Big Day Out Boils Over

It is the height of summer in Australia. Nowhere was it more obvious than when audiences at the first three shows of Big Day Out this weekend faced temperatures of up to 43 degrees Celsius (109 F).

About 1,600 people were treated for dehydration at two Sydney shows, with 36 hospitalized.

It was even hotter on stage.

Rock band Eskimo Joe’s drummer blacked out before its last song, while Kasabian singer Tom Meighan had a vitamin shot injection to boost his energy levels for his band’s set.

But UK rapper Dizzee Rascal lost his cool for other reasons. At one show he tried to leap into the audience after someone threw a deodorant stick at him. Then, irritated by a journalist who had asked if he had ever fallen over onstage, he called her a “bitch” and refused to do any more interviews until she wiped the interview out.

The Veronicas’ Lisa Origliasso singed her hair when organizers set off fireworks to mark the festival’s 100th show at the second Sydney date.