Big Day In
Saturday 25th June
1994
Burrell Collection
I have read that it was fairly customary for 7 or 8 band bills to take place in the backwoods society of the 1960’s. Billed as battle of The Bands, entrants would take to the stage intent on blowing each other off, winners take all. The bands that took part in Big Day In did so more in a spirit of loose post-modernist co-operation, some mutual respect, and a dawning realisation that, as Tom from Gila Monster put it : we were all part of a cynical experiment. The Burrell Collection did not actually want us there. Our centrepiece exhibition of D.I.Y / hands-on artwork was sadly shunted to one side doubling as a minimally lit barrier to the ‘real art’. Statues were roped off, and we were advised that 90 db was the maximum volume for the music – you can shout louder than that. Given such strictures, it’s incredible that the Big Day In was actually pretty great. Tons of people turned up from Glasgow and from London and America and Japan. We pushed the sound up to at least 95 db for Teenage Fanclub’s closing song and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and unlike most rock gigs. Reports are filtering back of people that were there feeling inspired to try out their own unconventional events, and it seems that noone wants to go back to Battle of The Bands.
Stephen Pastel, Glasgow Sound City 94 booklet