January 15, 1999
The Big Day Out, Perth, Australia
To [a]Hole[/a] and [B]Courtney[/B]'s credit she diffuses any lingering malice as she straddles the glamorised rock persona of [B]'Celebrity Skin'[/B] in her leather trousers and boob tube, and rein
The Big Day Out Perth, Australia They're calling it the Rumble Down Under. Perth has an air of anxiety as the bands infiltrate the most isolated city in the world. Like Ali versus Foreman heading to Central Africa, Hole and Marilyn Manson - the two headliners on this two-week travelling circus - have attacked each other in the local press to get whatever psychological advantage they can. Unlike Glastonbury, for the 35,000 punters there's no need to beg for sun, and the only praying to be done is by the religious groups unsuccessfully calling for Manson's visa to be denied. Before that, though, the Manics...
Just as Jagger bemused the Americans with his appropriation of their cultural signposts, the litmus test for the MANIC STREET PREACHERS was always going to be that little ditty of escapism Nicky Wire named 'Australia'.
After a shaky start, they're welcomed like long lost brethren with the day's first audible singalong. James Dean Bradfield's Les Paul begins flirting with the riff from 'Sweet Home Alabama' before segueing into The Supremes' 'Baby Love' and finally a blazing 'Motown Junk'.
From 'If You Tolerate This...' to the unquestionable 'You Love Us' the Manics make good their universal appeal, and it's Nicky Wire who provides the day's first light relief. Dressed in white and topped with a cream army hat, like a depraved, sun-stroked camel driver he picks up a skipping rope and dances merrily across the stage, while the keyboard player pounds out one of their trademark apocalyptic string arrangements.
KORN, like Soulfly before them, whip the crowd into a frenzy as a kilted Jonathan Davis rips his trachea through a set pitched at blood-dripping noise levels, which peaks with a car-crashed version of 'Got The Life'.
Which leaves us with our headliners. First up is MARILYN MANSON. Looking like a black swan wearing Cher's leotard, it becomes apparent his wanton quest to shake some foundations rests entirely on his ability to incorporate your average downtown transsexual strip show to a backdrop of industrial beats and '70s rifferama. After a crowd-pleasing version of 'Sweet Dreams', the simulated microphone sex begins, and so does the abuse.
Bottles fly at the stage, smashing into Manson's face as he rallies through 'Dope Show', the crowd enjoying this interactive cabaret, before an irate Manson begins challenging the crowd to a fight. Held back by security, Manson threatens an audience member for five long minutes, taunting them with cries of, "I'm gonna crack your skull open, you pussy faggot", as the audience chant back abuse. After only half an hour, Manson storms offstage, where he does the most satanic thing imaginable in the Australian summer and slashes an inflatable pool, flooding the backstage area.
To HOLE and Courtney's credit she diffuses any lingering malice as she straddles the glamorised rock persona of 'Celebrity Skin' in her leather trousers and boob tube, and reinstates her feminist calling card with "all you boys have had your fun with Korn, leave the girls alone".
Hers is now a measured show of restraint and diplomacy, despite Eric sneakily playing the riff to Joy Division's 'She's Lost Control' the one time she gets carried away. 'Northern Star' with just Courtney and Eric shines into the southern night and closes the curtains on the highlight of the festival's main stage.
As we walk through the crowd to FATBOY SLIM's closing set, the walls of the tent begin shaking to The Kinks' 'All Day And All Of The Night'. The terminal grin on Norman Cook's face becoming almost illegal as he drops his last tune, 'Praise You', well after his official closing time. As the powers that be cut it off midway, Cook revels in the commotion he's just caused. Perhaps he could teach Marilyn Manson a little bit about crowd control?
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