My
excitement for January 17th woke me at 6.30am with hours to spare until I
entered through the gates of Western Springs park and became engrossed with the
music festival vibes. It's been two years since the last Auckland Big Day
Out that struggled with slow ticket sales and financial issues. I reckon the
short hiatus allowed renewal of public interest for BDO 2014 and in addition promoters organised a lineup aimed to bring back BDO with a splash. This was my first BDO as I haven't been old enough for the previous years and therefore I saw BDO as a "coming-of-age" moment.
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| Mac Miller |
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| The 1975 |
The warm stench of marijuana dominated the atmosphere while the heat gradually became unbearable as the day aged and the alcohol kicked into our system. Out of my friends, I was practically the only one with the urge to dance that I could not control, which did not benefit my over-heating either. The first act we watched was the 1975, a UK "alternative/indie rock band" (according to wikipedia), play their songs infused with catchy rhythms and guitar riffs about Sex, Girls and Chocolate. Mac Miller was next on the same stage 45 minutes after the 1975 and a larger audience began to accumulate as the 1975 left the stage. I was willing to sneak my way to the front even if it meant losing my friends. I befriended the people around me instead and I noticed a lot of them were from Napier - does that say something about Mac's demographic? This really lovely girl called Jess (I think) even asked for my details so she could invite me to her St Patrick's day party on Remuera road after she had sprayed vodka in my mouth from a sunscreen bottle. Its strange how you could build a small community from the mutual love for the music and artist. Mac rushed onto the stage and opened with Gees as he amped the teenage crowd. His high energy set and pink hair caused him to perspire pink sweat but his coolness was still intact as he obviously did not "give a fuck". He performed a good mixture of his new songs and songs that shot him to fame. OK, Watching Movies and S.D.S were my highlights of his performance but OK would have been even more awesome if Tyler, the Creator somehow materialised on stage. However I did see Diplo and Lorde side of stage together during Mac's performance and I'll also add that Mac gave me some intense eye contact. After this I spent the remaining time until Arcade Fire looking for my friends, which was stressful and a lot more difficult than I expected since reception was unproductive. This procedure repeated various times until I just gave up and enjoyed the music by myself (or with girls from my old school who I haven't talked to in a while). Although later in the night, I found a friend and I'm grateful that he received and replied to my texts because imagine what could have happened at the end of the night if I was still alone.
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| Arcade Fire |
I've never been so entranced by a live performance before I saw Arcade Fire. They were - hands down - my favourite performance of the night and possibly of my life (so far). I only knew three of their songs (Afterlife, Reflektor and The Suburbs) and I did not have any expectations of them before I went to the front. It was a lot easier to get to the front compared to other acts because the audience was older and much more understanding of my lack of height. I was instantly captivated by Win Butler's haunting voice and the violin's high pitched drones as they began with Ready to Start. Their passion, integrity and creativity shone like beams of inspiration to me. They looked like they were truly enjoying themselves as they were immersed in the music like genuine musicians and performers. Knowing only three Arcade Fire songs did not disadvantage my experience at all and it was possibly better if I didn't know all their songs because it was quite magical listening to the songs for the first time in this environment. I realised I had under-estimated the Haitian rhythms as it encouraged uncontrollable hip movement with more power than Major Lazer's dance music (in my opinion). Here Comes The Night Time put me in disbelief as I didn't think a song could move effortlessly between rock and dance rhythms as well as the dark tones of a minor key and the cheerfulness of a major key. The launching of the silver and white confetti added to the whimsical ambiance as I felt as if I were in a giant snow globe. I'm glad that I didn't know anyone around me and I was able to enjoy Arcade Fire alone because that allowed me to dance "like no one was watching" and reach the full potential of my experience. I judge a good concert by whether I feel inspired at the end and Arcade Fire definitely left an imprint on me.
To help you imagine what I was experiencing, heres Arcade Fire's BDO setlist:
I had an insane amount of fun that I hope to re-live again next year at Big Day Out 2015 and I predict they will have even better acts. By the end of January 17th, an eventful and exciting day, I had realised that I had so much of a good time that I forgot to return my library books that were due on that day.
- freak out
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