Dub dot dash

The Big Day out is not gay
There's a bunch I want to tell you about BDO 08, but the main thing you need to know is this. LCD Sound System are the best live act in the world right now.They were phenomenally good.

-Random overheard conversations Part 1
On the bus to the BDO:
Dude A: I can't wait to see that mosh pit jumping for Rage. It's gunna be awesome.
Dude B: I tell you what was awesome - Mr Brightside by the Killers, seeing 45,000 people jumping to that.
Dude A: Yeah, I've got that on video.
Dude B: Me too.

-The Aesthetics, winners of the BNet Opening Band competition, rocked out in classic Dunedin junkie style. Unashamedly trashy.

-White Birds and Lemons reminded me of Franz Ferdinand meets early Rolling Stones.

-First band to dedicate a song to Jesus Christ: All Left Out (I didn't catch that Muslim hip-hop crew dedicating a Jihad on Shihad, or maybe I imagined that bit...)

-Random overheard conversations Part 2
10.03am, waiting in the line outside the gates.
Dude to his mate: "Hey Mike, Cyrus is already drunk!"

-BDO has a chequered history when it comes to hip-hip (just ask DJ Sirvere), and this year was no different. You had Aceyalone in the Boiler Room, with him and his DJ shoved to one small corner of the stage (Think of the width of two turntables and a DJ mixer and that's about how much room they had).
Doctor Octagon and DJ Kutmaster Kurt had the whole stage, as did Dizzee Rascal, who had the Boiler Room jam-packed. I had no idea he was so popular. Hat tip to the NZ Herald writer or sub (hang on, they outsourced that, didn't they?) who picked DJ Octagon for Best False Beard of the Day. Nice call, but Dr Octagon was the dude in the cape rapping, his DJ Kutmaster Kurt was in the beard. I did like the Herald's list tho.

-Fave T-Shirt of the Day - Young blond girl in yellow singlet that had the catchy slogan "Fuck off. Come here." Mixed messages, anyone? Close second to Dam Native in 'Lick My Patu' tees. Scary.

-Stopped off to look at Arcade Fire on the way to Lady Saw. Holy crap - how many people are on stage? Standard band line-up plus two violins, accordion, horns, and a pipe organ? And they're all rocking out? Sweet Jesus, that is impressive. Must check them out some more.
The lead singer commented that "We're really glad to be here. Sometimes I say that and I don't really mean it, but I really fuckin' do this time!" Aw, bless.

-Lady Saw delivers lyrics that they call slackness in Jamaica. That means she sings about sex A WHOLE LOT. It kinda gets a bit much after a while, but then she intros a song by telling the crowd "This is for the ladies who can't have babies. I've had two miscarriages and I've got three adopted children, but in Jamaica, people look down on you if you can't have kids. I just want to say, just because you can't have kids doesn't mean you don't have a lot of love to give. This song is about infertility." Heavy stuff.
Mark Sainsbury was in the crowd, watching Lady Saw do her bump and grind (which she did a lot of). He even sparked one up ( a cigarette, that is. We all know TV presenters don't do drugs - cough Mark Ellis cough). I heard some fellas in the crowd had a hard time with Lady Saw's upfront lyrics - how is it different from some male rapper talking about screwing bitches and ho's? Weird.

-Random overheard conversations Part 3
Two girls talking with a friend, trying to figure out what to do - they had both lost a shoe each. "Go to lost property, see if they can help you." Yeah, good luck with that. One of the girls had Stewie from Family Guy tattooed on her ankle.

-Unkle were freaking loud, but mighty impressive.

-Billy Bragg dedicated Power in a Union to Robbie Williams. I laughed my head off - you know Robbie Williams is on strike from making any new albums, right? And the world is a poorer place... not.

-The Exiles showed some spunk, serving up a bouncy cover of the Cure's 'Close to me', and it wasn't at all gay, although those legs-apart rawk poses from guitarist Sean Sturm were a worry (kidding, Sean. Love your work). God, there are some humorless local bands, and a lot of them were playing at BDO this year. Where's the showmanship?

-Ate dinner to the sound of Shihad. Their music may be many things to many people, but I regret to report it does not aid digestion.

-Random overheard conversations Part 4
Overheard during Bjork.
Guy "Speed was such a good idea."
His girlfriend "Yes, well done, honey." Bonding over drugs, how sweet.

Bjork was strangely underwhelming. Several songs with no drums or percussion, and a grand spectacle that got lost in the stadium (admittedly, I didn't stay for the whole of her set). She would have been great in the Civic or St James. Not a BDO act, methinks.

-LCD Sound System. Great front man, great band, incredible drummer. Played a song to warm up, then BANG - hit you with Daft Punk is Playing in My House, one of their most well-known songs. Boiler Room goes nuts. Thankfully, the munters are all down watching Rage, doing exactly what's expected of them while shouting "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me." Ho ho.

James Murphy was so polite - he even said sorry for taking so long to get here, blaming himself for dicking around about coming. He also noted that it was hot, saying that it was like being inside a dog's arse. "Years from now, you'll look back on this and remember, that was that time I was inside the arse of a dog". Ah, the Boiler Room. Burn down you shithole. Sorry, dunno where that outburst came from. But really, how many crap live experiences have you had there?

Some other stuff happened, but I left after LCD (apologies to Supergroove). In closing, the Big Day Out is not gay. The Big Gay Out is gay. Now you know.