rocketeer

Back to reality now after a weekend that I wish would never end. Put simply this years Big Day Out is the single most and bestest day I have ever, EVER experienced. In terms of live music and terrific performances I would consider myself VERY VERY luck if anything in the future came close to just how good Sunday was.

If you can be bothered reading a long post feel free, but this is also for my own nostalgia as I am sure I will want to remember this one for ever.


My big Day Out 2005 Crew is
Chris
James (Blue Shirt) and Steve
My little brother, John
and of course, me .....other people did join us for parts of the day, but this is the core group that stayed down the coast for the weekend.

GETTING THERE

After sitting around all day Saturday for my lift to come and take me down the Gold Coast I departed my home at around 3pm. All was shaping up well, we had our "stuff" for the day and we were packed and ready. After a quick detour for one last "pickup" for the day we continued on to the coast.

A little speed mixed with some liquor and rest of the road trip was fun, with music pumping, all I could think about was the following day. When we arrived at our hotel / apartment we were overwhelmed, shocked and surprised at the fact that the room we had booked only 2 weeks prior was on the 15th floor with both ocean and canal views and was only 1 block back from the beach. Couple this with the fact we were only paying $85ea for 3 nights there and this place was heaven.

This is the view we had from our appartment

After a brief trip to the beach for a swim..... a bit more speed, some weed, rum and beer and we settled in for a night of x-box and music.


THE DAY

The day Started slowly at around 7 am, I woke ( yes, I actually did manage to get 4 hours of sleep, unlike some of the group) excited, keen and my stomach was churning ...."shit, has the night before and shit we got up to stabbed me in the back and made me ill, or am I nervous.....meh". I was then informed that we had a cab booked for 9 am, great idea, doors don't open till 11, but a good early departure would mean that we were there and safe and nothing could go wrong..... or could it .....

Next came breakfast .....since we only had some alcohol and "herbs" in the apartment it became clear that breakfast needed to be ordered. We placed an order with a local business that delivers and were told that there would be approximately a 30 minute wait for our food. Great, we would be eating by 7.45am and then we would have an hour to prepare and wait for our ride. ........

FUUUUUUUCK ....8.45 and still no sign of food ....shit, shit, shit .......8.50 and we get a call, food is 5 minutes away....... 8.55 we get a call, our food is downstairs in the lobby, but wait...that is our cab here now too.....shit shit shit...ok, think....

Me: "mate our food just got here, give us 5 and we'll be sweet."
Cabby: " I can't do that mate, get in now or Ill get someone else"
Me: "Ok, .....we will just run up and grab our bags and be down, we will eat our food at outside the event.
Cabby: " Ok, but go quick, Ill have to run the meter for you though, i can't waste the time, not today"
Me: "do whatever you want mate, we will be here ASAP "

Problem solved, sweet, we got our food, we got our ride, we got everything, just a quick drink of a little something prepared the night before then ....in the cab and go go go. The cab ride was interesting as well, we got to eat our food in the cab and nothing else would go wrong .....

Damn, again another hurdle. ...... Chris was organising his wallet and then all of the sudden a clippy bag exploded and our pills went everywhere ..... all were saved quickly and put back away, all except for 2 that is. The cabby was curious about what we were all looking for, he believed we had dropped some loose change. 10 minutes had gone by and we were there and 1 pill was still left to find. We found it and the cabby gave us an evil grin and then wished us the best for the day. ....sweet ...here we go.

After talking to anyone within earshot for the 300 metre walk to actual gates of the event I decide that I would try to just relax and wait patiently as we had a 45 minute wait in the queue to get in as gates had not opened. ......Sitting still was the hardest thing ever and all though I didn't realise at the time I was keeping my friends at least mildly amused by my antics. Playing in the dirt passed the time and then the gates were open and we were inside.

INSIDE BIG DAY OUT

Given the responsibility of carrying a bag into big day out and taking it to the cloakroom seemed like no big deal. That is to say that in the past it hasn't been a big deal. I parted way with the crew for what should have taken only 5 minutes: a quick run up the hill, place my bag in the cloak room, and then return to the main stage to see FRENZAL RHOMB with my mates. 20 minutes later I finally made it to the stage after having been lost and confused as to where the cloakroom was. I didn't miss any of frenzal though so that was ok.

FRENZAL RHOMB



One of my favourite bands going way back to the years when I was still in junior high school. I was expecting big things from the boys who are known for their on-stage antics .....and damn did they deliver. Their music was polished and their set was superb. They had a theme and it was 12 years in 12 songs, fucking awesome, their old shit is incredible and the memories fun. The lead singer Jay came out and said "Fuck you Queensland" before they even played a song, typical of FRENZAL and we loved him for it. 3 songs into their set Jay commended a guy in the crowd for the shirt he was wearing. The shirt said "I Fucked A Goat", you would probably have to have been their to find it funny, but the way Jay announced it to the world was fucking hilarious.

I might add at this point that I decided before the day that I would not go into the mosh pits, rather I would "dance" at the back of it ......and dance I did. Punching the air and shouting the words I could feel people staring, but I didn't care, this was my day and no one would take it from me. My shirt was removed 4 songs into the FRENZAL set and that was the last time anyone saw me with a shirt on for the day.

After Frenzal James and I received a sms message that Steve, Chris and my brother John were sitting in the grandstand at the back of the oval so we headed up there to meet up with them and to chill for a bit. While the crew sat down and relaxed I was bouncing around trying to stay still. While at the grandstand we were witness to THE D4. I was approached at that time by a guy looking to purchase some weed at this time, I didn't think anything of it, but this guy was the first of a number of people that tried to score from me for the day .....strange, yet understandable. That was also the last I saw of my brother until I met up with him dancing to the Chemical Brothers at the end of the night

This is the view from the back of the Grandstand after Frenzal

THE D4

A band that hails from across the Tasman Sea. Arguably the best band out of New Zealand at present and they played a set that is by far not their best set, but it still kicked a lot of ass. The highlight of their set was when they played their big single from their album release from around 3 years ago, crowd went nuts and I had a good boogie.

It was then off to the Green stage to go see a bit of Dallas Crane

DALLAS CRANE



I didn't know much about these guys, and I still don't know much. I stayed at their set for 3 songs and each of them were great. Sort of garage rock style they were tight and sounded good.

Between songs from Dallas Crane I could hear a very, very funky beat coming from the Hot House Stage. Feeling like a bit more of a dance I swallowed a half and then made haste following the funky break beat sound. I had never heard of the Hazard Brothers, but I could here them then and they sounded awesome.

THE HAZARD BROTHERS

Damn these guys were good. A sort of funky break beat style of dance music. The crowd was pumping, I was jumping and it was hooooooot. I can remember at this time feeling totally covered in sweat, so I looked, and I was. I was trying to keep a lid on my dancing but it was hard, I felt so good and the music was in control. I acquired a water bottle during this set, this bottle was to stay with me for the rest of the festival ....thanks Aimee

The end of hazard brothers saw me hot, happy and feeling good. I spent the next 20 minutes walking around with Nat, a girl who I fancy quite a lot. I would have spent longer with her, but she was headed to the bar and given the fact I don't drink alcohol at festival we agreed to meet up when the sun started to set........ FUUUUUUCK my phone ran out of credit so I never saw her again for the day / night.

.....aaaaanyway after that I headed back to hill / grandstand to meet up with the crew again to sit there and to listen to some more music. When I got there ESKIMO JOE were playing on the main stage.

ESKIMO JOE

What the fuck has happened to these guys. Maybe it is the fact that I personally don't like them, but I once did. They have somewhat mellowed out and their music is soft and in my opinion terrible. I will not say another word about them as the best thing about their set was the fact I swallowed another half while sitting on the hill chatting with the crew.

....chillin on the hill

Enter Greg. I knew Greg was at BDO but I didn't know where. He joined us on the hill and sat there for a while with us. I was particularly pleased when Greg asked if I wanted to smoke a joint with him, I obliged and then I was in a happy place but where was my head? Not long after Greg sat down THE HIVES came out to play.

This is Greg

Sometime in all of this there was a freestyle moto - cross promotion occurring just in front of where we were sitting. Those guys have balls flying in the air like that doing tricks...kick-ass.

just some wicked photos of the guys flying on bikes

THE HIVES

Not knowing much about a band can be a good thing and in this case it was. There I was at the top / back of the hill watching the main stage dancing like a mother fucker. The hives were awesome. I didn't particularly like the way the lead singer spoke between songs, he was a bit arrogant for my liking, but their music was that good that I have to say they were awesome.

I sat down briefly after the hives to have a rest but quickly decided that I might as well go and refill my water bottle as it was a logical time to do so. It was then that a group of 3 girls approached asking if I had any pills to sell. I didn't have any and I thought it was strange that they approached me, but I was then later told by James that if he were going to ask anyone that he would ask me. When I got back from my water run THE MUSIC were just coming out.

THE MUSIC

One of the only regrets that I had from Toronto was the fact that I had a quiet nite in instead of going to see these guys when they played around the corner from my house. I only knew 2 of their songs but I also knew that they play great live shows. Close to the highlight of my day, THE MUSIC were superb. I really danced hard at the top of the hill to these guys.

During THE MUSIC I was receiving a high five from strangers as they passed. Strange really, on any other day people would look at me funny and / or laugh, but instead they raised their hand and 5's were given. It was also during the music that some chick danced up to me and asked if she could sell me a pill 'cause she wanted a beer. I told her I didn't need any and after a brief conversation she danced away never to be seen again. With 1 song left from THE MUSIC it was time to go and see RISE AGAINST.

one of the Random people that gave me a high-five

RISE AGAINST



Having been turned onto these guys by Jeff, my best friend from Toronto I was keen to see these guys. I had purchased one of their CD's 2 weeks prior to BDO so I knew a bit of their material. It was just what I needed at that time of the day, a little hardcore punk to get the blood pumping just a little faster. A great set was delivered and I danced at the back of the mosh yet again. Fist pumping and stomping away it was then that I noticed I was sunburnt, but I couldn't give a fuck about that, ....there was dancing to be done. Another one of my BDO highlight, RISE AGAINST were fucking awesome.

The end of RISE AGAINST saw me with 30 minutes to kill. So it was then back to the hill that had become so familiar with. But before I got there I stopped briefly at SPIDERBAIT for 1 song.

Spiderbait

I would have loved to stay longer, and all reports were that they played an awesome set, but we were on our way to the hill and I didnt want to lose the crew. Walking back to the hill I spied a store that sold among other things chewing gum ....and ....GLOWSTICKS . I hastily made a monetary exchange and walked away with a pair of blue glow sticks and a pack of gum. ...now to get to the hill.

It was there at the hill that I made the only mistake for the day. Chris still had my the rest of my pills and although I thought to ask him for the rest of mine, I didn't......damn, fuck, shit, crap, that was the last I saw of Chris and the crew for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes. An error in communication saw me disappear towards the main stage to go see GRINSPOON, SLIPKNOT and SYSTEM OF A DOWN. I thought they were following, but I was mistaken. I got into the "D - Section" for the bands so it wasn't a total disaster.

GRINSPOON



Now although I was not going to see these guys due to their new album being pathetic (my opinion) I am glad that I got to hear their set. I was waiting in the queue to enter the crowd control "D-Barrier" to see SLIPKNOT and SYSTEM OF A DOWN when Grinspoon came out to play. The boys played hardly any of their new album and the old material that they played were favourites of mine and the crowd alike. Standing in the queue we were singing and dancing to the boys from Lismore and for a while there one could have almost been mistaken into thinking it was 2001 when Grinspoon were close to the height of their popularity. Crowd surfing was even attempted quite well in the queue. All up Grinspoon were close to a highlight of my day even though I didn't "See" them, I was close enough and the atmosphere while they were on was one I will remember.

While in the queue for I had convinced myself that the crew had beaten me to get into the D. I thought that they were on the inside, but not at all, it turned out that they didn't even try to get into the D......

SLIPKNOT



One of the most anticipated bands of the day for the crew and I, Slipknot did not disappoint. They started playing while I was in the queue for the D but I only missed one song. I knew only a handful of songs but that didn't matter as they played their music with passion and aggression, everything a metal band should. Visually Slipknot is close to the best show that I have seen (only beaten by Ramstein). The crowd was intense, or at least the mosh pit was. I like always was dancing around like a lunatic at the back always with an eye out for the crew ....I wanted another pill

While dancing around to Slipknot I ran into a group of people that I know from work. I spent most of the next 90 minutes in their general vicinity and found some comfort in the fact that I knew someone in the D as I was starting to doubt that anyone from my crew had made it and I was starting to feel a little annoyed that I hadn't asked Chris for my shit earlier.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN



Another contender for the highlight of my day, System were the most anticipated group for the crew and I and fuck me they were fucking insanely awesome. They played a lot of tracks from their Toxicity album and a few from their other releases in addition to some new "unheard" material. I got my groove on to these guys, I punched the air the hardest for these guys. Simply incredible would be the only way that I could describe the set that they played. Incredible, they were even better than the set that they played a few years ago at a past Big Day Out. I will remember System Of A Down at Big Day Out for quite some time.

After System finished their immense set I then headed to the pre arranged meeting place for the day in the hope that I would once again find the crew ......SUCCESS finally after close to 3 hours of "flying solo" I was reunited with my mates. It was then that I learnt that Chris and Steve decide to watch Grinspoon from the hill and never got a chance to enter the D. James made an error in judgement and went to the wrong entry to the D and as a result missed being in the D for the majority of Slipknot. My brother, John made it into the D for System and met James in the mosh, where he was before that is unclear.

So after 5 minutes we had figured out that I was the only one who was alone for the whole time. Add to this the fact that I was in the D for the longest and that I was the only one that wasn't intent on being in there at all and it seems rather funny .....meh

So after meeting up with the crew again I didn't waste any time in getting the remainder of my pills from Chris. A quick trip to get some water, a quick drop of a pill, a quick crack and activation of my glow sticks and then it was off to see CARL COX in the Boiler Room.

CARL COX

DOOF DOOF DOOF ,oh how I love that shit. I was super keen to witness this guy spin given the fact that he had pulled out from a rave in Toronto that I went to. He was superb, a deep, dark kind of Rave hardcore came pulsing through. Hard, fast and seamlessly mixed his set was polished and again I have nothing but praise for this performer.

My sticks were glowing and I was bouncing. I was in a happy place and apparently my dancing went up a level. I had told my mates that I loved a dance and that I get it on when I am on some shit. I showed them what I meant and they had a laugh, but they were laughing with me. It was while dancing to Carl that I was introduced to some more friends of Chris and Steve. I was introduced to Sam who is a kickass chick who I spent the next hour with. After dancing to Carl for a good while I remembered that the BEASTIE BOYS were on stage ......so I ran off to go catch them with Sam.

BEASTIE BOYS

Having seen these guys in Toronto approximately 10 weeks prior only made me keener to see these guys live again. I missed the start of their set due to being caught up in the energy of Carl Cox but that didn't matter. I can't remember much about their set either, I know it was awesome and that I enjoyed it, but specific details from that part of the night are a bit patchy. So Watcha Want has to be the highlight of their set which included both old and new material. I loved the Boys, they were great.

I was at least 100m back from the stage the Boys were playing on, but that didn't matter. There was plenty of room where I was and that suited me fine, I could dance there and not be in anyones way. Steve watched the Beastie Boys from the Grandstand and later told me that he knew exactly where I was while they were playing because there was "a set of glow sticks going apeshit" and he knew exactly who it was.

Half way through the last song for the Boys (Sabotage) Sam received a phone call and she had to go home ..... we were already walking back to the Boiler Room for the CHEMICAL BROTHERS though so after exchanging numbers we parted and I ran back to the Boiler Room

CHEMICAL BROTHERS

Again another big name act that I was intent on seeing. I got to the boiler room about 20 minutes into their set and wholly shit was it packed there. Crazy and intense their music took me to another world. I lost myself in their music and although it became quite abstract and "trippy" at the end of their set it was still awesome to really have a good dance to these guys.

I am glad that the crew decided to stay for the Chemical Brothers, they wanted to go but decided to let me have the dance that I wanted so bad. I spent the last 45 minutes of their set dancing besides John (brother). I enjoyed that fact as I have been out with him before, but never really had a good boogie with him.

The music stopped and although I was tired, I was still quite high so I was feeling incredible. We met up with the crew again and then set about getting on a bus to take us back to the Gold Coast, our apartment, a shower and a place to rest our heads.

Not much was said after the music stopped, everyone was blown away by the quality of the day and everyone was exhausted. I found some tranquillity in my glow sticks, which I waved to the beat that was trapped in my head. After waiting for about 45 minutes we boarded a bus still coming to terms with the fact that it was the best Big Day Out / Festival / Event that any of the crew had ever been to.

I will remember Big Day Out 2005 for a long time, not just for the music, not just for the atmosphere, not just for the people I spent it with, but for the whole story.

I know this post is long and if you have read it all I hope it has been an entertaining one.

I would have taken more photos, but as the light disappeared the photos didn't work as well.....not to mention I forgot about photos as I was dancing so hard.

Stay tuned kids, life is good and there is sooooo much happening ....

Thats all for now ....ROCK