Big Day Out 2008

Last Friday Muzz and I went to the Big Day Out. For me it was possibly the last time, like any old timer will tell you, music is getting worse, and this is reflected in the lineup. How could I pass up the opportunity to see a reformed Rage Against The Machine though? I couldn't, so I made it to Wayville one last time . . .

We got there around 1pm, and looked for a park in the side streets off Goodwood Road. I knew we'd have to walk a bit, but that wasn't the problem - this year the council had made every single carpark within about a 2km radius of the showgrounds a 2 hour zone. I suppose it's fair, you wouldn't want all the rich people in Goodwood to have strangers parking outside their house for one day in January each year.

We ended up parking a way away at Forrestvile and so were a bit late, and missed the start of Gyroscope's set. They were playing on one of the side stages at 1.30pm and someone must have severely underestimated their popularity, because the place was packed. We eventually got in a position where we could see OK but the sound wasn't the best. And they mainly seemed to play songs from either their really early albums, or their latest album, none of which are as good as the stuff from "Are You Involved"? They were OK, but nothing close to how good they were when we saw them a few months back at Fowlers.

After they finished playing we realised he didn't have anyone we wanted to see for the next six or seven hours, so went to the bar. We had a couple of beers, and laughed at a middle aged security guard who was fighting a losing battle, trying to stop people entering via the exit. I thought he was going to break down in tears at one point. Still, pretty amazing that people don't even listen to security guards these days.

After a while we got a call from Corey, and headed out to the main oval to watch the bands. The Hilltop Hoods were OK, better than I expected, although that might just be in comparison to everyone else. It was pretty funny watching thousands of white people trying to dance like they were black.

We went and got some food, then hung out at a bar some more. After this we headed back to the main arena to try and get in to the D-section up front well in time for Rage.

We got in during the Arcade Fire's set, which was actually a bit of a drag as it meant we had to listen to them play. I counted ten musicians on stage, and yet they still struggled to make something you would describe as "music". Then silverchair were next, and sucked it up real good too. Not only was their music boring, but Daniel Johns just comes across as completely full of himself. He also took the time out to tell us that he wasn't gay, not that anyone actually asked.

Speaking of people who are gay, during Bjork's set Corey started chatting to one of the crowd members, and the guy took the opportunity to try and pick Cors up. He was quite persistent, was good for a laugh, and to distract us from the horrible sounds Bjork was making a few hundred metres away. If you can imagine a musical equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard, that's what it sounded like. It was so bad I actually started to reminisice about silverchair.

So basically that takes us to about 8.45pm, at which point it was officially the worst BDO I'd ever been too. I mean, I knew the lineup was thin going in, but I wasn't ready for it to be this bad.

None of that really mattered when Rage finally took the stage though. From the moment they started with "Testify", they were simply amazing. I think they actually sound better live that on record. You kind of take the sounds that Tom Morello pulls out of a guitar for granted, until you actually see him pull in off live, while stomping across the stage. For four guys they have a huge sound, and it's completely their own - noone else comes close to sounding like they do.

Highlights were Wake Up, Bulls on Parade, Know Your Enemy, Vietnow, and Guerilla Radio. Yep, that's about half their set, they were that good.

They finished at 10.15pm or so, and thanks to the council and their awesome carparking regulations, and music fans who walk about 3km/hour, we got back to the car at 11pm. It was great to see RATM at least once, but I don't think I'll be back to the Big Day Out. Consider me retired.