Often on a Monday I tell you what I did over the weekend. Today I’m going to tell you what I DIDN’T do this weekend. I didn’t go to yesterday’s Big Day Out on the Gold Coast.
Here’s the story.
A friend of mine said, ooh, about 4 or 5 months ago, “Fancy going to Big Day Out?”
“What is it?” I said.
“It’s an all day music festival down on the Gold Coast” he said.
“Okay, I like music, let’s go!” I said.
Tickets were purchased online and a bunch of us were all set to go. As the event got closer and closer though, and as I learned more about it, the less I wanted to go. Tickets weren’t cheap either, $165 a pop, so I was in for $330 for just me and Mrs Bobinoz.
I think that’s a lot of money, especially if you compare it to Glastonbury which cost £205 (about $310 AUD) this year.
Glastonbury is a three day music event; last time I went there were something like seven different fields, three main stages, quite a few other minor stages and more bands and acts than you can wave a stick at.
I could have stayed there for three weeks and I wouldn’t have run out of new things to see and do. Camping was included in that price as well.
Big Day Out starts at 11 o’clock in the morning and finishes at 11 o’clock at night.
It doesn’t just take place at the Gold Coast either, the event is also being held (on different days) in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.
Back to the story.
Then, with just a couple of weeks to go before the event, somebody said to me “You do know it’s a field jampacked with 20-year-olds screaming and hollering and that it’s usually so hot that the organisers hose down the crowd en masse to keep them cool, don’t you?”
No, I didn’t.
To give you some idea of how this looks in real life, I found a video. This one minute 14 second presentation was all I needed to see to make me put my tickets on eBay.
I’m not knocking Big Day Out, but really, it’s not an event for someone of my age. 20 years ago…… all right, all right, 30 years ago, this would have been right up my street. But not now.
I need to warn anyone intending to watch this video that at some point a young lady bares her chest, as the video thumbnail is quite keen to show; another reason for me not to go, I mean, who needs that eh?
This then, is what I didn’t do at the weekend. By the way, this video is about Big Day Out 2013, not 2012 as the title mistakenly says…
No, instead of having a Big Day Out, we had a Quiet Night In. I put my slippers on and read a book, that sort of thing.
If you’re not a huge fan of any of the bands playing, you didn’t miss a thing. I never wanted to the Big Day Out before. This year was my debut. But only because Red Hot Chili Peppers , which I love and have never seen before, wouldn’t do any side shows. I don’t intend to go back. And you’re right. Lots of too young kids (the minimum age is 15!), and maybe, because the organisers know they’re dealing mostly with a young public, they don’t really care about the organisation. As a “plus” for this specific festival, it always happens on the hottest day of the year (as a matter of fact, Sydney registered its hottest day ever on the day). Overall, I did like it because I knew how to enjoy it: didn’t go too early, didn’t stay amidst of the crowd, drank plenty of water. And one of my favourite bands didn’t disappoint me either! Here is the festival review I did, if you wanna take a look 😉 http://www.thisaustralianlife.com/2013/01/big-day-out-2013-review.html
Well, no, I really didn’t fancy any of the bands there, so I was glad I dropped out. I read your review, very good, and you’ll be pleased that you saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Sydney’s Big Day Out and not the one on the Gold Coast, because according to my friend (who did go) the sound system/setup when they came on was so bad he is sure something was wrong.
He said it sounded absolutely awful, and he should know, he is in the music business. In the event, I quite enjoyed my Quiet Night In 🙂
Cheers
Bob