Ah, another typical stinking hot Queensland day to round out the end of summer and to celebrate the rite of passage that is known as ‘O’ week. Orientation week is big for those finding their feet and what a better way to celebrate it with a concert aptly named The Big O. Gates are opened a little on the late side but the stage run according to time.

The Cassette Kids come out in the blistering sun and let those in the shade know how hot it actually is on stage. While Katrina Noorbergen dances around on stage the handful of people at the front barely move. What Daniel Schober can do with a guitar and a distortion pedal results in finely structured guitar. _Acrobat _ gets a run and the set polishes off with You Take It. If you’ve ever watched a chain reaction it would be somewhat like what happened here. Three people are dancing at the front, then it is ten and then fifty till finally a few hundred people get their feet moving to the last pop tune.

WOO, Yves Klein Blue come out to set up their instruments while some Brisbane favourites I Heart Hiroshima pours out the PA. The people up front squash in and YKB are away. If you managed to catch more than one set in the past 12 months, you’d realise YKB sets had been walking a very straight road. Delightfully three new songs from the upcoming release got a run for something different. As usual Charles Sale takes it away, Michael Tomlinson runs the set (it is very possible the guy has been working out) and Shaun Cooke does his usual hair flicking good job. Old favourites including Blasphemy and Polka come out to add to the good times. The Brisbane kids seem to be becoming of age.

No one is safe when Bluejuice hit the stage, not even giant speaker stacks. Though hard to believe there was anything other than drums for Phantom Boogie it didn’t stop people moving. A possible rip in the pants meant the underage kids at the front could get more viewing than they bargained for along with some homo-erotic action by Jake Stone and*Stav Yiannoukas*. The old favourite Vitriol polished off with The Reductionist polished of a hilarious set from the gentlemen who mentioned it may have been a result of an alcohol intake.

Ben Lee came to stage and first blessed the crowed with I Love Pop Music. Petitioning all to “come on, let’s not be cool,” the master purveyor of geek rock drew a credible crowd from the midstrength bar and overpriced fried provisioning back to the stage, especially for hook-heavy favourite Catch My Disease. When Lee comes out with an acoustic guitar and plays The Ataris song called Ben Lee that made the set somewhat more interesting. For anyone who isn’t familiar with this song, it is pretty much a song of disgust directed straight at him. Very tongue in cheek. Cigarettes Will Kill You got the older crowd moving but the highlight was the end when he closed with All In This Together with almost full accompaniment from the swaying audience.

Those cockney gents, The Fratellis come out to a somewhat packed Amphitheatre. There was barely a seated backside when Chelsea Dagger starts. It was almost impossible to determine where John Fratelli’s guitar stopped and Barry Fratellis bass began. John’s were almost inaudible and floated around for the whole set. If you didn’t know the words, tonight wasn’t the night to be learning them. If anyone was seated before Miss Mable ensured that these were no more. Henrietta and Flathead ensured questionable dance moves from some and more toe tapping and clapping from others. The Fratellis sure know how to put on a good time and that is what they did.

Music is what people came and stayed for all day. However after an eerie intro, The Music come out of the smoke and are visible through the five fingered hands that are awash in the sky. Take the long road and walk it is littered with feedback which didn’t seem to bother too many. Once guitars were stripped down to solos it was a lot easier to distinguish and became far more bearable. Safety in Numbers saw echo working overtime for Robert Harvey. A fine five minute instrumental was thrown into the set then followed up with The People which saw the O week crowd exert the most energy of the whole day. Bleed from Within and a moment where all four members have a set of drums for a whole band drum solo that went for a couple of minutes. Keeping to their namesake The Music provided everything they are known for, music.

As a side note this review I would like to add that everyone likes their music loud, if you don’t your sick. However the whole point of a natural amphitheatre is to make the sound work for you. Had everything, with the exception of keys, been turned down a notch everything would have been audible and easier to distinguish than it was. Everything was just too far loud and it didn’t apply to one particular band more than another.