In 2004, it was darkness vs. light.

The pop joi de vivre of the Strokes was followed by the sturm and drang of Metallica. In Sydney, a thunderstorm of epic proportions made for a wonderful light show during the Strokes, while it bucketed like no tomorrow for Metallica. Muse blasted their epic prog-rock all over the main stage, while Kings of Leon shook their skinny hips like there was no tomorrow.

Poison the Well and Thursday shows just how great ProTools can make any band sound on record, while Welsh pop nü-metallers Lost Prophets completely upstaged the both of them.

But the two bands everyone was talking about in 2004 were the Mars Volta and the Flaming Lips. Both were making their first visits to Australia, even if elements of the Mars Volta had appeared earlier, in 2001, as at the drive-in. Both were magnificent, albeit in very different ways.

The Flips turned their show into a party of epic proportions for all, while the Mars Volta’s technical precision while playing loose jazz-prog-rock-expansiveness was nothing short of extraordinary.

Aphex Twin was the story of the Boiler Room, while hip-hop expanded everywhere – Black Eyed Peas played the main stage, while Scribe & P-Money, King Kapisi, MC Trey, 1200 Techniques and Downsyde all toured Australia. Other highlight local acts included the newly emerging Jet and the Sleepy Jackson, as well as BDO veterans Something For Kate and Gerling, but the reformed Hoodoo Gurus won the biggest cheers for their set of hits and classic memories.

In 2004, the number of shows expanded to seven, with Sydney getting two slightly reduced capacity shows. Those noted sharers – Metallica – reported received all the proceeds for the second show on top of their appearance fee.

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