Live Reviews : Big Day Out @ Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast 19/01/2014

Images: Amanda Brenchley
Words: Andrew Kapper

Click here to view the full Big Day Out gallery.

It is a blazing hot Sunday in the Gold Coast, and judging by the enormous sized entry line that greets this reviewer well before midday, the rumours of the Big Day Out’s declining popularity seem to be a little exaggerated. Inside the Metricon Stadium grounds it is BDO business as usual – over-priced food, underdressed guys and girls and a slightly worrying amount of intoxicated patrons.

The first rocking band to perform today is Brisbane’s Violent Soho. No doubt thanks to a lot of recent exposure on Triple J, the Red Stage tent is packed out for the hairy four piece. Musically they sound as if they belong in the same era as the festival headliners (that’s Pearl Jam fyi), with a fairly strong Pixies-vibe to their sound. The high energy tracks cause waves of moshing and crowd surfing in the pit – this reviewer spots a young lady stumbling out of the mosh with a nice new shiner under her left eye – and even bassist Luke Henery almost accidentally taking out the drumkit can’t derail their set. It must be noted that their distorted guitar tone is absolutely monstrous, and the closing number “Covered In Chrome” rounds off their awesome performance, and the day is off to a good start.

Kingswood

Dirty blues rock four-piece Kingswood take to JBL stage in front of a strong sized crowd, and the Melbourne group’s riffing tunes is a perfect follow up to Violent Soho. Guitarist Alex Laska is an obvious focal point, as he puts his beaten Stratocasters through their paces with a plethora of wailing leads that channel the playing of Jimmy Page and Cream-era Eric Clapton. That’s not to look over the rest of the band of course, as they are far from slouches, with an extended vocal and guitar only version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” helping cover some technical issues with the drums. The slide guitar driven tune “Ohio” finishes things off nicely, and if they keep up performances like this, the future will surely be bring for Kingswood.

One of the more slightly left of centre acts on today is two-piece The Algorithm. As a mash up of EDM and progressive metal drumming, it makes for a head-scratching yet highly interesting sound, with drummer Mike Malyan moving from danceable grooves to Meshuggah-esque half time patterns in a matter of bars. The duo is the brainchild of producer/DJ Rémi Gallego, and his style of electronic music is a breath of fresh air, as he mashes up metal and djent influenced guitar tracks and keyboard patterns in with glitchy sounds and hammering sub-bass. Live show wise, not a great deal visually goes on, but it’s not particularly needed, as the audience is either glued to the immense drumming of Malyan, or watching Gallego spack out with his Midi controllers and other DJ equipment. It’s a shame they don’t perform to a big crowd, because this reviewer can honestly say that was by far the most unique band experienced at the Big Day Out.

Primus

Over at the main stage, classic 90’s funky alt weirdos Primus slowly reminds us that some band’s simply do not work that well in a festival environment. Admittedly they are not the easiest band to ‘get’, but the trio’s hour long slot is basically an act of self-indulgence. There’s no doubting the supreme bass talents of band leader Les Claypool, but it takes until the final two songs “My Name Is Mud” and “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” for the crowd to get excited. It’s a shame, because Primus could come out a deliver a big setlist of their more well known cuts, but instead Claypool and co. have just come out and done what they wanted too. More power to them though – but it just didn’t make for a memorable show.

All dreary memories of Primus are almost immediately forgotten however as Swedish quintet The Hives burst onto the adjacent main stage. Dressed to kill in their trademark matching suits – this time they appear be matadors – the five piece put on an energy packed, sweat filled 60 minute tour de force. Their low-fi garage rock style works surprisingly well on the big stage, no doubt thanks to the antics of guitarist Nicholaus Arson and vocalist Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, and their set features cuts both old and new. Almqvist’s between song banter is almost as entertaining as the music, with the crowd eating out of the palm of this hand with his faux-egotistical comments and constant audience participation. Hats off to the band’s techs as well, as they spend their entire time tuning guitars and untangling mic cables completely decked out in black clothes as ninjas – surely in this weather it would have been unbearable for the poor sods. Sadly The Hives’ set flies by in no time and they close with an extended version of “Tick Tick Boom”, which Almqvist spends half song in the crowd for. Despite the immense heat and completely unsuitable wardrobe choices, the Swede’s effortlessly prove why they are so revered as a live act.

Northlane

As the heaviest band on the bill, youngsters Northlane are a touch out of place on the Big Day Out line up, but that doesn’t stop them from pulling in a more than respectable amount of punters. Focusing heavily on their most recent and breakthrough album “Singularity”, the five piece hammer through an airtight 45 minute performance, and get rewarded by constantly moving and violent pits. Vocalist Adrian Fitipaldes is a bit ropey at times with his harsh singing, but he makes for a strong frontman, even he does come across as being slightly too positive and overly grateful. Regardless of that however, it’s another strong, albeit a little mechanical, set from the Sydney boys, and it’s obvious that this band are still on the rise.

A sparsely attended JBL tent greets Vista Chino (ex-Kyuss Lives) as the sun slowly sets over the horizon. A muscular looking John Garcia grabs the mic with both hands and assumes his trademark positioning, the band bust out Kyuss classic “One Inch Man”. Veering from older Kyuss material and tracks of Vista Chino’s “Peace” album, the four piece put on an awesome performance, despite Garcia obviously having technical issues of some sort on stage at a few points. You don’t get wild stage movement from this band, just big stoner riffs and heavy grooves, held down the rhythm section of drummer Brant Bjork and Mike Dean, the touring bassist for the group, whom people may recognise from the excellent Corrosion of Conformity. An awesomely jammed out version of “Gardenia” is a big high point, and those who are here make up for the lack of numbers. It’s a really impressive performance from the old workhorses, and even the band finishing up almost ten minutes early for whatever reason can’t take the gloss off things.

Vista Chino

While Vista Chino’s crowd was disappointing, Ghost’s is utterly shocking, with the masked group pulling in an even smaller crowd than the act before them. Maybe it’s because the band are substantially different image and music wise from the rest of the bill, or simply because both Snoop Dogg and Pearl Jam are on at the same time. Regardless of this and the dismal crowd size, Ghost are ever the professionals and put on their theatrically trademark live show, with Black Sabbath/Pentagram influenced tunes like “Per Aspera Ad Inferi”, “Ritual” and the title track of their newest EP “If You Have Ghosts” sounding massive live. Frontman Papa Emeritus II is obviously the most eye-catching member of the group, but regardless of his attire and persona, the man certainly has a voice on him, and at the same time it really is easy to overlook the musical talents of The Nameless Ghouls, whomever they may actually be. Ghost’s performance is certainly one of the highlights of the day – it’s just a damn shame that only a small number of people were actually here to witness it.

Quickly (and briefly) ducking over to the main stage, this reviewer manages to catch the last three pre-encore songs of Pearl Jam’s slot, and despite only witnessing a brief example of their lengthy 2+hour set, the legendary Seattle natives are in fine form. Unsurprisingly they have pulled a massive crowd, and Eddie Vedder and the rest of the band play as if their lives depended on it, with Vedder quite possibly being the sweatiest man in the world, as his throat bulges and face contorts with every delivered vocal line. The band wrap up the main part of their show with a jammed out “Rearviewmirror”, and as the band say their fake “goodnights”, this reviewer hauls ass across to the other side of the festival grounds.

Ghost

Closing up the JBL Stage are the legendary Deftones, whom almost could apply for Australian residency with the amount of times it seems like the act have been in the country over the last few years. For a band who have been in the game for over two decades, it is fantastic to see them deliver an hour long set driven by high energy that never once seems forced or over rehearsed. For their performance Deftones’ focus mostly on their more aggressive and heavy material, with the opening salvo of “Diamond Eyes” and “Rocket Skates” absolutely crushing. Frontman Chino Morino can be a bit flat at times, but he makes up for it comfortably with the raw emotion of his vocals, and he throws in some truly hair raising screams for good measure. While the closing three tracks – “Engine No. 9”, “Root” and “7 Words” – are fairly out-dated with their Nu-Metal sound, the rest of their setlist is packed full of great songs, as well as some fantastic newer ones off of 2012’s “Koi No Yokan”. As the final band for the day, Deftones have suitably put on a headliner’s performance with a brilliant 60 minutes of their unique brand of alt-metal.

With the insanely bass-heavy sounds of dance act Major Lazer thundering across the fields, the slowly shuffling crowds move out into the night, contemplating how they are going to get to their next destinations. Despite the blazing heat, today has been a success, with practically only highlights report. It also has to be mentioned that for it’s first year at the Metricon Stadium, the Big Day Out event went as smooth as it could have – so much so that it only really dawned on this reviewer that it was in a new venue as he was leaving it. Overall, the Big Day Out 2014 Gold Coast show was enjoyable, hot, busy and loud – in other words; everything you want in a festival experience.

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