There was a decidedly prog-rock feel to the 2007 Big Day Out, with headliners from either side of the Atlantic aiming for the stars in very different ways.

Tool did it through surprisingly delicate use of restraint tempered by flashes of genuine power, and were an amazing, assaulting sound – even if most people couldn’t see frontman James Maynard Keenan as he hovered at the back of the stage.

The same couldn’t be said for Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, who lead English three-piece Muse through a great set that coupled genuine songsmithery with guitar tomfoolery.

Violent Femmes cast memories back to 1992 – no, really; they don’t have any new songs – while Las Vegas foursome the Killers proved to not have the power in their sound to be worthy of a spot on the main stage.

The Vines returned and certainly impressed, with Craig Nicholls masterful use of pop melodies and guitar smashing ending a delightful response to their poor run of shows some years earlier.

My Chemical Romance were a hit with the kids, while Jet’s star most certainly had faded – and didn’t Lily Allen let them know it every time she stopped singing her wonderful pop music!

Lupe Fiasco played with just a turntablist and was nothing short of amazing, while New Zealander Macromantics and the Streets added a different hip-hop flavour to proceedings.

The Incredible Beatbox Band and John Cooper Clarke kept things interesting, and Hot Chip were the highlight of the Boiler Room in the wake of their irrepressible The Warning.

Locally the Drones and Snowman marked their BDO debuts with great sets, while a host of the usual suspects – Eskimo Joe, John Butler Trio, Little Birdy, Something For Kate, and so on and so forth – made up the lower spot on the main stage and smaller stage contingent.

If the 2007 Big Day Out proved anything it was that diversity is the key to a successful festival, something that the organisers seem to bear in mind with each passing year, serving up a sumptuous feast of surprises that can’t help but please every festival goer.

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