Find yourself in Williamb’s gallery

The travelling circus that is Big Day Out rolled into town on Sunday for the final leg of mayhem on a spectacular summer’s day.

Perhaps having learned that intimidation serves greater harm than good in their war on party drugs (but probably elsewhere tasering fence jumpers), the police and their charming four legged friends were absent from the entry gates early in the day, making for a relaxed vibe as the masses descended and spread out in their tens of thousands around the Showgrounds.

Dressed in matching golden onesies and with some confusing inflatable animals to accompany them, Bluejuice had the early bird youngsters warming up the vocal chords to the catchy chorus refrains of Broken Leg and Vitriol. The sound level this early in the day was disturbingly low as MCs Jake and Stav could scarcely be heard 20 metres back, but any fears that the organisers had relented to the evil Claremont residents’ lobby were disregarded as Mastodon soon assaulted ear drums on the Main Stage.

A decent turnout politely enjoyed the folk ballads of Lisa Mitchell early on the Green Stage. Mitchell had the crowd bopping heads to the calming croon of Neopolitan Dreams before assuming the role of cool-police and, to the chagrin of street performers everywhere, requested the crowd to resist the undeniable urge to hurl coins at her when she sings “Do you have dollar for me?” in Coin Laundry. Whilst it’s always enjoyable to be told what’s cool and what’s not by a former Australian Idol finalist, I personally think she should leave the policing to the thousands of security guards patrolling the grounds and embrace the concept of free money raining down on her; perhaps employing some kind of plastic Pope mobile to protect her. It would be a win-win situation as Mitchell rakes in the fifty cent pieces and the crowd relishes both the sing-along and the challenge of ending it prematurely.

Indie rockers Kasabian have enjoyed global chart love over the last year or so it was surprising to see the group playing so early in the day. Their international popularity has seemingly resonated with Australian fans, with a healthy crowd turning out and bleating along with front man Tom Meighan. Hottest 100 featurer Fire was well performed and received a glowing reception which was sincerely appreciated by the affable Brits. This was just one of the highlights of a solid set which also included Where Did All The Love Go? and old favorite Shoot the Runner.

Kisschasy seem to have labelled themselves as “hey kiddies do you like music? We can be your first sick rock band!”, with simple radio friendly tunes and juvenile showmanship. Playing the backing guitar with a drum stick while the lead guitarist is in the mosh letting the punters play it with their hands is mildly entertaining, but interest will inevitably wane when the guitarist gets back on stage and spends half a song retuning his guitar, whilst the rest of the band play the chorus line over and over of a shit song no one likes.

Temper Trap have deservedly won a lot of acclaim for their debut album Conditions and it was no surprise to see an enthusiastic crowd hanging on every falsetto word of lead singer Dougy Mandagi at the Green Stage. The foot tappingly solid Down River was a highlight and few people wouldn’t have attempted some high pitch warbling in Sweet Disposition. It was another impressive performance from the lads and one would expect them to be on the main stage at their next BDO showing.

No doubt Reeling from the success of their 2009 album Manners, and endless tour dates around the globe, it was no surprise that Passion Pit filled out the indoor Converse Stage with ease. The band’s name aptly described the mass of sweaty bodies jumping and gyrating to a seductive set list including the likes of Sleepyhead and Little Secrets. While the vocals of the indie pop group’s leading man Michael Angelakos may have been a bit weak at times, it was more than compensated by the first class sing-alongs which filled the room every song. Reminiscent of last year’s Black Kid’s gig in the Converse Stage, 2010’s hour long pit of passion left punters saturated and satiated.

Whilst much praise can generally be lauded on the musical performances for the day, alas the same cannot be said on the culinary front, an often overlooked part of a music festival. Chicken rolls had a distinct lack of chicken and mayo (two out of the only two ingredients comprising the roll), ‘gourmet fresh chips’ was brilliant in its irony and the reports of the gozlemes were mixed, ranging from (and extending only as far as) charred to light on horse meat. Sadly, what was once intended to be a comprehensive food review was cut short on the grounds of it being way overpriced and shit.

Londoner Dizzee Rascal, who has delighted in having objects launched at him this tour, had the mosh pit pumping along to his bass heavy hip hop. With a few of his buddies hanging superfluously around on stage, Dizzee looked to be loving life as he repeatedly achieved his wish for Perth to “make some noise” and drew more and more enthusiasm from the obedient crowd, ending with a rousing rendition of Bonkers.

Following the success of her recent album, Lily Allen’s show was highly anticipated by many. While she performed a great selection of songs in her discography (ranging from 2006’s Smile to 2009’s The Fear ), Allen’s set failed to reach any great heights. For a huge international artist, the show needed something more – whether it be visual effects or costumes changes (which doesn’t mean slipping the sequined bolero off and on again), or maybe just the sound turned right up to drown out the beats floating down from the nearby Boiler Room. It was nice, however, to enjoy some crowd banter with Allen, which was an oft missing ingredient at many other shows during the day.

Over at the Boiler Room, Calvin Harris drew a crowd so deep it was decided that any enjoyment from hearing the man who created disco would be far outweighed by the effort to get through a couple of hundred metres of dancing bodies. So it was back to the main stage to fight for a decent spot for the headline show many had come to see.

The all too familiar Powderfinger was not said headliner, but you try telling that to the Brisbane troopers as they combined decade-old pedestrian hits, extended outros and tiresome banter to make the most of their prime time billing and test the patience of Muse heads waiting for their heroes. But just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be an eleventh chorus in These Days, they were gone, the side screens were raised, the lights were dimmed and the English trio wandered out to a thunderous reception.

Muse were quite simply as magnificent as you could’ve hoped for. Drawing from the breadth of their back catalogue, the knowledgeable crowd lapped up everything from classic anthems like Stockholm Syndrome and Plug In Baby through to the powerful Map of the Problematique and Starlight and recent sci-fi infused hits Uprising and Undisclosed Desires. With a dazzling light show and visual backdrop which far exceeded anything else on offer during the day, you could’ve been forgiven for thinking everything else was a warm up for Muse.

Bellamy was a ball of energy, belting out hyper soprano notes, pumping his fist, skipping around the stage and effortlessly creating epic riffs from all parts of his guitar, from the neck to the touch pad alongside the dials. His comrades provided flawless support, with the smiling Dom Howard continually rolling up and down his kit and stoic bassist Chris Wolstenholme busting out the slap on Undisclosed Desires and showing up-and-coming cover bass players how it’s done with the awesome bass line of Hysteria. Knights of Cydonia gave the huge crowd a final sing-along before the band departed with a wave, hopefully to return later in the year for their full stage show.

It was an incredible set by an incredible band and a memorable way to end a pretty decent Big Day Out.

Find yourself in Williamb’s gallery

*review by plannor, plammor and gary gringlor.*