Foo Fighters, PJ Harvey return for Big Day Out

2.00pm - By RUSSELL BAILLIE

The starting line-up for the 2003 Big Day Out line-up has been announced with the acts ranging from the leading lights of American rock to the German inventors of electronic music.

Among the confirmed US contingent are the Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, the Deftones and Wilco.

It's a return visit for the Foo Fighters - fronted by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl - who last played the festival in 2000.

Grohl also has connections to California's Queens of the Stone Age, having drummed on the critical favourites' new album Songs for the Deaf, though it's unlikely he'll be pulling double duty with both bands on the six-date Australasian BDO tour which starts at Auckland's Ericsson Stadium on Friday January 17.

It will be the first BDO appearance for both nu-metallers the Deftones, and Wilco - the country-influenced alternative rock band led by Jeff Tweedy whose latest album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is already widely regarded by reviewers as one of the best of 2002.

Also returning will be English cult rocker PJ Harvey who played the Big Day Out last year. The other big British name on the bill is The Music, the much-hyped young band from Yorkshire who have just released their self-titled debut album. Also coming is Swedish skate-punk outfit Millencolin and Munich-based avant garde electronic pop trio Chicks on Speed.

The most curious inclusion in the line-up is Kraftwerk, the pioneering German electronic outfit who formed in 1970 and whose original members are now aged in their mid-50s. The enigmatic band will perform in the event's dance venue the Boiler Room. Also confirmed to play the dance stage is the heavily Kraftwerk-influence English DJ Luke Slater.

Among the local acts confirmed so far are the D4, Pitch Black, Concord Dawn, Blindspott, Wash and the Kiwi hip-hop revue that is DJ Sir-Vere's Major Flavours Showcase. The international hip-hop headliner will be prominent US West Coast rapper Xibit.

Heading across the Tasman for the day will be Australian acts The Living End, Resin Dogs, 28 Days and 1200 Techniques.

More acts will be announced by organisers next month, a possible additional headliner being Jane's Addiction, the reformed-to-tour Californian art-metal band led by Perry Farrell.

Despite speculation that this might be the last Big Day Out due to competition from other festivals in Australia, organisers say they are already working towards another event in 2004.

Said promoter Bridgit Darby "We approach every Big Day Out like it could be the last one, and sometimes it gets appealing to think of having a break for one summer - but then we get excited about the show and with bands already asking if they can play the show in 2004 it's hard to see that we will be able to stop."

Tickets ($97.40) for the 2003 event go on sale next Wednesday.

* An interview with Dave Grohl appears in Weekend TimeOut on Saturday.