The opening Australian leg of the Big Day Out music festival for 2009 has attracted a  sell-out crowd of 55,000! These festival goers braved the threat of rain at the Gold Coast Parklands, the first Australian stop for the country’s biggest music festival after a visit to New Zealand on Friday.

The biggest crowds of the afternoon converged at the feet of British hip group of the moment, The Ting Tings, and electronica band Pendulum. British indie rockers Arctic Monkeys will rock the main stage later in the night, ahead of local punk rockers The Living End, before Young takes to the stage.

Organisers said the bumper crowd was a promising sign given the squeeze of the economic crisis. With the show headlined in 2009 by Canadian guitar legend Neil Young, fans of all ages were out in force on the Gold Coast to watch local bands such as The Grates, Sneaky Sound System and Youth Group.

There were a handful of minor casualties – a Department of Emergency Services spokeswoman said four people were taken to hospital with nausea and dehydration complaints.

Drug sniffing dogs helped police make 147 arrests at Sunday’s Big Day Out music festival at the Gold Coast Parklands. Making their first appearance at the annual event, the sniffer dogs led to 52 arrests on drug-related matters, mostly for possession of ecstasy or marijuana.

For a good review of the NZ Big Day out head to http://www.voxy.co.nz/entertainment/big-day-out-experience/319/7634

For more information on big day out go to http://www.bigdayout.com/news/newsletter.php

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