Various: Big Day Out 04

Reviewed by RUSSELL BAILLIE


Herald rating: * * *

Well, if you can't make it tomorrow — or miss half the bands on the bill — there's always the inevitable BDO double CD to be going on with.

It does come with a few Aussie bands who aren't making the transtasman hop — Jet, Magic Dirt, the Sleepy Jackson, a reformed Hoodoo Gurus — but it must be said the New Zealand squad's contribution is just better than the Oz-mob, whether it's rock (the Datsuns' MF from Hell), pop (goodshirt's Sophie), dub (Salmonella Dub's Slide) and especially hip-hop (King Kapisi with Che-Fu's U Can't Resist Us or Scribe's Stand Up).

CD1 is the rock one, CD2 is beats and weirdness and, between Metallica's opening roar 53rd and 3rd and the Flaming Lips' finale of cosmic lullaby Do You Realise, there lies too much for one cohesive double album, but the promise of one heck of a day.

(Universal)