Photo by Sharona Lin
Big Day Out Melbourne
Flemington Racecourse
Sunday, January 29th, 2012
Reviewed by Liveguide Contributor Sharona Lin
There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the Big Day Out’s 20th anniversary: from the co-founders split to Ken West’s denouncement of rival festival organiser AJ Maddah as a ‘financial anarchist’ to music fans calling Kanye West too “soft” and mainstream to headline the day. Add the fact that tickets didn’t come close to selling out, and you could easily imagine Melbourne’s Big Day Out to be a dispiriting, lacklustre affair.
Proving that the festival still has appeal, thousands of music fans of various genres flocked to Flemington Racecourse. With six stages available, there was plenty of choice. From the Boiler Room which hosted Girl Talk and Bassnectar, to hardcore band The Amity Affliction on the Essential Stage, to Big Day Out alumni and Australian legends The Living End rocking the Blue Stage, the diverse line-up had many running from stage to stage.
Among the bands Liveguide visited were Calling All Cars, whose singer riled up the audience by kicking over an amp and then smashing his guitar on it, sister group Stonefield, The Getaway Plan who literally shook the ground with finale song ‘Where The City Meets The Sea’, Hilltop Hoods, who had much of the audience shuffling and dancing, and New Jersey’s My Chemical Romance, whose last visit to Australia was half a decade and an album ago. Their set drew from all their albums, with singer Gerard Way proving he could pull off any hair colour, even orange. By the time their set had finished, the weather had thankfully cooled down.
The same could not be said for the audience’s enthusiasm as Kasabian took the stage, followed by grunge kings Soundgarden, who provided a dose of nostalgia with classics ‘Black Hole Sun’ and ‘Fell on Black Days’, with the quirky Foster The People playing on another stage. Love or hate them, the multi-instrumentalists put on an undeniably exciting, energetic performance.
The act many were waiting for was Kanye West, who made his appearance a little after 8.30pm in a haze of smoke and purple light on a contraption resembling a cherry picker. The crowd went wild for his introductory rendition of ‘Dark Fantasy’, with the appropriate lyrics: “Can we get much higher?” Accompanied by security as he made his way through the screaming crowd to the stage, Kanye looked appropriately unflustered and cool. His 90 minute set featured a posse of backup dancers, plenty of his hits and a 20 minute monologue.
Ultimately, Big Day Out is an opportunity to discover and enjoy music one might not otherwise bother with, while also soaking up the ambience and the acts one knows and loves. Case in point: this reviewer had written off Foster The People as just another oh-so-quirky indie band, and Kanye as just another part of the supremely uninteresting hip hop scene (for me at least). Both notions were shattered in the course of the day while also having time to enjoy familiar bands.
Fingers crossed that the new partnership with C3 Presents can keep this Australian festival alive and healthy for at least another two decades.
Check out Sharona's photos from the show here
Check out our review and photos of Sydney's Big Day Out
Big Day Out is currently touring the country