The Melbourne leg of the Big Day Out comprised mainly of two issues for the crowds – Rage Against The Machine. Everywhere you went, you would see fans decked out in Rage merchandise either bought on the day, or dating back to the mid 90s. Conversations amongst the crowd mainly focused on whether or not they would be there the moment RATM walked back onto a Melbourne stage after eleven [long] years. Bjork was the second concern of the day for fans, albeit a split concern. Half the time, there was speculation on whether or not the Icelandic songstress would in fact be headlining the evening, following her cancellation in Sydney. The other half was devoted to hoping that she would in fact cancel and leave the organisers to persuade Rage to play both her slot and their own.

It was a day full of hype and excitement, from the train ride to the Racecourse, to the lines to actually enter the complex. Fortunately, arriving early meant little or no queuing for anything – be it drinks tickets, wrist banding or merchandise. Understandably, this was to change over the course of the next few hours, but it was a rather surreal moment to behold, and quite uncommon at festivals.

The day opened with a quick visit to the merchandise tent for Big Day Out memorabilia. Whilst waiting in line, Something with Numbers opened proceedings on the main stage playing crowd pleasers from their hit album Perfect Distraction including ‘Apple of the Eye (Lay Me Down)’.

The V Local Produce stage featured Triple J Unearthed winners Pryor Theory whose eclectic set closed with a medley of covers including ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ by Radiohead and ‘Smile’ by Lily Allen.

Over in the Boiler room for a quick scouting of the premises, we were greeted by local electronic dance duo Mountains in the Sky, whom earlier this year supported Gotye on his orchestral tour. It was ambient, upbeat and certainly enjoyable for so early in a (what was already) very long day.

Operator Please would be one of my two nominees for an award for performance professionalism wise. Presenting an array of hits ranging from ‘Yes, Yes, Vindictive’ to ‘Zero Zero’, Operator fans were dancing and singing madly to the darlings of pop. Nearing the end of the set, it was a different story, as a sizeable crowd gathered to see American punk veterans Anti-Flag, consequentially booing Operator Please who closed their set with the hit ‘Just a Song about Ping Pong’. Lead vocalist Amandah asked the crowd to raise their hands into the air for the closer, and was answered by either hands from Operator fans or middle fingers and derisive shouts from Anti-Flag fans. Full credit to the band for keeping it together and delivering a satisfying set.

Anti-Flag hit the ground running. Seeing the band on stage, it was hard to believe that they have existed in one form or another for over twenty years. Anti-Flag’s performance also began the days’ political proceedings, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd as they thanked Australians for the change in government. The set included ‘One Trillion Dollar$’, ‘I’d tell you but…’ and ‘The Press Corpse’. One of the more unique facets of the set included bassist Chris #2 inviting fans to shake hands with the person next to them, as well as beseeching them to help those who had fallen down. Guitarist and vocalist Justin Sane was in top from, spinning around on stage, and closed the set by smashing his guitar (much to the mingled delight and horror of fans). The only let-down of the performance was that it was difficult to hear Sane right up the front against the barrier. Further back, the sound was fine although consistency would have been nice.

Perth favourites Faker took to the main stage amidst huge multi-coloured letters spelling the name of the band, leaving no doubt as to who we were watching. Faker drew a fairly decent sized crowd, and were entertaining enough without being a stand-out, providing visual and aural relief to those of us battling out way through the dust storm out past the D-barrier.

Mammal fans filled out the Local Produce stage, anticipating yet another fast-paced, energetic and entertaining set. In a bid to hype up the crowd, front man Ezekiel Ox led a “Hell Yeah!” moment with the audience, flashed his Cheshire Cat grin and disappeared, only to surface ten minutes later at the allocated time. Ox is renowned for his on stage antics, which on this occasion included crowd surfing, singing from the audience and stage diving off the speakers.

Over at the Converse Essential Stage, Enter Shikari incited a dancing mosh pit with their dance beats-meets-guitar mashing set. Whilst entertaining enough for fans, the performance needed a lot more to keep the attention of part-time listeners. So halfway into the set, it was time to revisit the main stage to check out one of Australia’s premier hip-hop acts, the Hilltop Hoods. Watching from outside the D barrier, the performance was simply uninspired, as it had barely differed from previous live performances. Nevertheless, it was still an appropriate act to have mid afternoon.

Next up was Billy Bragg and The Nightwatchman ( Tom Morello acoustic ) on the Essential Stage. Bragg was in top form, with an amusing spiel of which his political message was delivered with gusto. He closed the set, joined by fellow BDO artist Kate Nash. In the set-up break, we quickly jogged back to the main stage to catch Grinspoon play a formidable set of older classics to an appreciative crowd. By this stage in the afternoon, the line to get inside the D-barrier was already quite a sight.

Canadia’s finest music export Arcade Fire took to stage next, with a pipe organ setting the scene (and sound). Watching the members of the band multi-task between different instruments, whilst maintaining (almost) perfect sound and stage presence made the jostling past the D-barrier crowd worth every dust-laden breath of exhaustion. ‘Win Butler’ and ‘Régine Chassagne’ led a superb movement of music in sublime chaos, much to the delight of fans and casual observers alike.

Tom Morello took to the stage as the sun began its trek back to the horizon, giving festival-goers a chance to recline in the shade as he worked his way through his set, echoing Bragg in his political sentiments. In all honesty, Bragg and Morello should have had their scheduled times reversed. While Morello was in fine form, it all seemed slightly diminished after Bragg’s outstanding set. However, he had one trick up his sleeve which blew the audience away – Morello was joined on stage by Bragg and Anti-Flag’s Justin Sane and Chris #2 for a cover of “Australia’s unofficial anthem” of Midnight Oil’s ‘Beds are Burning’.

Kings of the Perth music scene Karnivool returned to home stages after a long jaunt in the United States in support of their stunning debut LP release. The set was short and simple, with a surprise addition track coming in the form of their take on Gotye’s hit single ‘The Only Way’. One of the highlights of the set was witnessing Zeke from Mammal, astride the shoulders of a willing compatriot, singing to front man Ian Kenny who responded in kind.

Replete from another great performance by Karnivool, we hurried back to the main stage to be greeted by legendary Icelandic songstress Bjork singing ‘All Is Full Of Love’. It may have been so but, sandwiched in between Rage fans, the vibe was definitely not full of love. The diminutive singer dominated the stage with her sublime costume, amazing light show and the Reactable which I admit had me enchanted for a while. Bjork dedicated her set closing track ‘Declare Independence’ (where she was joined on stage by Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire) to the Aboriginal community, and left a lasting impression in both the memories and the clothes of fans. Fans were also showered with an endless stream of confetti.

Then, the moment that at least 20,000 fans had been waiting for. A red star was the only adornment to a stage that will undoubtedly live in the minds of every person watching. There was a second of silence and collective breathes were held. The opening bars of ‘Testify’ rang out and the crowd exploded into an orgy of dancing, moshing, chanting and even tears. ‘Bulls on Parade’ followed to a deafening roar of approval and disbelief – many had waited a decade for Rage Against the Machine to perform live again. Now that the moment had arrived and it all seemed a bit surreal. ‘Bombtrack’, ‘Know Your Enemy’ and ‘People of the Sun’ were accompanied by political testaments and roars of crowd approval. The performance was marred by people climbing up to secure a better vantage point – Rage was rushed off stage in order to quell the crowd, albeit to no avail. The lyrics of ‘Guerilla Radio’ summed up the moment well – “All hell can’t stop us now!”

‘Killing in the Name’ proved to be the moment of the night. Practically every person watching joined in the moshing causing the earth to tremble with the intensity of the song. Thousands upon thousands of middle fingers pointed to the heavens, screaming out the iconic closing lyrics, making the most of the one chance to do so.

Then it was over. The sated crowd dispersed either to the Boiler Room to close their Big Day Out experience with Carl Cox, or back home. Despite the shocking choice of venue, and desperate need for better organisation overall, it was a fantastic line up and awesome performances were had from the artists involved. It was yet again another success in the history of the Australian music scene.

Check out the photos from Melbourne’s Big Day Out here courtesy of Damage.