Well for all the whinging about the lineup etc that was probably the best Big Day Out I've gone to. Not sure if it was the good crew I was with, the crowd being less dickheady than usual, the weather being less hot than usual or keeping myself a bit above 0.05 all day but every band I saw seemed to put on a very good show (with the odd exception).
After the fun of changing trains on the way up and drinking to excess we wandered in and watched Papa vs Pretty for a bit from the orange side of the stage. They were enjoyable enough, cover of Bullet for Butterfly Wings was pretty cool and recognised a couple of other songs. But really at this point of the day I was just in anticipation of Frenzal Rhomb
And they didnt disappoint. Great live band, tore through a mixture of the old (Genius, f**k the System, There's Your Dad etc) and the new (Bird Attack, When My Baby Smiles at Me I go to Rehab and more) and the singalong of Never Had So Much Fun and You Cant Move Into My House. Banter between songs as good as ever, great show and my mates who I dragged along to them enjoyed it as well, which was nice.
Watched Parkway Drive after that. I quite like their first album, not so much after that, but I really enjoy their live show. You see alot of bands that don't give a shit, stand their and play and expect the crowd to give them energy, well Parkway gets everyone involved. Plus dancing like a f**kwit can be pretty fun with them playing.
Wandered out of the main arena after that, watched a bit of an unearthed band, went back to grab drinks and had to cop a small amount of Boy and Bear, rubbish band and their butchering of 'Fall at Your Feet' grates me.
Then went to the Hot Produce are to watch King Cannons. Possibly the set of the day. Heard a couple of songs on the radio, Teenage Dreams the big one, but the crowd just swell as everyone grooved along to their Springsteen/Clash inspired rock n roll/punk sound. Cracker of a set and will be trying to source more of their music.
Was meant to meet up with friends at the Essential Stage after that but misread map and ended up the wrong area completely, so by the time I got their the Vaccines had already begun. They were enjoyable for the twenty odd minutes I watched. Went over to watch The Living End after that.
TLE are the band which got me into a lot of better music, their first album is one of my favourites but I was apprehensive seeing them, knowing their last few albums have been pretty mediocre. Boy, they still put on a great show. Chrish Cheney is an excellent guitarist and the energy that went in from them was great. Prisoner of Society is still one of the great live songs, cover of Breed was thrown in, Waltzing Matilda was nicely done and the closer of West End Riot a cracker.
Ran into some friends again who were getting their spot for Kanye, just as My Chemical Romance started on the Orange Stage. So I left and met up with others over at the Green stage, cruised around for a bit with them then went and watched Kasabian. I thought they were really good live. Kept the hits coming, underdog, Vlad the Impaler and the absolute cracker of a finisher in Fire amongst them. Really enjoyed their set.
Pushed up the front to meet up with our other mates again and wait for Kanye, with Soundgarden on the other stage. Heard some dick behind saying "Soundgarden are shit why would they headline?" Im not a massive fan of theirs in any way but it's that complete ignorance of the last twenty years of music that is just ridiculous from certain people. After about 20 minutes of waiting I thought im not hanging around another hour for some f**kwit rapper from America and got out of the front row, watched a bit of Soundgarden from the back. They were the opposite of Parkway, Just sort of stood around playing their instruments and not giving much to the audience. Not bad but nothing special.
Decided to wander over to see who the special guests on the Essential stage were, turned out to be Grinspoon. Thought i'd watch them for a bit then check out Kanye. Well Grinspoon was brilliant on the day. Phil was highly intoxicated, the band was tight and the setlist good. First half of the set had some of the newer ones plus ready 1 but the second half was nostalgia overload. Pedestrian, More Than You Are, a sing along to Chemical Heart and a final three songs of Just Ace, Champion and DCx3, awesome. The vibe around the crowd during the set was brilliant, everyone just really enjoying themselves, the band playing really well, loved it. Only Black Friday could've improved the set.
So wandered over to watch Kanye West after that. Everyone was lapping it up, my mates up the front said it was amazing. I thought it was self indulgant wank, with his style over substance performance epitomising what I dislike about aspects of modern music. The middle section where he was doing his stuff off 808's and Heartbreaks was laughibly woeful, autotune rubbish, yet it was getting lapped up. I actually burst out laughing during that bit. Had to go spend my precious last dollars on beers to get through abit of it. Just reinforced that the difference between Kanye and God is that God doesnt think he's Kanye.
So after watching a bit of the show I decided to go watch some music again. With my last beer of the day it was time for Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds. I was hoping for a sort of half half set between solo and Oasis, but f**k it was a good show anyway. Good band, good song writing, he seemed to be enjoying himself on stage. Got a bit of the Timmy Rogers about him, changing guitar every song. Little by Little was thrown in the mix amongst some good sounding solo stuff. Someone asked for Champagne Supernova "If you havent heard it yet you're too f**ken late buddy." So he's cruising through his set and then this happens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIzKJAb9EPY
And the crowd loses their minds. Absolutely amazing, what a way to finish a day.
Best BDO I've been to. Kind of wish I didnt smash so much money over the bar but a great day.
