Big Day Out - Getting there and home

BIG DAY OUT PUBLIC TRANSPORT NOTICES

It's the last week countdown to the Big Day Out in Auckland this Friday. Neil Young has packed Old Black, his favourite guitar (see below) carefully into its road-case and is on his way.

Getting out to the Big Day Out by public transport is easy when you opt for the Big Day Out Express Bus from Real Groovy. The buses depart at regular intervals from 9am to 2pm and there's a return service from the stadium to Queen Street from 9.30pm until 1.30am. The Express connects with regular bus services as well as the Niterider buses that run on ten routes from the central city to outer suburbs until 3am.

The Auckland rail network is undergoing maintenance at present but the Southern Line track is reopening on Friday especially for the Big Day Out to run trains between Britomart and Papakura, servicing the Penrose Station for the festival from north and south. Timetables and further information can be found at www.maxx.co.nz or by phoning 09 366-6400.

Old Black is a guitar that Neil Young traded from one his Buffalo Springfield bandmates in 1969 that has served as his most faithful weapon of choice over the years. The guitar is allegedly a 1953 Les Paul GoldTop that has undergone extensive customization and a ferocious battering over the years.

Old Black has seen considerable wear and tear, with most of the black paint removed from the mahogany neck. A white tape pinstripe extends down the back of the guitar neck but it has been pulled off from the body, resulting in the removal of a jagged strip of body wood down the back. An additional round aluminum access plate is present on the back of the guitar, the purpose of which is unknown but Old Black is notable for its metal hardware, including an aluminum pickguard, whose rigidity produces additional feedback-a tone characteristic of many of Neil Young's guitar sounds and something that we are very much looking forward to hearing in the form of some ear-splitting solos from one of our musical gods at the Big Day Out on Friday. See you there.

THE BIG DAY OUT 09
NEIL YOUNG, THE PRODIGY, ARCTIC MONKEYS, THE TING TINGS, TV ON THE RADIO, SERJ TANKIAN, TIKI LIVE, MY MORNING JACKET, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, BLACK KIDS, HEADLESS CHICKENS, FANTOMAS, THE BLACK SEEDS, THE DATSUNS, WETA, LUPE FIASCO, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, HOLY GHOST, Z*TRIP, ZANE LOWE, ELEMENO P, DROPKICK MURPHYS, NESIAN MYSTIK, HOT CHIP, THE MINT CHICKS, PENDULUM, THE LIVING END, LADI6, SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM, LUGER BOA, COBRA KHAN, THE NAKED AND FAMOUS, SON OF DAVE, PEEWEE FERRIS, ETHICAL, BRAND NEW MATH, GEORGE & QUEEN, HORSEMEN FAMILY, P-MONEY, SUBTRACT, SIDEKICKNICK, THE DHDFD'S, CORNERSTONE ROOTS, CLAP CLAP RIOT, QUAY STREET SOCIAL CLUB, AUTOZAMM, THE TUTTS, BIONIC PIXIE, AN EMERALD CITY, KOLAB, WORLD WAR FOUR, JUST ONE FIX, HONEY CLAWS, ANTIFORM, STATE OF MIND, THE MOTS, MIKEY HAVOC, CYNICAL BROTHERS, DJ MILES CLERET, SHEBA, TURNAROUND CREW, RISENGA'S BUSH TECHNOLOGY, THE WELLINGTON INTERNATIONAL UKULELE ORCHESTRA, DJ OD, DJ STEVEN GUTS, DICK "MAGIK" JOHNSON, D-FORM, MANUEL BUNDY, JIMMY CHRISTMAS, SOUNDS OF THE OVERGROUND, THE KINGSLAND VINYL APPRECIATION SOCIETY.