Of Fire and Spirals: Big Day Out Perth 2011
Prelude
Touching down in Perth at about 40 mins to midnight on February 4 with a bad sinus irritation and Skylar, I wasn't really in the best shape for a day out in the sun and sweat. But for the sake of catching several top tier bands perform at a music festival for the first time, I just had to push on and consume as much paracetamol as possible.
Amanda "fucking" Palmer's secret Perth show
Enough about how I felt, the trip to Perth was a very fruitful one as Amanda Palmer sneaked a ninja gig the night before BDO, Adam Jones crashed into my goth shopping trip with Skylar and I get to catch 2 bands that I really love in a single day.
I'll start with the Amanda Palmer secret show at Perth's Cultural Center. Freezing my balls, ass and everything for an hour before she arrived to the little man-made pond with 4 additional members. "Are you guys waiting for Amanda Palmer too?" she asked the hopeful fans sitting around the show area before she made her way down to the "stage".
I am not really a Dresden Dolls fan, let alone listened to any Amanda Palmer music, but I have to say she really does put in alot of effort to entertain the fans even if it's an unpaid show. Based on that night, she's a true performer with overflowing charisma that I could ever dream to have. Armed with just a ukelele and a few percussive instruments, she made an otherwise empty setting into a lively area of performance and music.
We managed to capture some photos and a video of her performance that night, though the quality soundwise might be a little low due to the unorthodox location of the performance (right beside the Fringe World stage, that had a myriad of bands and performers doing their own thing).
At the end of the whole performance, Amanda invited everyone to purchase her latest EP which costs only 69c off of her website and to take a few photos with her and her friends but as for me, I was already rushing back to the confines of my bunking. Reason being, the night was too cold and I had little to warm myself with. Makes me wonder how Amanda was able to keep going with just a bustier and bra on. Respect!
Big Day Out Perth 2011
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| Right: Orange Stage, Left: Blue Stage |
Waking up feeling less than ready for a day of frolicking around and headbanging to my favourite bands, we reached Claremont Showgrounds at about 12.40pm, the place was filled with music and people. Given a free energy drink that tasted nothing like an energy drink, we moved into the Blue and Orange stage areas in search of the Merch stand.
The merch stand had a variety of hoodies, t-shirts, caps from most of the bands that were performing that day. Prices ranged around AUS$80 - $30. Got myself a Tool t-shirt and off we went to catch the band that was performing at the Orange Stage.
Dead Letter Circus 12.30-1.20pm (Orange Stage)
Dead Letter Circus, an alternative rock band hailing from Brisbane, was performing on stage. Eventhough we've never heard of their music before, the guitar riffs and crashing of the drums was enough to take more than a little glance at the band. Band's main vocalist, Kim Benzie reminds me alot of Richard Patrick (Filter) by way of body structure. High-pitched wailing with cleverly constructed musical parts and a really tight live set up, Dead Letter Circus is definitely a band to check out if you're looking for new poison for your eardrums.
Click
here to listen to Dead Letter Circus.
Airbourne 1.20-2.10pm (Blue Stage)
Taking the Blue Stage right after Dead Letter Circus, Airbourne wastes little to introduction and jumps straight to their anthemic rock music to pull in the crowd. Not letting such an opportunity of catching one of the most electrifying rock n' roll bands in action slide, I moved to the Blue stage and was really impressed by Joel's unlimited energy throughout their 50 minute set. Midway through their set, Joel climbed the rafters to take his spot at the top to play a guitar solo. At about 6-7 storeys above ground, he plays his solo to the cheers of
his fans.
After ending his feat of bravery for rock n' roll, Joel climbs down and proceeds to open cans of beer...by smashing them on his head. Fizz and sweat, these cans were thrown to the outreached hands of Airbourne's fans. As exciting as their set was, the crowd was not as huge as when the next act took the Orange stage. Respect to Joel for putting up a hell of a show for the lucky fans and bystanders that actually gave Airbourne a chance to fire up BDO 2011.
Lupe Fiasco 2.10-3.00pm (Orange Stage)
With a kickass band to back him up, Lupe had control of the huge crowd of jumping, kissing, making out, grinding, bopping, pushing pre-adolescent fans who went crazy for each song he churns out, especially when he took out his shirt. Apologies to all Lupe fans for my complete ignorance to the music that he makes, but all I could think of was to get to the front of the Orange stage by the end of his set, to be in front when Deftones takes the stage at 3.50pm in the fucking scorching afternoon.
Bliss n Eso (3.00-3.50pm (Blue Stage)
Apologies to all Bliss n Eso fans too, I couldn't care less to pay attention to their music other than to listen to the sick DJ scratch breakdown that they had in the middle of their set. The rest was just filled with "DEEEEEFFFTOOOOOONEEES, DEEEEEFFFFFTOOOOOONES" chanting coming from the Orange Stage.
Deftones 3.50-4.40pm (Orange Stage)
The first out of three most anticipated bands of the day for Puresinner. Deftones came on stage with new bassist Sergio Vega, whom does a good job filling in for Chi Cheng. He even heard a fan shouting at him "Where's Chi?". From his lips movement (too loud, couldn't hear his voice), he mentioned "He's getting better." Breaking out with hits from older albums and a few from the latest album, Diamond Eyes, fans were mesmerised by the on-pitch Chino vocals and intense guitar parts that Stef can never fail to deliver.
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| Chino making fans go wild |
After a number of songs in, Chino came down from the stage and sang with the crowd. Girls went crazy as they wanted to get their hands on Chino, while the guys rushed forward to get a chance to sing on the mic. Great showmanship never fails to make a simple, no-prop rock show interesting.
Donning shades and armed with his guitar for slower tunes, Chino was really at his best performing level. I have no negative issues to point out from the Deftones set. Crowd was good, sound was amazing, nothing disappointed. Now comes the long (or so we thought) wait for the main bands of the day, Rammstein and Tool.
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| "The Passenger" featuring Kim from Dead Letter Circus |
Birds of Tokyo 4.40-5.30pm (Blue Stage)
Sorry for the fans of Birds of Tokyo, I stayed at the Orange stage for this one. So I didn't get a chance to hear what kind of music or were they good.
John Butler Trio 5.30-6.30pm (Orange Stage)
Never listened to them before, but being at the front for their set makes me realise that this trio is an amazingly talented group. John Butler kicking out jams on acoustic guitars (note: acoustic guitars) that would make electric guitar musicians just cower and cry (caught Rammstein's Richard Z admiring John Butler's solo playing at one point), while Byron Luiters handles the lower end of things with his double bass and electric bass guitars and Nicky Bomba belting out delectable drumbeats.
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| Richard Z. Kruspe of Rammstein watching JBT |
Hailing from Fremantle initially, the support was pretty big and I have to admit that John and the band deserves every bit of it. Not really huge on stage presence as most of the members are doubling up as backing vocals while John handles the main bulk of singing. Their live set never failed to entertain through the basis of any music performance, which is the music. Huge respect to the John Butler Trio, I will be looking forward to discovering more of their music.
Iggy Pop and The Stooges 6.30-7.30pm (Blue Stage)
Amazing how this 63 year old man could still prance around and spit at cameras whenever he wants. He's 63! Most 63 year olds usually tone down their performances when they grow older, but not for this godfather of punk. He went all out, though the Rammstein crowd from where I was waiting were getting really impatient to get him off the stage and catching their German Sextet earlier. Respect for Iggy Pop, legendary in both the punk scene and the physical fitness scene (if there is one).
Rammstein 7.30-8.30pm (Orange Stage)
Here they are, German and proud as they flew Germany's flag while Till sung the opening lines for "Rammleid". Epic and huge, Rammstein blasted hits from old albums as well as from the latest album. Guitar riffs smashed faces in, fireworks nearly made our ears bleed, fire that scorched those that were standing right in front of the stage and stage theatrics that never fails to entertain the fans.
Big negative point would be the incessant push from the back trying to get to the barricade. Those guys need to relax, cause the view from the barricade is as good as when you're about 2 spaces back. Really bad group of fans, rowdy and unreasonable. I know it's Rammstein, I know it's heavy and hard-hitting music, but that doesn't mean you should kick the person whose already gotten the front row. Just stand where you are, you aren't that far from the barricade if you've actually used your brains.
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| Till The Chef cooking Flake |
Ok, enough ranting. Rammstein was brilliant! Tight on stage, sounds just like their album, maybe better due to the extended parts and Till actually getting better at singing and burning fans (yes, he did!). Sonne, Benzin, Ich Will, Waidmann's Heil, Rammleid, Du Riecht So Gut, Feuer Frei!, Mein Teil, Weiner Blut, Links 2-3-4, Keine Lust and Pussy were played. All hits, for 60 minutes. Intense and bone crushing. Rammstein is a band that you MUST experience at least once in your lifetime (that's if you're into heavy music).
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| Feuer Frei! |
At the end of their last song, Pussy, with Till saddling a huge cannon spewing white foam, Till invited the whole band to stand at the front of the stage and he thanked the fans.
Le Chant de Sirenes (15 minutes of the sirens sounding between Rammstein and Tool)
During this time, I was making my way to the Blue stage to catch the band that was the main reason I flew to Perth.
Tool 8.45-10.00pm (Blue Stage)
Before writing anything else, this is the setlist:
1. Leary Speech/Jambi
2. The Pot
3. Vicarious
4. 46&2
5. Eon Blue Apocalypse/The Patient (YEAH!)
6. Flood
7. Schism (ext)
8. Lateralus (ext.)
9. Ænema
10. Stinkfist
Entering the stage with a huge martini glass, Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor and Maynard J. Keenan took their more than familiar spots on stage and the show was on. Before they came on stage, the Timothy Leary speech made me anticipate Third Eye as an opener (and that would be amazing), but alas, Jambi was played instead.
It was an awesome visual and aural experience from start to end as Adam Jones fed off the basslines from Justin and Danny Carey spoiling everyone's headbanging moments each time with his off-kilter drumbeats. One problem though, I could not hear Maynard most of the time from where I was standing (and it wasn't even that far from the stage). That would be the only problem and disappointment for the whole live set.
The whole time, I was just standing there in awe as I absorbed every single laser, flash of light and musical note that Tool delivered. It was then that I realised that Tool is definitely an experience to watch live and thus, that gives weight to their reasons for not making a live DVD after so long. I just stood there rooted, it was beautiful.
Extended Schism was amazing, but the true mind blowing moment was Lateralus. Extended with a new riff from Adam Jones that has never been played before for other extended Lateralus in the past, I just hope that is part of a new song they're developing. Danny Carey was spot on for each and every track, it's amazing to watch him drum with extreme precision though Maynard only awarded him a 62 for his drumming on the extended part of Lateralus.
At the end of the whole set, Maynard mentioned "..because this is the last big day out, I am going to do something out of character, and smoke a cigar." and he lit up a cigar and smoked it. Very out of character as Maynard has been known to be against smoking. Oh well, it WAS the last day of the BDO tour for them.
P.S Sorry, we didn't get alot of photos for Tool as my camera's battery depleted.
End of BDO 2011
Experiencing several bands that I've always wanted to catch live was amazing, though my body was beat and I was really tired from the lack of sleep from the night prior to BDO, I could never forget catching Rammstein and Tool on the same day.
Hope you've enjoyed my recollection of Puresinner's trip to Perth to be a part of BDO 2011. More photos are available for viewing on our flikr website. Next up would be Deftones Live In Singapore!
*We are a non-profitable organization who funds our own equipments including cameras used for events, thus low resolution photography might be encountered from time to time.
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