OK

I know what you're all thinking... how was your day at the Big Day Out, Rowan? Who was the best acts? Well to put you out of your misery here is the lowdown:

Local Adelaide acts that noone cares about:
'Former Child Stars' and 'Leader Cheetah'. I had seen the latter at the Dinosaur Jr gig so knew just how devastating their riffs could be, however nothing could have prepared me for the Child Stars. Boasting a dude that looks like a chick on bass and a bunch of smiles that said "I enjoy life" (which is seldom worn by the 'cool' bands) they redefined what it means to be from Adelaide and also musically talented (I am both).

Not local Adelaide bands that everyone cares about:
Except for Gyroscope who are from Perth so noone cares about, who were way too hardcore for me anyway, so I pretended to have a distaste for society as I casually walked past and heard the only 2 songs I know...on my way to the Midnight Juggernaughts. They are pretty cool for a repetitive dance music type band. Luckily for me I was at my peak and so could bust all my trademark moves (e.g. the dice throw, the "where's my phone?", the helicopter, the ascension into heaven, the "I'm suddenly blind!") much to the delight of surrounding audience members. I decided to quit while I was ahead and risked a $5 dagwood dog.

On that note,beer (cans of teds) was $6 a pop!! They trick you into the coupon buisness so it doesn't seem like so much (its only 2 coupons!). Daylight robbery!! The nerve of profit seeking organisations these days!

I went to the hoods next,being local crowd and all, and secured a spot in the 3rd row (center). While we were waiting for Suffer, Pressure and DJ Debris to get the OK we listened to Regurgitator. I secretly wanted to see them, but, since all the impatient people around me started to bag them I felt strongly obliged to join in with witty remarks such as "Losertator" and "Regur....gi....losers!" Naturally the Hilltops pulled out all the stops with a high energy rhym-o-rama. I got crushed by all the homies wanting to get to the front row. After the show I took a spell in the "mid strength bar" (it actually exists) and traded war stories with a poor guy who accidently spilled a luke-warm milk on himself the previous night.

I returned to see Arcade Fire who were a bit of a let down, especially after the Hoods who gave twice as much energy from less than 1/3 as many people. Humming is OK in small doses but Arcade Fire became obsessed and thus led to their own demise (in my reviewing world). I swiftly evaded the Silverchair hooligans who filed out of the "almost mid-strength bar" and caught up with an old school friend whos conversation came almost as freely as the iced tea samples she was dispensing to me.

The time passed quickly and I was back for the ever-so-mysterious Bjork. Her vocal chords were fine. She told us she just didn't want to play in Sydney because it sucks. She said Radelaide is way cooler. She also had a dude in her band whos sole purpose, it seemed, was to play video games on camera. This did not distract me from the fact she sounded pretty similar to how she does on her recordings. Also seeing her in real life (suprisingly) did nothing for me. She had a kick ass keyboardest who could play Mozart in his sleep with 1 hand. He carried her for 50 mins in my humble opinion which noone ever agrees with.

Casually strolled over to Rage Against the Machine. Massive. There was some very angry people there who had beef with the police. Rage were rediculously good. Couldn't believe how solid they sounded with a guitar a bass and drums. Mr Rocha made a big political speech which noone could understand. I think it went along the lines of:

"I don't say George Bush should be taken out of office. I say the whole Bush Administration should be crushed." - See how he turned that around? also:

"Do you think they are scared of 4 musicions on a stage? Nope. They are scared of whats going on in the streets! They are scared of you! All the guns and money in the world doesn't mean nothing if you don't let it. It's up to you. Wake up!"

Needless to say everyone in the audience felt pretty tough and was a contributing factor to why they recieved Rowan's 'Best of the Day' Award!. About 100000x better than last years headline act, the aptly named "Tool" who couldn't even face the audience!

Good times. Not quite as good as last years but Rage were so good. I caught the end of uncle Paul's show but try as I might I couldn't get into him after Rage.