So, yet again, what I saw as an excellent lineup convinced me to break my promise to myself that I would be giving this year's Big Day Out a miss. Yes, the lineup may have been a little recycled, with two of the three mainstage headliners appearing at the festival only four and five years ago and not releasing any significant new material in that time (Tool and The Stooges respectively), and the Australian undercard was absolutely yawn-worthy (with a few exceptions). But I never really understood that "they've been here before!" argument for knocking a lineup - if the artist is a great live performer (as Tool and The Stooges UNQUESTIONABLY are), then why not go back and see them again? Anyway, despite the 40 degree heat doing its best to ruin it, another fantastic day was had at my SEVENTH consecutive Big Day Out.
A combination of misreading the train timetable and my own laziness saw me get through the gates a bit later than intended, then a friend arrived soon after I did so I met up with him. Unfortunately by then it was too late to go over and check out Super Wild Horses, who I'd heard good things about, and we instead made our way in the direction of the main stages so I could get my spot for Dead Letter Circus and he could go and see Little Red with some others. Within ten minutes however, said friend had joined me over on the Orange Stage side, finding Little Red boring, and indeed they were. One band that was not boring was Dead Letter Circus! Despite the sound guys doing a very average job - vocalist Kim Benzie was barely audible at the best of times, the guitars of Rob Maric and newish live member Tom Skerlj were completely overwhelmed by drums and the sampled beats and programming were almost non-existent - the band still threw themselves into their early afternoon timeslot with all the usual enthusiasm we see from them at live shows. As expected, the rapidly rising profile of the band saw plenty of keen punters arriving early to check Dead Letter Circus out, and the fans were more than happy to lend their voices to just about every lyric of every song! This time last year, DLC were a lot less well-known and were just starting to rise out of the "underground", yet the sudden success has clearly not gone to their heads. Benzie was genuinely thankful of everyone in attendance, preceeding One Step with a mention of their recent Hottest 100 success (the song made it in at #65), and later dedicating Lines to the fans who had been there from the beginning. Having always seen DLC at club shows with longer sets than the 50 minutes they were allocated today, I was expecting them to miss a few classics, but the setlist was actually quite satisfying, with a healthy selection of their amazing debut album This is the Warning, and three out of the six tracks from their debut self-titled EP making the cut. The set concluded in great style; as the introductory speech from This is the Warning played out over the PA, Benzie introduced Sean Bailey from Sydonia and Zane Rosanoski from Black Devil Yard Boss to the stage, to belt the floor toms in that middle section.
SETLIST
The Mile
Reaction
This Long Hour
Disconnect and Apply
One Step
Lines
Cage
Here We Divide
The Space on the Wall
Next in Line
This is the Warning (with Sean Bailey (Sydonia) and Zane Rosanoski (Black Devil Yard Boss) on guest percussion)
(Dead Letter Circus's performance was worthy of a 10/10, but unfortunately due to abysmal sound the overall set was an 8/10 at best. Not the band's fault though, I'm sure. They didn't even seem to notice a problem.)
It was then time for a bit of a wander and take-it-easy time. In this time I found myself pondering the appeal of Washington, when we tried to meet up with a few friends near a jam-packed Essential Stage. I mean, her music sounds... nice and easygoing and all, I'd even say it's good, but FIVE sold-out nights at the Corner Hotel good? I don't get it. Anyway. After staying there for a bit and finding ourselves increasingly bored, we headed over to the Boiler Room to enjoy the fact that it had a roof, and also to secure an early spot for South Africa's Zef hip-hop trio Die Antwoord. What a show! I didn't get the chance to have a listen to the music of MCs Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er, and DJ Hi-Tek before the day, but I was expecting some extremely over-the-top rave-rap, and that's exactly what I got! As Ninja and Yo-Landi belted out vicious rhymes over Hi-Tek's bass-heavy beats, they were accompanied by some excellent visuals, one of which proclaimed "DIE FOKKEN ANTWOORD", which really summed up the mood of the whole show. The crowd was huge for such an early slot, and we all enjoyed this totally over-the-top display of Zef culture at its finest.
(Die Antwoord score: 9/10)
Up next in the Boiler Room (well at least, after a short half-hour interlude from DJ Perplex) were typically bonkers Canadian glitch-electro duo (with a bit of help on drums for their live show) Crystal Castles. The big story of this tour has been that vocalist Alice Glass had done some serious damage to her ankle at a recent show in Japan. Naturally, someone from BDO thought it a good idea to get the crowd amped up even more by declaring that Glass had been advised by doctors to cancel the tour. Pause for boos and shouts. "But she didn't want to disappoint you, so here she is!" How cliche. With a crutch under one arm and holding her microphone in the other, Glass and producer Ethan Kath whipped the Boiler Room into a frenzy in what seemed like a very short but intense set. The massive sound system in the stage did the band a lot more favours than their 2009 appearance at Parklife, and the crowd lost their collective shit to a handful of favourites from their two self-titled albums. Predictably, it was numbers like Baptism and Alice Practice that elicited the biggest response, but really, all went down a treat for the sweaty punters.
SETLIST (something along the lines of this, anyway. Doesn't seem to be up on setlist.fm yet and I couldn't be bothered doing my usual setlist-in-phone on the day.)
Fainting Spells
Baptism
Doe Deer
Crimewave
Air War
Alice Practice
Reckless / Through the Hosiery
Not In Love
(Crystal Castles score 8.5/10)
It was time to head the Main Stage again, and while waiting it out in front of the Blue Stage, I got to witness most of what seemed like just another John Butler Trio gig. I don't mean that in a particularly negative way; I used to be a pretty big fan and I found myself singing along (albeit a little quietly!) and nodding my head to some of the songs that he played during his set. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of material from last years' April Uprising album, which I never bothered to check out. But he did make up for it with the usual classy rendition of Ocean, showing his impressive talents with fingerstyle and percussive guitar playing. Unfortunately for those anticipating the next act on the Blue Stage, he decided that his last song Funky Tonight would involve an extensive percussion jam that stretched the set over-time. Poor form Mr Butler, especially considering that rock royalty was being held up!
(JBT score 7.5/10)
Seeing the mighty Iggy Pop fronting his band The Stooges in a reasonably far-off country like Australia could be considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, five years on from their EPIC performance at the 2006 Big Day Out, lightning struck twice and The Stooges would perform on Australian stages yet again. Since their last outing, they have tragically lost founding axeman Ron Asheton, and so as a mark of respect for their fallen bandmate are now continuing under the Iggy and the Stooges moniker, featuring the return of guitarist James Williamson, who played on the group's third album Raw Power. As one might expect, the material from this set was drawn mostly from this aptly-titled album, still performed with an intensity that most other performers at this festival struggled to match, despite the fact that the five members of the band probably have a collective age of greater than the rest of the festival put together! The backdrop behind the band was a simple PLAIN WHITE SHEET, perfectly epitomising their no-nonsense rock and roll attitude, in stark contrast to the two acts that would take to the stage after them. And at the front of it all was James Newell Osterberg Jr, better known as motherfucking Iggy Pop - running around on stage like a madman, knocking over those microphone stands foolish enough to stand in his way, screeching out those lyrics with all the fury he could muster, and even punching out a camera who got a little too close! Where does this 63-year-old man get so much energy?! Arguably the highlight of the 2006 BDO was the massive stage invasions that Iggy brought on during the anthem Real Cool Time, and of course history repeated itself this time around - the band didn't play that particular song, but four songs in, as Iggy introduced Shake Appeal, the chaos began and punters began spilling themselves over the barrier and onto the stage - I managed to get over the barrier pretty quickly, but the chaos of people scrambling to the stage made the next part quite a challenge, and security very quickly prevented any more people from climbing up! We remained on that side of the barrier for the whole song, until security eventually had to kick us out! The rest of the set was highly enjoyable, featuring a few more ditties from Raw Power, as well as the Fun House double of Fun House and 1970 (oddly played in that order) and a handful of tracks from the Iggy/Williamson collaboration Kill City. The set conclude with No Fun and the immortal I Wanna Be Your Dog as taken from their self-titled debut album, but after vanishing offstage for a bit, being the rock gods that they are, they were allowed to bend the BDO rules slightly and get an encore, which would be Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell. Iggy and the Stooges really showed up just about everybody else on this bill with a high-class performance despite their increasing age.
(Iggy and the Stooges score 9.5/10.)
SETLIST:
Raw Power
Search and Destroy
Gimme Danger
Shake Appeal (with stage invasion!)
Johanna
Kill City
Fun House
1970
Night Theme
Beyond the Law
No Fun
I Wanna Be Your Dog
----Encore----
Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
Towards the end of The Stooges, I'd shuffled over to the other side of the D-barrier to the Orange Stage, where I was greeted by the side of a roof-to-floor black curtain, obscuring the stage set-up of German industrial metal legends Rammstein. It was a hotly (pun intended) anticipated performance for quite a lot of people on the day; after all, it's their first Australian tour in ten years, and in that time they've released FOUR albums. I think the method of covering the set-up time is a good tension builder, after all, you've got no idea what's going to happen until BAM, it actually does happen. And as The Stooges wrapped up, lights could be seen flickering behind the black curtain, and the familiar synthesiser opening of Rammlied, from the band's 2009 album Liebe ist für alle da, drifted out across the grounds. Still behind the curtain, the operatic voice of Till Lindemann began the song in fine style, before the opening chord blasts and chant of "RAMM! STEIN!" began the song proper. The black curtain fell to the floor to reveal a SECOND curtain, this time a massive German flag, before that too dropped, the first of MANY loud explosions went off, and the six German rockers became visible for the first time! After ten years away from this country, it's fair to say the fans were waiting a long time for this, and the band weren't disappointing at all. Now, it would be impossible to review this show without saying that THE STAGE SHOW WAS INCREDIBLE. After all, this was the only band on the bill today (and probably in BDO history) that boasted a licensed pyrotechnician for a frontman, and they put his skills to excellent use. Fireballs going off in every direction (including from above the band), flamethrowers wielded by band members, and even the occasional dazzling fireworks display, the band was so over-the-top you couldn't help but be amazed at their show. My personal favourite stunt occurred during Du hast, when the purpose of the wires running from the stage to the mixing tent became immediately clear; Lindemann fired a crossbow in their general direction, setting of a dazzling chain of explosions along the wires. There were some comical theatrical moments as well, such as during Ich tu dir weh, when Lindemann picked up keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz and put him in a bathtub, before ascending high above him on a hydraulic platform and pouring fireworks down into the bathtub. After returning to the stage, Lindemann inspected the bath and pronounced Flake "dead", however as he returned to his microphone, Flake re-emerged, now in a sparkling suit and returned to the keys, continuing the rest of the set most amusingly on a treadmill! Then there was the "fan" being set on fire during Benzin! Stage-show, schmage-show, some of you might say. WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC? Well, as some other bands have proven over the years (umm, Empire of the Sun?), blowing your budget on the visual side of things is pointless without a decent collection of songs to back it up with; thankfully, there were no such complaint's of Rammstein's material on the day. The band played a decent set of tunes, consisting as expected mostly of LIFAD tracks, but interspersed with a couple of favourites from across their career, even dating back to debut album Herzeleid, with Du riechst so gut delighting the hardcore fans in the audience. Elsewhere, third album Mutter got the next highest representaion, and one song from everything else was played, including, of course, Du hast, which certainly got the biggest reaction on the day. The explosions finally died down enough to allow the band to farewell the crowd with Pussy, but there was one final stunt to come and that involved Till Lindemann mounting a suspiciously-penis-shaped cannon on the stage and blasting foam out into a delighted audience. The only complaints about Rammstein's set that I think everyone had, were, 1) It wasn't properly dark yet, meaning the amazing stage show was slightly less intense than it should have been, and 2) THEY JUST WEREN'T ON FOR LONG ENOUGH. This was undoubtedly one of THE BEST performances in Big Day Out history; definitely my personal favourite since Rage Against the Machine's comeback in 2008, and over the seven years I've been, probably only second to that performance as well. Usually I don't like to include festival performances in my end of year top 10 gigs, but bearing in mind that they didn't do a sideshow, there is no way that this cannot make it at the end of the year. RAMMSTEIN SCORE 10/10!
SETLIST:
Rammlied
Waidmann's Heil
Keine Lust
Feuer frei!
Weiner Blut
Ich tu dir weh
Du riechst so gut
Benzin
Links 2-3-4
Du hast
Sonne
Ich Will
Pussy
After that, there wasn't a lot that Tool could do to impress me; going to a set of arty prog-rock after that, and staying in the jam-packed D, just didn't seem like the right option, especially seeing I was going to Tool's sideshow. So a good mate and I decided we'd head over to the Green Stage to see Warren Ellis, Martyn P Casey, Jim Sclavunos, and NICK CAVE in action, as wired garage-rock revivalists Grinderman. I'd seen the band perform at the ATP Festival a few years ago, but didn't really know their material at the time, so I was pretty keen to see them this time around. Naturally, the "other" three members came onstage first, then Cave himself entered to an extremely enthusiastic response. Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man, from the band's Grinderman 2 album, was a good choice for opening the set, as Cave chanted "We sucked her, we sucked her, we sucked her dry!" and howled out at the crowd. The band really were throwing everything into this performance, with Cave thrashing around the stage in a manner not dissimilar to Iggy Pop's earlier performance, taking out a few microphone stands with him. He seemed to have some sort of extension of the stage set up (I was a little far back in the crowd so I couldn't tell exactly), and utilised it frequently to get even closer to the adoring crowd, especially during Kitchenette where he screeched "I JUST WANNA RELAX!" repeatedly. The sexually-charged performance featured numerous cuts from both Grinderman and Grinderman 2, with highlights including a typically violent Get it On and No Pussy Blues. There were however the occasional moments of contrasting tranquility; Nick Cave introducing Palaces of Montezuma with: "Now, this next one's a love song, so if you're with someone you love... or even someone you hate, take a hold of them and let the sweet..." *long pause* *Sclavunos shouts something* "Yes, the sweet sentiments, thank you Jim, wash over you". After Bellringer Blues, Cave made to leave the stage, but stopped, saying "Apparently we've got one more," and so it was that the set concluded with a beautiful extended version of the eponymous Grinderman. (Grinderman score 10/10.)
SETLIST:
Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man
Worm Tamer
Get it On
Heathen Child
Palaces of Montezuma
Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)
Kitchenette
No Pussy Blues
Bellringer Blues
Grinderman
Naturally, the Boiler Room was still kicking until the very end, with M.I.A. taking the headline slot, but the group I was with decided it was time to go, and after the excellent day I'd had already, I decided that I wouldn't be missing much to call it a night at that point. I was getting a little bit fed-up of the whole Big Day Out experience this time last year, but this time around I really did enjoy myself a whole lot, probably because of the excellent performance by those crazy Germans. So, I won't write this festival off just yet; if the lineup has enough goodness in it next time around, I may just return for an eight visit!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment