Taking the stage at Big Day Out

Thirteen years ago I walked away from my first Big Day Out with a pearler of a black eye after kneeing myself in the face. I’d been crowdsurfing and fallen into a hole in the moshpit during local Christian nu-metal Wash.

That day I’d also been gifted my first cigarette. A kind man in a wheelchair handed it to me while waiting for Mudvayne to start playing.

During Limp Bizkit’s set I’d been crushed in the mass of bodies in front of the stage and crowdsurfed to safety.

I’d just turned 14 and the day was unfathomably awesome.

Fast-forwarding to this year, my band, Villainy, was offered the chance to take the stage at the festival. Having been brought up watching the show, getting up and actually being the show is an interesting jump. It’s one of the curious realities of being a musician.

I asked some of my bandmates and the other local openers from this year’s Big Day Out – Clap Clap Riot, Beastwars and Randa – about their first Big Day Outs.

Interviewees in order of appearance: James Dylan/Neill Fraser (Villainy), Tristan Colenso/Stephen Heard/Dave Rowlands (CCR), Mainard Larkin (Randa), Nathan Hickey (Beastwars).

PICKING THE SET

After the initial freakout of being told my band has been confirmed for the Big Day Out, the work actually starts. Sorting out crew, working out if we have money for fireworks (we don’t) and, most importantly, choosing what we’re going to play and also how we’re going to play it. 

In general, putting together a setlist is akin to making a mixtape for someone. You have to set the scene (perhaps something brooding with an intriguing introduction, to lure people in), work out when to play your heaviest tracks (not too early to frighten people away, but not so late that people who want to cut loose have to hold back), and how to space out your radio singles in order to keep people who haven’t heard the album engaged.

The nature of a festival situation like Big Day Out means that there’s a much greater contingent of people wandering around experiencing the day, so it's important to try be as engaging as possible to attract these undecided voters. And you also have to bear in mind the needs of the die-hard fans in the front row who politely heckle for album B-sides.

Interviewees in order of appearance: Nathan Hickey (Beastwars), Mainard Larkin (Randa),  James Dylan/Dave Johnston/Neill Fraser (Villainy).

UNDER THE MIDDAY SUN

Playing the Big Day Out is a different beast to your classic pub show, not just because there are more people. You also have to be capable of playing without the luxury of a long soundcheck.

And when you’re opening you’re performing under the midday sun. You can’t rely on lighting to make you look cool and you’ve also got to make some sweet homemade sun protectors to enable you to see your tuner in the glare.

The other thing you have to contend with are certain audience members that actively try to lock eyes with you. It’s disconcerting at first, but eventually it’s a good way of making lifelong friends.

Interviewees in order of appearance: Nathan Hickey (Beastwars), Neill Fraser (Villainy), Stephen Heard/Dave Rowlands/Tristan Colenso (Clap Clap Riot), James Dylan (Villainy).

UNSUNG HEROES

There are a lot of little technical details that need to be kept in mind – making sure all aspects of the electronics are working, the wireless systems are functioning and that all the borrowed gear is actually going.

As such, working with highly trained musical technicians takes a massive weight off. It makes it possible to focus on the performance aspects leaving most of the worries about the show to someone else – and it also means that you’ve got someone to follow you around the stage if you climb something and get stuck. And to get you some water. 

Interviewees in order of appearance: Neill Fraser (Villainy), Rowan Johnston (Ladi 6/Villainy tech).

PRE-SHOW ACCIDENTS

About two weeks before we were due to play, I started being very careful in the kitchen after I sliced three fingers on my right hand over-zealously julienning a cucumber with our new mandoline, and my first thought was, “I hope this heals for Big Day Out because it’s going to get quite annoyingly sore.” My situation was slightly less serious than Tristan (you’ll hear him referred to here as Hemi) from Clap Clap Riot, who had a race against time to actually be able to play the show after cutting some sweet ligaments in his hand. 

Interviewees in order of appearance: Tristan Colenso/Dave Rowlands (Clap Clap Riot).

WAITING TO PLAY

One of the challenges is working out how to be in the best possible shape to play the show. For example, my cowardly caffeine tolerance means that it’s a very delicate balance where I can have either half a Red Bull or a cup of tea. Last time I played after drinking a whole coffee I was so jittery that I struggled to keep my fretting hand still. After two coffees, I tried to weird out the DJ from Blacklistt when we were touring together by dancing behind him with my pants around my knees. Both times were uncomfortable.

Interviewees in order of appearance: James Dylan/Dave Johnston (Villainy), Nathan Hickey (Beastwars).

INSIDE MY HEAD

It might sound weird, but a big stage can be an oddly lonely place at times. You’re set up miles away from your bandmates and the crowd are on the other side of a barrier. That sense of distance hits me about the time I put in my earplugs.

On stage, the worst thing I can do is start to think in any detail about what I’m playing – as soon as I question my muscle memory, I become aware of what’s going on and the situation gets a bit too real.

The other thing I’m most conscious about is keeping my hat on my head. I’ve tried a variety of hats over the years and in the last six months I’ve realised that having a hat with an elastic back is by far the best thing to play in. In most gig pictures I’m wearing a hat from the woman’s section of The Warehouse, and it has never fallen off my head.

Interviewees in order of appearance: Mainard Larkin (Randa), Nathan Hickey (Beastwars) Dave Rowlands/Tristan Colenso (Clap Clap Riot), James Dylan/Neill Fraser/Dave Johnston (Villainy).

THE SHOW

Driving to play the Big Day Out at about 9am, there was a lot of casual anxiety and quiet dejection about the amount of rain that was coming down. We figured that even if the rain stopped at midday, as was forecast, people would still be slow through the gate. Fortunately, though, as we pulled up there was a gap in the clouds and we were greeted with a lovely poetic rainbow above Western Springs.

That moment of walking across the stage to start playing with a swathe of people clapping enthusiastically is still one of the most humbling experiences that can happen.

It’s an atrocious cliché, but the show does feel like dream. I remember running out of breath after rocking out quite extravagantly and trying to maintain the illusion of rocking whilst simultaneously trying to not look pained. I remember a large pocket of young gentlemen running into each other in a sweet circle pit, whilst a group of women looked on obviously impressed. I remember James miskicking a beach ball that had ended up on the stage and almost missed the start of the final song.  

And then it’s all over. It’s back to the exciting reality of walking around the venue not really being recognised, back to dealing with the multitude of people that screenshotted this beautiful picture from nzherald.co.nz. Not bad for a first time.

 

 

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