I hear footsteps in the dark when you hijack my heart

This is the short story of how I got my very first set list, which was the start of the fairly impressive collection that is continuing to expand. I was seeing Ladyhawke, the year was 2009 and the day was Halloween, a holiday that isn't really celebrated in New Zealand but it is still an excuse for normal people to do weird and freaky things. At this point in my life, I hadn't been to many concerts. The only musicians I had seen live were Alter Bridge, Disturbed, Iron Maiden and Eric Clapton (a pretty sweet list actually) but I was young and quite unfamiliar with the concert environment. That was all about to change on Halloween night though, I was breaking in some new shoes so my feet were killing me by the time we got to the venue. We got there after the doors had opened and ventured inside to see how many people had got there before us. A lot of people were inside the Powerstation but for some reason, there was not a single person on the floor in front of the stage. The audience was crowded together and pressed up against the walls, like there was an invisible barrier stopping them from getting too close to the stage. I guess every single person in the venue was just 'too cool' to be the first one on the floor. Being different is something that has never stopped me in the past so I just pushed my way through the cowardly crowd and walked out into the big, open space that was the stage floor. I walked straight up to the barrier and sat down against it, front row and centre. I was probably the 500th person to get to the venue but I had no problem getting front row, and it was my first time front row so I was pretty excited. It wasn't long after I claimed my spot that other people noticed and followed like sheep. I guess now that I was the 'uncool' one who was eager to get front row, it was okay for all them to move towards the stage without hurting their 'street cred'. A local band called Over The Atlantic opened and they sounded so much better live than they did on CD, there music was just so much more dynamic. Ladyhawke and her band came out next and they were all dressed like skeletons. It gave a very cool effect to their whole set, and the microphone stand wrapped in fairy lights helped too. I think it was her first headlining show in NZ since her debut album hit the charts, so it must have been a pretty big deal to her. The show went really well and she played her entire album with a couple of covers at the end. She seemed so adorable every time she shyly tanked the audience after a song, and she was even cuter when she confused some of the lyrics to My Delirium and looked so embarrassed, but she recovered really smoothly and it was a great song to end the night on. I was given the set list by one of the sound techs after the show and I had a really special item to remember the night by. That night is what began my obsession with doing whatever is necessary to get front row and grab a set list after the show. So here it is, my first set list:

Ladyhawke. 31/10/2009. The Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed

Big Day Out 2010 in Auckland city started off with a 3-way clash between some of my favourite New Zealand bands to this day, they were The Drab Doo-Riffs, Cairo Knife Fight and Popstrangers. They were all playing different stages at 11AM when the doors opened, and even though I am happy for those bands because they get to play BDO, I would hate to have to choose between them. The day got easier after that, I saw Temper Trap and Passion Pit on the Green/Converse stages then I headed over to the main stage to join the Mastodon moshpit. After that I went straight to the NZ stage where I saw Tainted, who were possibly one of the best acts I saw that day. They had really amazing energy and the security guards kept spraying us with a hose, which was felt absolutely magical after spending all day in the sun. Kasabian was rather uneventful and I spent the next few hours checking out the other bands around, like The Horrors, Ladyhawke, The Veils and The Decemberists. I saw Peaches the night before at her sideshow, so I didn't go see her again that day but I missed seeing Devendra Banhart and Dead Prez which I am quite gutted about. As the evening went on, I headed up to the stands of the main stage to watch the head lining acts. Dizzee Rascal isn't really my thing, but watching the crowd all jump in unison was kind of amazing, then Lily Allen played her set but her sound quality was rather poor. The Mars Volta were my favourite band to play that night, but I didn't get a great view of them performing. It was dark by now and Muse were taking the stage for the final show of the night. They brought their crazy laser display down here with them and put on a brilliant performance. Their setlist was fantastic and the entire night was a real spectacle. I didn't take many photos during the day because everything ended up blurry, but these are the ones that turned out alright:

Big Day Out. 15/01/2010. Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand.

Tainted

Dizzee Rascal

Lily Allen

The Mars Volta

Muse