With the arrival of yet another BDO the dilemma was whether or not to once again brave the crowds to see a few bands. The decision of Underworld not to travel westwards was a deterrent for many of my friends. However the inclusion on the bill of old time faves Janes Addiction presented the chance to put an unexpected tick on my all time wish list as well as Kraftwerk who I was told my many I must see (more of that later though). Then there was the whole host of acts I had varying levels of curiosity about, from Chicks on Speed to The Vines to Queens of the Stoneage. Of course I was going to BDO 2003.
After making it through the gates, not that there was any problems here, my first impression of the day was making it through the early queues to the toilets to see a guy sitting across one of the washer basins sucking dry a goon bladder – classy. Either a hardened veteran or a BDO virgin yet to understand the meaning of stamina I would never know, it would prove to provide a theme of sorts for my day as I battled sweaty crowds in my frequent roaming between stages.
At 2pm the first stop on the itinerary was to check out the crazy antics of Chicks on Speed in the Boiler Room. With little more than self generated perceptions of what they were like I was somehow not too surprised to see three “chicks” on stage wailing and screaming over electro beats. Amusing to say the least but not enough to hold my attention so early on and it wasn’t long before I was off to check out The Music at the Triple J Stage. The key to enjoying anything at this stage was to get in close so as to avoid the drifting sound from the two main stages in the middle of the oval. This ensured that for most bands performing here there was always a tightly gathered mass close to the stage. In the case of The Music it seemed for good reason as all gathered seemed taken in by the bands melodic rock and the enigmatic whispy haired singer.
In our small posse was a 5-foot tall Japanese girl who had flown in midnight the night before. With a hankering for a taste of something local to show her the next stop was at the Green Stage to see Jebediah in front of a home crowd. With a set of mostly singles they went down a storm with the crowd, even passing the jet-lagged Japanese thumbs up test. They were having a ball on stage and that transferred to the audience with ease.
With their success both overseas and locally The Vines had well and truly earned their Main Stage billing. At the beginning of their set it seemed they were making the best of it and about to put on a blinder of a performance with some early kick ass action. However it wasn’t long before their form disintergrated, mainly due to the antics of singer Craig Nicholls who seemed intent on playing the self absorbed “rock star” with his on stage antics. Seemingly forgetting he was playing to a much bigger crowd, his withering around on his back and general carrying on was only really appreciated by those at the very front (I wasn’t too far back – level with the mixing desk). Not entertaining and winner of my “Letdown of the Day” award.
Meanwhile in the Boiler Room Sydney breaks DJ Kid Kenobi was laying down the funkiest beats for the day. With just an hour to play, his energy behind the decks spread throughout the crowd and had everyone getting their groove on. He would be followed by Melbourne’s house/breaks supremo Phil K. Whilst his crowd was not quite the size it was no less appreciative as he manipulated and mixed his way through some tasty, albeit slightly darker than Kenobi, breaks during my visit there.
Back in the Main Arena Queens of the Stone Age were proving a popular choice amongst crowd goers. Riding on the back of their #1 in Triple J’s Hottest 100 and worldwide critical acclaim as yet another saviour of rock it was immediately apparent as to what separated them (apart from obvious musical styles) to, for example, The Vines – they played to the crowd (all of it). Musically they were tight, mostly heavy and pretty much what you expected. With songs that most in the crowd recognised and charismatic on stage presence it was easy to see why many would rate them a highlight.
1200 Techniques had a different sort of crowd going crazy at the Green Stage. With hip hop receiving little coverage this BDO 1200 Techniques had a lot of pleasing to do. Their biggest single to date, Karma, had the crowd in the palm of their hands mid-set and a freestyling jam was also well received. I couldn’t thinking that they next time they tour with BDO they will be well and truly worthy of a main stage slot. Playing at the same time in the Main Arena was PJ Harvey. Only touring as a three piece this time around they managed to achieve a very full sound. Polly Jean was looking very summery in her nice short fitting outfit with the group peforming mainly from their last album Stories from the City… whilst I was checking them out.
Next up Jane’s Addiction who, from out of seemingly nowhere, most of the older members of the crowd moved forward to see, many probably for the first time. The question was would they cut it or be just a shadow of their former selves? After the opening of Up the Beach and Stop the band seemed in touch but Perry Farrell’s voice seemed out and squeeky. I suspected the bottle of wine he brought on stage was not his first – he was drinking from the bottle before he even finished his glass!. However as they progressed the better they got. Epic tracks like Three Days, Mountain Song and Ted Just Admit It… (complete with dancing girl in steel cage above the drum kit during the “sex is violent” lyrics) showing them at their startling best. The pummelling drums of Stephen Perkins were awesome, Dave Navarro showed why he is the ultimate guitar hero with his posing and wonderous solo’s and Farrell, well, very much the Perry Farrell one expected – a mixture of rocking out, campness and thought provoking. New bass player Chris Chaney, whilst seeming too neatly dressed to yet be one of the boys, fit in just fine to finish up the band. Finishing with their most known track, Jane Says, they proved they were still capable of great things.
Of course as Janes Addiction squeezed in the second encore of their 65 minute set there were probably a whole lotta people cursing them and counting down to Foo Fighters. I didn’t stay and watch for long but can say they rocked from the word go. As I made my way to the Boiler Room the sea of people across the entire oval was an impressive sight.
Luke Slater greeted our arrival into the Boiler Room with his upfront techno assault on the crowd. Not there long enough to get a true feel for his set, all I can say is that it he finished with a bang. We were there more to see what was hiding behind the black curtains which Slater stood in front of. Ten minutes before the scheduled starting time of 9.30 the introductory music and the drawing of the curtains revealed Kraftwerk. My first response to the sight of the Kraftwerk spectacle was to rexamine as to whether I had taken some kind of hallucinogenic futuristic seeing drug (negative). The stage set up was simple enough: a raised platform (lit up underneath), on top of which were four identical looking equipment setups with four identically dressed men in black behind them. The equipment set ups looked simply like a music keyboard with a lap top above (a big rectangular box with a screen sticking up at the back) sitting atop a single pillared stand. No cables and no clues given as to what these set ups were. Behind all this was a giant screen that spanned the width of the stage. The beauty of the whole set up was you had no idea who was doing what on stage. With all four members identically expressionless (except for when one occasionally provided vocals) for all you knew three of them could have been playing network games with each other whilst the other controlled the music. This stage presentation was the beauty of their live performance and one of the biggest mind fucks I think I have ever experienced from live music.
Pioneers in the electronic music genre, it was fitting that they could perform songs that were more than twenty years old and make them sound futuristic. Many of their well known tracks got a play, including Pocket Calculator, The Model, We are the Robots, Trans Europe Express and Tour de France. The accompanying visuals were spectacular whether simply old footage of the Tour De France, giant screens full of scrolling random numbers in the old 80’s computer font, or computer generated imagery. It really was a sight you had to see to believe. It was the visuals and lighting effects that, I feel, gave the music more personality and feeling. Whilst some I know walked away a bit confused or disappointed, perhaps expecting something more dancey, most I spoke to had similar feelings to myself – that of being blown away. Some complained of the $100 price for tickets this year, the 100 minute set Kraftwerk gave was easily a $100 performance. I’d pay that to see them again in a flash. A sensory assault in more ways than one that left me with a big “WOW!”
So after however many hours of trekking between stages (hint to promoters please make Boiler Room a little more accessible so as to not have to pass through the middle of the venue every time people want to go there from any other point in the grounds) the day was over. Exhausting but well and truly worthwhile. Will I go again next year? At the moment I’m saying the same after last years effort, I may give it a rest next year. But I haven’t seen the line up yet.
