Big Day Out 2012
Well that was amazing. Also, paaaaaain. I wish I could get away with NOT MOVING ALL DAY, wow.
A lot of things have made this year hard for BDO, and that makes me sad. I'm sad that Lees and West copped so much flack for booking Kanye West to headline the show, and that they took it so much to heart. I'm sad that Lees left the partnership after twenty years, and that West seems to be coping by slagging off AJ Maddah. I'm sad that Perth and Adelaide got stripped back and Auckland won't be happening at all from now on.
But really, music websites and blogs all over the country have had enough time to hash over it again and again, with every possible stupid variation. (In what way is Laneway Festival 'a good replacement'? No.) What I went to last night was a brilliant festival that BDO can be proud of. End of story.
Yes, it was hot. Not as hot as last year, and I don't seem to have gotten sunburn like I did during last year's "reapply every hour and still get burnt" ultraviolet hell, but hot enough that from 11 to at least 2 I had a constant sheen of sweat over my entire body. I think I got a bit dehydrated despite constantly drinking water because at one point I was sweating it out faster than I could drink without being sick. THESE THINGS HAPPEN.
But enough about the gross limits of my frail human body in the endurance test of the summer music festival. BIG DAY OUT WOOOOOO. The festival slight has been rearranged slightly from the layout over the last few years - the main stages are on a different angle so they didn't create such a traffic bottleneck, and every stage except the main stage was under a tent. The placing of the Green Stage was slightly different, but you could still see the stage from the railway embankment, and I'm good as long as I can still catch my catnaps between sets.
OKAY I WILL SHUT UP AND TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC NOW, GOD.
Papa Vs Pretty
First band of the day, and seeing these guys was nice in part because there was nobody there yet, unlike the pandemonium that came from The Vines opening the festival last year. I saw PVP doing a few support gigs during 2011 and it's been fun seeing them improve. They're not one of my favourite new locals, but they've got potential. Plus, they covered 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', which was fabulous. I've always loved yelling along to that song and getting to do it at a live show was brilliant.
Frenzal Rhomb
Being a Melbourne punk fan, of course I've heard of Frenzal, but because of the way they went on hiatus around the time I came of legal gig-going age, I'd never seen them live until now. So much fun! Jeez they play fast, though. At one point they ripped through five songs in what must have been less than five minutes, and when the singer stopped to say something, the bassist says "No time to talk, we still have 120 more to get through." PLUS the drummer brought his adorable 4-year-old son along, so in between songs we got treated to "If you want to hit daddy's drums, you have to try to do it in time" and "You know how dad doesn't have a real job? This is why." And there was some gentle mocking of Parkway Drive, as you do. Something about salt and seawater. I also liked their habit of responding to song requests with "I can't hear you man, you have too much cock in your mouth." Basically they're hardcore and sweethearts and I'm so glad I finally got to see them.
Parkway Drive
Parkway Drive are great at revving up a crowd, I'll give them that, but strangely I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. Maybe it was just that after two sets at the main stage I'd spent too much time in the sun, or maybe they were having an off day, or perhaps the sound system just couldn't handle Karma. I don't know. I'm glad I got to see them, but it didn't really click for me.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
The sole reason I saw this band was that I wanted to get some shade and the Hot Produce tent was the closest one. It was a lucky coincidence! I quite liked their brand of swing-y rock, even if I spent much of the time lying on the ground with a hat covering my face.
The Getaway Plan
And over to the Green Stage to grab some time on my favourite bit of grass. I've been wanting to see The Getaway Plan for a while, but I keep missing them, and it was good to finally get the chance. They're the kind of pop-punk that's like crack to me, with some would-sound-good-in-stadiums hugeness thrown in. I think I need to get more familiar with their music before I can properly appreciate it, but it was still great to see.
Hilltop Hoods
Getting back into the D for HH was a bloodbath, because they were a hiphop act sandwiched between two folk bands and a chuck of rock bands, so almost everyone just wanted to get in for Hilltop and out again afterwards. But once we were in it was a blast. Hilltop fans are not the kinds of fans I would normally hang out with, but when you love the music it doesn't matter. They're so much fun to dance to, they know how to get a crowd going, and really, I consider a summer incomplete until I've had a singalong to 'Nosebleed Section'. I maybe got a bit choked up singing 'These days turned out nothing like I had planned', though, and it's been eighteen months now since I last sang along to that line at a concert. But still. A little bit of Powderfinger lives on in Hilltop Hoods, and I'm grateful for that as well as for 'Nosebleed Section' and for Hilltop's entire existence.
The Living End
I jumped in the TLE mosh for a few songs (Song For The Lonely, Second Solution, Raise the Alarm \o/) before I went and snagged a spot at the other stage for MCR. I loved that I was surrounded by MCR fans and they were all looking over at TLE and singing along to a lot of the songs, though. Fandom overlap! It's... a little weird to realise that a lot of them knew White Noise but not, say, Roll On. I feel old. Oh well. I didn't have enough of a view to count bass-stands (sorry,
ladyfoxxx!) but there were a few, and Chris Cheney was in great form, because I think this band just loves BDO no matter what the circumstances. He played Waltzing Matilda for some reason, and made us sing happy birthday to Big Day Out. And I loved that he actually kind of seemed to be into Prisoner of Society again, after years of being sick of it. Even though this involved saying "This song is dedicated to all the softcocks over there" thus ensuring that the fans on the MCR side of the ring screamed "WE DON'T NEED NO-ONE TO TELL US WHAT TO DO" with their biggest, brattiest screams. It was beautiful.
My Chemical Romance
I almost want to just not say anything about it. Not because it was bad, because there's no way I could say that MCR disappointed me yesterday. They did the opposite. (I mean Geeway apologised for cancelling the 2010 tour and dedicated 'Helena' to everyone who bought tickets for it. IT MEANT A LOT TO ME, OKAY.) It's just that I've been waiting for this for five years. And for the last year-and-a-bit of that I've been watching from a distance as so many of the other fans I know saw MCR put on amazing, mindblowing shows everywhere else, and while I loved living vicariously through them at first, after a while I started to feel shut out. And because of more recent personal reasons that I haven't talked about much, this set really hit me where it hurt (in the good way). So in a weird, selfish way, I kind of want to keep that hour of music to myself instead of sharing it.
(Though I will note that the fact that they basically had to play while facing into the sun gave the "against the sun we're the enemy" line in DESTROYA a bit of extra punch. And that I got a great spot for watching James and I love him SO MUCH.)
But you know, I've dreamed about standing with a crowd of people in the summer sun and singing "Welcome to the Black Parade" for so long, long before I even knew they'd be playing BDO, and when I looked over my shoulder towards the end and saw all these people punching the air in time with me, with the sunlight in their hair and unguarded feelings on their faces, it was even better than I'd always imagined.
Regurgitator
I spent most of the 'Gurge set lying on the slope to one side of the tent rather than inside it, though I managed to get up and dance for 'Polyester Girl' and 'I sucked a lot of cock to get where I am', but for the most part I was content to just lie down and enjoy the ~classics~. Plusroxy_palace swung by at the end and stuck around for much of Foster The People as well, so that was exciting!
Foster The People
This band really needed to be on a bigger stage. REALLY. By the end people were spilling out of all sides of the tent.speep told me that on Wednesday night the frontman alone needed a bigger stage and faceplanted mid-verse. (But got right up and kept singing, WHAT A CHAMP.) He was a bit more cautious yesterday, but this set was still way more INTENSE than I thought it would be. I tend to think of Foster The People as light and guitar-y, but with the drums and bass yesterday, they packed a hell of a punch. Would watch again!
Noel Gallagher
Admittedly by this time I was so tired that I was not entirely with it. I really just stood there and swayed along with the music. But I really do love Noel's new music, and his stuff gets under my skin in a way that not many bands can. When he closed the set with "Don't Look Back In Anger" it was... I can't describe the feeling in the tent right then. It was just one brilliant, magical moment to end the day on. Everyone in that tent was hugging and crying and punching the air and singing along. Guys that I'd seen trying to punch each other out a few songs ago were hugging each other. Just a beautiful, happy, uplifting end to the day, and I can't ask for anything better.
Kanye West was still going when we stomped out to the train station. I wavered a bit on whether to see Kanye or Noel for the end of the day, and I'm glad I picked Noel, but it was still really cool that I could see the light show from the mainstage as I walked through the stalls, and hear 'Stronger' all the way up to the platform. As the train pulled away I could look out the window and see all the way across the venue to where the lights were still clearly blazing and the first few notes of 'Runaway' were ringing out. It was over and it was the best.
I think I need another shower even though I already had one last night. My skin still doesn't feel like my skin!
A lot of things have made this year hard for BDO, and that makes me sad. I'm sad that Lees and West copped so much flack for booking Kanye West to headline the show, and that they took it so much to heart. I'm sad that Lees left the partnership after twenty years, and that West seems to be coping by slagging off AJ Maddah. I'm sad that Perth and Adelaide got stripped back and Auckland won't be happening at all from now on.
But really, music websites and blogs all over the country have had enough time to hash over it again and again, with every possible stupid variation. (In what way is Laneway Festival 'a good replacement'? No.) What I went to last night was a brilliant festival that BDO can be proud of. End of story.
Yes, it was hot. Not as hot as last year, and I don't seem to have gotten sunburn like I did during last year's "reapply every hour and still get burnt" ultraviolet hell, but hot enough that from 11 to at least 2 I had a constant sheen of sweat over my entire body. I think I got a bit dehydrated despite constantly drinking water because at one point I was sweating it out faster than I could drink without being sick. THESE THINGS HAPPEN.
But enough about the gross limits of my frail human body in the endurance test of the summer music festival. BIG DAY OUT WOOOOOO. The festival slight has been rearranged slightly from the layout over the last few years - the main stages are on a different angle so they didn't create such a traffic bottleneck, and every stage except the main stage was under a tent. The placing of the Green Stage was slightly different, but you could still see the stage from the railway embankment, and I'm good as long as I can still catch my catnaps between sets.
OKAY I WILL SHUT UP AND TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC NOW, GOD.
Papa Vs Pretty
First band of the day, and seeing these guys was nice in part because there was nobody there yet, unlike the pandemonium that came from The Vines opening the festival last year. I saw PVP doing a few support gigs during 2011 and it's been fun seeing them improve. They're not one of my favourite new locals, but they've got potential. Plus, they covered 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', which was fabulous. I've always loved yelling along to that song and getting to do it at a live show was brilliant.
Frenzal Rhomb
Being a Melbourne punk fan, of course I've heard of Frenzal, but because of the way they went on hiatus around the time I came of legal gig-going age, I'd never seen them live until now. So much fun! Jeez they play fast, though. At one point they ripped through five songs in what must have been less than five minutes, and when the singer stopped to say something, the bassist says "No time to talk, we still have 120 more to get through." PLUS the drummer brought his adorable 4-year-old son along, so in between songs we got treated to "If you want to hit daddy's drums, you have to try to do it in time" and "You know how dad doesn't have a real job? This is why." And there was some gentle mocking of Parkway Drive, as you do. Something about salt and seawater. I also liked their habit of responding to song requests with "I can't hear you man, you have too much cock in your mouth." Basically they're hardcore and sweethearts and I'm so glad I finally got to see them.
Parkway Drive
Parkway Drive are great at revving up a crowd, I'll give them that, but strangely I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. Maybe it was just that after two sets at the main stage I'd spent too much time in the sun, or maybe they were having an off day, or perhaps the sound system just couldn't handle Karma. I don't know. I'm glad I got to see them, but it didn't really click for me.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
The sole reason I saw this band was that I wanted to get some shade and the Hot Produce tent was the closest one. It was a lucky coincidence! I quite liked their brand of swing-y rock, even if I spent much of the time lying on the ground with a hat covering my face.
The Getaway Plan
And over to the Green Stage to grab some time on my favourite bit of grass. I've been wanting to see The Getaway Plan for a while, but I keep missing them, and it was good to finally get the chance. They're the kind of pop-punk that's like crack to me, with some would-sound-good-in-stadiums hugeness thrown in. I think I need to get more familiar with their music before I can properly appreciate it, but it was still great to see.
Hilltop Hoods
Getting back into the D for HH was a bloodbath, because they were a hiphop act sandwiched between two folk bands and a chuck of rock bands, so almost everyone just wanted to get in for Hilltop and out again afterwards. But once we were in it was a blast. Hilltop fans are not the kinds of fans I would normally hang out with, but when you love the music it doesn't matter. They're so much fun to dance to, they know how to get a crowd going, and really, I consider a summer incomplete until I've had a singalong to 'Nosebleed Section'. I maybe got a bit choked up singing 'These days turned out nothing like I had planned', though, and it's been eighteen months now since I last sang along to that line at a concert. But still. A little bit of Powderfinger lives on in Hilltop Hoods, and I'm grateful for that as well as for 'Nosebleed Section' and for Hilltop's entire existence.
The Living End
I jumped in the TLE mosh for a few songs (Song For The Lonely, Second Solution, Raise the Alarm \o/) before I went and snagged a spot at the other stage for MCR. I loved that I was surrounded by MCR fans and they were all looking over at TLE and singing along to a lot of the songs, though. Fandom overlap! It's... a little weird to realise that a lot of them knew White Noise but not, say, Roll On. I feel old. Oh well. I didn't have enough of a view to count bass-stands (sorry,
ladyfoxxx!) but there were a few, and Chris Cheney was in great form, because I think this band just loves BDO no matter what the circumstances. He played Waltzing Matilda for some reason, and made us sing happy birthday to Big Day Out. And I loved that he actually kind of seemed to be into Prisoner of Society again, after years of being sick of it. Even though this involved saying "This song is dedicated to all the softcocks over there" thus ensuring that the fans on the MCR side of the ring screamed "WE DON'T NEED NO-ONE TO TELL US WHAT TO DO" with their biggest, brattiest screams. It was beautiful.My Chemical Romance
I almost want to just not say anything about it. Not because it was bad, because there's no way I could say that MCR disappointed me yesterday. They did the opposite. (I mean Geeway apologised for cancelling the 2010 tour and dedicated 'Helena' to everyone who bought tickets for it. IT MEANT A LOT TO ME, OKAY.) It's just that I've been waiting for this for five years. And for the last year-and-a-bit of that I've been watching from a distance as so many of the other fans I know saw MCR put on amazing, mindblowing shows everywhere else, and while I loved living vicariously through them at first, after a while I started to feel shut out. And because of more recent personal reasons that I haven't talked about much, this set really hit me where it hurt (in the good way). So in a weird, selfish way, I kind of want to keep that hour of music to myself instead of sharing it.
(Though I will note that the fact that they basically had to play while facing into the sun gave the "against the sun we're the enemy" line in DESTROYA a bit of extra punch. And that I got a great spot for watching James and I love him SO MUCH.)
But you know, I've dreamed about standing with a crowd of people in the summer sun and singing "Welcome to the Black Parade" for so long, long before I even knew they'd be playing BDO, and when I looked over my shoulder towards the end and saw all these people punching the air in time with me, with the sunlight in their hair and unguarded feelings on their faces, it was even better than I'd always imagined.
Regurgitator
I spent most of the 'Gurge set lying on the slope to one side of the tent rather than inside it, though I managed to get up and dance for 'Polyester Girl' and 'I sucked a lot of cock to get where I am', but for the most part I was content to just lie down and enjoy the ~classics~. Plus
roxy_palace swung by at the end and stuck around for much of Foster The People as well, so that was exciting!Foster The People
This band really needed to be on a bigger stage. REALLY. By the end people were spilling out of all sides of the tent.
speep told me that on Wednesday night the frontman alone needed a bigger stage and faceplanted mid-verse. (But got right up and kept singing, WHAT A CHAMP.) He was a bit more cautious yesterday, but this set was still way more INTENSE than I thought it would be. I tend to think of Foster The People as light and guitar-y, but with the drums and bass yesterday, they packed a hell of a punch. Would watch again!Noel Gallagher
Admittedly by this time I was so tired that I was not entirely with it. I really just stood there and swayed along with the music. But I really do love Noel's new music, and his stuff gets under my skin in a way that not many bands can. When he closed the set with "Don't Look Back In Anger" it was... I can't describe the feeling in the tent right then. It was just one brilliant, magical moment to end the day on. Everyone in that tent was hugging and crying and punching the air and singing along. Guys that I'd seen trying to punch each other out a few songs ago were hugging each other. Just a beautiful, happy, uplifting end to the day, and I can't ask for anything better.
Kanye West was still going when we stomped out to the train station. I wavered a bit on whether to see Kanye or Noel for the end of the day, and I'm glad I picked Noel, but it was still really cool that I could see the light show from the mainstage as I walked through the stalls, and hear 'Stronger' all the way up to the platform. As the train pulled away I could look out the window and see all the way across the venue to where the lights were still clearly blazing and the first few notes of 'Runaway' were ringing out. It was over and it was the best.
I think I need another shower even though I already had one last night. My skin still doesn't feel like my skin!
