BIG DAY OUT

Parklands, Gold Coast – 17th January 2010

The Big Day Out has never exactly been renowned for its support of metal, with most lineups consisting of indie, dance or Australian acts. In fact, it seems like they just throw in a couple of metal bands every year to be polite. This year was no different, with Karnivool, Mastodon and Fear Factory standing out like sore ass thumbs among the likes of Girl Talk and Lily Allen.

Sugar Army eased the crowd into the day ahead, with a dynamic completely different to that seen on Karnivool’s Sound Awake tour in June. Perhaps it was a change in equipment, or perhaps it was the change in atmosphere, because the band’s material was inexplicably more upbeat, catchy, and downright danceable. Unfortunately frontman Patrick McLaughlin still possesses all the stage presence of a spear of asparagus, with similar effects on one’s urine. Should he ever find the urge to down some viagra with a shot of Red Bull, Sugar Army may actually be enjoyable to watch.

A band that lacks nothing in terms of stage presence and enjoyment is Bluejuice. Clad in neon jumpsuits and flanked by a moving dinosaur background, they overcompensated for Sugar Army’s dull demeanour with a wonderfully demented performance not unlike an extremely drunk and slightly more retarded Devo.

For such an early slot, Karnivool were undoubtedly one of the biggest crowd pullers of the day. The band have gained speed and grown dramatically since June’s Sound Awake tour, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them headline the festival in a few years time.  Karnivool are not exactly what one would deem a ‘cheery’ band, but Ian Kenny’s pseudo-epileptic charm had everybody smiling like creepers, and screeching along to Simple Boy, Goliath, Set Fire to the Hive, All I Know, New Day, Roquefort and Themata. The only drawback of their set was it being so early in the day – a night time slot could’ve seen them display their crazy lightshow, evidenced on 2009’s tour.

Being one of the few metal bands on the lineup, there was a level of intrigue surrounding Mastodon. Unfortunately they failed to live up to expectations, and they failed spectacularly. Perhaps Mastodon just aren’t suited to the festival atmosphere – or at least that of the Big Day Out – because in a word, they were fucking boring. Each song seemed to drone on and run into the next, and was so underwhelming that the majority of the crowd seemed more interested in watching Kasabian’s roadies set up next door.

The band managed to get the small crowd clapping and excited approximately twice throughout the set, but would unfortunately revert back to sleep-inducing instrumentals. Their set may have been salvageable if the vocals had been remotely decipherable – and perhaps it was a fault of the PA, not Mastodon – but the band could’ve been screeching in Swahili and they still would’ve been overpowered by the guitars. Needless to say, it felt like a godsend when the band eventually left the stage.

It’s questionable whether what Girl Talk does can be considered ‘performing’, but judging from the undulating crowd in and around the Boiler Room, whatever it is that he does, it goes down well. Sampling everything from Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Lady Gaga, Journey to Ke$ha, Girl Talk’s set is like a terrifying yet strangely awesome noughties dance party in your living room, if you substitute the comfort of your house for the most intolerably hot day of your life.

Anybody of legal drinking age who has ever attended Big Day Out can probably attest to the utter insanity that is Lilyworld. Stepping through the gates, it feels like you’ve fallen head-first into some slightly diseased version of Wonderland, where women bellydance with snakes, while being courted by men wearing pyjamas and a lampshade on their head. 2010’s version was Mexican themed, and ringmaster Duckpond made sure it was no less sane than previous years.

Despite not being billed as a headline act, Chicago band Rise Against pulled one of the biggest crowds the Green Stage has possibly ever seen.  Vocalist Tim McIlrath was just as surprised, proclaiming that he thought the band would be the ‘black sheep’ or ‘redheaded stepson’ of the tour.  In spite of the heat, Rise Against whipped the huge crowd into a glorified frenzy with their high energy punk-hardcore hybrid – tracks like Give It All even inspiring someone to climb the goddamn tent poles. Surprisingly, McIlrath also pulled out the acoustic guitar a number of times throughout the set, doing what can only be described as crooning his way through tracks such as Swing Life Away.

Lily Allen and the Mars Volta are acts that seem to fit perfectly into the Big Day Out atmosphere, though this reviewer is personally not a fan. Allen’s chavvy charm seemed to work as she made her way through radio singles such as Smile, It’s Not Fair, The Fear and her cover of Britney’s Womanizer, but was often overshadowed by the incredibly obnoxious bass and talent of guest performer, rapper Professor Green. The Mars Volta attracted many a fan into the D-bar pit, but personally inspired nothing more than bowel movements in this reviewer.

Fully aware that most people looking on were actually waiting for Muse, Powderfinger took the piss and joked about it, before playing a solid set of crowd favourites. Tracks such as My Happiness, Love Your Way and On My Mind were interspersed with often cheesy ‘OH YEAH’ and ‘ALRIGHT!’ outbursts from frontman Bernard Fanning, which were embarrassing to witness but riled the crowd up nonetheless.

Due to the unfortunate clash between Fear Factory and Muse, I was only able to witness the very beginning of the set from the latter. As Muse arrived onstage, the massive artwork panels on either side of the Blue and Orange stages transformed into projection screens – an epic addition to the existing large screens peppered around the grounds. From past experience, Muse often sound better live than their recordings, and this was no different. Matt Bellamy’s voice just may be a mix between an angel and a yodeller.

Considering they were a headlining band, Fear Factory had a depressingly poor turnout. With the majority of the audience either at Groove Armada or Muse, the tent was less than half full, as most chose to sit outside and look on. Despite the poor turnout, Fear Factory put on a helluva show and I’m not just saying that – this reviewer has never been a fan in the past, but has now been converted like an unsuspecting homeowner opening their door to Jehovah’s Witnesses on a Sunday morning.

Storming out to Shock, the band ripped right into their set and made like they were performing to a bigger crowd. PA problems and stage presence weren’t an issue, as Burton Bell’s screams and vocals came through clear as hell, and the atmosphere bordered on goddamn electric. As they blasted their way through Transgression, Martyr, Scapegoat, Acres of Skin, and Linchpin, Bell did his best to open up a circle pit in the sparse crowd, and got even the most fashionably disinterested fans jumping.

With the new album Mechanize dropping on February 12^th, Bell made a point to plug this several times throughout the set, so frequently that it bordered on infomercial-esque. The crowd earnestly lapped it up, however, thrashing around to new tracks PowerShifter and Fear Campaign, despite not knowing the lyrics. As the band ploughed through to close the set with Demanufacture, Self Bias Resistor and Replica, it became apparent that missing Muse was no longer the issue.  Fear Factory put on such an insanely strong live show that losing your pants would no longer seem like an issue. It’s just unfortunate that tens of thousands of people opted to miss it.