The Big Day Out
It's back again for '98!
Returning to Galway again this year is the one day fesival they call the Big Day Out.
This year sees those hip British 30-somethings Pulp, touring to promote their, is it 14th album???, This Is Hardcore. This is of course the follow-up to the award-winning Different Class.
Next on the bill, and I have to say I'm surprised they're not headlining, are the Beastie Boys. They're back touring to promote their soon-to-be-released-I'm-not-sure-of-the-name-of-it-new-album. Should be a truly rocking set from them if past efforts are anything to go by.
Garbage are also there, also promoting a new album, Version 2.0, their follow-up to their excellent, eponomously titled debut. I'm seriously looking forward to hearing them play live.
Also there are the recently-turned-funky-indie Cornershop. Born For The 7th Time seems to be working wonders for them. It's certainly catapulted them into the spotlight. It'll be interesting to see how they cope with this new-found-semi-superstardom.
Ian Brown, live, without the Stone Roses. I have to say I never really thought of him as a great singer. He was only really big because of the brilliance that was the Stone Roses. I don't think he can hope to recapture that on his own, but it'll no doubt be worth a look. Must also get round to checking out his album. The singles sort of grew on me, very slowly, but not to such a degree that I rushed out to buy the album.
Irish band Junkster will also be there. they have recently released their debut album, and a couple of singles. They're playing the odd gig around Dublin and seem to have built up a decent fan-base here. A support slot at the recent Kula Shaker gig in Dublin Castle (as part of the Green Energy Weekend) didn't do them any harm either, although it has to be said the sound level was quite low and it was very hard to really get into the music. That was the fault of some new legislation here in Ireland limiting the sound level at outdoor gigs to a disgracefully low level of 90dB. This could put a bit of a dampener on the outdoor festivals planned for this country during the summer, but we'll have to wait and see!
The '96 Big Day Out
1996 brought Galway it's long
awaited first big outdoor gig in the form of the brilliantly
named (!) Big Day Out. Sunday 28th of July was the date, and the
day started with Edgepark on stage at 1:00. They were a band that
no-one really knew anything about but most of the early birds
enjoyed.
They were followed by Ron Sexsmith, who had played the night
before in Roisin Dubhs in town. He was followed by what for many
people was one of the better sets of the day, by Neil Hannon
under the name Divine Comedy. He even played football with the
crowd. A brilliant set.
The Cardigans set which followed was slightly hampered by a major
downpour of rain which temporarily dampened peoples spirits, and
left their clothes soaked for the rest of the day. The Bluetones
had a slight problem of not enough people knowing their stuff,
but this didn't stop most people from really enjoying a very good
set.
Neneh Cherry was next, with a set that most people didn't expect
a lot from, but from the moment she came on in her army get-up
right through to when she left the stage free for Radiohead, she
had the crowd captured. Hendrix's Crosstown Traffic being a very
pleasant surprise in the middle of the set.
Then came the headline act. Radiohead. They were overwhelmed by
the reaction they got with Thom saying at one stage that it was
only that day he realised how famous they were. Here they were
playing in what was essentially a field in the west of Ireland,
and they had 20000 people singing every word of every song they
played. They played a few new tracks, everything from The Bends
except Sulk, and a lot of Pablo Honey. As The Rat said,
"F***ing brilliant! What else can you say!". Indeed,
that pretty much sums it up. An amazing gig. They truly are one
of the greatest bands around, if not the greatest.
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