Big Day Out 07 Review Part 2

A day like Big Day Out is full with more splendours than can be crammed into one post, so to make it slightly easier to digest such a large sampling of musical acts, here is the second installment of the whiteboydancefloor 2007 Big Day Out experience.

Diplo
Aside one of the most influential producers in the world, Diplo is also one of the most astute tastemakers around. For some reason his arrival in the Hot House caused the dancefloor to thin out considerably, which in no way was an indication of how good this guy is. His site went though two phases, beginning with more mainstream electro/house tracks then slowly moving towards more edgy Baile Funk tunes, a style he has trumpeted successfully and has assisted in its explosion. No pretension and superficiality here, this guy is all about substance and love for the tunes he is playing and entertaining the crowd and not himself. Diplo = great - Chris

Hot Chip
Hot Chip’s performance in the Hot House seemed to take forever to arrive, aided by technical difficulties, but once it came it disappeared all too soon. Fronted by one of the geekiest looking men I’ve seen front a band, the band lined up side by side in front of a big crowd armed with synthesisers and drum machines and were about to show why they are the most talked about act in electronic music. Hot Chip live is certainly a different experience than on record, and their incredible version of ‘(And I Was) A Boy From School’ reminded the punters that this show wasn’t going to be a Warning carbon copy. Equal parts dance party and intricately constructed aural journey, the performance was punctuated with old favourites and new tracks that I’m sure will make their next LP just as impressive as their last two. ‘No Fit State’ was by far the highlight, sounding even more stark and unsettling than on record. - Chris

The Streets
I only caught the first half of the set from Mike skinner and co
and whilst i have to say it sounded a million times better than '05 on the
green stage, it was still disappointing. These lads (a.k.a Chavs) need to learn that if
you're gunna record some choruses with melody and singing in them you should
make sure you can sing live. he did drop in 'dont mug yourself', 'weak
become heroes' and 'lets push things forward' in the first half so his
selection was ok but pretty unconvincing in whole. - Javid

The biggest disappointment was The Streets who sounded so drunk and monotone I thought Kamahl had downed a few and come up to have a sing after his little romp with the Spazzys earlier in the day. - Dean

Muse
So that i'd be able to add some more persepective to this review i
caught muse instead of justice and despite the fact i saw them the night
before they were once again absolutely stunning. A set full of sing-a-long, dance-a-long numbers, visual amazing-ness and a perfect sound made them the perfect intro for headliners, Tool. -Javid

Tool
I've been a fan of Tool for many years, but I've never been enough of a
fan to fork out the money and go see these guys live. I might have this year
had they not been on the same night as Muse but good lord.. blame the drugs
if you will but this band put on an absolutely mesmerizing show. The intense
brutality of 'Stinkfist' kicked it all off and with the closing notes of
'Aenema' you stop and wonder where that bloody hour and a half went, let
alone where the hell you are. If you went and saw The Presets you possibly
made the wrong choice (and I love The Presets).. but with Maynard's closing
words 'see you in December' I can safely say that I will be back for much,
much more of one of the most mind-blowing bands in the world. Spectacular. -Javid

Justice
Parisian duo Justice were THE buzz producers of 2006, remixing the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Simian, were remixed by Erol Alkan and dropped their own tracks, most notably the dancefloor powder-keg 'Waters Of Nazareth'. The track bookended an equally pummeling and inconsistent set, where at times they played some cutting edge tracks from purveyors of the current nu-rave/electro-house movement and ruined it by unnecessary pausing and chopping that made it seem as though there were mulitple power failures at the venue. Where Diplo dropped an AC/DC track into his set, Justice continued this strange trend dropping 'Thunderstruck' towards the end of their set to the delight of many. Nitpicking aside, they got the crowd moving and played some incredible dance tracks so they got my thumbs up. - Chris

The Presets
The ultimate in homecoming for a duo who have seen very little of home soil during 2006 since the international release of Beams (2006). Keep in mind this is the same band with the same songs that Chris, Javid and myself had seen the previous year at a staggering midday slot. Their return was nothing short of inspiring. Despite being on the same time as Tool, The Presets packed the boiler room with far better looking people than the Tool crowd. Several reports indicated that many made a dash for the boiler room as the Tool sound did transfer well to a stadium setting. What makes The Presets even more amazing is that this is just two homos from Sydney, with a synthesizer and drum kit, but what it translates to is nothing short of a true guilty pleasure. The Presets roared through almost all the tracks of their debut and came home with a wet sail performing Down, Down, Down & I Go Hard I Go Home back to back. The Presets dazzled and left us with the proposition either go hard or go home. These funboys, went home. - Pix

So tell us whiteboydancefloor readers, what does it for you? Tool or The Presets?

To be continued....