After a bumpy stretch over the last few years, Australia's one-time premier festival Big Day Out will take off during 2015 while organizers "rejig the format."
The announcement comes on the heels of revelation that the Big Day Out name had been sold to C3 Presents, an American-based concert promoter that runs Lollapalooza, among other big names. The change of hands seemed imminent after prominent business partner AJ Maddah sold off his holdings in the festival series for a mere $1, although he can exercise the option to repurchase his share for the same price next year.
Big Day Out has seen a discomforting drop off in status in recent years. The concert series seems to have reached its peak during 2009, when it appeared at six different locations and brought in more than 330,000 fans. This year's event featured Pearl Jam and Arcade Fire headlining a similar five dates but brought in only 130,000 concertgoers, according to promoters. Numbers that emerged during legal issues involving promoters revealed the total numbers to be closer to 110,000 attendees.
The five dates resulted in estimated losses between $8 and $15 million (Australian), or $7.5 to $14 million American. Maddah ahd suggested that due to poor attendance, the dates in Perth and possibly Adelaide would be removed during the 2015 series.
The series was plagued by organizational problems as well. Blur, the original headline for this year's concerts, pulled out, complaining of the organizer petulance, referring to "the constantly shifting goalposts and challenging conditions of the organizers."
C3 seems to know what it's doing with Lollapalooza...if a year off can get Big Day Out to perform at that level, no one should complain.
