Despite the fact that it was a very humid 33 degrees by 9am and there seemed to be at least 10 000 more people than there were at last year’s Gold Coast Big Day Out, this was hands down one of the best, if not THE best, one-day festivals that this reviewer has ever been to. Yes, that might sound like an overambitious claim, but it’s the truth. Allow me to start at the beginning…

It was an utter shock to see so many people already crammed in front of the main stage at 11am to see Frenzal Rhomb kick off the festivities. The band took to the stage amidst a hearty cheer and proceeded to play 12 songs for the 12 years that they have been entertaining us with their brand of grotty, depraved, but oh so hilarious punk. A few years were skipped over, but they managed to succeed in covering most of 1994 to 2005 in the space of half an hour. The result was a tight and thoroughly enjoyable set, which included the crowd-pleasers Punch In The Face, Mum Changed The Locks and Never Had So Much Fun.

Then it was off to the Cat Essential stage to see the Aampirellas. They drew a sizeable crowd and it was exciting to see them at their first ever BDO performance, but opener Oyster sounded a bit standard. Luckily they picked up the pace with the rest of the set. It was an enjoyable effort, but they weren’t at their best.

The anticipation was palpable at the Green stage as an enormous crowd awaited the appearance of Dallas Crane. As usual, they managed to put on a mighty performance full of energy and scorching guitar solos. Unlucky Star and Dirty Hearts were highlights.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to the Wolfmother set in time to get any sort of a good position, and so resigned myself to standing just outside the perimeter of the tent. There I heard one of the day’s undisputable highlights unfold. The crowd reaction was phenomenal – indeed, I think it even surprised the band! Loud, gritty, the very epitome of rock and roll infused with a psychedelic touch, they delivered song after song of wondrous rock splendour- Apple Tree, Woman and Funk Train being prime examples.

Back in the world of Main Stage performance, Sweden’s The Hives appeared to a heroes welcome. Boy, oh boy, can Pelle Almqvist talk. From his greeting of “We are the Hives. Do you understand?” he chatted to the crowd after almost every song. Most people didn’t seem to find it too annoying – indeed, it was the epitome of crowd interaction – but there were a few screams of, “Just play the fucking song already!!” to be heard. Two Timing Touch and Broken Bones, Hate To Say I Told You So, Main Offender, B is for Brutus, Missing Link, A Little More For Little You... The Hives delivered a fantastic cross-section of songs and it was a pleasure to see them in the flesh (or should that be in the suits) once again.

It was then time for The Music to take to the stage. If there’s one band that can change an area of any size, shape or description into one big dance floor, it’s this band. And how. A few songs off the new album were played (Welcome to the North, Freedom Fighters, Breakin’) to an enthusiastic audience, but it was The People, Take the Long Road and Walk It, and The Truth Is No Words that really saw the crowd break it on down. Musically it was a top set, but for some reason singer Rob Harvey’s voice faded in and out in places, which was a shame, as he has one hell of a voice.

Rise Against played their first ever Australian show at the BDO’s Cat Essential stage. Their brand of high energy punk went down a treat with the audience, which consisted mainly of die-hard fans who knew every syllable to every song. One wonders whether the band enjoyed much else of the BDO concept, however, considering their vow to ‘play a punk venue next time’ and their criticism of (unnamed) bands who ‘want to be the Rolling Stones’.

Back again to main stage for Grinspoon. Opening their set with the fast-paced 1000 Miles, they proceeded to thrill the audience with a mixture of new and old, including Post Enebriated Anxiety, which hasn’t been played live since around 1998/99. The recent singles Hard Act To Follow and Better Off Alone went down well, and Chemical Heart was a big sing-a-long affair. Throw in a bit of Champion, Just Ace and More Than You Are and you have yourself one cracker of a performance.

Then it was time for Slipknot to bring their nine masked selves onstage. The crowd almost doubled in size, many curious to see exactly what a Slipknot show entailed. Quite simple really – absolute brilliance. It is no exaggeration to say that jaws dropped in all directions. From opening track (Sic), the band delivered a non-stop onslaught of thrilling, electrifying metal. The Heretic Anthem saw the audience screaming ”...then I’m 666” in reply to singer Corey’s “if you’re 555”. Wait and Bleed, Spit It Out and People = Shit sounded tremendous live, and Corey’s growls were positively hair-raising. Say what you will about Slipknot and their persona, but they put on a stellar performance and hopefully it will not be another five years before they return to our shores.

System of a Down continued the heavy rock onslaught. Thunderous drums, blistering guitar and the powerful voice of Serj Tankian made for an impacting, almost surreal experience. The Prison Song, We Will Fight The Heathens, Needles, Forest and Toxicity were among the songs played, and I don’t think I will ever forget the sound of the crowd singing their hearts out to Chop Suey! It was a very special moment. Talk about goose-bumps!

While Powderfinger continued the show on the main stage, I was off to the Green stage to see Regurgitator. They proceeded to put on arguably their best festival performance in years and were truly stoked at the turnout. Highlights were the rocked-up version of Black Bugs, I Wanna Be a Nudist and Eye, Zombie and My Computer Crashed. Also getting a look-in were old favourites I Will Lick Your Arsehole and I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am.

Hatebreed were a little late coming on due to technical difficulties, but when they did it was pure, uncompromised mayhem from beginning to end. Jamey Jasta roared and bellowed his way through the set, while the band relentlessly delivered some of the finest metalcore you will ever hear. Straight To Your Face, Puritan, Live For This and This Is Now sent the audience berserk, and I Will Be Heard was saved till last and made for a rousing finale.

Due to the timetable clash with Hatebreed, I only managed to catch the last few songs of the Beastie Boys, but was impressed with what I saw, which was a veritable sea of thousands upon thousands of people dancing and jumping up and down. The Beasties sounded spot-on as they tirelessly bounced across the stage, and they really delivered on An Open Letter To NYC, No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Ch-Check It Out and Intergalactic. As they were screamed back on for an encore, I joined the throng and enjoyed the end to what can only be described as a perfect day out.