Big Day Out/Adelaide Fan Report

I've just got back from the Big Day Out, where I saw (among others) the Dirty Three and NC&BS.

The Dirty Three played a few longer tracks; I couldn't tell you what, but the names were familiar from previous reports. I didn't think they were well located - they were on Stage 3, which was effectively at the end of a long, wide alleyway between two buildings, and the acoustics weren't too good. Still, I'm glad I caught them - I'll probably pick up one of their CDs now. They were joined by Mike Watt for one song.

The Bad Seeds were on at dusk on one of the main stages, and we were close to the stage. The lineup was Mick Harvey, Martyn Casey, Jim Sclavunos, Thomas Wydler, Conway Savage, Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave.

They played:

1. Stagger Lee
2. Do You Love Me (I)
3. From Her To Eternity
4. Mercy
5. Jangling Jack
6. Loverman
7. Red Right Hand
8. Into My Arms
9. The Willow Garden
10. The Weeping Song
11. Jack The Ripper
12. The Mercy Seat

They were on stage for just under an hour, pretty much exactly the time allotted to them.

Jim Sclavunos played kit and Thomas Wydler played percussion for Stagger Lee, then they swapped (percussion was tubular bells, high hat, cymbal, tom(?), shakers and stuff and, later, bass drum).

Warren Ellis helped out on Mercy, The Willow Garden, The Weeping Song and The Mercy Seat. He added his violin to the stage about 10 minutes before they started, and got a cheer of recognition from the crowd, which was nice.

Blixa wore a suit with a broad-rimmed straw hat, which was decorated with black chiffon and looked quite fetching; mine got trampled by the crowd :-(.

My wife shot a roll of film; she had planned to do more, but once the show started the crowd was thick enough that she didn't want to try reloading. She's developed the film, and the negatives look promising; still, it's hard to tell from negatives.

A great show.

John P.