Big Day Out 2013 @ Sydney Showgrounds (18/01/2013)
On one of the hottest days of the summer and with a cloudless blue sky, thousands of music fans flooded to Sydney’s Olympic Park for the first day of the Australia Big Day Out festival dates. Those coming for a party, a rock show, a genuine summer festival experience or just to see one specific act wouldn’t have been disappointed with the day.
The Boiler Room, surprisingly to coolest place, hosted back-to-back DJ sets for the day that kept the steadily growing crowds on their feet and dancing.
Helena started the day off with wall shaking electro-dance beats and was later followed up by Sampology’s audio-visual combination show that left even those having a rest against the back wall dancing in their spots. Toucan entertained a relaxed crowd at the Green Stage with their electro-beat heavy indie pop fusion styling. Jess Pollard’s upbeat stage presence and fun vocals fitting the mood of the day perfectly. Nearby at the Vans Essential Stage, Triple J Unearthed winner Jackie Onassis fed the crowd high intensity raps with dense beats and aggressive instrumentals. While certainly not for everybody, the crowd that stuck around definitely enjoyed themselves. |
Following up, The Medics calmed the crowd with their moody pop-rock songs. Their set more than proving their recent award win at the National Indigenous Music Awards and have confirmed them as a rising talent to keep an ear out for.
On the Main Stage, House vs. Hurricane hailing from Melbourne and perhaps a little more used to the heat, performed a high-energy set that riled up the impressive crowd into multiple circle moshes despite the midday sun. With songs from their recently released album Crooked Teeth, the set flaunted vocalist Dan Casey’s changes to the bands style.
In the rising heat and fading shade, Against Me! took to the Main Stage with vocalist Laura Jane Grace flaunting her legs with rocking pair of shorts that she pulled better than most of the girls in the crowd! The band’s set covered a range of songs from across their discography with the crowd rocking out to every song on the set list. A definite highlight of their set was White Crosses, which saw the crowd surging forward to get as close to the massive energy coming off the stage. With a growing crowd, Grinspoon battled the heat and afternoon sun to bring a dynamic rock show to the stage. As New South Wales locals, and summer festival veterans, they knew how to work the crowd into a surging force of moshing, dancing and jumping. Despite blasting through some of their greatest hits, there were no specific moments that saw the crowd’s energy rising as the energy levels maxed out at the very beginning of the set and were maintained through util after Grinspoon had taken their bows and left the stage. The Boiler Room’s afternoon sets of Logo, Morgan Page and BT (laptop symphony) saw a mix of club, dub step, electronic and dance beats with samples off the charts. The range of music played kept the crowd growing and alive with dancing for the afternoon and even saw those stepping inside to avoid the rising heat being swept up into the music. |
Back at the Vans Essential Stage, Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover), drew in a massive crowd and almost packed out the building.
As one of the more unique acts of the day, Childish Gambino blasted through his set with heavy hip hop beats and en-point raps that kept his enthusiastic crowd pushing to the front.
His high-energy performance and lively crowd interaction was unquestionably a feature of the festival and a must see act for the rest of the cities. Vampire Weekend drew huge crowds back to the Main Stage, filling the front barrier section to capacity for the first time of the day. Their indie rock anthems were perfect for the afternoon atmosphere that saw girls in bikini tops soaking up the sun, beach balls flying over the crowds and en masse synchronised arm and hand dance routines. Their set covered songs from both their studio albums, with the crowd favourites Holiday and A-Punk turning the grounds of the arena into a giant summer dance party. Continuing on the next stage, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought an edgy, art-rock flavour to the festival that was topped off with Karen O’s unique stage presence and vibrant show. The highlight of the set was without doubt, Heads Will Roll, that saw the crowd feeding off the band’s energy, dancing and singing along with every word. Despite the heat (reaching a less than comfortable 46 degrees at its peak) Karen’s impressive stage costumes and legendary studded leather jacket made an appearance for the show, taking an ordinary dance rock performance to a rather impressive level. As the headliners of the Red Stage, and despite competing several other well-known artists performing at the same time, Something With Numbers entertained an enthusiastic crowd with their steady, alt-rock performance. |
Their set covered new songs from their upcoming album, and has certainly drummed up considerable excitement over its release.
With the Main Arena at Sydney Olympic Park pushing three quarters full, The Killers captured the complete attention of every single person present by opening their set with an explosive rendition of Mr Brightside.
Playing through the best of all their albums, The Killers pushed through single to single, blasting out some of the highlights of the last 10 years. Incorporating a video display and a lazer lights show, the performance filled the entire arena. The biggest crowd pleasers of the night were All These Things That I’ve Done, Human, When We Were Young and an acoustic cover of Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over. As one of the best performances of the day and a headlining act, The Killers is a not to be missed show and a highlight of the festival.
With the Main Arena at Sydney Olympic Park pushing three quarters full, The Killers captured the complete attention of every single person present by opening their set with an explosive rendition of Mr Brightside.
Playing through the best of all their albums, The Killers pushed through single to single, blasting out some of the highlights of the last 10 years. Incorporating a video display and a lazer lights show, the performance filled the entire arena. The biggest crowd pleasers of the night were All These Things That I’ve Done, Human, When We Were Young and an acoustic cover of Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over. As one of the best performances of the day and a headlining act, The Killers is a not to be missed show and a highlight of the festival.
The biggest name on the line up and official headliners, the Red Hot Chili Peppers took to the Main Stage as the final act there for the night. Their set covered the highlights of some of their biggest albums, covering more than 20 years of RHCP music.
Even at the end of an exhausting and long day, almost every member of the crowd both down in front of the stage and up in the stands were completely mesmerised by the performance and singing and dancing along to every song. Amongst their exceptional set list there were a few standout choices that drove the crowd into a fever pitch, the best songs of the night were Around The World (opening with an incredible bass solo by Flea), Snow (Hey Oh), Can’t Stop and Under The Bridge. Their set definitely proved the choice to have them headline the festival and has well and truly strengthened their spot in the hearts of fans both young and old. |
After 12 hours of back-to-back and wildly varying musical acts with plenty of other forms of entertainment scattered around the venue, I’d say it’s definitely safe to say that the Big Day Out festival is well and truly a success!
Bethany Williams
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Bethany Williams
Check out our full photo gallery here!