Over 100,000 people braved the Sydney Big Day Out festival on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd of January despite temperatures soaring above forty degrees on both days. Misting tents and water stations did little to prevent dehydration and exhaustion with over 250 revellers seeking help from medical staff. The humidity stripped ladies of their makeup and men of their shirts. Bottles of water with spray nozzles attached were suddenly in high demand, as the best way to keep cool and refreshed.

If there was one thing that wasn’t affected adversely by the heat over the two days, it was the quality of the music. The Boiler Room played host to American solo act, Girl Talk, who amped up the crowd with his pumping mash-ups of classics like Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘Dancing in September’ with ‘Glamorous’ by Fergie featuring Ludacris. His usually bare set (it’s just him and his little laptop) was packed with around twenty dancing fans which helped to build a party atmosphere that permeated to the back of the hall.

Scotsman, Calvin Harris also braved the intensity of the Boiler Room, playing the hits that have made him one of the most sought after producers in the world. ‘The Girls’ and ‘Ready For The Weekend’ were crowd favourites.

Dizzee Rascal and Lily Allen represented for their home-town London by playing one after another on the main stage. Aussie favourites Powderfinger jammed out a perfect mixture of songs from their new album ‘Golden Rule’ as well as their old-school hits like ‘My Happiness’.

Headliners Muse incorporated green lasers and trippy video footage into their set which began with some of their greatest and most pumping hits like ‘supermassive black hole’. However, this rocking start was followed up with slow, mellow songs from their latest album. Already feeling slow and mellow due to the heat, it was time to venture back to the ominous Boiler Room to groove to UK duo Groove Armada.

If you were lucky enough to be unscathed by the heat, this year’s Big Day Out festival was the perfect mixture of pop, rock, electro and chill-out music. However, if you took to heart the ridiculous price of water (at $5 a pop it was a precious commodity) and the masses of sweaty bodies encountered while trekking from one act to another – then the Big Day Out could be the festival you decide to scrap in favour of another next summer.