Summer is coming soon to Auckland. On these warm days one can not only wet feet in the ocean but dip into its cool water wholly. For those who are lazy the choice where to go and have rest for a couple of hours is traditionally not wide: Piha, Muriwai, Anawhata, Karekare. All of them are approximately at the same distance from the city, which is about forty-minute drive away from it.
It is the last post with thirty photos from the festival “Big Day Out” which was held in the end of January in 2011. I am not going to tell about the participants and the festival again. I am just going to show the pictures and to comment some of them in an acrid way.
The first post from the festival starts with the photo of that very young man. He was relatively sober then.
Closer to the evening the rain drove faster. There were sticks “I ♥ CSS” on the breast of the girl in a raincoat, (HTML designers will be pleased to see them.) The schedule of group performances was dangling around her neck on a red tape.
The girls saw that I was out in the rain making photos of passers-by. They came up to me and asked to make their photo. Real kiwi youths in awful footwear but very sociable. I left them a visiting card for they could write me but no one did.
As for kiwi guys, they look like common teenagers – thin and wild. While dancing they shake their heads wildly. The photo was made at the border of the Boiling Room which was an electronic-music marquee.
While Auckland people having visited the rock-festival were keeping the rain out and taking shelter under the awning roof, we started to move in the direction of main stages.
We decided to walk round the field and make ourselves comfortable in the opposite stand to better see the Orange Stage where the Iggy Pop group was just about to start their performance.
In the remote stands, no one was sitting in the modest “hands on the knees” way. There was one more “alcohol area”, so people were very active after they had almost “killed” themselves with beer.
So we had to wander around the field for some time. All seats under the awnings were engaged and the wet spectators were waiting for Iggy.
To the great disappointment of all the spectators, the quality of sound left much to be desired. (Perhaps, somebody will comment if I am not right but it seems to me that during the rain the propagation of sounds is bad because they interfere and transform into a porridge-like cacophony.)
Spectators could hardly make out the words of the songs. Iggy looked well and brisk as usual, though. When I was younger I perceived him as tall and thin. It turned out that he was my height.
A couple of older guys. It probably was the fifteenth “Big Day Out” for them.
A nice Kiwi boy.
I used to meet that art-boy on my way to work every morning, he resembled one of the characters of the film “Almost Famous”. It looked like he had guessed to make a raincoat out of a refuse sack.
Wet girls were seeking for somebody in the crowd. (I am sure this page will be linked to from various search engines and visited by “wet-girls” lovers. Who does not like them, though?)
Rammstein is out on the stage.
As usual, their performance happened to be a noisy show with a lot of pyrotechnics and stage properties. It was done quite simple and tastefully. The spectators were stricken.
I liked Germans very much. Their performance was efficient, steady and well co-ordinated.
After the sunset, it became dark very quickly. The fellow behind my back vomited almost onto my yellow plastic seat back, so I had to change the place and sit two rows farther from the stage. I was used to look for something good in every situation and soon realized that the view of the stage and the people from my new position was much better. I made a photo of that girl.
That was an epic ending of the performance: paper pieces, flame, guitar notches and the crowd chanting “You got a pussy, I got a dick”! Quite spectacular.
At the time, everybody was waiting for M.I.A. and listening to the LCD Soundsystem in the Boiling Room. In the picture you can see a construction made of tennis balls with colored light-emitting diodes inside. It was good interactive three-dimensional son et lumière.
A hipster as it is: glasses, a shirt, torn jeans and sneakers.
LCD Soundsystem surprised me with their soloist who happened to be of a very unpleasant appearance and sang out of tune, perhaps, because of mistakes of the audio-control engineer.
The last chance to buy two useless alien junks at the price of one! Stalls worked until the last customer.
We were waiting for M.I.A.’s performance and went to the Silent Disco room to dry out and have some rest. Every person there had headphones with music played in and was dancing in silence. Soon people started to leave the Silent room, too. It was after 9 PM.
At the time, there was the group Tool on the Orange Stage. The field was hardly lit with weak, even disgraceful, rays from the empty eye holes of skulls raised by the paws of construction site engines. After Rammstein’s fireworks it just could not look in the least bit seriously. So the crowd was breaking up without spirit.
Tired festival spectators were waiting for the heavy rain to stop under the roof of the stadium pavilion. They were waiting for their friends and preparing for going home.
The more resolute sellers kept selling disgusting hot-dogs and something like burritos. But people were not squeamish even about that kind of food after the whole day of roaming from stage to stage.
A nice girl with a pink iPhone, she was not very wet.
M.I.A. happened to be aggressive and noisy. Perhaps, it was not what the tired spectators wanted at the time because their reaction was rather inert. The music gave the kick to those heavily drunk only — like the guy from the first photo of the post. I didn’t like M.I.A. almost at once and we decided to go to the exit.
On the way, I’ve made some photos of unknown people. This is the last photo of four posts about the annual musical festival “Big Day Out”.
The links to previous posts: 1, 2, 3.
As I have promised, now I continue to post photos from the musical festival “Big Day Out” which was held in the end of January, 2011. In the photos you can see people caught unawares. They are different: young and not very young, extravagant and very common. In the whole world they are called “Kiwi”.
There are about thirty photos with comments. The photos are clickable.
A heavy metal fan of the “sisadmin” type, whitish-pink due to the sun burn, is resting after jumping in the “heavy” sector.
A woman is selling ice lollies and smiling in a confused way. The weather was expected to be hot but it happened to be rainy and wet so there were no lines in front of her stall.
Policemen sometimes asked people if everything was OK. That Indian seemed to be OK. As for policemen, they always had guarded looks but that was their job. Last year, as I remembered, everybody wanted to be photographed with them, and people, drunk and drugged, really had the pictures taken.
You, young man with long hairs and in a long T-shirt, the girls from the posters keep their beautiful eyes on you!
There was nothing to do at the festival but listen to music, seek for the friends lost somewhere and do shopping in dull stalls. All open amusements were popular and there were lines of people interested until dark.
As one can notice, a person in the background is selling plastic raincoats and polyethylene ponchos at the price of 5 dollars. In the foreground, there is a New Zealand format of pear-shaped girls.
The inscription on the yellow trailer, where fatty-and-sugary products were sold, said, “Over 14.75 billion sold worldwide”.
A non-drinking man is communicating with his friend who is by no means averse to a couple of bottles of beer in the “alcohol zone”. The sale of alcohol products at the festival was bounded not only with regard to age but to festival areas, too. Special people checked IDs and put colored bracelets on people’s hands. Alcohol was to be bought in special enclosed areas (cigarettes were not sold at all). The alcohol purchased was to be consumed in the same area. There were several stages with music for “alco-people”, but the music was, I’d say, indistinct.
The lady without the dog but in a hat. (By analogy with «The Lady with the Dog» (Russian: Дама с собачкой, Dama s sobachkoy), a short story by Anthon Chekhov, which was first published in 1899. It tells the story of an adulterous affair between a Russian banker and a young lady.)
Some guys protected by an unworried guard are resting in the alco-area.
Nice people. While being at the festival, I’ve met them several times here and there. It is up to you to decide whether they are hipsters or not.
Two hippies on the grass. One of the girls is wearing the very poncho which has been sold a few photos up.
Kiwi-boys are staring at kiwi-girls and at their knees.
As for the girls, they are dancing around a microscopic bag.
A brutal woman of the style of the 1980-s. A large area of her bogy is covered with tattoos. I almost collided with her as she was barging through the crowd in a very resolute way.
To promote various Halloween goods, the guy was dressed as a monster and made to frighten the girls passing by. But the girls happened to be brave and wanted to be photographed with him by all means.
A girl in the style of Woodstock with wet hair looking thick. The Article. Which means she is younger than eighteen.
And again minutes of worried waiting. As I have repeatedly said, much time was spent on seeking and waiting for friends and acquaintances.
A nice blond is waiting for her boyfriend in the alco-area. It is his bottle there in the right part of the frame.
As you can notice, I like the umbrella and its faint colored reflection.
A small group of children-flowers in the alco-area. I think that my attention was focused on the blond with a blue headband.
He was looking into my lens and I was looking into his glasses and thinking, “Permed or not?”
What was the man in a blue hat short of? Some footwear, I guess.
A Kiwi girl under a tree.
A thoughtful man in lowered pants and black trunks is filling his rucksack with water.
Perhaps, it is one of the best photos of today’s set.
The rain drove faster, the sun was setting.
That girl-ghost did not like that I was making her picture. Then we talked, smiled to each other and exchanged calling cards. Still waiting for her to write.
This is the end of the third post about a musical festival “Big Day Out”. I hope the blog’s readers have got the idea what the local youth really is at rest. I think you will admit that young people look rather civilized.
I believe there are enough pictures left for one more post. I will post the fourth part after I will tell about Cook tropical islands where I have spent a short vacation lasting for 10 days.
Spectators are out in the rain. The exposure is short, one can notice drops in the air.
Today I continue my photo story about the festival “Big Day Out” which took place in Auckland in the end of January. I have simply taken a few pictures from the folder, and I will tell you about each of them throughout the post. All the pictures are clickable.
I don’t know what impressions you get from this guy with a hippie girl-friend but as for me, he seemed a good deal like Mister Bin. He was standing erect like on parade.
Traditionally, people were dancing in the open because it was hot and crowded in the “Boiler-room” — in the electronic-music marquee. In the background there you can see logotypes of Silent Disco, I will tell you about it a little later.
I tagged after the accredited photographer and made circles around the “Silent Disco” marquee until he finally chose the angle and turned to his work.
As one can notice, young people being a pride and joy of New Zealand are wearing gym shoes which are like Shanghai shoes, long and wide shorts similar to boxer shorts, and jerseys which remind sailor’s striped vests.
As I have already written, the marked part of the festival time was devoted to waiting. That boy who just didn’t “give a shit”, as it was written on his T-shirt, was standing with that kind of a sad and anxious face expression for about twenty minutes. So, he did “give a shit” about something.
It was as though the boy in a cap, which reminded the helmet of a storm trooper, was saying to the girl looking like Scarlett Johansson, “He has gone in this direction, oh no, in that direction.”
That boy is apparently not a Russian boy, and that cap is obviously a Russian fur cap with ear flaps.
A modern festival guy with a phone matching the color of his glasses.
I wonder why anybody living in a city with a million of population should have been standing and choosing a cool summer dress in a small stall at the time when the Iggy Pop were just about to go on stage.
All right, I admit that I didn’t get whether the girl pointing a finger at somebody, was wearing some kind of a swimsuit or a suit for aerobics.
A bit of a Kiwi first-class fellow is resting on the asphalt. Yes, the asphalt is to have been covered with spittle, bottles and cigarette butts but as you see all is not so bad. In a second the fellow will sure put his tongue out and make “V” with his fingers which will mean “Vnimanie, idet syomka” (from Russian — “Attention, photos are being shot”).
Judging by muddy legs, that graceful girl has just returned from the field. Rain and jumping teenagers have turned it into something of a dirty pool here and there.
A brutal girl in homemade jean shorts.
In my estimation, this “enlarged” girl is 16-18 years old.
A traditionally stooping Kiwi girl with lots of straps. I noticed that tendency the very first days here in New Zealand, in November 2006.
In the “Silent Disco” marquee the visitors were given radio earphones, in which everyone could choose one of two channels and adjust the level. Live DJ s ran two absolutely different sets which were often rhythm-fold. Of course, the music was heard only in the earphones.
One of the disk jockeys.
People are dancing in silence to different music.
For many people, the “Silent Disco” marquee was the place where they could wait till the rain was over and quietly write an SMS (or as they said there, “text”, or even so: “txt”) to some pleasant music.
A New Zealand couple in skateboard sneakers.
We are approaching the resting zone where it is allowed to buy alcohol. The people are just resting on the grass. It is still prohibited to drink alcohol in that section.
A thoughtful girl is sitting under the tree and waiting for her prince who either is gone to make water or to get water.
A fashionable lady, her look plainly reminding me about porno parades which are regularly held in Auckland. I have already written about that: the first time, the second time, and the third time. Be careful, not for work.
One of the entrances to the stands. We wanted to eat sushi brought with us.
Humming girls.
Drinking water was sold in kiosks in bottles but one could get it poured from a usual hose with the inscription “Drinking water”.
A general view of the stands next to the Blue Stage.
The amusement “Super Ring” was permanently popular till the very end of the festival. Even in the absolute darkness during the Rammstein’s performance there was a long line of people willing to ride it. In the picture you can see carriages with people hanging head-down.
Another amusement is in this photo. The symbol “V” in the background is a local energy drink which tastes better than “Red Bull” but still chemical. There is a line tautened and one can slide down it from the upper part of the stadium the same way as in spy films. Tire casings seen in the right top corner are to soften the stop.
The main stages: Orange Stage and Blue Stage. There is John Butler Trio on the Blue One.
A bald-headed guy in the back row wants to eat our sushi and at the same time as if is willing to say something.
Sweet girls, like puppies in a cardboard box, are on tip-toes to better see what is happening in the field.
That is the end of the second part of photos from the festival “Big Day Out”. The first part is here.
In the middle of summer, on a gray January day (notably on January 21st), another festival “Big Day Out” was held here in Auckland. I managed to sneak a many-megapixel camera. I put a film camera on the top of things in my rucksack and sweet-talked the supervisory man whose task was to inspect personal things. I said there was a film a German 50-year-old film camera and a film here in the pocket. IAE, he didn’t notice my black Canon 550D with a small portrait lens, which was on the very bottom of the sack. So I got a chance to shoot.
For readers not to be tired I will divide the posts from the “Big Day Out” into three parts. I will alternate them with stories about my recent rest on a very-very tropical island Rarotonga.
I and my friends prepared for the festival beforehand. We decided that at the age of about thirty we won’t be able to stand there since very morning. So we chose the performers we liked out of the festival list, made up kind of a schedule for ourselves and “moved up” to the festival by 4 pm. A complete list of participants follows. We ‘ve managed to listen to those whose names are highlighted with bold.
Tool, Rammstein, Iggy And The Stooges, M.I.A, John Butler Trio, Grinderman, Sia, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, Wolfmother, Lupe Fiasco, Deftones, Die Antwoord, Birds Of Tokyo, Primal Scream — Screamadelica Live, LCD Soundsystem, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Plan B, Booka Shade (Dj Set), The Naked & Famous, The Jim Jones Revue, Airbourne, Andrew W.K., Crystal Castles (Nz + East Coast), CSS, Ratatat, Kids Of 88, Silent Disco Djs, Wunmi, Reggie Watts, Shihad The General Electric Live, The Greenhornes, Blackmilk, Balloonatic, Red Bacteria Vacuum, Kora, Die! Die! Die!, Bulletproof, I Am Giant, Six 60, Street Chant, Steriogram, The Phoenix Foundation, Bang Bang Eche, Kody & Bic, Aural Trash, Ghost, Mt Eden Dubstep, Dj Meltron, Dj Cxl, Harry The Bastard, Luger Boa, Knives At Noon, Three Houses Down, Homebrew, Computers Want Me Dead, Tommy Ill, Family Cactus, Surf City, Grayson Gilmour, 1995, The Earlybirds, The Unfaithful Ways.
As soon as we came to the stadium area where the festival was held, we met a large group of people dressed in a strange way. I automatically pressed the shutter release. BDO is a tradition for many people and a reason to wear costumes. People around did not care, there was a smell of grass, people smoked right there in the crowd.
Deftons have just finished playing and people are flooding from the scene (out of the picture) to buy food and drinks. As far as there is no admission to BDO for people younger than 15 years old, the drinks are sold in special “runways” but they are to be taken only there, on the spot, because 99% of the festival rest area is alcohol-free.
This year the symbols of the festival have been of samurai-Japanese theme. In the “planked” house in the center of the field, there was a mixer board, cameras and other technical rubbish concealed from view .
If I get it right it is a hipster boy.
Faces and shoulders of those who came to the festival early in the morning were red. The cruel New Zealand sun “works” in any weather.
Honestly speaking, that time I’ve got a feeling that the whole point of the BDO festival is in hanging about, roaming from one stage to another and waiting for one’s friends and acquaintances: next to a stand, near a shop or a toilet. It seems to me that the sun glasses did not suit me that day.
In fact, in New Zealand people smoke not much (smokers are less than 22% of the population). In Russia, 75% of men and 21% of women smoke regularly, it is a kind of weigh control, aha). Cigarettes rolled by smokers are considered to be less dangerous for health. Sure, it is not true, there are even more resins in those do-it-yourself cigarettes.
I had to smile much to people, and show the pictures on the camera screen, and give out calling cards to make people’s reaction to camera milder. Of course, nobody tried to take the camera from me or, for example, to spit t in the lens. Some people simply made very wry faces.
You can imagine what was left from the green grass of the stadium’s rugby field in the rain. One could easily recognize those who had managed to visit both main stages – orange and dark-blue – by their soiled boots and dirty legs (up to the very knees).
Teenagers-hippie are just teenagers-hippie everywhere across the globe. There was time when I, too, wore hair up to the middle of my back and a bandana with smileys.
Children-hippie grow up into such bearded uncles-hippie.
This area was called a “Boiler room”. Electronic guys like M.I.A. played there under the tent which looked more like a circus marquee.
Kiwi DJ at work. It goes without saying that he has got the Mac.
To shoot people in a dark moving crowd was not an easy task, so I had to roam about the periphery because there was enough street lighting.
Hyper-stirring South African electronic guys named Die Antwoord. Their symbol is the kind ghost Casper holding his own log-like penis. They are good guys, watch the video.
Photos of accidental passes-by will help you to get the idea of the Kiwi youth.
They say that more than 50% of local people have tattoos. I have not found any trustworthy statistics on the question so I will not insist on the data.
That guy looks like an actor from the “Social network”, he was standing with an opened mouth all the time so I got the idea that he could not close it physiologically.
As I mentioned above, the waiting was a common way to spend time during the festival “Big Day Out”.
That music-fancier, who is fond of listening to electronic music, is grinning at biting texts of Die Antwood.
A drunken girl (most of participants got drunk before going to the stadium) with a worried face expression is waiting for her friend to come out of the toilet.
A spider man making a joint. It is One of my favorite pictures in the series.
Sun-burnt necks and shoulders.
That unfamiliar guy with a watermelon wrote me after the photos had been published on Facebook, so I sent a full-size photo to him.
A person on the left came there, apparently, in a T-shirt bought at the previous festival BDO. Then Muse and Groove Armada had been the headliners.
Fancy-dress clowns again, as if in protective suits. They ungracefully showed fucks, and dirty-mouthed much, too.
There was such a strong smell of grass in the crowd that many people felt good and free as if of themselves.
A young person in fashionable glasses and with a fashionable haircut. Behind his back, there is a 3-D matrix consisting of little table-tennis balls. There are multi-coloured diodes inside each of the balls. The whole construction, of course, is switched to a computer which creates the light show.
Very brutal Die Antwoord.
Why is it so that if you miss the moment of unexpectedness, people start showing tongues and make faces, Max Lemesh, who shoots the night life of Auckland, can affirm it. It could be such a nice couple!
Positive summer mood.
To be continued with two parts.