Big Day Out '04

Let’s start a new series!

In this series I will go through each BDO I attended writing about the anecdotes and memories that I have attached to them. I feel as though this should be a little sub-blog as I’ll be going through many different artists within the one post and I went to quite a few. They’ll probably end up being a little longer also so consider yourself warned!

Big Day Out '04 playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4AjrNfBrQowP6GfWHra7cy?si=NFIexNm0QKKimrOIOZlsew

This playlist has a song by each band we saw plus a few of the bands I wished I had seen!

God I loved these programs...

Sigh... Big Day Out. The greatest festival Australia has ever had and probably ever will. This was not only the epicentre for culture for me, but for a majority of Australia too. This was owned by the youth, or at least it felt like it was. I was lucky to have attended multiple BDO’s, with my first being in ‘04. I’m not sure when Steve decided he was going to attend BDO but for me it was the second the Drowning Pool concert finished. We came up with our selling points and approached our parents. We asked them for a ticket to the next one in Adelaide (which was the following year in 2004) and we’d stay with my dad. Our parents agreed and at Christmas of ‘03 I got my first Big Day Out ticket. We were so excited. We didn’t really know what to expect at a festival, but we were eager to throw ourselves in. During the Christmas school holidays at the end of ‘03, Steve and I went and stayed with his dad in Renmark. We were there for about a week. Riverland is a lot hotter than it is in Mt. Gambier and I recall it was so hot it felt like we were 2 inches from the sun. We spent most of the week going to the pool, watching the ENTIRE series of Red Dwarf, and listening to Steve’s newly acquired CD, The Big Day Out 2004 Compilation CD. I cannot remember when we found out about Metallica headlining but we were fucking thrilled. As I recall we didn’t really know anyone else on the lineup (except probably Black Eyed Peas, Jet, and Basement Jaxx), so we spent that week analysing that CD. We’d listen through it each day getting more pumped for our first festival. We took mental notes of which acts were must-see and which ones we’d like to see if there was nothing else on. Then finally the wait was over... Being young and full of youthful exuberance, we got there when the gates opened. I remember walking through the gate and making our way to the main stages, passing the Ferris wheel and grabbing a little booklet and timetable/map. There is nothing more beautiful than walking through the opening in the stands to see the showground space open up and reveal the two massive main stages and a sea of people. I never got tired of seeing that. The Showgrounds were the perfect venue to host festivals, I hated Bonython park.

You may have noticed that I have kept nearly every ticket to every concert i have attended. Nerd.

We studied the timetable and marked down who we were seeing and when. We had a little bit of time so we ventured into the D barrier and watched a bit of Skulker. I don’t remember them at all. Listening to them as I write this, they’re not too bad. Back then though we probably would’ve just thought “Meh”. The first band we had marked down as a potential band to watch was Blood Duster. After getting our bearings we headed over to the Cat Essential stage where they were due to play. We got there early as we had time to burn and thank fuck we did. We positioned ourselves on the barricade just as the band walked out. They were covered in white UV paint with matching white clothes. Looking at our timetable, we discovered they are called Tidal. These guys blew our little fucking minds. They were firmly in the Nu-Metal camp but they were brilliant. They had a great sense of groove and every member was quite capable of their chosen instruments. They looked like they were having an absolute ball. We instantly became fans. I can’t remember much more of their set but I do remember their song “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” being a highlight. Tidal gave us the start we were craving and it only escalated from the next band we watched, Blood Duster. Neither of us are big fans of Blood Duster but we knew the songs D.F.F and Pornstorestiffi and thought It would be a laugh. Plus there was nothing else we wanted to watch at that time. The band walked out covered in “blood” (obviously). The vocalist, Tony Forde, walked out on stage with arms outstretched, welcoming the now big crowds applause. As he makes his way to the front of the stage a crushed can gets thrown at him... Then another... He grabs the mic and without missing a beat screams “IS THAT IT ADELAIDE? CANS? FUCKING THROW BOTTLES YOU PUSSY CUNTS!” Ask and you shall receive. An onslaught of bottles, cans, and whatever else people had on them was thrown at the stage. Tony stood once again arms outstretched laughing at the chaos he had just caused. That’s literally all I remember from that set. We enjoyed it and they were a laugh. I believe it was during this set the guitarist from Tidal had come out to the barricade and stood with us. We introduced ourselves and Steve and he got chatting. We were blown away to find out they were from Adelaide. We would see them a few years later in Mt. Gambier but that’s another story... At this point of the day we had some time to kill so we wandered back to the main stage to catch The Datsuns. We only knew one song, “MF From Hell”. What we were waiting for though was Black Eyed Peas. We positioned ourselves pretty much on the barricade for BEP. This was just as Fergie had joined the band, so they still were a hip hop act. They were fantastic. One thing I remember was Fergie. She wore a crop top with her jeans so low I was surprised you couldn’t see her...

aaaah... you know...

Justin Hawkins from The Darkness joined them onstage for a brilliant version of “Let’s Get Retarded” (as it was known back then before they changed it to Let's Get It Started). I always loved their song Request Line with Macy Gray and not much more, but this performance won me over. They were full of energy and really kicked our day back into gear. We then moved back to the Cat Essential stage for a performance that changed my musical taste forever. Back then I wasn’t into progressive music, I liked the odd song by Tool but that was about it. We made our way yet again towards the front of the crowd. There was a decent size crowd building. The band walked out onstage to their CDs intro music, then the vocalist emerged. He had a blue Mohawk with a blue painted line running down his face, down his uncovered torso to his waistline. They launched into the only song we knew of theirs, “One Second Of Insanity”. The Butterfly Effect instantly became one of my new favourite bands. They had everything I was looking for in music. Heavy and melodic. They had beautiful ambient parts that accentuated the heavier parts. Clint Boge voice was amazing, he didn’t miss a note. They finished with their epic song “Always”. During this, Clint climbed the rigging on the side of the stage. This was rock ‘n’ roll. They were fucking incredible. Next up we ventured over to see the hottest new band in Australia, Jet. They were playing the Green stage which wasn’t a small stage but considering who they’d become it was small. As we walked over I remember seeing and hearing a bit of a band on the main stage. They sounded great, better see who they were in my booklet and remember to look them up when I got home. It was Muse.

Yep. I walked straight past muse when they were touring Absolution...

sigh...

Anyway fucking Jet. They were fine. They played their stuff and they sounded like Jet. I don’t think either of us was fans but we thought we’d see what the fuss was about. Whatever. Fucking Jet... So we really didn’t have anything left to watch except Metallica. We went and grabbed food and headed back to the Cat Essential stage. We had worked out that most of the metal/rock bands played that stage so it was a good bet we’d at least enjoy whoever was playing. We managed to catch a bit of Poison The Well. I was impressed. I’d later become obsessed with their tune Botchla. By this time there were about 15-20 mins till Metallica was due to play. We made our way over to the main stages. Due to our inexperience of attending festivals, we were slightly shocked to find that the whole showground was packed to the brim. Luckily we were teenagers, cause we just worked our way through the massive crowd as far as we could. We ended up probably halfway back from the stage. The Strokes finished their set and we waited. I could see the stage... sort of. I could see the screens at least so I wasn’t too unhappy. To be honest I don’t remember too much of their set. I recall being able to see Kirk Hammet and Robert Trujilio and, depending on what leg I was leaning on, I could see Lars Ulrich. I barely saw James Hetfield apart from when he was on the big screens. They were outstanding though. The one song that stands out in my memory was “One”. I remember them having fireworks and flashes of light for the intro to replicate a war zone. The crowd was amazing. They sang every lyric and every guitar solo. I’d hazard a guess this was the first time Steve and I sang along at the top of our lungs. The near two-hour set went quickly. We were on a high after their set. It was time to go home but we didn’t want too, so we looked at our timetable searching for something. The Boiler Room was still going. If we run now we can make Basement Jaxx. We took off and got to the doors of the boiler room. The problem was they barricaded it off. We worked our way once again to the barricade and asked the security why can’t we go in, they said it was at capacity so no one could go in. There was a sizeable crowd pushing against us and the barricade. We just stood there listening to the DJ playing inside, waiting for the crowd to piss off so we could leave. All of a sudden... BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM! The barricades all started falling over like dominos. The one we were pressed against then fell next in line. We looked at each other, looked at the security guard, and bolted inside. Hundreds of people must have crammed themselves into the already full Boiler Room. This was probably the first time I had witnessed a DJ set (except for a blue light disco). Basement Jaxx was brilliant. We only knew “Where’s Your ahead At?” As it was a massive song at the time, but I enjoyed their set. I recall being hypnotised by their light show. They had these lasers that shot across the crowd, about a foot above our heads. You could reach up and put your hand through it. Their set closing out the day was ecstasy. I was close to heaven and I was dead sober. ...and then that was it. It was over. Our first Big Day Out was done and dusted. The day left a huge impact on me. I swore right there and then I would go to every Big Day Out till I died. I pretty much kept that promise to myself, as I attended every one from then to its demise, bar one. BDO stood as a right of passage for the youth of Australia. That festival means so much to me. Later on when Soundwave became huge, I always compared it to Big Day Out, and BDO always won. There was a culture, a mood, an aura around it. It was something that was created by the crowds and the bands. It was all-inclusive, something Soundwave wasn’t purely because of the bands they had played the festival. I miss the Big Day Out and now that I have kids of my own, I’m saddened that they won’t experience it. Hopefully, something comes along and takes its place, the youth of any generation needs their own festival that encapsulates their culture, and if/when that festival starts, I’ll be happily dropping off my daughter & sons with their friends, knowing that they will be creating memories they will hold forever.

Highlights:

- Blood Duster getting smashed with bottles

- The Butterfly Effect

- Discovering our first "local" band in Tidal

- Fergie

Lowlights:

- None, except missing Muse, The Mars Volta *sigh*, Thursday, Something For Kate, Dandy Warhols... Fuck I missed a heap of great bands...

Note: I left out one band as I’ll be doing a separate blog on them. They were one of my favourite bands to have ever existed and because of what happened I’ll be writing about them once and once only. I’m not sure what I’m going to write but it’ll probably be the scribbling of a madman trying to figure it all out. That band is lostprophets.