Hard News: #BDOMemories
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My nephew, who has been waiting to get old enough to go to the BDO, will be disappointed at its demise. But something else will emerge, I'm sure. After all such concerts have been taking place for decades, although Woodstock set the standard pretty high. I remember attending Redwood 70 as a young teenager. The Bee Gees had split by then but one of the Gibb brothers was the headline act. Can't recall exactly where it was (somewhere in the Waikato?) but remember the very cold ride back to Wellington on the open deck of a truck.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
But something else will emerge, I’m sure.
I remember after Theatre Corporate and Mercury collapsed (showing my age!), the CW was that we'd never see a professional theatre company in Auckland again. Aren't we lucky ATC and Silo didn't get the memo? :)
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Simon Grigg, in reply to
I’m not sure if Annabel and the other nice people at Virgin’s NZ office felt quite that privileged.
Especially when half way through the RTC press conference at the Barrycourt, Nick announced that they had a new EP due very shortly.
Annabel expressed surprise at having not been told of this by 4AD, and Nick told her - publicly - they they were no longer with 4AD, the RTC/Virgin label, but had moved to Mute, who were an EMI distributed label.
I'd already licensed the two albums Prayers on Fire and Junkyard thus all Virgin had picked up was an EP before losing the band.
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Never been to a BDO, as many of us haven't. Not my demographic, and if I want to see heaving masses of teenagers in all their exuberance, I could just stand outside Mangere College. (Which I don't.) Music festivals are anaethema to me now - and even as a young woman, I only ever went to Sweetwaters once or twice. (Ah, Taj Mahal. Ah, the Psychedelic Furs.) I have sympathy for teens though - the first time many of them will have felt that crowd hivemind will have been at BDOs over the years. And I know that in every home with teenagers, there will have been discussions over the years over how old is old enough. "And why can't I go? All my friends are going." I vividly remember my now 30 year old niece, being stuck on Kawau Island with us, at the age of 14 and having a shit fit because all of us adults were very firmly of the opinion that it was no place for her to be. But where else do these kids go if they want to experience that heady combination of independence for the day, and rock music that they can bang their heads to? It seems to be that Splore is a family oriented festival, Laneways is firmly aimed at the older demographic or people who like more alternative stuff, Parachute's about christian kids getting out of the house and having a bit of naughty........is there anything at all that kids of 14-18 can get along to that has that same mix as BDO has provided over the years?
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Heather Gaye, in reply to
Depends how much of a nostalgist you are. If his album was any more influenced by the 1980's, I'd expect to see Michael J Fox driving past in a DeLorean every time I (or rather, my wife) sticks it on.
I have no problem with 80s influences. I'm made out of them.
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Sacha, in reply to
is there anything at all that kids of 14-18 can get along to that has that same mix as BDO has provided over the years?
Homegrown is 15+
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
Now that looks like it's got all the stuff the youngies like. I wonder why they don't do it in Auckland?
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Sacha, in reply to
clashed with BDO market?
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
I guess so. I wonder if the demise of BDO will mean that other stuff fills the gap. Bound to, I guess.
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For all the big-stage/big-tent memories I have (and defined BDO in most people's minds), the "stickiest" memory I have is of a Japanese reggae/dancehall band (Cool Wise Men) being fronted by Eddie Tan Tan Thornton playing to a fairly-empty-but-loving-it Lilyworld in '08 as the sun was going down. It was the kind of intimate/crazy/fun musical experience that is hard to achieve at BDO.
And on that note, enjoy Splore Russell - Basement Jaxx at the last one were a really interesting comparison to their 2000 (was it?) BDO show actually. Their actual show in 2000 was better for me, but Splore pulls off that intimate/crazy/fun experience much more so than BDO ever could for me. You get a different nature of act in attendance as part of that thought...
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
wikipedia, blacked out last night, well…
Only the English version, which I find odd. Aren't they protesting proposed US laws? the USA doesn't have an official language, and there must be millions of people in the US who can quickly and easily bypass the blackout by switching languages.
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Greg Wood, in reply to
That ('96) was my fave year, largely for the searing memories of the fucked-p storms both above and inside the stadium. Nearly got crushed opening the gates live to air for bFM as a member of the Friday Night Allen (following on from Mikey's inevitably joytastic Breakfast during which I interviewed what might have been Chris Schofield on the vert ramp, both of us on helium); had a ball for most of the day but freaked out at the rain and got my purple tie-dyed Soundgarden tee ripped surfing on one of the pieces of ply, so I hid up in the Immortals watching that storm; headed down for the subsequent spectacularly dangerous slush-pit explosion for RATM, got smashed up in the crowd crush during stage switchovers, totally panicked along with 50 or so others around us who could not breathe; passed a few passed-out girls over our heads, then hid in the immortals again to watch Porno for Pyros then left early.
Went back one other year to take 13-year-old Sam to see Marilyn Manson. Not pleasant.
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So if I read the article Ian linked, Lees quit BDO because he didn’t like what the nasty people on Facebook said about the shitty sub-par lineup?
Wow.
The number one sign a promoter has completely lost touch is bitterly complaining that the punters don't appreciate the enormity of the favour he is doing them.
it is tough game, innit.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
The number one sign a promoter has completely lost touch is bitterly complaining that the punters don’t appreciate the enormity of the favour he is doing them.
it is tough game, innit.
Which is presumably why Lees retired after nearly 40 years of doing it pretty well. Maybe he just wanted a quiet life where people weren't calling him a cunt.
The sense of entitlement, and nastiness people feel comfortable expressing, really surprises me. If you don't like the guy's gig, don't fucking go to it. It's really that simple.
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I'd suggest people buy into the festival... make it their own and create a sense of what it means as a festival to themselves and their circles of friends
when the owner of the festival doesn't reinforce what they think it is then they feel betrayed and anger is expressed
as an example well expressed via the major news sites feedback sections the legions of rock fans who feel its a rock festival and the booking or attempt to bring Kayne here was a betrayal of what the BDO is for them, they forget or more to the point intentionally missed BEP, Dizzy Rascal, Kool Keith and dozens more hip hop acts over the years + other genres and vica versa...
its never been about a single style, genre or anything, the name fit the festival perfectly but that doesn't mean people don't and didn't feel it was for them and their built up view of what it all stood for and now are expressing a sense of betrayal and anger (as happens every year the lineup is announced)
people are strange.. as we love to complain but very rarely ever thank those that risk it all promoting such things cause that simply doesn't occur to most of us
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bronwyn, in reply to
Yes, this. I can't begrudge someone who has worked pretty hard for a long time in what is a perilous industry just deciding they've had enough of strangers constantly bagging them. Yes, it comes with the territory but I can see the day when you'd just be sick of it, and if it's not bringing in the dollars, then there's not many compelling reasons to keep going.
(and, on another point, scheduling is never straightforward - you just don't know who's demanded a particular slot because they have to get an early flight the next day, or simply because they only play when it gets dark, or they refuse to play after a particular band or any number of other things that might be going on).
One of my best BDO memories was seeing hundreds of bemused Slipknot fans forced to queue for the signing tent right at the front of the audience for an equally bemused Phoenix Foundation. I hope they picked up some fans that day.
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JacksonP, in reply to
Crowd-pleaser, 2008.
people are strange.. as we love to complain but very rarely ever thank those that risk it all promoting such things cause that simply doesn’t occur to most of us
Yeah, the negative article that got on my goat most yesterday (no links) was written by someone who hadn't even been to one! Sorry if I don't care what they think.
Thanks BDO people. Moments like that above will live long in our memories.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I’d suggest people buy into the festival… make it their own and create a sense of what it means as a festival to themselves and their circles of friends
when the owner of the festival doesn’t reinforce what they think it is then they feel betrayed and anger is expressed
Yeah, I think so. It's a mark of your success if you get people to feel that sense of ownership about your festival.
people are strange.. as we love to complain but very rarely ever thank those that risk it all promoting such things cause that simply doesn’t occur to most of us
Yes. Lees and West have a pretty honourable record in a business where that's not always the case. They've taken risks with artists and carried the can when that hasn't worked out. With BDO, they could have done things that would have made them more money -- big sponsorship, more hospitality areas -- but they haven't.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
With BDO, they could have done things that would have made them more money
It would be nice if that didn't seem so unusual these days. Are such people really a dying breed? Because it all seems to be about the money these days. I'm now actually a little sad I don't have any BDO memories to contribute.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Yeah, the negative article that got on my goat most yesterday (no links) was written by someone who hadn’t even been to one! Sorry if I don’t care what they think.
Ah, but he did go to Sweetwaters that time.
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Rich Lock, in reply to
I have no problem with 80s influences. I’m made out of them.
You'll be pleased to know I've spent the summer teaching my 2-year old to say 'NAAT' (not), in best Wayne's World fashion. Also 'Nek Minnit', and how to throw the goat.
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JacksonP, in reply to
Ah, but he did go to Sweetwaters that time.
He was dragged.
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Nice Big Day Out send-off by Scott Kara on the Herald site, greeted with the same weird pissiness by a couple of the commenters.
I wholeheartedly agree with him about the year-after-year presence of The Living End. They are one of the dullest, most ordinary rock bands I've ever seen.
But they're evidently popular back home in Australia. And it's fair to note that some New Zealand acts have had a pretty fair shake on the Aussie leg of the festival.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
greeted with the same weird pissiness by a couple of the commenters.
I find it best to avoid the comment threads on NZ's mainstream media sites. They leave me thinking our compatriots are mean-spirited illiterates. Much better to hang out here where the commenters can write and nastiness is very quickly nipped in the bud.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
It would be nice if that didn’t seem so unusual these days. Are such people really a dying breed?
I don't think so. Most of the people running the other summer festivals are decent folk, and the ones who aren't have come a cropper. There are more genuine music fans in concert touring now when I was a lad.
Because it all seems to be about the money these days.
We've seen that in Auckland with the opening of Vector Arena, which brought in a flood of acts but saw prices rocket. And they won't spend the money on acoustic panels to fix the arena's horrible, patchy, acoustics. That pisses me off.
In the wider world -- and the US in particular -- for sure. The vertical dominance of Live Nation, which was spun off from the crushingly dominant Clear Channel radio network, is pretty creepy. Even the more sponsorship-heavy festivals are still a welcome break from the machine-like business of arena touring. I suspect that's one reason for their popularity.
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