Heart of the Nation: Homebush 2127

A BIG rock concert is like a battlefield. On one side are 50,000 people roaring with their fists in the air; on the other, a few guys with guitars.

Heart

A BIG rock concert is like a battlefield. On one side is an army of 50,000 people roaring with their fists in the air; on the other, a few guys with guitars. The two sides square up and batter each other with noise. The guys with guitars have the firepower but their opponents have the numbers. It can go on for hours.

A sliver of no man's land known as "the pit" runs along the front of the stage, dividing the two sides. Only a handful of security men and accredited photographers are allowed in there. It's a sanctuary of sorts, a little oasis of calm and order amid the chaos. At the Big Day Out festival in Sydney a couple of years ago, photographer Cassandra Hannagan was in the pit shooting pictures of the Deftones, a Californian alternative metal band who'd come on stage and just lit the place up.

After the first three songs she'd got enough photos of the band, and was crouching down to pack up her gear when, on a whim, she turned around to snap a quick frame of these fans in the front row.

Jammed up hard against the barrier, they were being hosed down by festival staff as a safety measure in the 42-degree heat, but nothing could dampen their spirits. The photo captures a moment when some are lost in rapture, and others seem close to rage. It's a fascinating tableau of raw, youthful energy. It's also very male - notice there's only one girl in the shot, and she doesn't seem to be loving it; the hand of an unseen man emerges from the melee to clasp hers protectively.

"They would have been crammed in like that for most of the day, because once you're in that position it's really hard to get out," says Hannagan, 36, from Sydney's inner-west. "It was about 3pm, the sun was beating down and the heat was just horrific. But these hardcore fans, they'll put up with all that just to be at the front."

Hannagan is a music lover and veteran festival-goer, but she was thankful to be in the pit that day, and not on the other side of the barrier. "It looked horrific," she says. "I mean, where's the enjoyment in that? It's just a big cesspit of sweat and hormones."