The Big

Seeing as no ones been asking for this, here's my round up of the Big Day Out - expertly produced in a timely fashion.

I didn't know exactly where I was going, having left the relevant map at home, so we arrived a little later than we meant but we made it in time to check out The Checks - no photo sorry (I thought I did but it would appear I was mistaken). They rocked. Not sure I'd be interested in their album, but they were a great show.

Moving slightly to the right we caught Liam Finn. I love his solo album but ...

Live on this stage he was a bit dull. So we left after about three songs. To be fair, I don't think it helped that he followed the high energy Checks. Even his loop-the-guitar-and-bang-the-drums thing seemed rather light compared to the boys.

Over to the main stage to catch the end of Anti-Flag's set. I'd never heard of them, but have now heard enough to know that I'm keen to hear more.

And on with Op Shop. The fact that the shot below of the main stages is taken from the back while the above shot was taken near the front probably gives some indication of my feelings about Op Shop.

Frankly I just don't care.

Popped in on Mu, mainly to get out of the sun. No photos. Can't remember his set but we got to chill out a little and there were lots of people buying expensive crappy beer.

I didn't think I'd care much about the Boiler Room but ... here's Dr Octagon.

It was hot. It was loud. It was funky. I shook my booty. A little. Then outside for a bit of fresh air, and around the corner for a bit of Surf City.

Nice local lads. Rocking. Kinda got bored, but stuck it out. I never used to mind bands like this, but these days it does annoy me a bit. These boys had absolutely no interaction with the audience. Just got up, played their tunes and got off. Good music, but I need entertainment too.

So back into the Boiler Room and Havoc - that blue thing down the bottom.

It was hot. It was loud. It was funky. I shook my booty. A little more. And then Dizzee Rascal.

It was hot. It was loud. It was funky. I shook my booty. A quite a lot more actually. It was fucking hot. We left after about three tunes. Sweat coming out of every pore in our bodies. Glistening skin. Mmmmm.

And over to the small stages to dry off, rehydrate and catch Battles. This is during Billy Bragg's set. Man that guy is boring. I wish he'd just shut up and play. He doesn't need to chat for five minutes between each song when he has nothing to say. Oh, and a song made up of Clash lyrics isn't as interesting as it should be, and is probably the least inspired way to commemorate Joe Strummer.

Then Battles. Except someone changed the times on us without letting us know and The Nightwatchman (aka Tom Morello from Rage) came on. Another wannabe folky with a guitar and some boring tunes.

We left and headed back Local Produce way to check out The Exiles. Again no photos. I can't really remember them, so I guess they didn't leave much of an impression. It's one of the guys from The Nikons/Eye TV, who never left much of an impression back last century so at least he's being consistent.

Then back mainstage way for Arcade Fire. But first we had to put up with Pluto. (Intentionally unfocussed photo.) I've never been much of a Pluto fan, the lead singer's affectations really annoy me.

So we spent the end of their set finding a good spot for Arcade Fire, who were after all, the reason we were there. So they get two photos. They're special.

They really are special. They rocked. They rolled. They fought. They really put on a show. Ten people on stage. Your eyes don't know where to look. They were fantastic. Equal to expectations. Sadly it was over too soon.

It seems that they love NZ (naturally) so fingers crossed for them coming back and playing a few more dates soon. They also ended one of their songs with "I'm so bored of the USA", which was a far better statement and tribute than old Billy's attempt.

We decided to sit out Shihad's set. I've been over them for most of this century, and hadn't seen them live for many years. Perennial BDO favourites. I didn't see them live this time either. Just sat on the grass taking shots of other people sitting on the grass.

They rocked. It was great. And their new material sounds fantastic. Like they've finally given up on their plan of taking over the US with metal-lite, and gone back to the brutality of Churn and Killjoy (my fav album of their's, and Grant Smithies' too). Awesome boys.

Back amongst the masses for Bjork. Sadly it was rather boring. Just too chilled lady. Especially after the rawness and power of Shihad. A couple of tracks were fantastic, full of energy and pumping grooves - I can never remember names of her songs, but the last one in the set and one of the encore tracks were fabulous.

Yes she got and encore so she gets two photos too.


And out. I never had any real desire to see Rage beyond a mild curiosity. So we braved the Boiler Room again to check out LCD Soundsystem.

It was hot. It was loud. It was funky. I shook my booty. A hell of a lot more actually. By all reports (well by my speculation based on the one report I got about the Rage gig) I think it's safe to say that LCD rocked a shitload more than Rage. It was fabulous. It was groovy. It was boys with loud guitars. And funk. And lights. And energy.

And some clever people started lifting the side of the tent near the end so we could all cool off a bit - though it was nowhere near as hot as Dizzee's set, seeing as it was now evening.

Then over to the small stages to catch the last of The Clean. We got there part way through 'Point That Thing' which sounded great but I didn't care for the rest.

And finally we got Supergroove. Kicked off superbly with 'Next Time', then a bunch of tracks I didn't know, and I was tired and just wanted to go home. So we left them to it and tried to beat the rush.

It was a fabulous day. Lovely and hot, exciting, not as crowded as I expected, some fantastic music, lots of water consumed, some awesome photos, two tired legs.

I'm no longer a BDO virgin and I think I may have caught the bug.

So thanks to you young lady for making me go (i.e. by buying me a ticket for Christmas to ensure you had someone to go with). Let's do it again next year eh?

And for all you technophiles out there, cos I know you're wondering, all shots were taken on this little thing.