Big Day Out - Adelaide, 25th January 2013
Words: Jo Taylor
For once it wasn’t a sizzling hot day for the Adelaide Big Day Out, much to the relief of all involved. Entry was fairly effortless, though with a crowd of over 19,000 it was a smaller turn out than previous years. Yet numbers were an improvement on the disappointing turn out last year which is a good sign for the BDO festival and hopefully a step forward to being the killer festival is used to be.
Sadly, the early acts of the day played to disappointingly small crowds. American band Delta Spirit came on-stage with barely a crowd, though they gathered momentum as they played and drew people in, but this energetic band deserved far better support.
The usual lengthy line ups for drink coupons and merchandise early on improved as the day progressed. The introduction of Chow Town, which offered a wide selection of much more gourmet meals than your usual festival food, proved successful, with fans lining up for the many tasty delights on offer to replenish throughout the long day.
Over at the main stage Against Me also suffered a less than impressive crowd. However, those that had gathered to see the American punk rock band showed they have some very loyal followers. Thrash Unreal, Teenage Anarchist and Osama Bin Laden Is The Crucified Christ all got great crowd reaction and a decent circle mosh.
Australian favourites Grinspoon were next on the main stage and brought their usual incredible stage presence to the mix. For the first time a really decent crowd packed the oval and showed how Adelaide can amp it up. Playing a solid collection of their old favourites like More Than You Are, Chemical Heart, Lost Control and No Reason and new stuff like Passerby and Branded, their years of working the live circuit certainly show and frontman Phil Jamieson sure knows how to work a crowd and without doubt proved a highlight of the day.
Sadly, the early acts of the day played to disappointingly small crowds. American band Delta Spirit came on-stage with barely a crowd, though they gathered momentum as they played and drew people in, but this energetic band deserved far better support.
The usual lengthy line ups for drink coupons and merchandise early on improved as the day progressed. The introduction of Chow Town, which offered a wide selection of much more gourmet meals than your usual festival food, proved successful, with fans lining up for the many tasty delights on offer to replenish throughout the long day.
Over at the main stage Against Me also suffered a less than impressive crowd. However, those that had gathered to see the American punk rock band showed they have some very loyal followers. Thrash Unreal, Teenage Anarchist and Osama Bin Laden Is The Crucified Christ all got great crowd reaction and a decent circle mosh.
Australian favourites Grinspoon were next on the main stage and brought their usual incredible stage presence to the mix. For the first time a really decent crowd packed the oval and showed how Adelaide can amp it up. Playing a solid collection of their old favourites like More Than You Are, Chemical Heart, Lost Control and No Reason and new stuff like Passerby and Branded, their years of working the live circuit certainly show and frontman Phil Jamieson sure knows how to work a crowd and without doubt proved a highlight of the day.
Over at the Green Stage Texan Singer/Guitarist Gary Clark Jr had the crowd swaggering to some amazing blues. With his smooth vocals and fuzzy blues guitar, he was a captivating performer. With tracks like Brights LIghts, Ain’t Messin ‘Round and When My Train Pulls In be sure to keep your eyes peeled for future offerings.
Though the weather wasn’t so hot, the sun was still leaving its sting on people and the bar had a steady stream of people all day. Thankfully for organisers, the crowds behaviour was generally well-behaved, with less displays of drunken shenanigans. And with overcrowding certainly not a problem, there was a welcomed absence of aggression amongst the crowd.
Band of Horses, originating from Seattle, were next to tackle the main stage. Returning to Australia with their fourth album under their belt, they have gathered a strong following here and they played a strong set, including tracks Weed Party, Is There a Ghost, The General Specific and the popular The Funeral.
Meanwhile at the Green Stage, Nashville two-piece JEFF the Brotherhood rocked another disappointingly small crowd with their psychedelic garage rock. At one point lead singer Jake Orrall joined the crowd with his guitar, with crowd members swarming the enigmatic guitarist with a sea of phone cameras. These brothers certainly know how to make their two-piece stand up and get noticed, and once again, another act on the day that deserved a much stronger crowd.
Though the weather wasn’t so hot, the sun was still leaving its sting on people and the bar had a steady stream of people all day. Thankfully for organisers, the crowds behaviour was generally well-behaved, with less displays of drunken shenanigans. And with overcrowding certainly not a problem, there was a welcomed absence of aggression amongst the crowd.
Band of Horses, originating from Seattle, were next to tackle the main stage. Returning to Australia with their fourth album under their belt, they have gathered a strong following here and they played a strong set, including tracks Weed Party, Is There a Ghost, The General Specific and the popular The Funeral.
Meanwhile at the Green Stage, Nashville two-piece JEFF the Brotherhood rocked another disappointingly small crowd with their psychedelic garage rock. At one point lead singer Jake Orrall joined the crowd with his guitar, with crowd members swarming the enigmatic guitarist with a sea of phone cameras. These brothers certainly know how to make their two-piece stand up and get noticed, and once again, another act on the day that deserved a much stronger crowd.
New York City’s Vampire Weekend with their pop rock got everyone dancing and they genuinely seemed really happy to be there. Opening their set with Cousins and including A-Punk and Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Holiday and ending with Walcott, they successfully got everyone in the mood to dance and warmed up for another high energy act.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs took over the crowd and as per usual, Karen O owned the stage from the moment she appeared with her bleach blonde hair and bright yellow outfit. The YYY never fail to give it their all on stage and the crowds energy was electric. Opening with Cheated Hearts and rocking other tunes Rockers to Swallow, Maps and ending their set with the popular Gold Lion and the energetic Heads Will Roll, they certainly set the tone for the remaining main stage acts.
As the sun was setting, Las Vegas four-piece The Killers kept the energy rolling, opening with Mr Brightside and playing crowd favourites Smile Like You Mean It, Somebody Told Me and Runaways. The set highlight however, was their cover of Crowded House hit Don’t Dream It’s Over which, of course featured, a crowd sing-along. Closing their set with When You Were Young left the large crowd warmed up for the headliners.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs took over the crowd and as per usual, Karen O owned the stage from the moment she appeared with her bleach blonde hair and bright yellow outfit. The YYY never fail to give it their all on stage and the crowds energy was electric. Opening with Cheated Hearts and rocking other tunes Rockers to Swallow, Maps and ending their set with the popular Gold Lion and the energetic Heads Will Roll, they certainly set the tone for the remaining main stage acts.
As the sun was setting, Las Vegas four-piece The Killers kept the energy rolling, opening with Mr Brightside and playing crowd favourites Smile Like You Mean It, Somebody Told Me and Runaways. The set highlight however, was their cover of Crowded House hit Don’t Dream It’s Over which, of course featured, a crowd sing-along. Closing their set with When You Were Young left the large crowd warmed up for the headliners.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers were greeted with a roaring crowd and opened their set with Monarchy Of Roses before leaping into Around The World and Scar Tissue. The always entertaining Flea greeted the crowd with “We see you Adelaide! We’re not blind. We fucking love you”. A cover of David Bowie's What In The World was included, while Can’t Stop and Universally Speaking got a great reaction. So to did the always popular Under the Bridge. Much of the set was filled with random jams which perhaps got a bit lost on the festival crowd. Anthony Keidis added a curious moment in the night, at one point stating “I wish I could smell all your underarms. I wish I could smell your assholes”. The encore saw the band deliver another jam followed by Soul to Squeeze and ending the set with Give It Away and another extended jam.
As the cold night breeze set in many festival goers used this point to head home after a long and exhausting day. Others kicked on with eclectic Animal Collective or headed to the boiler room for the electric Bloody Beetroots performance.
All in all, it was a well run day enjoyed by all. Crowd numbers still yet to be improved to get back to what has previously been a highly successful music festival, but there still remains some work to be done. But it was definitely a step in the right direction.
As the cold night breeze set in many festival goers used this point to head home after a long and exhausting day. Others kicked on with eclectic Animal Collective or headed to the boiler room for the electric Bloody Beetroots performance.
All in all, it was a well run day enjoyed by all. Crowd numbers still yet to be improved to get back to what has previously been a highly successful music festival, but there still remains some work to be done. But it was definitely a step in the right direction.