Big Day Out organisers continue to attract biggest and best names
TUTAKI Denise

The Daily News (New Plymouth, New Zealand)
October 14, 2004, Thursday

HI-OCTANE trio the Beastie Boys has been named as one of the headlining
acts for next year’s Big Day Out.

Tickets for the event go on sale tomorrow and promoters say the line-up
solidifies the reputation of the Big Day Out organisers to produce
a series of events that offer intelligent, quality, energetic acts.

Powderfinger is one of the biggest acts to emerge across the ditch
in the last decade and has been booked for the 2005 Big Day Out. It
will perform live off the back of its forthcoming best of compilation
titled Fingerprints.

The duo of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, aka the Chemical Brothers,
returns again to the Big Day Out. Arguably the first arena-sized
group in the electronic movement, the Chemical Brothers keep the
crowd moving by working through unmissable samples from familiar
guitar riffs to vocal tags to various sound effects.

System of a Down is no stranger to our shores and has a reputation
as the thinking person’s metal troupe.

System of a Down is currently working on its fourth album and over
the last eight years has revived and revitalised heavy music with
its manic brand of post-everything hardcore.

Its disparate tastes, which range from Jaco Pastorius and Slayer to
the Beatles and traditional Armenian folk music, have ensured System
of a Down will always be a band less than ordinary.

Locals The D4, Misfits of Science, Trinity Roots and Steriogram all
take to the stage, joined by Aussie heroes Grinspoon and the John
Butler Trio.

Brit-pop landed itself new heroes in the new millennium thanks to
the popularity of quartet The Music. Comprised of school chums, the
Music emerged from the suburbs of Leeds in 1999 and by 2001 it had
been hailed as the best unsigned band in Britain. It has been signed
along with one of the most innovative and audacious artists to come
out of the UK in recent years, Mike Skinner.

Skinner is the mastermind behind The Streets, whose debut Original
Pirate Material saw him tap into a potent mix of hip hop, rap, garage
and glam-inspired rock. With a follow-up released this year, A Grand
Don’t Come for Free, The Streets has received myriad critical acclaim
across the musical spectrum.

All-female rockers The Donnas have been described as a cross between
the Ramones and the Runaway. Formed in 1993, the Donnas are now
veterans, with nine albums tucked under their belts.

Donna A, Donna F, Donna C and Donna R gained a cult following and
considerable media attention in the late 90s when they scored a record
deal straight out of high school.

Other Kiwi acts the Bleeders, drum and bass outfit Concord Dawn and
Shihad have also been signed.

Tickets for the event, to be held on Friday, January 21, are available
through Ticketek or at Energy FM, Raw Music and Sounds.

A second line-up of artists will be announced next month.