stadium, it was not to watch both. Simply Brilliant.
I caught a bit of Girl Talk back in the boiler room before heading back to the main arena to see the end of Kasabian and see the return of Soundgarden. I had forgot just how good Soundgarden are. After a lengthy break, the guys almost stole the show with a great set of Soundgarden classics. “Rusty Cage”, “Jesus Christ Pose”, “Spoonman”, “Blow Up The Outside” and “Black Hole Sun”. Chris Cornell’s voice was faultless and the band were tight. It’s almost difficult to think that they had only been back together less that a year. With rumours of a new album, this is one returning band who should have!
After a fifteen minute delay, the stage was filled with dancers. Finally, Kanye West emerged to wow the Big Day Out. Ever the showman, he did the old bait and switch. While we were fixated on the stage, he popped up on a crane in the middle of the arena. Call him what you will, the man puts on a show. Playing a solid mix of tracks from all his albums, the only let down was the heavy handed mid section of traks from the 808 & Heartbreak record. (auto tuned songs annoy me) But closing out with “Touch The Sky”, “Runaway” and “Goldigger” he deserved his (controversial) place as headliner and everyone who stayed to the end of the near two hour set would all agree.
So as we all headed home, back on the crowded trains. Sweaty, sunburnt, drunk and possibly high, it’s hard to imagine any other way to spend Australia Day. Despite all the issues surrounding this years BDO, it still holds a significant place on our summer’s festival circuit.
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