we just got back from big day out at ericsson stadium. oh my god! all day music. what a long day. finally got to see system of a down live. in the fucking front of god knows how many thousands of people. awesome. i wanted to check out so many bands. i so wanted to fall in love with new bands, but they all sucked. system of a down was the best!!!

got there and watched 8 foot sativa. metal. they kick ass. maybe the second best performance of the whole big day out.

8 foot sativa (blue stage 11:15am-11:45am)

we then wandered to get some food and ate in the stands as the bleeders played. they sucked. 80s-babies-psuedo-punk-crap. you know, good charlotte type shit.

blue and orange stages overview during bleeders set

then steriogram went on. i was curious to hear them play, but they were annoying. when we couldn't stand it any longer, we wandered around checking out the place. there were markets, rides, and a bmx type show going on. it was a music festival and carnival. there was a hip-hop stage that we walked right past and a dance tent called the boiler room. we went in there for the shade. it was really, really hot and there were a lot of idiots who didn't use sunblock, even though it was on sale for only $2. there was a misting tent to cool down in but we never used it. there was a lot of free water from the staff spraying you, misting bottle giveaways, and places where you could refill your bottle with tap water or just cover yourself in it. needless to say, a lot of the walkways were flooded.

a little sideshow of a man hanging by hooks in his back muscles

some of the bands we were curious to see sounded so horrible from far away that we didn't bother to get closer. (i'm talking about you, deja voodoo!)

we saw a little bit of rise against, another punk outfit. sorry, the 70s stuff was the best. i knew that pluto would be soft rock/pop stuff so i thought that would be my chance to get some shade if was right up in front. i wasn't able to get a shaded spot, but i stuck through it and the next act on the adjoining stage, so that way i could scoot over and get a shaded spot for le tigre. the bands played on adjoining stages and would alternate between stages so there was very little down time, which was good.

pluto was so-so. i wouldn't buy their record. i could only tolerate them as an opening band for someone good.

pluto (essential stage 1:45pm-2:15pm)

we waited through the crappy phoenix foundation and then le tigre went on. i thought, is this what has become of riot grrrls? is this the great kathleen hanna of bikini kill, the feminist? she was a little dorky, ditsy, chewing gum sort of dark-haired valley girl kind of thing. i don't know how to describe it. but she was cute. they're the kind of act where you watch and wonder why the hell aren't you on stage--my acid/garageband shit is better than that. it really was just riot grrls + computer + bubble gum. but i liked how all the members would trade places with the instruments. one of my dream bands that i form in my head does that. they just got to work on the songs a bit more. i know le tigre has so much more in them than what they showed. everyone goes through a bubble gum phase i suppose.

le tigre (essential stage 2:45pm-3:30pm)

we went back to the stands at the main stage to catch powderfinger. they are huge in australia and i was really curious as to what they sound like. they are total shit. i don't know how they sold a single record outside family/friends. then scribe with p money went on. big rapper over here. huge. not my thing. next! the d4 went on. their single is "sake bomb" so the backdrop had in huge japanese letters, their attempt to spell "sake bomb". they were missing a stroke so they had "sake [letter that does not exist that should have been 'bo'] mu". they were crap so i didn't pay attention. we wandered over to the other side of the stands so that way we could slip into the crowd sometime during or after slipknot to make our way in for system.

i was completely prepared to fall in love with slipknot. i REALLY wanted to like them. of all the bands at big day out, by using a fans wearing t-shirt poll, they were by far the most popular band of the day. (the most popular band not performing using the fans wearing t-shirt poll was marilyn manson.) however, i must say that i was not impressed. just a bunch of beer-guzzling idiots whose only way to be hard and move the crowd is to say 'mother fucker' over and over. they've obviously spent too much time with max cavalera. the only one with talent was the drummer. the main drummer. not the marching band idiots. that joey guy can really drum. he's fast. love the double bass action and that he headbangs as he drums.

slipknot (orange stage 6pm-7pm)

we weaved through the crowd when slipknot was over to get in front for system. twiddle thumbs did not want to. she was afraid. she said new zealand never gets to see the big bands so it will get crazy. i said they're all sun-tired. the day is long and everyone's tired now. but they will be drunk. we had another thing on our side, the no mosh pit/crowd surfing rule. that really worked to our advantage. i dragged her to the front. we made it to second row. then we painstakingly waited through shihad, another band i really wanted to like but who completely sucked ass. is this even music? the singer was crazy, i'll give him that, but he kept saying how he wanted to see the pit go crazy for the next song and the song wasn't even pit material. i just didn't get it.

then the moment we had been waiting for: system of a down! they took the stage and blew us away. it was so crazy. i was headbanging and jumping up and down and screaming all the lyrics and just going completely mental, while trying not to lose my spot, stay hydrated, not get separated from twiddle thumbs, and keep twiddle thumbs safe and hydrated as well. oh, and take pictures to document the whole thing! i kept my hat and sunglasses on the whole time. didn't get knocked around. not bad at all! we missed the sunset as we were so busy rocking out to system. when they finished, it was quite dark.

system were so good. they sounded good. they looked good. i would cast all of them to play dracula, except for shavo. he can play renfield. they rocked the crowd. it was so awesome. squished amongst god knows how many thousands of people. fucking spectacular!

system of a down (orange stage 8pm-9pm)

after their set ended, we tried to get the attention of the roadies on stage but were unsuccessful. we really wanted a setlist, bad! finally one roadie took down a setlist and was going to hand it to some guys next to us but we were screaming, "please, we came from LA!!!" over and over again. it worked. we got the fucking setlist, mate. goddammmmmmittttt we did come all the way from LA. system! system!!!!

serj on the big screen

setlist:
prison song
suggestions
psycho
chop suey!
cigaro
aerials
needles
deer dance
forest
highway song
war?
kill rock n roll
toxicity
tentative
suite-pee
sugar

smiles galore as we see system live for the first time

after that, we went to the restroom to freshen up and walked across the field to get to the other side. the beastie boys were on as we did this. they were so fucking loud. i wanted to put my earplugs on just to walk across. by the time we made it to the merchandise stand, they had already played for 45 minutes. we got our system t-shirts, then sat down in the stands to listen to the beastie boys for 5 minutes and to catch our breath. then we headed for hatebreed.

we got there as dimmer were finishing. they went over their allotted time. i don't know if previous acts went over, causing them to go over. i completely missed regurgitator, which is something i would have liked not to miss. i have their first album and it is enjoyable, funny, funky. that last few minutes i heard of dimmer was all i needed. suck!

hatebreed was hard. but too distorted/muffled. the sound wasn't right. maybe too much like hardcore than the metal i can get into. they had a lot of energy. it just wasn't my thing. hey man, 'who's hosting headbanger's ball?', twiddle thumbs kept saying.

then the blues explosion went on. we had time for 1-2 songs before we had to walk back to catch the bus. i don't know much about them. i have 1 pussy galore cd. i like that blues explosion video they did with winona ryder. the 1-2 songs we heard didn't sound so good. i need to hear an album proper. as we walked, we could hear the chemical brothers.

what a day! what a night! system!

[update 1/23/05: 40,000 in attendance at big day out auckland.]