My Big Day Out

For those who do not know what the The Big Day Out is, it is an annual music festival  held late January around Australia and New Zealand, there is usually 1 headline act with a few well know bands and a lot of alternative bands. 
http://goldcoast.bigdayout.com/ 

This years headline act is the Red Hot Chili Peppers.....I am a huge fan and have been for years, I listen to the music, read the books, follow the blogs and often Google for random information. 

I have never had the opportunity to see them live in concert, when I missed the tour in 2007. I decided 'next time nothing was going to stop me'. So this old lady went to BDO with Daughter #1. HWMBO would have hated it.

It has been a hundred years (ok 25) since I have been to big festival and this was a festival on steroids, 40 000 people, most of them aged between 17 - 25  wearing as little a possible, shorts so short they could have been underwear, bikini tops and singlets for the girls. The boys preferred either no shirt or ripped singlets.

There was a cacophony of sounds to assault the ears when we entered the grounds, rap music, techno, alternative music and some mainstream. There was beautiful food smells making the choice for lunch difficult. Everything for deep fried carnival food to gourmet tapas and burgers. Bars were plenty full and water was free, we munched our way around the stages and market stalls enjoying the atmosphere, watching the people and enjoying the random water cannons cooling us down.

4 hours before The Red Hot Chili Peppers were due to start we went to suss out the stage....a crowd was already starting to form so we found a spot and decided to stay, our water bottles were full, the ground was the perfect place to sit. I suffered though a few bands I have never heard of....2 that I would prefer never to hear again. 

The crowd is building and space is getting limited. I gave up stopping people from pushing in and went with the flow. 2 hours before kick off there was a surge of people all wanting to be at the front. I was pushed, shoved, trod and and generally just smooshed. Daughter #1 and I held on to each other and supported ourselves on the guys closest to us. *** thanks to the surfer dude and his mates who kept us on our feet and let me keep a death grip on his arm*** once I realized there was no way I could fall because there was bodies pressed on all sides of me, I planted my feet and went with the flow.


The Killers played before RHCP, surprising me by how much I knew and how much I liked them. The had an amazing light show, glitter cannons and fireworks at the end, I was a little distracted during The Killers set watching the stage being set for the MAIN EVENT, I love watching the riggers climb the ladders to reset the lights, then 12 crew shimmied up for the follow spots. I was getting so excited I felt like a 12 year old waiting to see Justin Beiber.

I expected another crush of people before RHCP started and was surprised when it didn't happen...although I don't think anyone could have moved if they tried we were that jam packed.


The crowd went wild when the band came on stage and to my amazement there was room to breath, it was like a massive sigh and everyone relaxed and tension left the mosh pit. I had room to jump and wave my hands in the air. I sang on the top of my voice, screamed at the top of my lungs and behaved like the 12 year old in me. This is what I waited 4 hours for (and most of my life), it was soooooo worth it.


I had a point and shoot camera with a battery going flat....I am super pleased with the photos I got.

count the heads in front of me.....sooooo close

The experience was incredible, I can honestly say I will never go to The Big Day Out again.....I will never go into another mosh pit again.....but given the chance to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers again live. I am there with bells on.


Being in the right place at the right time, I managed to get a copy of the play list. Hand written by Anthony Kiedis.

After a 2 hour trip home, I was so ready for a shower, my sense of smell had come back and I stank. When washing my feet it took me a while to understand that the stubborn dirt was not dirt at all, it was bruising....