FEAR FACTORY Singer Reports From Australia's BIG DAY OUT Festival

January 25, 2004

FEAR FACTORY frontman Burton C. Bell has posted the following tour diary entry on the band's official web site:

"This feels good! The 2 shows we just did for THE BIG DAY OUT in Sydney, went off! For not being onstage in 25 months, we were really fucking tight! The vibe onstage was righteous, and the crowd was going full-on!!! We are very thankful for the really great turnout, for such an early spot. The spot we took over, 12:30pm on the Orange Mainstage, initially was for THE DONNAS, but due to an injury, were forced to cancel that. Then SLIPKNOT was to take that spot, and they dropped out to finish their album. SO....at the last minute, our man Ken 'Squasha' Knight called Christian and asked if we wanted to do that spot, but it had to be a secret, because they wanted to have a MYSTERY BAND....okay, that's cool!!!

"The information 'was leaked to radio' the night before the festival that we were the special guest, and so a lot of fans came out extra early to see us!!! On both days, the crowd was chanting FEAR FACTORY during the last 10 minutes of the of the bands set that was before us. When we took the stage, there was at least a couple of thousand fans in the pit area, and a few thousand more through the complex.

"The set list:

01. Edgecrusher
02. Demanufacture
03. Zero Signal (1st Show)
04. Self Bias Resistor (2nd Show)
05. Shock
06. Arise Above Oppression
07. Scumgrief
08. Cyberwaste
09. Martyr
10. Replica

"When we opened up with 'Edgecrusher', the fans went ballistic, and the energy of the crowd continued through the entire set as more people would mosh their way to the front of the stage. The vibe was killer onstage. Raymond and Christian are really tight playing together, and it sounded awesome. Byron is a great bass player, and he appeared to be enjoying himself!!! John and his keyboarding foundation held the FEAR FACTORY trademarks together. It felt really good to be playing live again!!!

"The Big Day Out is a huge festival, with many tents, and a lot of bands!!! I have had the chance to catch some shows, and some killer music. I watched a few songs from a local SYDNEY band called TOURETTES. They have a great vibe, great talent, and they are really cool people! Their dressing room was next to ours, as well as POISON THE WELL. I had the chance to see POISON THE WELL. I have not heard their album yet, but I saw them live, and they were REALLY GOOD! I really enjoyed their set! I need to get that album now! . I went to the front of the soundboard to watch METALLICA for their set! The genius of METALLICA is that they know how to work a massive crowd. The song they played over the P.A. was the classic IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP IF YOU WANNA ROCK AND ROLL, by the most famous Australian band of all time. I was in the middle of a crowd of at least 40,000 people, all of which were singing along to the song. Surreal and pure genius. DAMN! Those fuckers put on a great show!!! They even busted out 'Fade To Black', my favorite METALLICA song of all time! The crowd was singing along to all of their songs, and screaming their heads off when they were not singing! Damn me to hell the day I stop loving live music, because I will surely be dead.

"On another note, John pointed out the best t-shirt ever... it read, 'the liver is evil, and it must be punished.' Fucking genius.

"[Actress] Drew Barrymore was on our flight to Australia, but she was 1st class....she has been hanging around the venues with her boyfriend in THE STROKES. She is so tiny....

"We have been travelling in the same shuttles, and the same flights, and have been staying in the same hotels as THE DARKNESS. I have not heard their album yet. They go on right after we finish, so I have not seen them yet, either, but they got a lot of hype going on here as well. Ed and Frankie (THE DARKNESS players) and I shared a bottle of Jack Daniels last night, in the shuttle taking us back to the hotel. I have to see them next

"The next report will be from MELBOURNE...until then, LET THERE BE ROCK!!!"

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