One of my flat mates told me recently of her Big Day Out 2010 experience. The unfortunate scoundrel missed an entire evening of bands to queue to see Muse. She missed the Decemberists, Girl Talk, The Veils and countless others for this reason. An explanation is easy: a peek in her room betrays an entire shelf of Muse paraphernalia gleaming like hidden treasure: photos, signed EPs, B-sides, box sets, DVDs, documentaries, the whole shebang. Such an extensive range of collectors loot is a fine display of what, or who Muse have become.
When I first started listening to them, Muse were still playing the Green Stage, 3pm at Big Day Out. The music was so dense and intense, screaming some sort of manic paranoia which - at the age of seventeen - I felt a part of in some no doubt lame, cliche way. When I saw them in 2007 I witnessed one of the greatest sets of my life thus far, and of course that was the set that exploded them like a rash of teenage acne all over New Zealand. Another year of touring, a live DVD, another LP and by 2009 they're the worlds biggest band.
This is sort of cool, but it seems can contribute to a heartless live set. My poor flat mate missed half the day to see what she calls one of the biggest disappointments of her life. Despite the enormous screens, amazing special effects, and dream like light show, Muse were - when holding them to their own standards - flaccid. I thought while watching them that the spectacle was what so many bands in the past had striven to destroy: glorification of an act so enormous, that with each new fan the band become that much more tiny on stage. Musicians the size of pins, distant, unreachable, and totally without connection to their audience.
My friends and I danced along to some of our pastime favourites: Time is Running Out, Stockholm Syndrome, Starlight, Plug in Baby. But much like their new album The Resistance, the band now seem to be a mess of ideas and identities. To me, at Big Day Out this made them shallow.
It doesn't turn me off them however. It am not repulsed and repelled as I am to the new Kings of Leon records. I can still listen to Muse in moments of guilty pleasure and times when I secretly pop on Absolution to return to my teenage angst. The wonderful things the band have achieved in the past cannot be taken away from them... this applies to any band.
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I'll briefly comment my thoughts on the other acts I saw.
The Decemberists won the award for Most Charming Band of the day. They were simply wonderful. I don't like to enter the "crowd banter: good thing, bad thing?" debate , but on this occasion it was definitely a good thing. Colin Meloy was as lovely as his music. He thanked the audience for being so warm and receptive (one person had even prepared a banner with his face on it, asking for them to tour NZ) strangely admitting that he "wasn't sure anyone was going to turn up". They played a lot off the Crane Wife, a little off Picaresque and Her Majesty, and only 'The Rakes Song' off their latest (and quite sensational) release The Hazards of Love. During the final song, 'Chimbley Sweep', Meloy crouched around the stage going "sshhh ssshh" as the band all down around him. He approached the mic and went "shhh ... they're sleeping" and then proceeded to lure the entire audience down on their knees as well. The music started again, and grew, and climaxed as the crowd jumped to their feet dancing. It was a great set.
Girl Talk was pretty awesome. The only thing I have to say about him is if you want to know what he's like live listen to his albums. Or see the documentary RIP: A remix manifesto (damn good watch).
We watched thousands of hands move in unison to Dizzee, and impersonated Lily Allen from the stands. And I got to see the Mars Volta for the first time, which was long overdue. I have always struggled to get them. Every time I think I've got a grasp they slip out of my clutches. But seeing them live was much like the Horrors experience - I understood the band a little better. Plus yaknow ... they're fucking amazing live.
After Muse we sat in the grass by the Green Stage (a BDO tradition for me after the headliner has played) and listened to Fear Factory and ate some weird flavoured ice shit.
BDO isn't the horrible commercial event it is made out to be. Ok well yeah maybe it is commercial, but that shouldn't discredit the experience. I hope my rambling recollections of the day have shed some light on that fact. It is, in Auckland anyway, a really lovely peaceful day which is about the music as much as it is just about chilling out and enjoying the sun. The lineup may not be amazing every year, but I think every year it is worth the trip north ... if just to get away and listen to some tunes with your friends.
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