Finding it a handy way to catch the vast majority of bands who took over Sydney Olympic Park for Big Day Out in 2010, I once again decided to venture out to the festival grounds for the two consecutive days of the 2011 event. Having seen such a ridiculous amount of amazing music over this period I’ve decided to break this review down by the eight main stages. But before we get started, let’s give a bit of an overview…
As you could imagine, the two days were quite different experiences, thanks to a decent shift in crowd numbers for day two. Taking place on a work day meant that many were unable to attend – causing a smaller, more relaxed crowd, versus the sold out Australia Day crowd taking over the first day. And like last year, a weather shift on day two made for a much cooler evening. The music didn’t change too much between each day, though the smaller stages, such as the new Annandale stage, gave for some local variety.
I invite you now to sit back, relax and enjoy a ridiculously comprehensive look back at the festival. Silent Disco and the V Green Room were the only locations not reviewed in this article, though you can check out some photos from the Green Room in Adelaide HERE! Also worth checking out at the festival were the Motorola events – the Moto-Cross and the “DEFYaBALL”… both of which I also missed! Ah, tsk tsk. BUT you can view a couple of photos below before we head along to Lilyworld and The Boiler Room!
All photos throughout article by Johnny Au, bar the Motorola photos, which have been kindly supplied by Peer Group Media and taken on the Gold Coast.
The Boiler Room
In the boiler room, CSS (pictured above) were one of the highlights of both days, with a great amount of energy and the crowds singing and dancing along to all their hits. Sampology brought the mash-up in style, filling the position often filled by Girl Talk. Die Antwoord brought the weird, in one of the most hotly anticipated sets of the day. They did not disappoint, with tracks like “Enter The Ninja” and “Evil Boy” helping the South African duo take hold of the crowd with ease.
Helping sell out pretty much every festival they attend, things have been pretty sweet for Bloody Beetroots in recent years, bringing their live DC77 show along for the BDO tour. It proved an impressive interpretation of their electronic hits, with the crowd dancing from start to finish. But for me, it was LCD Soundsystem who stole the show both nights, with a roaring set that made it even harder to say goodbye (at least for now) to one of our favourite electronic groups.
MIA closed out the night, but from my brief experience with her, seemed to spend as much time off the stage than on, and did little to impress. Still, when her hits got going, there was no arguing the impression they left on the crowd.
Lilyworld
The musical highlights here were pretty obvious: Andrew W.K. bringing a one man show (you can bet we partied), Matt and Kim were cute as a button and Red Bacteria Vacuum were as entertaining as their njame would suggest. You never know what you’ll see at Lilyworld. Unfortunately I missed acclaimed entertainer Reggie Watts, but the boys in Deftones said he was a festival highlight. Stay tuned for out interview with those guys!
Hot Produce
I didn’t catch much here, but The Greenhornes and Ratatat were easy highlights of the festival, proving the Hot Produce stage, as usual, as a place to discover new talent, and embrace some old favourites. The Greenhornes, celebrating the release of their new album 4 Stars were in fine form, while Ratatat, complete with digital projections and fantastic presence, had us all dancing.
The Annandale Stage
Speaking of places to discover new talent, there was no better place than on the Annandale Stage, named after the famed Sydney hotel, known for launching some of Australia’s biggest names over the last decade. Among those who graced the stage were Sydney’s Cameras, Chaingang, Cabins, Regular John and Papa Vs Pretty. The Hard-ons made a rare Big Day Out appearance on the stage, too, which was completely packed out during their performance.
Regular John are another act who haven’t been around for a while, and we very much enjoyed our first taste of some forthcoming new tracks, and hearing some of our old favourites. Meanwhile, the future is looking very bright indeed for the rest of the talent on offer – especially Cameras and Papa Vs Pretty, if I do say so myself.
Green Stage
Moving over to the Green Stage now, here we saw the fantastic Jim Jones Revue getting their rock out early, Andrew W.K. bringing the party, hard, and Plan B (pictured above) proving himself a consummate performer. Wolfmother brought an impressive crowd to their performance, though for most the focus of the Green Stage belongs to the one and only Primal Scream, who performed Screamadelica in FULL. Few things could ever top that performance, to be honest. An inspired choice by the Big Day Out promoters.
This was then followed by the Nick Cave helmed project Grinderman which, in spite of its late start time, kept plenty of punters around until the doors were closed. It ROCKED. Here’s hoping we all see and hear plenty more from this fantastic group. Well, we’re pretty happy to see and hear anything that Nick Cave gets up to, aren’t we?
Converse Essential Stage
Though I didn’t get to catch too much on this stage, Washington (pictured above) and Angus & Julia Stone were local favourites, as was PNAU, who closed out the stage with a furiously fun stage (and a guest appearance by Holiday Sidewinder). But it was Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros who stole the day with a goosebump inducing live set. It was definitely the one everyone was talking about the next day.
Orange Stage
Local highlights on the Orange stage were Dead Letter Circus, who got the crowd rocking out early in the day, and John Butler Trio, who had the crowd singing along (though it was a bit of a lull between the more rock-focused lineup). Lupe Fiasco was the odd man out here, but still had the crowd moving, playing a hit-filled set. Deftones, meanwhile, killed it, though the main stage was dominated by Rammstein, whose pyrotechnic-laden set (which included fire being thrown at the audience, a man catching fire, a firework thrown above the crowd before it bouncing back onto the stage and creating a fountain of sparks… ah… so amazing) was awe inspiring to say the least. Better yet, they played everything the crowd wanted to hear, from “Du Hast” to “Heavyshift” and “Pussy”.
Blue Stage
And finally we come to the Blue stage, where Airbourne, Bliss N Eso and Birds of Tokyo worked the crowd. Hard. Airbourne even climbed up to the top of the stage to add a bit of “wow” factor to their hilariously entertaining production. Iggy and the Stooges (pictured above) and Tool gave punters value for their hard earned ticket by closing out the stage, and though Tool’s Maynard opted to remain in the darkness for the entire set, he kept the respectful fans happy. The second night set was definitely superior than the first, with a few more of their more popular tracks making the cut. Meanwhile, Iggy and the Stooges brought us what they always do. A party, helmed by a legend.
It’s fair to say that Big Day Out has become quite a mixed bag of treats in recent years, but it was as enjoyable as ever this year. Will we be back in 2012? You better believe it. But will it be back for two nights in a row again? Probably not. That bubble has definitely burst.
