First of all, props to Dave for the use of Casa Kelso down the coast. It certainly helped that what turned out to be a 21-hour day for me wasn’t made any longer by having to drive down on the morning.
Yes, the Big Day Out. Dave, Daz “I am the Pork Fireman” Murray and myself caught the fun and action on Saturday.
I am still equivocal to the concept of festivals, and this year’s was by no means unmissable. However, they are at least an opportunity to discover new bands. Local bands are mostly squeezed onto an out-of-the-way stage with no shade that I probably wouldn’t be able to park my car on. Not a lot of faith shown there.
As usual, the big stages were nigh on impossible to get to except for the most hardy and persistent of fans. The Deftones were a write-off for me because the sound sucks at that distance and you can hardly see the band. So it was a day of frequenting the smaller stages.
Post-Life Disorder have some interesting ideas and they certainly fulfilled their role as token metal band in distinguished fashion. Not bad at all.
Hollow, you’ll be fine. Just decide whether you are a reggae or metal band and get a new vocalist.
Incidentally, you’ll never see me doing that daft index finger and little finger salute at a concert.
Resin Dogs I have never been a particular fan of, but I have to hand it to them, they can certainly get a crowd in motion.
Cog certainly have their vocal supporters in Brisbane, and unfortunately the 45 minute slot did not do this band justice. The crowd yelled for an encore knowing how futile this would be at a festival. The vocalist did the standard speech about how everyone should get out to see Australian bands more, as it is a cheap night out and you are supporting local talent. It is a valid message, and while it seems that he would be preaching to the converted, it gives the converted pause to preach to others. Kudos.
Machine Gun Fellatio, you are all show and no talent. You are the Anna Kournikova of the music industry. Only slightly more nude.
You Am I. I used to like you Tim, until you started saying things on stage like “don’t trust guys, they’re c…”. Be quiet, you’ll blow our cover.
Girls Germs, it seems you can keep in time now. It’s amazing what a bit of practice can do!
6012 did their thing well but the band seems to lack focus. Diversity is cool but they seem to dart between hip-hop and metal a bit too profoundly. The guy is a decent rapper, so I think they should run with that.
Xzibit was the first rap concert I’ve been to, and I was thoroughly entertained. A lot of people seemed to know the words. I didn’t think X was particularly popular down under, but with his weed-and-booze populism, it’s not hard to see why he is. This was one of a number of acts that slipped in a moot encore by finishing up ten minutes early. I’d probably rate Xzibit as my highlight of the day.
In summary, there was a lot of fun to be had for hardened festival types who don’t mind rocking up to concerts very early or charging drunkenly through a crowd of punters. Otherwise, you shouldn’t be disappointed if you gave this one a miss.