Growing up is optional

The campaign to change the New Zealand flag gained some momentum last week when some notable New Zealanders took the campaign to the steps of parliament to launch a petition to change the flag. The petition aims to get 300000 signatures, thereby forcing the government to hold a referendum. The referendum is not binding, but a govenment that ignores it would be foolish.

Personally I am unsure whether or not we should change it. Just because it looks like Australia’s flag is not a justification; they could just as easily change theirs. However, New Zealand is a Pacific nation, independent of Britain, so there is good reason to drop the Union Jack. (As an aside, the Queen is Queen of New Zealand in its own right. She could in theory abdicate as Queen of England, and still maintain sovereignty over New Zealand).

What do you kiwis think?

The big surprise for me of the BDO was The Freestylers. I only ’sort-of’ wanted to see them, but I’m glad I did. They had the boiler room absolutely pumping. 8.5/10

My Creative Commies T-Shirt arrived. The next day another did too (oops, their mistake). If anyone in NZ wants one (size M) they can have it for a US$10 donation to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I’ll cover the postage.It’s been claimed by Darren Wood

I thought that Steriogram’s songs were quite catchy before seeing them. Obviously someone at apple did too using “Walkie Talkie Man” for iPod ads

Live, Steriogram absolutely rocked. Go and see them if you get the chance. 8/10

Since being introduced to the music of the Chemical Brothers (no, that isn’t their real surname) back in 1997 I’ve always wanted to see them live. Finally, I got too at the BDO. They were number 1 on my must see list.

The Boiler Room, which lives up to its name, is a massive tent the size of a football field, and it was hot. The Chemical Brothers managed to fill the tent with thousands of fans shoulder to shoulder and it rocked. While their live music was different to their album versions, it was still very similar to other concerts I’ve seen on TV, complete with laser show. They finished it off with what was their best live song, ‘The Private Psychedelic Reel‘.

They didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but then perhaps my expectations were unrealistic. Overall I give them 9/10

Shihad was by far the highlight of the Big Day Out for me. I’ve wanted to see them live for years but have never had the means. They put on what was one of the best live shows I have ever seen. I watched from right in the heart of the mosh pit, 5 meters from the stage right in front of where Jon kept stage diving. At 31 years old I was probably the oldest person in there. As for the music, it was awesome; mostly rocking with one more mellow track thrown in. “Pacifier“, “The General Electric” and “My Mind’s Sedate” were the best. Like most bands at BDO they played pretty much the arrangements they do on the singles.

Since I’ve said they were the best, I’ll give them a rating of 10/10. All other reviews will be scored accordingly.

I’ve mentioned it several times, not to gloat, just because it is a cool experience. I got to the Big Day Out for the first time this year. This entry is more of my thoughts that an actual critical review. First off I’ll list the bands I saw and write about some general thoughts about the day. As I think over the next few days I’ll add links to the list.

Bands I saw

• 8 Foot Sativa
• The Bleeders
• Steriogram
• The Donnas
• The Music
• RJD2
• Fast Crew
• Powderfinger
• Scribe with P Money
• Freestylers
• Slipknot
• Shihad
• System of a Down
• The Streets
• Trinity Roots
• Beastie Boys
• DJ Carl Cox
• Chemical Brothers

She let me go to the Big Day Out on our 10th wedding anniversary.

Just as a funny aside: my (nearly 6yo) daughter asked how long the music was on for. Since she doesn’t really know how long 14 hours is I told her that it was as long as it would take to drive there from home and back again (Kapiti to Auckland, about 620km one way). My (nearly 3yo) son then said “But Grace can’t drive Daddy”.