Luke ‘n’ Kim

melbourne bdo 2008 - top heavy

30 January, 2008 – 9:51 pm

hmm, i’ve got a couple of points to make about the bdo just gone, not really sure how to get post this started… my day started at a friends brothers place, sitting on their deck in the sun; champagne cocktails, doritos and general banter about music and whatever…

a combination of excitement and impatience had me leaving the “warm up” with the brothers housemates… and after a short walk found flemington to have the same downfall as princess park!

NO GENTLE SLOPE

…just a flat dusty expanse… portable fences and people as far as the eye could see. i don’t understand why the organisers can’t find a better location, with a slope the crush to get to the front wouldn’t be any where near as big… you could actually just relax behind the D, instead of standing on tippy toes, occaisionally hoping to get a glimpse… anyways… my day panned out like this:

something with numbers

caught the very end of their set while i was coming through the gates and getting a 18+ wrist strap, they sounded excellent considering how far away i was, it was probably that they were playing a few of their singles towards the end of their set that i recognised them, but yeah, very impressive…

british india

very tight rock, i’ve never heard them before but liked it

operator please

well what to say? they aren’t everyones cup of tea, but they certainly had the “crowd” going; i’m pretty sure there was nobody older than 21 in their audience, in any case, going on previous experience, at least they weren’t just screaming the whole time…

anti-flag

my first trip into the D that day, easy as, just walked straight in, anti-flag just rocked, sort of like rancid mixed with surf punk? they were enthusiastic, political and didn’t care… excellent…

faker

i’ve always liked faker but had never seen them live… previously i’d heard their frontman is a tool, and he didn’t do much to disprove that on the day… prancing around and expecting riotous applause before even playing a song… hmm… it gets better, in between songs, he says “hi everyone, we’re FAKER”… **cricket cricket**… “um we made a sign in case you didn’t know”, he says pointing to the stage set **cricket cricket**… and it went on and on. i guess credit to them, they played a lot of their more popular older stuff…

gyroscope

heavy rock, i didn’t recognise any of their songs but liked it. they look really young?

dizzee rascal

kind of funny? i’m not really into hip hop but it wasn’t how i expected… the first song was one long name check, but was pretty funky, then there was the song that focused completely on his new sneakers… again funky enough, but, umm, yeah… jones and i wondered aloud if the moves that all the kids were doing bothered him at all… seemed like everyone except me had been an extra in 8 mile…

regurgitator

we got some food and listened to the gurg, they were excellent, playing stacks of old stuff and some new stuff, dressed up like divo, and cracking jokes between songs… nice

hill-top hoods

after dizzee, the hoods were such a welcome change, the guys were out to have fun, and the crowd was loving it… they even brought a string quartet! midway through their set, i had to bite the bullet and commit to being in the D for the rest of the day… but even in the crush, with everyone singing along, they were great.

grinspoon

…i’m still stuck in the crush… grinspoon are playing, meh, finally we get let in and the band stops so an announcer can tell everyone they the lights probably won’t go green for the rest of the day, i’m glad i made it in… grinspoon? well, phil looked out of it, and his dancing? mincey at best… yikes. at one stage he twirled, tripped and almost fell over at the back of the stage… weird. but their set was solid, and they finished with “champion“, obvious but still good.

arcade fire

so unexpected, so so good, it’s like the cool kids escaped from the cult of the polyphonic spree, and started their own traveling band… one of them even played a hurdy gurdy!! (?) check them out. now.

silverchair

ok so, i am naturally cynical and hard to please, but, me and most australians won’t clap because of who you are, we will clap if you actually put on a good show and get us into it… breaking EVERY song down into solos with your head stuck in the effects board doesn’t get us into it… and then telling us we are your favorite audience doesn’t get us on your side. ben and chris looked bored and/or amused most of the set, i felt sorry for them.

bjork

ok, after the ordeal that was silverchair, i was quite testy, nobody was being let into the D for the rest of the night, so i only had to wait another 80 mintues for rage… so picture for a moment, a mosh pit full of people waiting to see rage against the machine, having to stand through a bjork set… interesting… as good as it was, i’m not sure i’ve ever checked my watch so much! hyperballad was obviously the standout, goosebumps and everything… and she would always say a quiet little “sang-chu” between songs.

rage against the machine

so after so much hype, here they were, the band most people came to see, and they delivered in spades, i was very happy to be so close to the action, the whole D was jumping and swirling… all the great songs, strange to think they only really have 3 albums of originals… while the band was offstage waiting for the inevitable encore, some guy got on the mic and told everyone who had climbed onto the roof of the beer tent to get off before it breaks, and then someone fired a flare into the crowd, terrific, just what we need, a riot. but luckily nothing eventuated, they played “killing in the name of” last, not my fav song, but the crowd loved it… excellent finale with every single light in the place turned on.

so after such a huge day, some things have struck me;

with rage being so anticipated, and the lineup being so top heavy, having to go into the D before 5pm to see a band that kicked off at 8.50 sucked, and it certainly didn’t stop kids from drinking in there, i saw people with plastic hip flasks of smirnov red! i think the whole event should be 18+ and reduce the security around the bars… i guess the whole point isn’t to drink, but the way it is now, there are a lot of people sitting in the “corners” drinking and watching it all on the big screen, and others who are busting for the toilet but are “stuck” in the D and won’t leave for fear of not getting back in…

and my last point? **phew** just as the crusty demons learnt in brisbane all those years ago, the average australian audience won’t respond well if you come out on stage and don’t do what you are there to do, FIRST AND FOREMOST.

Daniel Johns and that guy from Faker should take a lesson from RATM and Anti-Flag, rock out first, that is all.