KEY POINTS:
Old meets new as veteran rocker Neil Young and rave scene pioneers The Prodigy face off against Brit upstarts The Ting Tings and Arctic Monkeys at next year's Big Day Out.
The festival on January 16 will take punters on an audio tour through the ages - beginning with Young, who first made his mark during the 60s in Buffalo Springfield, and moving through time to The Prodigy's 90s heyday and on to current chart-toppers The Ting Tings and intriguing oddballs TV On The Radio.
TimeOut checks out the line-up so far:
THE PRODIGY
Dance music's favourite arsonists return yet again - to start a few fires with tunes like Poison and Smack My Bitch Up. The British ranters and ravers, Keith Flint, Maxim and Liam Howlett, will be the most capped Big Day Outers - apart from Shihad - when they play their fourth festival in January. In 1996 they played in Australia, but came to Auckland in 1997 and 2002, and headlined the show that happened instead of the Big Day Out in 1998.
THE TING TINGS
They may be new to the charts this year, with infectious debut album We Started Nothing spurning three hit singles, but this two-piece has been around the musical block. Katie White started in the girl group Technical Knock Out, before joining forces with Jules De Martino and Simon Templeman to form Dear Eskimo. Now a twosome, De Martino and White have captured the world's attention with hook-laden chants and foot-stomping rhythms.
ARCTIC MONKEYS
They may be young but they sure know how to write a tune or two. Mercury Prize winning four-piece the Arctic Monkeys won a legion of fans with their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, and then went and did all again with last year's outstanding follow-up Favourite Worst Nightmare. According to frontman Alex Turner, a third album is in the works and, if we're lucky, we may hear a sneaky sample when they return Downunder next year.
TV ON THE RADIO
The New York quintet's latest album Dear Science is a collection of captivating songs and with their oddball musical approach it stands up as a strong candidate for record of the year. Seeing them live - hopefully on the top field as the sun goes down - will be an experience.
MY MORNING JACKET
Another quintet, this time from Louisville, Kentucky, My Morning Jacket mix up country, experimental and indie rock, as well as trippy and sprawling jams heard most recently on Evil Urges.
THE LIVING END
Australian punk band with the double bass player return to Auckland for the first time since their main stage slot in 2006 and off the back of their latest album, White Noise.
PENDULUM
The Perth drum 'n' bass crew played here earlier this year at the Logan Campbell Centre, although their short set left fans wanting more; now, it seems, they're going to get it.
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
These Welsh mainstream metallers aren't quite as big as Disturbed but as their show this year at the Auckland Town Hall proves they can make quite a melodic metal racket.
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO
The production and remix team made up of James Ford and James Shaw will be on hand to drop some acid bomb beats. Ford also produced the Arctic Monkeys' last album Favourite Worst Nightmare.
SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM
The Australian dance pop band most famous for singles I Love It and UFO.
Meanwhile, the NZ contingent confirmed so far are the recently reformed Headless Chickens; chart-topping acts like Tiki, Elemeno P, the Black Seeds, and Nesian Mystik; British-based band The Datsuns; D4 spin-off Luger Boa; punks Cobra Kahn; hip-hop-soul diva Ladi 6; and freak dance-rock-pop duo the Naked and Famous.
Tickets for the Big Day Out cost $125 plus booking fee (limit four per person). They go on sale October 10 from www.ticketmaster.co.nz, Real Groovy and www.bigdayout.com
