Big Day Out Tickets
Tickets for Big Day Out are currently unavailable.
Click on "Get Tickets Alert" to get notified via email before tickets go on sale.
Discover Events Near You!
Write down your email and never miss an update.
Big Day Out
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 accommodating popular contemporary rock music, electronic music, mainstream international acts and local acts.
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, New Zealand, 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.
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 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.
Again, shortly before the first announcement, a fake press release was posted on the BDOFORUMS My space which is designed with the same artwork and coloring as the official Big Day Out website, but is not directly affiliated with Big Day Out. 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.
Entertainment at the Big Day Out in MelbourneOn 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, and recognition that some indigenous Australians have issue with celebrating the start of British settlement.
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. Sections of the community had strong views supporting or objecting to the policy. Premier Iemma suggested the event be cancelled if the organisers cannot secure the safety of attendees.
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.