Big Day Out has pulled out all stops to deliver a 2011 line-up worthy of its name, and for the first time ever inthemix is on board as an official partner of the Boiler Room. We’re suitably excited about the heavyweight bill of dance and hip hop names locked in for the tour – led by LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A, Vitalic and The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77. It’s going to be a scorching tour, so we’ve decided to delve a little deeper into the line-up with the first of our Big Day Out live preview features.

VITALIC

There’s something about a Vitalic live set that seems custom-built for the Boiler Room. The French electro master last brought his lean-and-mean show to Big Day Out in 2006, and he’s been tweaking the formula ever since. The most recent incarnation is V Mirror Live, which sees the man flanked by two towering screens lined with reflective surfaces and LEDs. The mirrors are synched to the music – which, if past experience is anything to go by, will be storming.

Anyone who witnessed Sasha’s V_rtek set-up last year will know how well this kind of sensory experience can work in the heady confines of the Boiler Room.

THE BLOODY BEETROOTS DEATH CREW 77

My, how the Bloody Beetroots have grown. From the electro upstarts who packed out clubs back in 2007, the Italian outfit’s Death Crew 77 incarnation is now billed just under Tool, Rammstein and Iggy And The Stooges on the Big Day Out line-up.

True to the punk heritage of Beetroots leader Bob Rifo, the masked mad-men bring an unhinged energy to their live show that’ll rival the rowdiest mainstage action. Spread across synthesisers, drums, guitars and percussion – with not a laptop in sight – Death Crew 77 prides itself on the ‘live’ tag.

Since headlining Creamfields in May, the band has been solidly in-demand. Following a headlining performance at Global Gathering in the UK and an immense remix for The Chemical Brothers, they’re set to journey around North America in October. The trail of destruction includes a slot on the dangerously heavy-looking Hard Haunted Mansion line-up over the Halloween weekend. With this kind of response to the ‘real instruments’ show, don’t expect a return from the DJing Beetroots any time soon…

LUPE FIASCO

Hip hop live shows can be touch and go; tracks cut short, too much clichéd banter, that I’d-prefer-to-be-backstage vibe. Not so with Lupe Fiasco. As the MC has proven with each Australian visit, he’s a born showman. It’s hard to imagine a more athletic performer. No corner of the stage is left unexplored. Matching him for enthusiasm is his six-piece band: guitarist, bassist, two keyboardists, one (enormous) drummer and DJ. They were a sweltering highlight of the Boiler Room in 2009, and two years on it’s fair to assume nothing will have changed.

If we’re lucky, by the time summer rolls around, Lupe’s long-delayed LP Lasers will have found its way into the world. The finished product is in the hands of Atlantic Records who have yet to confirm a release date (“ Lasers is out of my hands,” the man himself Tweeted). Lupe’s fans are set to stage a protest on 15 October outside Atlantic’s various offices around the US to force the label’s hand. Hopefully they pull it off.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

We can count ourselves very fortunate that LCD Soundsystem’s ‘last-ever tour’ is looping back here for summer. The effortlessly cool outfit was in scorching form at its headline shows in July – not least man-out-front James Murphy. Brandishing his vintage microphone and with cow-bell close by, it looked like LCD’s fearless leader was having the shows of his life.

When Murphy is on, the band is something to behold. It helps having Pat Mahoney behind the drum-kit providing the beat and a new stage set-up that involves a giant disco ball that explodes into dazzling white light whenever the occasion calls. From the ramshackle Losing My Edge to the low bass rumbles of Pow Pow, the band’s set-list is pretty much oiled to perfection now. Roll on Big Day Out.

BOOKA SHADE

Booka Shade loves Australia, and the feeling is clearly mutual. Ever since the Get Physical stars’ debut tour here in 2007 – fresh from releasing one of the albums of the decade, Movements – they’ve been greeted by a hero’s welcome down under. The most recent visit was for Future Music Festival back in March, which the duo documented in the video below.

Booka Shade’s live show has been honed to a fine art; a continuous flow through all their albums’ big moments, with Arno Kammermeier on electronic drums while Walter Merziger darts between synths, vocals and analogue gear.

However at Big Day Out, we’ll be seeing the producers in DJ mode. It’s the lesser-seen side of Booka Shade, but one they’ve been airing since the release of their DJ Kicks in 2007, which included cuts from the likes of Matthew Dear, Carl Craig, Nôze and Aphex Twin. As the video below from Space Ibiza’s 25th birthday proves, you can expect the same ecstatic peaks and billowing atmospherics that make the live set so exhilarating.

Big Day Out 2011 tour dates:

Sun Jan 23 – Gold Coast Parklands
Wed Jan 26 – Sydney Showground
Sun Jan 30 – Melbourne, Flemington Racecourse
Fri Feb 4 – Adelaide Showground
Sun Feb 6 – Perth, Claremont Showground