This year the main bands were Operator Please (It's Just a Song About Ping Pong), Anti-Flag, Gyroscope, Faker, Midnight Juggernauts, Regurgitator, Grinspoon, Silver Chair, Bjork, the Hilltop Hoods and (most importantly) Rage Against the Machine.
I didn't see most of the bands - for example I hate Operator Please and Bjork was so terrible it made me feel like pulling my ears off my head.
I started with Anti-Flag, which not only play great music like 'One Trillion Dollars' and 'This Is The End', but they have a great political stance as well. Then we saw Gyroscope, which is an Aussie rock band from Perth and one of my personal favourites. They played their new and their old songs and Daniel Sanders (lead singer) crowd surfed while playing his guitar... well... he tried to. We had a break after that, making sure we drank lots of water and put on lots of sunscreen (cos it was HOT!) I put sunscreen on four times and I still got burnt.
After our break we got into the mosh pit for Grinspoon and stayed there for the rest of the day. It was packed and we had to stay there to make sure we kept our spot. If we left there was no way we were getting back into the mosh pit. Grinspoon were pretty good and the crowd got into it. But Phil Jamieson (the lead singer) was definitely high on something, kept prancing around like a poofter, and was wearing girl's hair clips in his hair. Very strange and funny, but sort of sad at the same time.
After Grinspoon we sat around waiting for SilverChair while Arcade Fire played on the other stage. They were pretty weird. Silver Chair was really good live (I know that their new songs aren't as good as their old songs, but I still like them). But the crowd was terrible! They threw stuff at Daniel Johns (lead singer and guitarist) and didn't really get into the music. Daniel Johns was also sick, either high or drunk, and looked like he was going to throw up for half the concert.
After SilverChair we sat in the mosh pit waiting for Rage Against the Machine. But Bjork was playing on the other stage and it was TERRIBLE! Too much base, and her singing is so high-pitched and annoying. Just her voice was annoying. We were counting down until she finished and chanting for Rage to come on stage.
Rage Against the Machine are HUGE! This was their first concert out of the USA since they broke up 11 years ago and it was massive! The mosh pit was incredible. Let's just say it was one where you were jumping up and down, but you didn't have to make yourself jump up and down. Everyone was so pressed in together that the people on either side of you lifted you up. For the first song I was on a 45degree angle from the ground most of the time, only not falling over from how close together everyone was. It got a little less crazy after that but I got a dislocated finger (it REALLY hurt) and during the last song I got cracked in the head and was seeing stars. Someone also lit a fire half-way through. But it was so fun and Rage are AWESOME! That band alone was worth the price of the ticket, and I would see them again any day. It was an experience you can't describe and have to experience first hand to believe. If you've got stamina and are willing to put up with aching muscles for days afterwards.
So yes. I love music and I love rock and Big Day Out is just so much fun! I hope next year will be just as good.
Now here are some photos to put pictures to words :-) They were taken on my phone though, so sorry for the bad quality.
Anti-Flag. We couldn't get into the mosh pit for these guys, but it was still good.
Gyroscope. I think they're playing Fast Girl here...
Rob Nassif of Gyroscope jamming it up
Me and my friend Sophia, all smiles
Luke and Phil were also there. So were Andrew and Craig but they were both dehydrated so I didn't get good photos of them.
Me, Phil and Sophia waiting in the mosh pit for Grinspoon. You can sort of see the corner of Andrew's head too... :-P
Grinspoon, reveling in the applause they received just for walking on stage.
Phil Jamieson looking very gay.
An idea of the size of the crowd. I think there were 35,000 people? Or something??
SilverChair after they've just walked out on stage
A very small close-up of Daniel Johns. He bleached his hair blonde! I don't know WHAT he was thinking! It looked terrible!
The mosh pit was too crazy for me to take any pictures of Rage Against the Machine, but here's one Sophia took. You can just make out Zack De La Rocha's fist in the air (he's the lead singer). And Tom Morello is the one on the right. He is the most amazing guitarist EVER! Some of the tricks he can pull while playing pretty intricate chords is mind-blowing.
And finally, here are a couple of videos from you tube. The first is just a music video of Snakeskin by Gyroscope, one of my favourite bands on the day.
And second! Rage Against the Machine live at Aukland. Wrong country, but it's the same concert. It's not the best quality but it gives you an idea of what it was like. Grandpa... you probably won't like their music... :-P
1 comment:
Not really my scene Jess, but glad to see you had such a good time.
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