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Underground > Radio & Music >

Big Day Out 2003

13:14 / 28.01.03

My 5th one this Sunday. And I would just like to say

I AM FUCKING EXCITED

but, that wouldn't be worth starting a thread about. So, who's going? And if not, and you live in Australia, why not?

Also, who's seen Kraftwerk live? Rothkoid, you mentioned seeing them recently - were they any good? I heard they do a lot laptop-key-pressing and thats about it...

A

06:42 / 29.01.03

I went to the Queensland one. Kraftwerk were utterly great. Yes, they just stood there and pressed buttons, but it was still one of the best live shows I've ever seen. Chicks On Speed were also great. Apart from that, locals Team Plastique were really cool, but everything else ranged from the "pretty good, i guess" to the lame. (I missed both Jane's Addiction and Gonzales because some genius scheduled them against Kraftwerk, but I'm sure they both would have been better than "okay".)

03:58 / 30.01.03

I didn't go, but I set a new personal best for alcohol consumption at (and before) the Chicks on Speed gig in Sydney. They were great. But then they could have been Silverchair and I still would have thought they were great.

A

06:17 / 30.01.03

What'd you think of Team Plastique, Crunchy? They supported Chicks on Speed in Sydney if I'm not mistaken.

06:32 / 30.01.03

I was busy drinking when they were playing, and missed them completely.

08:52 / 30.01.03

3 Sleeps!!!!

Count Adam - Did they look like they were enjoying themselves? What did they play?

The Return Of Rothkoid

11:00 / 30.01.03

I'm not going. Or, rather, I didn't go this year. The last BDO I went to was the one Ministry headlined, though I've been to some other festivals since.

And why am I not going? Basically, I think some parts of the crowds going to these things have been getting more bastardy as the years have gone on; I have no desire to spend my fucking day being kicked in the head by a 15-year-old crowdsurfing motherfucker on crank, frankly. So I hit the side-gigs this year, and was disappointed by some (QOTSA, who phoned it in), intrigued by others (Kraftwerk, who I can't quite picture in a festival setting) and utterly nut-rocked by others (PJ Harvey who is fucking amazing, kill to see her, etc, etc). I just... I dunno. I saw the acts I wanted, I didn't get sunstroke, and I didn't pay $7 per beer. So that was All Good, in my book...

And yeah, they play Autobahn. Heh. I gave a review/setlist on my blog that should let you know what to expect.

13:06 / 30.01.03

Rothkoid:

Unlike you lucky eastern states bastards, we here on the west coast are hardly done by when it comes to side gigs. So I can't see QOTSA or Kraftwerk, and I refuse to pay whatever ridiculous price the "Festival of Perth" PJ Harvey show is gonna cost. So BDO it is, not that I'd miss it anyway - krank-headed crowdsurfing 15 year olds or not.

I agree though, I can't see how kraftwerk is gonna work in a festival. At least not a festival the style of the bigdayout. I can see a whole lot of yobs wandering out, scratching their heads... but fuck em.

A

04:12 / 31.01.03

Alex- are you asking me about Kraftwerk or Chicks On Speed?

20:39 / 02.02.03

The Fool presents the BDO lowdown : fun, sun and too many bands...

High points;
Chicks on Speed: Fun and more fun. I wandered in half way through their set and probably enjoyed this set the most on the day.

PNAU: Fun. Made me a friends dance like we were on pills. Much enjoyment if you like housey beats...

Jane's Addiction: mainly for Perry's fabulous suit and the girl in the sphere. oh and 'Jane says'. Katie and Jodie likened the whole set to sex and orgasm. Missed Kraftwerk due to Jane's being on at exactly the same time.

Resin dogs: See PNAU above but less housey and more breaky...

Other bands that were fun (mostly aussie bands actually); Machine Gun Fallatio, Rocket Science and apparently Xibit (recommendation from Katie, I was in with Underworld at that point)

Not so High points;

Queens of the Stone Age: I though stoner rock was meant to be funky not just heavy. Boring.

Luke Slater: relentlessly minimal. And not a lot of fun.

Underworld: We love Underworld. But by 10 o'clock so did everyone in the entire place, therein lies the problem (Underworld were the last band playing). Many thousands cannot fit under one tent (even if they squeeze real hard).

Foo Fighters: Like the crush for underworld but worse. Less than standing room with added dickhead factor.

And the horror of trying to leave the place. No cabs, giant queues for the train, mindless traffic snarls. No matter what you do, you have to wait wait wait...

But in all I had a pretty fun day. No sunburn too, which is a first...

01:50 / 03.02.03

Went yesterday - Bloody marvellous. Highlights were

Janes Addiction - Perry Farrell is everything and more. The man is clearly the sexiest alive and the singalong for Jane Says was worth any severe bruising I may have acquired whilst waiting for em. Dave Navarro rates a special mention cos he smokes like a chimney and has all the lead guitarist poses.

Kraftwerk - 4 old german guys, who stood in front of Laptops, blew everyone away. I was expecting em to get booed off by the yobs, but instead we had people chanting "boing boom tchah!". Absolutely brilliant. Funniest moment was the gurning dickhead behind behind me asking why they're playing house now, when they were playing breaks before.

Kid Kenobi - Funky arse breaks from the man who plays funky arse breaks. So much booty shaking, it was almost wrong. He played everything I expected, yet pulled it off with such style and so much fun, he was great. The bikini clad hordes came out in force for him too.

and on a lesser note Deftones - Much screaming, from Chino and the crowd. And My Own Summer (Shove It) proved the most violent song of the day.

Queens of the Stone Age seemed to be completely pulling the piss out of the crowd. Which I don't find particularly endearing from one of my favourite bands. Plus it was impossible to move, due to EVERYONE wanting to see them. The hottest 100 does big things for bands it would seem.

Craig Nicholls from the Vines seemed like he'd been touring too long, and was aching to stop. Either that or he was more than lightly toasted.

Didn't see foo fighters (I've seen em before), cos they were on the same time as Kraftwerk.

03:16 / 03.02.03

You all should have gone to Rumba.

19:39 / 03.02.03

You all should have gone to Rumba

Rumba was just too Jovi this year...

01:13 / 06.02.03

Don't see how they're worse than the half dozen over the hill, reformed, and/or geriatric rock bands that were the BDO line up.

03:40 / 06.02.03

Don't see how they're worse than the half dozen over the hill, reformed, and/or geriatric rock bands that were the BDO line up.

Actually, that's very true. Someone hand me my mullet wig...

07:35 / 06.02.03

Don't see how they're worse than the half dozen over the hill, reformed, and/or geriatric rock bands that were the BDO line up.

kraftwerk and janes addiction were the only ones that I can think of that fit that description.

ironically, they were the ones who put on the best shows.

Although, yeah Bon Jovi is a hard act to top. Oh and Shaggy. Not forgetting Selwyn.