As we fall into sequence

This years Big Day Out really lived up to its name. I took the train and arrived at the venue around 10 o'clock, I had to make sure I was there early because one of my favourite bands were playing in the opening slot. Street Chant took the stage at 10:30AM which is exactly when I got through the gates and ran to the barrier, so I could rock out to my favourite NZ band. They played a great set and I even made 3 news that night as one of the crazys who was rocking out first thing in the morning. I stayed at the Green/Converse stage for a while after that but I was only interested in every second band. That didn't bother me too much though because it meant I got to stay against the barrier on the Converse stage and just wait for the bands to come to me (while I tried to pretend I couldn't hear the awful bands playing on the Green stage. Next band to play was Die! Die! Die! and they had a really extreme set with a lot of crazy fan participation. Later, the Greenhornes played and I'm not a huge fan of theirs but I am a giant Dead Weather fan, so there is no way I could pass up seeing little Jack. During that time, I missed seeing Drab Doo-Riffs on the Lilyworld stage, but I will see them plently more around Auckland in the future, so it is okay. I made my first trip to the main stages after that, Airbourne were playing their hearts out and Joel O'Keeffe climbed the stage structure to thrash his guitar high above the ground. I headed over to the Boiler Room next to see CSS, they played a really fun and energetic show. For the rest of the afternoon, I was running between stages seeing the likes of Lupe Fiasco and Wolfmother, until it was time to go see one of the main events (in my opinion), Crystal Castles. The only problem was that Alice was in a leg cast, so their performance wasn't the best it could've been. They still played some of my favourite songs but they cut their set short in the end, I am just hoping that they will come back to NZ one day so I can see a proper show filled with Alice insanity. Shihad were playing their General Electric album on the main stage and they are always a classic NZ BDO band. I started moving away before Shihad were finished though because I wanted to get a really good spot for the next band, Iggy and the Stooges. Despite only playing at 7PM, Iggy was the highlight of the night. His set was an example that the raw power of rock and roll never dies. It started to rain during his set and I got completely soaked but I didn't care at the time. I ran over to the Green Stage in an attempt to keep warm, I got there just in time to catch the end of local band, The Naked & Famous. Sia played right after and it was such an awesome show. She was dressed in this big box with stripes painted in it and then her body was painting in the same stripes, so she looked like a chameleon trying to blend in with her background. Her performance was very sweet and adorable, especially considering it was happening while Rammstein were playing on the main stage. It was now very dark and I was extremely wet and cold, but there was still one band to see. I headed over to the main stage to witness Tool, but I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Not much happened and they didn't even play my favourite song, Parabola. At this point, I was freezing cold so I started to make my way out of the venue and towards the trains, where I could find some warmth and dry clothes when I got home. I don't have any photos from the later bands, but here are some of the best of the earlier bands:

Big Day Out 2011. 21/01/2011. Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand

Street Chant

Die! Die! Die!

The Greenhornes

Airbourne

Wolfmother

Shihad