Gerling was the first act we caught, and there were more and more people arriving to see them. They were good, lively at the least, and jumping around with those now-common backpacks on. For "Enter Space Capsule" they invited about 15 people up on stage for some dancing. I recognised some of them from Homebake. Space Capsule had some technical problems, and after about 4 starts, the mixer/electronic machine thingy was finally working right, and everyone was jumping around and having a great time. They had a special guest for Ghost Patrol, an asian girl around 13 or so? She really didn't do justice for the song, but it was still entertaining.

We took time out then to check out merchandise and things, and came right back for Shihad. They pulled in quite a crowd considering they had to fill the time slot of Frenzal, which'd be tough for anyone! Shihad were great live, I didn't catch them at Homebake, so I'm glad I got to see these NZ boys at BDO. They played heaps of familiar tunes (Thin White Line, Genera l Electric, etc etc) and we saw Merrick and Rosso towards the end of the set, on the side of the stage, appreciating the Shihad tunes.

Yothu Yindi were on next (What were they doing on the main stage??) so we took some time to sit down. We saw Scott (double-bass) from The Living End walk right past us a couple of times, and he stood a few people away from us. We would have talked to him, but it was nearly time for Blink, and we had to get a good spot.

We were at the side of the mosh, and Blink 182 started with a song, which Merrick and Rosso played on JJJ for a while there, and they called it the "Pony" song. (It's nearly all swearing, so Mez and Rosso dubbed the swear words with "pony"). Blink were good live, I think their NZ jokes and little antics about Tom's dad being a child-molester or something, kept them interesting. They "found" a watch on stage, and said whoever owns this expensive watch, just go to the lost and found section after the show to pick it up, and then Mark smashed it on stage. Most people went crazy for the songs they knew, particularly Damnit, All The Small Things, Dumpweed, Don't Leave Me and What's My Age Again.

Jebadiah came on next in very 80's-looking sports-ski tracksuits (the shiny material kind). Everyone went off for the new and old songs (Animal, Harpoon, Leaving Home, etc) Kev managed to slip in their version of Limp Bizkit's Nookie during Leaving Home and they pleased the crowd with that one. Jebs were, as expected, great!

Grinspoon were on next, but we've seen them a couple of times before, so it was get-a-drink and have-a-rest time. We saw most of Grinspoon from the big screen, and watched the Triple J hottest 100 countdown at the same time.

Spiderbait went off, despite how much the drunk guy next to me was bagging them out. Kram kept things lively by running around, getting the crowd to cheer and keeping the songs coming. They played a lot of old stuff, I noticed, but also played the popular ones (Calypso, Buy Me A Pony, Plastic, Shazam, Glockenpop, Dinnertime etc) Kram took time out to crowdsurf at one stage, and as he was climbing back on stage, a security guard pulled him back down and looked like he was going to start a fight with Kram. After a minute or so, Kram climbed back on stage and the security guard took a bow (turns out he must have thought Kram was a punter, trying to get onstage).

The much-anticipated Foo Fighters were on next, and started with Monkey Wrench. I don't know who was in charge of the sound, but they definately forgot to crank it for Foo Fighters. Everyone towards the back was yelling "turn it up!" and half-way through that first song the sound kicked in (although it still wasn't loud enough) and everyone cheered. I couldn't see much of the Foo Fighters, seeing as we ended up towards the back, but from what I can see they were alright. I don't know what Dave was saying about the security guards, but I'm sure it was in reference to the guy that managed to get himself on stage. I think the Foo Fighters weren't as great as I was hoping, but they were still good. They rocked with Moneky Wrench, Big Me, Hey Johnny Park, Generator, Stacked Actors etc.

NIN were up next, but we didn't really know too many songs by them, so we took time out again for food and drinks. When we came back their set was nearly over, the stadium was absolutely packed, and you could tell NIN were most people's favourites, the mosh was absolutely huge, and a lot of people had the lighters going.

Red Hot Chili Peppers were next on, and while the crowd waited, a mexican wave started and went right round the stadium. That was repeated around 5 times, and it got everyone physched up.

I only got to see half of the RHCP's set, but they were definately one of the highlights. So many people were there to see them, and they started with Around the World. They played a range of the old and new stuff (Suck My Kiss, Give It Away, Scar Tissue etc). They stoppd playing for about 10 minutes because of the violence in the front of the mosh. That made the crowd start chanting and clapping for them, so once they started up again, everyone was more-than-pleased. They put on a GREAT live show, and were worth the wait.

Off to the Boiler Room for the Chemical Brothers, who everyone said totally rocked. They started with Hey Boy, Hey Girl went into Block Rocking Beats and went from there. The Boiler Room was so packed, they stopped letting people in, so most people were found outside, in front of the video-screen, dancing to the tunes, with the light rain cooling them down.

The trains were surprisingly good (on time), the food could have been better, the humidity could have been lower, the sound for Foo Fighters could have been louder and drinks could have been cheaper, but all in all Sydney Big Day Out rocked.