Alright so as most of you know I just spent most of the last 2 weeks in Sydney and also attended the Sydney BDO. I'll start off by reviewing a few of the bands I saw.

Mudvayne - Extremely generic american metal band. Nothing spectacular, if I hadn't of been really pissed when I saw them I probably would have walked off.
The Go! Team - For a band I didn't know much about I was very impressed! Two drummers! wtf? haha I also saw them walking around later on in the day so I shook the black chicks hand and told her I enjoyed the show.
Soulwax - Oh My Fucking God! is all I can say. Holy shit they were awesome! NY Excuse went off!
Wolfmother - There's too much hype around this band. They're good but not that great.
Franz Ferdinand - WAY Overrated! and the sound was shit.
The Mars Volta - I want to marry the drummer! the dude is a fucking tank but he's so precise and accurate. I don't think i've seen anyone that fast who can smack the living crap out of a kit like that. He's also very skilled and pulls off some awesome fills.
Cog - Very impressed! last time I saw them I thought they were quite boring. There's been heaps of improvement since then.
Shihad - I really hate to say this because I love Shihad but fuck I was disapointed. I don't know if it was the band or just the Australian crowd but I mean when Shihad play Home Again everyone's supposed to go nuts right? or was it just me? either way I couldn't bear to watch their full set so I left.

Anyways lets compare the two BDO's

The entrance to the Sydney BDO takes longer to get through but there's a lot more going on. In Auckland you just get bombarded with people trying to sell you herbal highs but the lines to get in are quite fast. In Sydney those pills are illegal but you do get bombarded with sniffer dogs when you get off the train. Once you get closer to the entrance the lilypad guys are standing on top of an icecream van mixing up songs and entertaining the crowd. No one looked impressed when they put on the Crazy Frog song though lol. The security at Sydney is more intense and they're very strict about the 15+ age limit with special lanes and signage up for people under the age of 15.

Once you're inside you're in some massive venue with stadiums everywhere. We decided to get our 18+ bands and get some beers. The licensing at the Sydney BDO is awesome. There's bars nearly everywhere and you can drink your alcohol everywhere except inside the D barricades. After we got our arm bands my mate and I decided to make use of our guest passes and get our arm bands for entry into the guest bar. After spending 20 minutes trying to find guest services we finally found it and got our arm bands and entry into a big air conditioned room with a bar with no lines. It prooved to be quite handy as it was near the main stages and the smaller stages as well so I could get my drinks, take a piss etc. within a minute or two.

Sydney was quite big on exhibits and what not. There were all these pyromechanical robot thingies everywhere and tesla coils etc. Auckland usually has a few market stalls and the stages and that's about it. Sydney didn't have a water slide though :(! The sound is louder at the Auckland event, it's also easier to hear as well. The sound at the mainstages sounded quite low down and at times was really hard to hear. The same with the Green and Essential Stage. The Boiler Room at Sydney is amazing. Like it's huge! to give you an idea take the Boiler Room at Auckland and times it by 3 (maybe more). But even the lighting is shitloads better and the sound is so clear and awesome. Basically the Boiler Room at the Sydney BDO is about the biggest room I have ever seen in my life lol!

Anyways I can't be fucked typing much more but I thought I'd give you my review and opinion on the Sydney BDO. It's well worth the trip to go to!

Dude, BDO Sydney's arrangements for beverages sound infinitely better than Aucklands.

Good you enjoyed Cog too, I'm a bit of a fan of them, and I have heard their live act can be pretty damn good. Definitely fair enough about listening to Shihad in Australia, eugh :(.

oh they are infinitely better! there's bars everywhere! I don't think i've ever been able to have 13 beers @ BDO purely because of the lines!

Sydney made this possible for me *wipes tear*

so were those special guest passes through modding the BDO forum?

yep.

I get sent two every year :)

I thought it was you Kev. It's me, refused, from BDO forums!

ah hey man!

how goes it? I haven't seen you around in a while?

Yeah, I've pretty much given up on the BDO boards. Shit turned bad there after they rehauled them IMO, but I may peek my nose in. The other place is good though...

Are you at uni or what? still in aucks?

haha the other place. I was banned from there for copy and pasting some stuff.

I met Stevo last week, nice guy! pretty quiet but a nice dude all the same.

Nah i'm not at uni but still in Aucks (unfortunately). What about you? what are you up to these days?

I'm going back up to uni (auckland) on the 19th which will be good and then start studying whenever it is that we start again.

You guys had a big internerd meet up aye? I think it was hannah (medusa) who posted a pic of all you guys at a restaurant or pub or something. It seemed nice.

haha yeah it was probably the nerdiest thing I've ever been to lol

was a good night though, $2.50 beers in the middle of Sydney CBD is always good :)

what are ya studying?

Film television media studies, politics, english and pop music. I love my Bugger All.