The Big Day Out 2009 Awards

Thu 5th Feb, 2009 in Features

Australia’s biggest touring festival is all done for another year. Here’s FasterLouder’s round-up of the good, the bad and the bogan.

THE – œPLEASE COME BACK NEXT YEAR’ AWARD
They might not have enjoyed the most prestigious time-slots, but TV On The Radio proved to be the golden boys of this year’s line-up. Of course, this would’ve come as no surprise to anyone who caught their bristling performance at Splendour In The Grass in 2006. Greeted by scorching conditions at each Big Day Out stop, the five-piece showed no signs of wilting. Well worth sweating out the morning’s Carlton Draughts for. Honourable mentions must go to Lupe Fiasco and My Morning Jacket, who didn’t need the mainstage to create a stir.

THE OBLIGATORY CANCELLATION GOES TO…
Björk had set the bar high with her last-minute withdrawal from Big Day Out Sydney in 2008. Who would be bold enough to out-flake her? Swiping the mantle in 2009 was troubled four-piece The Vines, who pulled out of the tour in the interest of Craig Nicholls’ mental health. Unfortunately The Ting Tings had no such consideration for our mental health. Snigger, chortle.

BOGANS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES AWARD
What sounds more fun than making a human pyramid? That’s right – taking your Southern Cross tattoo to the top of a 16-metre high marquee. This stroke of genius was beamed down upon a crew of intrepid adventurers at the Gold Coast Big Day Out, who decided to scale the outside of the Boiler Room tent. For their valiant efforts, they were awarded a news piece on goldcoast.com.au.

KEEPING THE CRED
Every year the BDO includes an act that harks back to the good old days. An act that would fit perfectly on a line-up from the heady days of the 1990s to retain that indie cred. In 2007 it was the Violent Femmes, in 2006 it was Sleater-Kinney and Henry Rollins, and this year it was Fantomas. An – œavant-garde metal’ band led by Mike Patton and rounded out with members from The Melvins, Mr Bungle and Slayer – it doesn’t get much cooler than that, dammit.

THE – œMUST TRY HARDER’ AWARD
They’ve certainly got some catchy ditties, but Arctic Monkeys failed to ignite on the mainstage. Whether it was the scale of the shows or the onset of fatigue, the Sheffield lads left crowds divided. Our Perth reviewer was not overjoyed: “Arctic Monkeys delivered what seemed to be one of the thinnest, reediest sets of songs ever performed by an Orange stage headliner.” That said, if you were throwing yourself around with youthful abandon, please ignore the grumbling in the back.

THE HOMEGROWN HERO
The economic downturn ensured that there was a lot of choice local picks on this years BDO tour. From The Living End to Eddy Current Suppression Ring, the locals blazed across the country, putting many internationals to shame. However, consistently pulling out the best reviews from each stop on the tour were the magnificent Drones. Charged up from their latest musical offering Havilah, The Drones scored a couple of extra brownie points for staying so well-attired despite the sweltering conditions.

THE GAMBLE OF 2009
As soon as the Big Day Out announced that they had booked Neil Young as this year’s headliner and scheduled him on the mainstage, whilst bumping The Prodigy back into the Boiler Room – the dice had well and truly been rolled. So did the gamble pay off? Initial reports indicated that this may have been the worse scheduling since the Chemical Brothers played the mainstage in 2005.

The D Barrier wasn’t close to full in Gold Coast or Sydney – nonetheless, the reviews of his performances were gushing. Young blew the crowd away at each event – playing a plugged-in, highly engaging set full of all his classics. By the time Adelaide rolled around, more people were checking out the veteran rocker than Keef and Liam. Let’s call it an even break.

Photo by David Youdell, 2008