"Thunder Downunder", published US Rolling Stone (New York), issue 677, 10 March 1994
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LES CLAYPOOL OF PRIMUS IS ON stage, attacking his upright bass with a violin bow and standing in a puddle of his own sweat. The heat inside the Hordern Pavilion - an old barn-like auditorium that sits to one side of the agricultural show grounds in Sydney, Australia - feels like it could melt sand. It's the final hour of the Big Day Out, Australia's answer to Lollapalooza, and outside, some 20,000 fans are converging on the hall. They've just left the main field, where Soundgarden have wrapped up their set, bringing to an end a full day of alternative-rock bliss that also featured Urge Overkill, Teenage Fanclub, the Breeders, Smashing Pumpkins, the Icelandic songstress Bjork, the Ramones and the acclaimed guitar-pop band Straitjacket Fits from New Zealand. Now the huge crowd migrating over to the Hordern wants to see Primus cap off the day. But the room is already at bursting point, filled well over its 7,000-seat capacity. The doors are closed, and security guards have formed a cordon around the building. The frenzy at the Hodern Pavilion is a duplication of what happened when Nirvana played the same stage at the inaugural Big Day Out, in January 1992. Australian promoters Vivian Lees and Ken West had originally booked Nirvana for a run of small club shows. When Nevermind-mania hit Australia, Lees and West went one step further and created a one-off, day-long alternative-rock festival in Sydney co-starring Nirvana, the Violent Femmes, Henry Rollins and a host of top Australian acts. In 1993, the Big Day Out expanded into a four-ciyy road show featuring Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Helmet. This year, Auckland, New Zealand, has been added to the otherwise all-Oz itinerary; other stops include Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast, in Queensland. Apart from the international headliners, there's a wide cross section of Australian talent on this year's bill, with some of the brightest stars involved for duration of the tour. They include the Cruel Sea (fronted by the Southern Hemisphere's coolest sex god, Tex Perkins), the speed-thrash dance-outfit Def FX and the acid-grungers Tumbleweed. Other acts, like the punk rockers the Hard-ons and the Sonic Youth proteges You Am I, are picked up in each region. For today's show in Sydney (held under immaculately sunny skies), there are 36 acts playing on five stages scattered around the showgrounds. Young bands such as Screamfeeder and Front End Loader deliver the guitar noise, while Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes and the female vocal trio Tiddas provide groove relief. Away from the main arena - which features twin, side-by-side stages, allowing one act to begin as another finishes - there are bars, market stalls, skating ramps, fairground attractions and a hardcore dance room, which pumps all day for more than 1,000 dedicated technoheads. It's impossible to sample everything. The Big Day Out is simply too big for one day. Urge Overkill's Nash Kato doesn't mind. �You have to spend a week and a half on a plane to get here, but it's worth it,� he says backstage, smiling from behind his shades. �You can just tell you're on the other side of the planet. There's this really positive vibe here.� Kim Deal of the Breeders is also beaming. �It's like summer camp,� she says, yelping with child-like enthusiasm. �It hasn�t felt at all like a tour. We all want to move down here.� The traveling festival has so far been blessed with tropical weather. But only just. Two days before the first Big Day Out show, in Queensland, a cyclone ripped through the northeastern coast of Australia, dumping 11 inches of rain on the area. The weather cleared, but the bands had to cope with oppressive humidity. �The weather on the Gold Coast was fucking burning up!� says Deal. The first part of the Breeders' set in Sydney, which features a squealing version of the Beatles' �Happiness Is a Warm Gun,� is hampered by microphone problems. But Deal isn't fussed; she's getting into the social side of the Big Day Out. �It�s wild,� she raves. �We've been hanging out with the Urge, man! And the people in Soundgarden are so funny. Kim Thayil is hilarious.� Meanwhile, onstage, Teenage Fanclub are also making new friends. �Throwing beer cans, you bastards - you'll be hitting someone!� singer-guitarist Norman Blake yells out over the constant stream of crowd surfers. Then he smiles. �But I still like you," he adds reassuringly in a softer Scottish tone. The band's glistening set (highlights include a spiraling �Hang On,� from the LP Thirteen, and Alex Chilton's �Free Again�) makes them crowd favorites. Bjork also walks away a heroine, appearing at sunset in tiny pigtails and a sparkling white gown and running around like a crazed child while delivering pristine versions of �Human Behaviour� and �Venus As a Boy.� The rampaging Smashing Pumpkins, wrapping up their set with a feedback-drenched �Somewhere Over the Rainbow,� help the crowd forget about the heat. Soundgarden finally plug in near day�s end, but crowd enthusiasm is noticeably lacking. Chris Cornell isn't oblivious to this. �The whole crowd is whispering - I haven't seen that before,� he remarks sarcastically after �Spoonman,� the only track the band plays from the new album, Superunknown. The hits �Hands All Over� and �Rusty Cage� and the encore, �Jesus Christ Pose,� receive more vocal appreciation from the tired punters. Backstage, as the Big Day Out winds down, Primus' Les Claypool is eating in the catering area before hitting the Hordern stage. �This actually seems bigger, more bands,� says Claypool, addressing the inevitable comparisons between Lollapalooza (which Primus headlined last year) and the Big Day Out. �I think this has a flavor of its own.� And there's no doubt the bands have all had a good time. �Touring can get kind of humdrum at times, and things like Lollapalooza and this definitely keep your spirits up,� says Claypool. �There's always something to do, someone to hang out with. It's fun. People are paying a lot of money to come to this event, and we get to go to it every day for free. You've got to love that.� Dino Scatena is the music editor of the Australian edition of ROLLING STONE.
