Franz, White Stripes, Iggy rock Big Day Out

Over 55,000 music fans have packed Sydney’s Olympic Park for the 14th annual Big Day Out festival (January 26).

The sold-out crowd watched sets from bands including Franz Ferdinand, The Magic Numbers, Kings Of Leon, The Subways, Soulwax and MIA, as well as Aussie newcomers Cut Copy, Wolfmother, The Grates, Wolf & Cub and The Presets.

The touring festival also marked the first Australian visit for Iggy & The Stooges, who had already played shows as part of the event in New Zealand and on Australia’s Gold Coast.

They celebrated their mid-evening set by inviting fans onstage to dance during ‘No Fun’. Speaking backstage after their 15 song set, drummer Scott Asheton told NME.COM the festival was “a real Australian event”.

He said: “Big Day Out has a much more high-spirited rock’n’roll musical vibe. All the rest of them are just very ‘Hurry up, get off stage, hurry up, go out, next band, next band’… plus the country is into (this). It’s not just something that happens in a town and blows through. It’s a real Australian event and I think that makes it better.”

Other artists on the bill included the , Sleater-Kinney, The Mars Volta and The Go! Team.

The event next travels to Melbourne on Sunday (January 29), before stopping in Adelaide and finishing at the Claremont Showground in Perth on February 5.