OMEN
01-19-2008, 07:31 PM
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HEADLINE ACT: Bjork entertains the Big Day Out crowd.
Foot-high mohawks, punks and black jeans and heavy boots, the waft of marijuana, sunburned shoulders and speaker stacks two storeys high.
It's business as usual at the annual Big Day Out music festival.
Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium was packed with more than 45,000 people yesterday for the multi-stage show, now into its thirteenth year.
Early cloud cover drifted away, baking fans under hot sun as they checked out dozens of acts performing on eight stages, including the giant tent called The Boiler Room.
Among the first acts to perform was Hamilton rock band The Lookie Loos.
"It's what I expected and more it's been amazing," said lead singer Tim Steers.
"Musically and in New Zealand terms it's the best thing we've done," the English-born musician said.
The group is one of the newest acts at this year's festival and drew plenty of casual punters to the Local Produce Stage.
As at any rock festival, the performers get what is known as a rider (the list of requirements for their performances); the Lookie Loos got Lion Red. "Some of the other bands have got Steinlager, but because we are from Hamilton we got Lion Red," Steers joked.
Backstage, the band had access to "a dirty portacom with some chairs and busted air conditioning".
Still that didn't perturb the young up-and-comers who were also enjoying checking out some of the other acts, including Kate Nash and American headliners Rage Against The Machine.
Icelandic songstress Bjork was the final act on the Blue Stage, ahead of the main event.
Reformed Kiwi group Supergroove ended the show close to midnight with a performance on the BDO's Green Stage.
While the event largely caters for younger music fans, veteran English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg put together one of the best sets of the day, with his politically charged songs and banter with the crowd making for an engaging performance.
"It's good to see you've got all the Australians penned in over there," he told his largely 40-something audience, pointing toward the fenced-off, licensed area.
"You should see what they do to the New Zealanders on the Gold Coast," he laughed.
The mellow crowd watching Bragg's performance was in stark contrast to the mayhem which greeted Auckland's punk act The Bleeders on one of the festival's two main stages.
The front few rows of that crowd saw some intense slam-dancing, and was certainly not a place for the faint-hearted.
St John Ambulance staff treated one exhausted punter who was hauled from the crowd.
Waikato Times
HEADLINE ACT: Bjork entertains the Big Day Out crowd.
Foot-high mohawks, punks and black jeans and heavy boots, the waft of marijuana, sunburned shoulders and speaker stacks two storeys high.
It's business as usual at the annual Big Day Out music festival.
Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium was packed with more than 45,000 people yesterday for the multi-stage show, now into its thirteenth year.
Early cloud cover drifted away, baking fans under hot sun as they checked out dozens of acts performing on eight stages, including the giant tent called The Boiler Room.
Among the first acts to perform was Hamilton rock band The Lookie Loos.
"It's what I expected and more it's been amazing," said lead singer Tim Steers.
"Musically and in New Zealand terms it's the best thing we've done," the English-born musician said.
The group is one of the newest acts at this year's festival and drew plenty of casual punters to the Local Produce Stage.
As at any rock festival, the performers get what is known as a rider (the list of requirements for their performances); the Lookie Loos got Lion Red. "Some of the other bands have got Steinlager, but because we are from Hamilton we got Lion Red," Steers joked.
Backstage, the band had access to "a dirty portacom with some chairs and busted air conditioning".
Still that didn't perturb the young up-and-comers who were also enjoying checking out some of the other acts, including Kate Nash and American headliners Rage Against The Machine.
Icelandic songstress Bjork was the final act on the Blue Stage, ahead of the main event.
Reformed Kiwi group Supergroove ended the show close to midnight with a performance on the BDO's Green Stage.
While the event largely caters for younger music fans, veteran English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg put together one of the best sets of the day, with his politically charged songs and banter with the crowd making for an engaging performance.
"It's good to see you've got all the Australians penned in over there," he told his largely 40-something audience, pointing toward the fenced-off, licensed area.
"You should see what they do to the New Zealanders on the Gold Coast," he laughed.
The mellow crowd watching Bragg's performance was in stark contrast to the mayhem which greeted Auckland's punk act The Bleeders on one of the festival's two main stages.
The front few rows of that crowd saw some intense slam-dancing, and was certainly not a place for the faint-hearted.
St John Ambulance staff treated one exhausted punter who was hauled from the crowd.
Waikato Times