BIG DAY OUT 2000
Adelaide RA&HS Showgrounds
4 February, 2000
by Lorenzo Pizza

I got there at 2.10 and ran to see Magic Dirt. In the heat, Adalita rocked!! This woman has the devil in her! A wonderful Aussie band deserving of more JJJ support. A big two fingered devil salute goes out to Adalita and the band. ****

Next Beth Orton, haunting beautiful voice, lovely acoustic guitar, Beth did well playing in hottest part of the day but more suited to playing smaller intimate indoor venue. Beth was a welcome change to the rest of the day which usually involved men with loud guitars (or drum machines!). Both Beth and Adalita were on the smaller stage where one could actually get very close to the acts (unlike main stage!). ***1/2

Grinspoon, unimaginative, Helmet rip-off, serious lack of range and diversity (but the JJJ listening kids/sheep seemed to love it and sang along to every song....) *

Primal Scream, awesome, I've forgotten how good these guys are, diverse, passionate, loud, evil, everything a good band should be, very underrated, one of UK's finest at the moment, thank God Bobby Gillispie is still taking all those drugs! ****

Joey Strummer, return of the legend! Looking shall we say older than most people would remember!!, dressed in black, t-shirt, black jeans and black boots, backed admirably by the Mesarleros, he played the Clash favorites (London Calling, Whiteman Hammersmith, Rock the Casbah etc.) which was enjoyed by the older crowd as well as some solo stuff. This man has passion, credibility and skill to burn. However one cold not help thinking how wonderful it would have been to see the Clash in their youth. Nevertheless was wonderful to see one of the great artists/song writers of the 20th century. ****

Nine Inch Nails. What can one say about our Trent? He really needs to start replacing those negative thoughts! His set was brooding, intense and dark ( no surprises there!) with a sprinkling of songs from the new album and Downward Spiral. From a sound perspective, NIN are not a patch on the kings of hardcore industrial Ministry (who were wonderful in the '95 BDO) but still great to Trent and co. live ***

Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The headliners. These guys were pretty disappointing. Their current stuff are lame pop sings (bordering on embarrassing fluff)! Where is Keidis' sex obsessed rapping, Flea slapping that bass, the punk guitar etc. Keidis needs to grow that hair again, stop hanging around with Madonna and get the band focused again! They did play four tracks of Blood Sugar Sex Magik but they seem to be afraid of playing anything pre- Blood Sugar. Only positive was a short version of "Skinny Sweat Man in a Green Suit". The Chilies are getting dangerously close to a bloated rock parody. **1/2

Chemical Brothers. The masters of electronica played a visual and sonic assault! Playing a wonderful set which as expected drew mostly from Surrender and Dig Your Own Hole. ***

Unfortunately missed Foo Fighters, Blink 182, Spiderbait and Cruel Sea due to clashes. So much rock, so little time!

On a general sense, lack of cool band t-shirts being worn by people was disappointing. Some interesting fashions but this was mostly buried by the mass of unimaginative youth fashion sported by numerous posers/hangers on. And these days with the larger crowds, it is very difficult to get anywhere near the stage for the headliners which is disappointing. On a more positive note, thank the lord for water spray tents!

I hear Ken West said next years bill will have Prodigy (will be their 3rd BDO!) and Rammstein (gotta love those German accents). Whohoo! See you there next year!