I am a 54 year old guy, who fixated early on British blues and rock.
This year's main stages lineup looked about the best for years for me and my type of music. I was to be surprised in two ways. Lupe Fiasco and Rammstein both gave us brilliant sets, Fiasco because of the strength of his recovery from sound issues, plus great numbers played with a rocky edge, and Rammstein with the most amazing theatrics and pyrotechnic displays!!
Here's my summary of the main stage acts I saw:
I Am Giant:
NZ band, they have a good first single out, and give more rock live than on their recordings. I like 'em.
Airbourne:
Australian rockers - very AC/DC sound and attitude, brilliant fun, lead singer/guitarist climbed up the speaker stack to play a solo! Awesome stuff!!!
Deftones:
Not my favourite band least said soonest mended
Lupe Fiasco:
Rapper with a phenomenal ability to include a rock edge in his live act - he had 2 false starts with the sound system on the Blue Stage but 3rd time pays for all and he really worked the crowd well after a very effective recovery.
Wolfmother:
Australian covers band with some of theuir own material too. They covered Baba O'Reilly by the Who, nad Dear Prudence by the Beatles, plus a little Johann Sebastian Bach (Toccata and Fugue in D minor intro), good solid rock
John Butler Trio:
ostensibly an Australian Reggae and Roots band, but John Butler is actually a Blues guitarist when live, and a very good one at that. Fabulous instrumental solo from him in memoriam of the Queensland Flood victims. The three of them became drummers for a rousing drum piece at the end
Shihad:
my personal favourite Kiwi rock band. There's no frills, no special effects, just some of the most honest music created. These boys are the Wellington band that OWNS the soul of Auckland's rockers, and always own the Auckland BDO crowd and this time was no different. They played their best album (in my humble opinion) in its entirety. The second time I have seen this show, Last time was early in 2010.
The album is called "The General Electric" and for several of the numbers every one in the already packed Stadium was moshing and waving their arms in unison and spontaneously, tremendous stuff.
I didn't watch Iggy amd the Stooges - not interested.
Went to see a band called The Naked and Famous, on a different stage, and get some chinese food to eat. The Naked and Famous on a big stage are not as good as When they play in a smaller, indoor venue (I first saw them in 2009 in the Dog's Bollix), they still have much to learn.
Back to the main stages for:
Rammstein
Powerfully good Rock Opera Noir is all I can describe it as, and with Pyrotechnics and rockets too. Fantastic show, all delivered in German, which added to the aspects of horror, possibly intentionally, must see them again...
TOOL:
The headliners for me - all my favourite tracks from my favourite of their albums especially "Lateralus", I met a young lady named Mary in the stands, she was incredibly happy 'cos they played tracks from her favourite album "Undertow". Great Laser show too.
'nuff said.