I ended up going to the Auckland BDO.
I found I spent most of the time on the side stages. And I caught quite a few NZ groups - one which were a poor man's White Stripes - a male/female duo playing one instrument each song, but they were quite enjoyable.
When I went to many of my trips to the bar, I discovered a band called Family Cactus, who had about 7 people on stage, and who sounded very "Radiohead", but not nearly as miserable. I really enjoyed them, and will try and track down their albums.
Kora, a NZ funk/soul band, who should have been in the Boiler room, just because they had a better "dance" sound than Mt Eden Dubstep who were on at the same time. Kora had a great sound, that New Zealand funk/soul/dance sound of Supergroove or Fat Freddy’s Drop, and it was appreciated by a massive crowd. Although to be fair Mt Eden Dubstep were ok... too wobbly for my tastes, but maybe it was the fact that thousands were singing along with their tracks it didn't want to make me put a knitting needle through my ear like most dubstep sets I’ve had to endure. Maybe they’re just better DJs than Melbourne / Adelaide dubstep DJs, but the fact remains they were just DJs and I’d have preferred to see a live act in the boiler room.
Bloody Beetroots were like a poor man's Daft Punk. Sure, they had more equipment on stage and were “live”, and the lightshow wasn't as nearly spectacular, but they were dull as fuck. What is it with Electro acts?
Die Antwoord are a must. Yeah, their music sucks, but fuck me these guys are entertaining on stage. It's like Vanilla Ice had a baby with Dali, and he decided to partner up with the ideal Aryan woman, especially in the fact she should be seen and NOT heard (you’ll understand me when she sings), and they've decided to make hiphop without really understanding what hiphop is.
This year seemed to be the year of the Gimmick - even Sia came out on stage covered in black & white paint, constrained in a box. She's so fucking cute though, and the crowd may have been soaked, we had a ball!
Rammstien win out though – flares, explosions, blood and flame fucking throwers!
Iggy Pop was Iggy Pop – as frantic and crazy on stage as always. Their set is an album set, not the usual best of, so if you're not a huge Stooges fan, you'll probably be pissed he didn't play Lust for Life.
And Tool were Tool. If you’re a fan, you might like it, but I thought they were pretty dull.
I completely missed LCD sound system – they were on the same time as Primal Scream, who were by far the best act of the day.
Doing an album live has its own pitfalls - for example the Pixies were record perfect - you could have been in the studio with them, not on stage with thousands of people. And as I mentioned before about Iggy & the Stooges, for someone who isn’t a fan, you wonder where all the good songs are.
But Scream have decided to do something different, because in the 20 years since Screamadelica their sound has changed to be a lot more blues/rock influenced. Part of this is the different producers they've worked with, part from the introduction of Stone Roses' Mani on Bass. They've taken that on board, and have redone the seminal dance/rock album and educated it with the rock/blues mentality. So it rocks out, led by Mani’s amazing bass playing, but still amazingly uplifting and soulful.
And those who know me know I've seen a lot of acts - and Primal Scream's Screamadelica Live is up in the top 10, for sure.
lets just say i dont remember a thing. 
