So what do we know already? For one, there will be three headliners. In a recent interview, festival promoter Ken West stated that “I was hoping for one ‘White Whale’, managed to get two and ended up with three.” Big Day Out CEO Adam Zammit also told Twitter that “2 of our headliners have never played an Australian festival.”
The crew are also stating that the 2014 lineup is “the Big Day Out line-up to end all Big Day Out line-ups”. Audacious claims for a festival that has already hosted the likes of Nirvana, The Strokes, The Ramones, Soundgarden, Rammstein, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters and Metallica, just to name a few. Even rival promoter of Soundwave, Harvest and Warped AJ Maddah has said that he’s seen the Big Day Out lineup and it is both “EPIC” and “SUPERB”.
Who definitely isn’t playing? West has stated that Kanye West, Jay-Z nor Neil Young would be appearing on the bill. The hotly tipped Muse have just announced a December tour which rules them out. ?uestlove also let it slip that the The Roots, are shoe-ins for the Falls Festival a month earlier, similarly Vampire Weekend’s track Unbelievers from Modern Vampires Of The City appears on the 2013 Falls teaser video, arguably confirming their appearance on the bill. Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste also told his Instagram followers that the group would be “Down Under come New Years.” The guys over at Laneway have also been blogging about XXYYXX, HAERTS, Arthur Beatrice, The Yum Dee Days and Factory Floor, alluding that they might have locked them in for their own 2014 incarnation.
So who could possibly be these massive headliners? Over at Triple M, the infamous James Young feels that AC/DC are ready to revoke their ‘no festival’ policy. The group also haven’t played on their home shores since 2010 when they embarked on the two-year Black Ice tour, which saw over five million attendees worldwide. It’s been 16 long years since the recently reformed Blur were last on Australian shores, and while Ian Huffamn of X-Ray Touring stated in 2012 that“Blur is planning a relatively extensive world tour next year, including Europe, Japan, South America and Australia,” we’re still waiting for Damon Albarn and co to make the voyage over here.
Depeche Mode are making their way to Australia according to AJ Maddah, however he also divulged that neither he nor his touring companies are involved. In 2012 Ken West stated that he was an inch away from booking Eminem, Prince and Blink-182, perhaps in 2014 the timing is just right? According to Triple M Music reporter Nui Te Koha “Pearl Jam is back on the tour radar for early next year,” but due to his often inept track record, you’d have to take his prediction with a grain of salt. You’re also never going to have a festival without rumours that Daft Punk might make an appearance. It’s been almost six years since the robots finished up their last world tour in Australia, and following the release of their fourth studio album Random Access Memories earlier this year the timing would be perfect. We’re allowed to dream, right?
Who else might we see on the bill? Dream Theater, Arcade Fire and Placebo all have new albums coming out later this year and are well overdue for an Australian tour. No Australian promoter has been able to snag R&B wunderkind The Weeknd or Canadian indie legends Wolf Parade just yet. The National, Mumford & Sons and TV on the Radio are locked in as Splendour exclusives this year, surely they won’t be leaving their other Australian fans in the dark for too much longer. It’s also been way too long in-between drinks with Spoon, Modest Mouse, Brand New and The New Pornographers.
As for the locals? Having just released new records, both Karnivool and Bliss N Eso will no doubt be making their way around the summer festival circuit. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are killing it lately, Donny Benet is well overdue to show the Big Day Out some heat, and some mid-afternoon sets from UV Race, Eddy Current Suppression, RÜFÜS, Drunk Mums, Client Liaison, Oh Mercy and Collarbones wouldn’t go astray either. Oh yeah, and what about Flume? That dude’s been doing everything lately.
Finally, let’s not have any of that hologram bullshit, please?
