Big Day Out Sydney 18/1/13 - Festival Review

My second Big Day Out was great. Very different to the atmosphere of other festivals I’ve been to, Big Day Out seemed to be a mixing pot of complaints about the weather, nudity, and hipsters.

I would’ve seen and done more, but it took me hours just to get my bearings. The grounds weren’t as well signed as the could’ve been, and I missed out on 360, Childish Gambino and Crystal Castles because of bad signing, and no one knew the right directions. But nevertheless, the day was legendary, and it wasn’t just legendary weather, it was legendary music.

Band of Horses kicked off my day at the Blue Stage. These wonderful indie rockers were absolutely sensational.

After a much needed rest, I headed over to the Orange stage to see one of my favourite bands of all time, Vampire Weekend. Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson and Chris Baio formed at Columbia University in New York City. They came upon the stage at the hottest time in the day. With the searing Australian sun beating upon them, they still managed to perform a fabulous set without any hiccups. The whole stadium seemed to be singing along to their hits. “Who gives a fuck about an Oxford Comma”, was ringing with the out-of-tune-voices of a few thousand overheated punters.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs took to the Blue Stage with a strange form of confidence. Karen O is one of the best frontwomen in the world. Wearing a yellow, studded,suit, and a ‘YEAH’ headpiece, there is no way that you could miss this outrageous female. Another band from New York (concrete jungle wet dream tomato), Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase make up this indie outfit that have just announced the release of their new album, with the ugliest cover art to ever exist. When you see a YYYs show, it’s really hard to keep your eyes off of Karen O, her look, her voice and her movements just draw your eyes toward her. This magnetic outfit was one of the best highlights of Big Day Out 2013.

When The Killers waltzed onto the stage, I hadn’t been waiting 10 minutes, I’d been waiting 5 years. With high expectations for these Vegas boys, I was still blown out of the park. Being unified with 5000 people singing “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier” was practically an out of body experience.

I left a little early hoping to catch the end of 360, but by the time I found the stage, I’d missed out, which is incredibly disappointing.

But, I didn’t miss any of Foals.

By this time of night, a storm had started brewing. High winds and occasional showers had caused some major issues with the stage, they had the whole crowd move back from the stage by 15 feet, so they could fix the lighting fixtures safely. Originally, they were going to cancel the show, but Foals were apparently really excited about performing, so a half an hour later they came on stage, and knocked everyones socks off. From Oxford, England, Yannis, Jack, Walter, Jimmy and Andrew put their everything into that performance. After a near-cancelled-experience, they had a renewed sense of musical urgency, and they were amazing. Even with a crowd that was made up of a lot of people who didn’t know their music, they still evoked the most incredible energy.

Nina Las Vegas blew the roof off in the Boiler Room. One of her 3 sets at BDO, before Bloody Beetroots, even though the crowd hadn’t quite gathered yet, everyone was having a great time. Her delicious beats are an absolute delight.

Bloody Beetroots came on late, after Nina had run over. Her set came to an abrupt finish and she ran off the stage. They pulled down a black sheet to reveal a smoking piano and the most enthralling lighting. The italian dance punkers, The Bloody Beetroots, had the most enthralling energy to grace the stage at the Big Day Out.

With only the weather to complain about, the Big Day Out was a legendary day.

Photographs and Review by Geneva Walker.

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