Big Day Out
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| Big Day Out | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Big Day Out Auckland 2007 | |
| Location(s) | Australia
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| Years active | 1992 - present |
| Founded by | Ken West |
| Date(s) | Late January - early February |
| Genre(s) | Rock, hip hop, electronic |
| Website | Official website |
The Big Day Out (BDO) is an annual music festival that tours Australia and New Zealand which originated in Sydney in 1992. As of 2003, it has featured 7 or 8 stages (depending on the venue) accommodating popular contemporary rock music, electronic music, mainstream international acts and local acts.
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[edit] History
The festival began in 1992 as a Sydney-only show with Violent Femmes as the headline act, along with Nirvana and a range of other foreign and local alternative music acts playing at the Hordern Pavilion. In the months preceding the event, Nirvana's Nevermind was released and became an international smash hit, therefore guaranteeing the success of the festival. Kurt Cobain was chronically ill at the time of the show.
In 1993, the festival was extended to include Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide. In 1994, shows in Auckland and the Gold Coast were added. In 1997 it was announced that that year's event would be the last. The following year promoters, Vivian Lees and Ken West, organised a predominantly electronic and dance festival; however, the event was cancelled, and the Big Day Out returned in 1999.
American band Pearl Jam were booked to headline the 2001 tour almost 12 months in advance, as they had just started to do festivals for the first time since problems at festivals in the early 90's. On 30 June 2000 at the Roskilde Festival Denmark, they ended their set prematurely after the crowd surged forward, crushing and fatally injuring 9 people. They pulled out of the BDO, claiming to never do festivals again. Pearl Jam later played Leeds & Reading Festivals, UK, in 2006.
[edit] The event
Note: Some information varies from venue and location according to facilities, the information here is considered general across the festival locations.
Like many other modern music festivals, the Big Day Out is held in stadiums which are more commonly designed for major sporting events. All of the Big Day Out locations utilize multiple performance stages, on which different acts will often be playing simultaneously. It is common that the well known international acts will play on one of the two "main stages", which overlook the main sporting ground of the venue, and the lesser known (and often local) acts will perform on smaller stages. All of the stages are within a short walking distance of one another.
A signature feature of the Big Day Out is the "Boiler Room", a large circus-style tent in which the more electronically themed artists perform. This style of venue intends to enhance the sound and ambience of the performance, which can be compared to a rave.
Other areas at the Big Day Out include a novelty entertainment stage, a signing tent, multiple food and merchandise shopping areas, and one or more designated alcohol consumption areas to which access is restricted to those of the local drinking age. Alcohol can only be purchased from within the venue.
The event lasts from mid-morning (doors open between 9am and 10am, depending on venue) to late evening (the last performances generally finish just before midnight).
[edit] Notable events
During the 2001 Sydney Big Day Out teenager Jessica Michalik was crushed to death in a crowd surge during a performance by Limp Bizkit. The coroner's finding criticised the crowd control measures in use at the time, and also criticised lead singer Fred Durst for "alarming and inflammatory" comments when a rescue effort was underway. Subsequent tours continue to feature a "D-barricade" (a purportedly safer barricade design reducing the risk of a crowd crush).
In 2004, two slightly reduced capacity Sydney shows took place back to back, bringing the total number of shows on the tour to seven, as part of their payment headlining act Metallica took all the proceeds for the second show on top of their appearance fee.
In recent years, shows have been selling out extremely fast, with the last 2 Sydney shows selling out the general release on the first day of sale, and the final 10,000 sold via a weekly ballot. 2007 also saw the first, and so far only time where every show sold out, selling a total of 276,000 tickets across the 6 cities. 2008 saw Gold Coast and Melbourne shows also sell out on the first day and the final batch of tickets sold via ballot.
[edit] Artist lineups
Each year since its inception in 1992, Big Day Out has attracted a large range of artists and acts to perform ranging from Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys & Metallica, and has been a launching platform for many Australian artists such as Silverchair, Powderfinger, You Am I, The Living End, Grinspoon and many others.
[edit] Announcement hoaxes
There have been various fake press releases in the last few years; however, two hoaxes have received considerable media coverage.
[edit] Big Day Out 2004
In late 2003, shortly before the first announcement was due, the Big Day Out's official online forum was hacked, and a fake press release was written and posted under the alias of the forums administrator, and as such many believed it was real. This press release indicated the as-yet unannounced line-up for Big Day Out 2004. Further adding to its authenticity was that it included two bands that had already said they were playing (Metallica and The Dandy Warhols) and another number of bands that were rumoured or highly speculated, instead of the common theme of fake announcements which had bands such as Nirvana or The Beatles. The fake announcement spread to various websites and was pulled from the forum after about 20 hours.[citation needed]
[edit] Big Day Out 2007
Again, shortly before the first announcement, a fake press release was posted on a the BDOFORUMS Myspace which is designed with the same artwork and colouring as the official Big Day Out website, but is not directly affiliated with Big Day Out (as it is a fan operated site).
The fake press release was obtained by several media outlets, including Triple J, Channel [V] and various newspapers. It was read out on Triple J Radio during Jay and the Doctor's breakfast program on October 4, 2006, and was discussed with Humphrey B. Flaubert of TISM. Jay and The Doctor (Both of Frenzal Rhomb) and Flaubert refuted that their respective bands who were on the fake line-up were playing.
Channel V reported the announcement as being official and made the headlines in their music news program.
Despite poor grammar and spelling, the fake lineup was believed by many people; Australia and New Zealand wide.[citation needed]
[edit] Flag ban controversy
On 21 January 2007 a decision was made by the organisers to discourage Big Day Out patrons in Sydney from bringing and displaying the Australian flag. The organisers said the decision was a result of recent ethno-religious tensions in Sydney, complaints that the previous year's festival had been marred by roving packs of aggressive flag-draped youths,[1] and recognition that some indigenous Australians have issue with celebrating the start of British settlement.
Sections of the community had strong views supporting or objecting to the policy. The then Prime Minister John Howard, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma and Federal Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd publicly condemned the move. Premier Iemma suggested the event be cancelled if the organisers cannot secure the safety of attendees. Main stage act Jet performed in front of a large backdrop of a black-and-white Australian flag cut-out of their name, with lead vocalist Nic Cester adding "I can't tell anyone else what to do but we as a band are very proud to be Australian and we don't want to feel we are not allowed to feel proud".[2]
However, other people including Andrew Bartlett of the Australian Democrats, sports writer Peter FitzSimons and members of the hip hop outfit The Herd expressed concern that the flag was being misused by a handful of aggressive attendees in a jingoist manner, and that rock concerts were not the appropriate venue to be waving a flag.[3]
[edit] Compilation albums
- Disrespective (2002)
- Big Day Out 03 (2003)
- Big Day Out 04 (2004)
- Big Day Out 05 (2005)
- Big Day Out 06 (2006)
[edit] References
- ^ Flag row rocks Australia concert, Al Jazeera, Retrieved 28 January 2007
- ^ McCabe, Kathy; Benson, Simon. "Big Day Out flag ban sparks fury", The Daily Telegraph, 2007-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
- ^ Fly your Aussie flag | The Daily Telegraph
- Big Day Out - Past Lineups. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- Sydney Morning Herald story.
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