Local act The Naked & Famous opened my Big Day Out and they hit the stage just as the rain and shitty weather cleared, which had everyone celebrating to Hearts Like Ours, Young Blood and Punching In A Dream.
I’m still not sold that Tame Impala make a good festival band. They feature too many long acid guitar solos and the open acoustics of a festival makes it sound like you’re standing 20km away. Still, the crowd went crazy for Half Full Glass of Wine.
Over at the Boiler Room, RÜFÜS was setting the mood for all those patrons who took their ecstasy too early. It was going crazy for such an early time slot. At one point the band insisted, “If you’ve got a joint then I suggest you smoke it now” but everyone who had one was no doubt saving it for Snoop Dogg.
GroupLove had a much bigger crowd over at the Red Stage tent but to be honest, their music sounded much of the same. Cosmic Psychos are hard-core bogans but there’s no arguing why they’ve been around for 30 years. They know how to put on a great live show.
Similarly, Primus are some pretty weird dudes but songs like My Name is Mud and Jerry Was A Race Car Driver were epic. Initially I was shattered Blur pulled out, but their absence was barely noticed thanks to The Hives – still the greatest live act around today… just ask them. The Swedish troupe came out dressed in full Mariachi uniforms and played the crowd like a violin.
Midway through, lead singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist jokingly announced “Ladies and gentleman we are Blur… sorry we couldn’t make it… but you’ll just have to enjoy a much better band instead.” They then had the crowd chant the “Woo hoo” from Song 2 as the backdrop for Hate To Say I Told You So, and finished by saying “How do you like them fucking apples!”
At the Red Stage, The Lumineers offered the perfect chill out music to refuel with a quick snack and drink before heading back to the main stage for Arcade Fire. They opened with Reflektor, and followed with a lot of their new material. I didn’t really like the album at first, but it’s grown on me after hearing live. With ten members onstage it wasn’t their biggest ensemble, but the addition of steel drums was awesome. Even though I’m not sure what the other 49 are, Wake Up is one of the 50 songs you need to hear live before you die.
We decided to watch Snoop Dogg over Pearl Jam, which I’m glad we did. He was back to his good old-school form, playing all the classics like What’s My Name? and Gin & Juice.
We finished the night with Major Lazer, which was a bit of an anticlimax to be honest. I’ve heard they put on great live shows, but for me it was nothing more than a bunch of nightclub DJs with a bigger budget. They spent most of the time remixing music from Prodigy to AC/DC, and the rest of it trying to get girls to take their clothes off.
Still, for a year of big music festivals going under, it’s good to see that one of Australia’s favourites is alive and well.
BY CHRIS BRIGHT
Photos by Rob Perrone
Loved: The Hives.
Hated: Having to buy tokens for beers.
Drank: $10 beers.
