Eine Rückkehr!

Maybe its because I've been overseas for about a month, leaving behind the drudgery of work and forgetting (most) of my cares for a considerable while. Maybe its because Arsenal won last night. Maybe its the Coffee (although probably not, its not a Farza-latte) - but, believe it or not, Javid is in a good mood. Spreading peace and love and general well being to the masses, until I head back to work tomorrow and I go back to the normal hate-filled, bile-spewing fits of rage that Im normally associated with.

I had just left for overseas when the Big Day Out announcement was made. I went online in Munich to quickly shoot off some emails home to find messages telling me that my dreams had come true, that Rammstein were finally returning. Which I truly am elated about - but do I thank the Big Day Out for this? Not really. I'm the biggest Rammstein fan I know. Ive scoured the web at this time EVERY YEAR for the last 10 waiting for the news that they'll be coming back. 3 different years of the last 10 they've said they were in negotiations to bring the show to Australia. Rammstein dont do things by halves. They will not bother coming out all this way if they can not bring their full production with them. They will cancel a European date if they cant use the pyro. To me, what this massively long wait means is that every year they have WANTED to come back, but with the grandiose nature of the show, the fire risks and the clashes with fellow 'headliners', the Big Day Out have been a tough bunch of pricks to negotiate with. Anyway, they're coming back, and the main arena will truly be a better place for it.

due to German censorship laws parts of 'Ich tu dir Weh' have been removed

Now that I've jizzed over the thought of Rammstein finally making a return, its time to turn my attention to the rest of the lineup. The common mentality (well, mine over the last 9 years) when getting a ticket for the BDO has always been "well, the first lineup announcement is average, but I have to get a ticket because *insert band name* will probably end up getting announced, and its gunna sell out" so you buy a ticket and more often than not the act isnt announced. You still go, and you have a good day but yeah, had you known in advance, you could have forsaken the money and spent it on something longer lasting. This is the first time in a long time that the first Big Day Out announcement has enough in it to justify me buying a ticket. Maybe not the price but thats another story. That being said theres still plenty of bands I WON'T be seeing.

Tool are back again which.. is cool I guess except for the fact that they haven't released anything since 10,000 days which they've already promoted out here. So I'm imagining it will be the same show, maybe a new song here or there but really, as Pix says its just a guy singing behind a sheet. That being said if you play drums like I do Danny Carey is enough to keep you there. Iggy and the Stooges return after absolute rave reviews from the last few times. MIA is coming and so are the John Butler Trio. A note on this - I havent heard MIAs new album but apparently its her worst. I HAVE heard John Butlers new album and its also his worst, the difference for me is I know that every member of the JBT is a fantastic musician and you get so much more than what you get on CD in the live experience. Im a little sick of my fellow bloggers retching at the thought of Butler, like he doesnt have credibility without dreds. If you're an independent artist you can do whatever you want, including use your 4th (or is it 5th?) album to experiment in the mainstream. You were all big fans of him when he was singing 8 and a half minute slide-laden songs filled with political agenda, whats the problem now? Pssht. Hes one of the best musicians in the country, shut your hole (ok so theres some rage).

Another of the bands that excites me is Grinderman, I'll confess and say I'm very much a bandwagon jumper, but its not Nick Cave that does it for me. A few years ago at Splendour I got to see Warren Ellis play with the Dirty Three and he is... brilliant, original, I could go on but i'll bore you. Grinderman are dark, kooky, sultry, and I cannot wait to be seeing them on stage hopefully under the influence of mind-altering substances. That being said, the moment I saw them on the list I developed a gut feeling they'd be playing the same time as Rammstein. Lets see I guess.



And who else is there? Pnau finally return to touring now that Nick has come back from that Empire of the Sun experiment (it was good, but Pnau are better) and I'm looking forward to hearing some new stuff and hoping it DOESNT sound like Empire of the Sun. Lupe Fiasco promises to be solid if theres no one else on. Those two and Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 will be enough to make me stay in the boiler room a little while. Little Red have a great new album and as I missed their recent national tour I'm excited to see them again. Anyone who has never seen Airbourne before needs to remedy that immediately (they are endearingly high-energy, danger and good times) and I can only imagine that Andrew WK, the party man himself, will be like nothing I've ever seen before. Blue King Brown have gone even more dubstep than roots with their latest effort and are also going to be fantastic to see live. I'm also so in love with die Antwoord that I'm saving them for a separate post. And Ratatat are going to make me trip balls. Hopefully. They have some of the... oddest videos I've ever seen..



So where does that leave me? I've already got a ticket so ultimately it doesn't really matter but I will say the following:
+ Congratulations Big Day Out on finally pulling together a first announcement lineup that Im quite satisfied with. Regardless of how big or good the bands are, I know from past experience that the majority of these acts CAN deliver a fantastic set that will entertain everyone (although who cares about everyone else?).
+ Congratulations again for finally securing Rammstein for a return. Don't know how much longer I could have waited.
- Ticket price increase, again? Of course I anticipated it but it still disgusts me every year. This is a ONE DAY festival but you're nearly charging a 2 day festival price.
- The BDO has a habit of putting on good bands at the same time when most of the lineup is shit, so its quite obvious that the timetable clashes are going to be HELL. I am going to have to miss out on some bands when I just want to see them all, you bastards.

There are more artists on the lineup, but bands I will not be seeing and who I dont even feel like putting in bold type - Operator Please, Deftones, Birds of Tokyo, Crystal Castles and fucking Wolfmother to name but a few. For every good there must be some shit I suppose. Will it be a good day? Will it be better than Soundwave? Im going to both so i'll let you know. But if any organisers out there wanna send access passes my way to enhance my experience I'll be sure to mention your festival more favourably. Its not bribery, trust me. I know Im going to be paying through my nose for food, waiting in line for extended periods just to use to loo, its festival season. But this season looks better than most.