Big Day Out 08

[Oznogrd]

I'm appalled that none of the Aussies on here have expressed excitement over seeing Billy Bragg. Billy Bragg! Come on, people, get with it!

Rage's politics:
Rage's music:

You cannot separate the two, without the politics, rages music would not have resonance, and without the music, their message would not be broadcasted. Rage=greatness. I cant believe anyone could be bored with Morello, check out his solo stuff and tell me he's boring.

[TheMC5]

I'm appalled that none of the Aussies on here have expressed excitement over seeing Billy Bragg. Billy Bragg! Come on, people, get with it!

Rage's politics:
Rage's music:

You cannot separate the two, without the politics, rages music would not have resonance, and without the music, their message would not be broadcasted. Rage=greatness. I cant believe anyone could be bored with Morello, check out his solo stuff and tell me he's boring.

Sure I can separate the two. I don't like their music (most of it), but I tend to agree with their politics. Why do I have to like Rage's music if I'm a progressive?

And yeah, Tom Morello is boring. He's got a few tricks that he uses over and over, not just gear or effect tricks, but musical tricks as well, which make him really predictable and unexciting as a guitarist. Granted, I've never listened to his solo stuff, but that's because I've never heard anything from him that would lead me to expect his solo stuff to be very good.

[BigKaboom2]

As for their politics, well, I'm a total leftist.

I don't even associate RATM with leftist politics. They just seem to search out any case where they perceive a minority being "oppressed" and try to rally their teenage white male audience around it, often with alarming success. That and their history of intentionally creating public disturbances/riots is quite enough to keep me away from their two-faced (and entirely contradictory) anarchist-communist absurdity.

[shadowgrin]

You can't be angry at me then use a joke I utilized mere days ago in the legendary Myspace thread.

So sue me Wayne Brady.

[Gundy]

@ TheMC5, I don't understand how anybody could possibly think that Morello's guitar playing is boring. That just is incomprehensible to me.

[TheMC5]

@ TheMC5, I don't understand how anybody could possibly think that Morello's guitar playing is boring. That just is incomprehensible to me.

Meh, I already explained it. He's got nothing on Nels Cline of Wilco, that's for damn sure.

[Oznogrd]

Meh, I already explained it. He's got nothing on Nels Cline of Wilco, that's for damn sure.

God just got compared to a damned flea

[TheMC5]

Meh, I already explained it. He's got nothing on Nels Cline of Wilco, that's for damn sure.

God just got compared to a damned flea

Have you ever heard Nels Cline? He's bad man. Check this out: Nels Cline's ripping solo in Impossible Germany, and then tell me Tom Morello is better guitarist than Nels Cline. Also, Nels is 51. 51! I've never seen a 51 year old that before.

[Oznogrd]

Yes i've heard nels Cline and i've heard wilco and not a single thing they do is memorable or hasnt been done before. This solo just sounds like an old eagles riff, or maybe even allman brothers. hell ive heard this kind of stuff out of trey anastasio when he's stoned off his ass. Playing fast does not equal good...I wanna see Nels Cline make a guitar not sound like a guitar, that is what Morello does and what makes him immortal.

[TheMC5]

Yes i've heard nels Cline and i've heard wilco and not a single thing they do is memorable or hasnt been done before. This solo just sounds like an old eagles riff, or maybe even allman brothers. hell ive heard this kind of stuff out of trey anastasio when he's stoned off his ass. Playing fast does not equal good...I wanna see Nels Cline make a guitar not sound like a guitar, that is what Morello does and what makes him immortal.

We're just gonna have to agree to disagree here.

[Indy]

I actually got to see Tom Morello perform as "The Nightwatchmen" and it was fantastic. There were only like 20 people there and it was a free show. What a nice guy. His mom was there too. She's hilarious.

[Oznogrd]

We're just gonna have to agree to disagree here.

such blasphemy...but i will back down since you will not be swayed by the truth

[shadowgrin]

His mom was there too. She's hilarious

She's laughing at you Indy. You have a funny face.

[Indy]

His mom was there too. She's hilarious

She's laughing at you Indy. You have a funny face.

I really wish I could find the picture me and my friends took with her. She was looking at me and laughing, as if I indeed, had a funny face.

[Sauru]

I cannot respect the opnion of anyone that does not like Rage.

[Mark.]

Just got back from Auckland this arvo. Big Day Out was excellent. Rage..., well I was speechless, it was more than I could have ever imagined, amazing! At some stages I was only 3 or 4 rows of people from the front, de la Rocha was like 4 meters away. I just remember when they came out being like, fuck im actually about to watch Rage play live.

Shihad was great as well, but thats to be expected as there are well known for the amazing live performances. It was a pitty that the dumbfuck organizers put Bjork in between them and Rage which killed the mood a little.

I was really supprised by a NZ band called Collapsing Cities who were awesome, the Drummer particulary was very talented. Hilltop Hoods put on a great performance as well. I saw half of Antiflag and they were pretty damn good, it was early on though and I wasnt in the mood for Moshing really at that time.

Im gutted I missed out on Dizzie Rascal as apparently they were amazing, one review I got from my cousin was simply "I dont really like Rap/Hiphop that much, but I would do anything for that man!"

Looking back I wouldnt have got into the D (Moshpitt) soo early and maybe caught a few more other bands before setting up shop in the D for Rage.

Heres a few good clips of the Rage performance, the speech really got the crowed going it was a wicked feeling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wM-U6BulUA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55O0DBt7YpE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVW9XCX8IdM

[shadowgrin]

Jaw-dropping.

[Nick]

Sweet. Can't wait to see 'em.

Lookin forward to Shihad aswell but apart from that i'm not having any orgasms any time soon over Monday.

[Mark.]

Yeah Shihad are awesome, what is the schedule? Ie who plays before Rage? Hopefully they got the picture in Auckland and didnt split Shihad (or another rock band) and Rage up with Bjork :S

[Nick]

Well Melb BDO was on monday, and it was rad as expected. Though Shihad weren't there I guess they only did NZ.

I saw Muph and Plutonic, Midnight Juggarnauts, Regurgitator, Blue King Brown, Battles, Bjork, Rage Against The Machine and pieces of Faker and Karnivool. Here's my thoughts:

Muph and Plutonic: I'd never heard of these guys and we only watched them because it was early on in the day and there was nothing else on, but coming from a non-hip-hop fan, they weren't bad.

Midnight Juggarnauts: No idea how to spell juggarnauts, but they were quite good. A bit repeadative at times, but still i liked them anyway, and the set got better as it progressed. Nothing epic though.

Regurgitator: The Gurge were surprisingly awesome. From what i know of them, they have querky little wierd electronic rock songs that i don't dig a whole lot. But they really rocked out and were a lot of fun. They have a lot of character and i really liked em.

Blue King Brown: Another band that were surprisingly awesome. They have some really good rhythms and really get the crowd going with their interaction. Some of the stuff they did gave me tingles which is rare.

Battles: I caught a quick listen of their CD a couple of times before big day out approached and i really liked it so i gave up getting in the D-barrier for RATM to get the chance to see Battles aswell. They're not quite the same live as on their CD. Live is a lot more repeaditive and headscratching. They build their music a lot but there's not enough "release" after all that tension building. But I really liked the set, as it was really something else. Very interesting. But it was sometimes frustrating though cos their CD is rad, so i KNOW they can do better. Oh well, still worth my time, that's for sure.

Bjork: Bjork was a much bigger headscratcher for me. WTF is this stuff? I couldn't get into it. It's just not for me. In fact i will go as far as saying it's shit. So much effort, so much preparation, but for what? I would have preferred to give my time to Karnivool, but i had to sit through Bjork to ensure a good positition to see Rage. *vomits*

Karnivool: I love Karnivool and have seen them before so i didn't really watch much of their set. Plus as i said before we wanted a good spot for ratm. I'm sure it was good though.

Faker: Yawn.

Rage Against The Machine: What is there to say? Much of their set made their hair on the back of my neck stand up, and was as good live as anyone could expect. This is something i will remember for the rest of my life, as i knew i would likely never see it again. Everyone went absolutely NUTS for them. People were climbing flimsy little trees so that they could see over the sea over people (only to get bottles thrown at them until they got down lol. One guy even got a flare shot at him). I've never felt solid ground feel like floorboards before, i literally felt the earth move. At one stage, towards the end of the set, rage had to stop so some BDO announcer guy could come out on stage and tell everybody in the distance to get off the structures. And threatened rage would not continue playing until they did. It was intense!

A solid Big Day Out.

[Mark.]

Man I dont think most of those bands were at Auckland, are they homegrown ones? Pisty you missed out on Shihad, they are an insane live act.

...towards the end of the set, rage had to stop so some BDO announcer guy could come out on stage and tell everybody in the distance to get off the structures. And threatened rage would not continue playing until they did. It was intense!

That happend during the Shihad set for me, although it was only on the structures as there are no trees on the field at Mount Smart Where was the Melbourne one held?

I know what you mean about Rage making the hair on the back of your neck stand up, I remember when they came out on stage it was almost a Melancholy (sp?) feeling.

So did you get inside the fenced off mosh pit area for Rage? Edit: Oh wait just saw that you sacrificed that for Battles. I have to say that while the D area was an amazing experience I would also love to watch Rage play from outside it so I can concentrate a little more on the performance as opposed to staying alive Still if I had to make the choice again I would still do what I did and get a good spot right in the middle of the D.

Oh and I totally agree with you about Bjork

[The X]

you guys are lucky....Gold Coast had shitty old Silverchair instead of Shihad (Auckland) or Karnivool (Melbourne)....Silverchair were a pile of donkey's shit....they would've been alright if they played their old stuff, but just played their crap....I'm disappointed Shihad didn't make it or even Karnivool would've been a lot better....

but yep, I agree on Bjork....someone must really not have liked her to put her ahead of RATM....I didn't mind one song she played though, the one that involved her not singing, more instrumental with that cool music table/DJ thing on the screen....

Rage were good....they were no Metallica or Tool, but yeah, they were alright....

Regurgitator were good as well....Hill Top Hoods, missed most of their set unfortunately, but they sounded alright from what I saw....Grinspoon sounded a bit off at times....not as good as I would've expected from them....Midnight Juggernauts were alright too....

overall for me, BDO was a bit of a letdown....don't know if I'll make it back....it wasn't as good as Auckland one....the Gold Coast layout is just crap....it doesn't have a stadium like Auckland does everything is so cramped & just not a great feeling....

[Mark.]

it wasn't as good as Auckland one....the Gold Coast layout is just crap....it doesn't have a stadium like Auckland does everything is so cramped & just not a great feeling....

Thats a sign dude, get back over and go to the Auckland one instead