And then the music stopped.

We’ve just experienced the last ever Big Day Out to grace our shores. What has been a staple of the local music scene has finally played its last note and it went out with a quaint dignity.

Although the festival was downsized and in spite of the fact that the turnout was low compared to previous years the atmosphere was electric. Concert goers of all ages seemed to have recognised that this year was different. There were fewer stages, more space to move and shorter lines for the toilets. There was also an overbearing feeling that this was it. This was the last time we’d be able to cut an act short at the main stage to run up the stands to the Boiler Room (which this year wasn’t a room at all but a classic stage). This was the last time we’d wait in line for the toilets, only to see the state of them and decide to hold on a bit longer. This was the last time we’d quickly try to slop more sunscreen on in between bands because we could feel the back of our necks burning in the hot summer sun.

Yes the atmosphere was great and punters seemed to have decided to let Big Day Out go out with a bang.

Support was thick and heavy for local acts such as David Dallas on the Boiler Room stage and Gin Wigmore on the main stage, with crowds gathering in anticipation.

Tony Hawk was a crowd favourite at the Skate stage, showing off his skills to the sounds of local lads Midnight Youth.

Over at the Green Converse stage people were strewn about the grass soaking up the sun and the sounds of American bands such as Foster The People and Best Coast.

Back at the Boiler Room the crowds had swelled to jump to Pittsburgh sample-master Girl Talk for a performance that included toilet-paper-shooting guns, confetti cannons and large inflatable objects which the crowd happily punched around the stadium.

Happiness seemed to be the order of the day with both St Johns and the Police reporting no serious incidents and a generally positive mood.

That much was obvious to anyone who stayed around until the end when Noel Gallagher closed the show with “Don’t Look Back in Anger” to a crowd of thousands as people slowly drifted towards the Big Day Out Express home. A fitting song as a drunken youth was carried past me smiling ear to ear screaming at the top of his lungs: “Best Big Day Out ever!”. I think quite a few people around him would have agreed.

Review by Tenani French

For the Big Day Out 2012 Photo Gallery click here.

For more reviews see our Event Reviews page.