Big Day Out 2014 Lineup Announced: Blur, Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire Named Headline Acts

The Big Day Out 2014 lineup has been announced, Blur joining as one of the headliners. The travelling festival, which is set to kick off in Auckland on January 17, will also see guaranteed crowd pleasers Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, and Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion).

The “impossible” lineup is said to be over a decade in the making, one which promoter Ken West is very excited about.

“I would be happy with any of those three acts closing the festival,” he told Faster Louder, referring to the headliners Blur, Arcade Fire and Pearl Jam. “We haven’t had that before. So it’s the most impossible lineup we’ve had because if you think about it logically there’s no other place in the world where you’d get these three acts on the same bill unless it was Live Aid.

“That’s the only other time you can get the egos pushed out of the way... While three bands don’t make a festival these are three really f****** good bands.”

The BDO in New Zealand in 2012 was a total lost. Ticket sales were poor and the Australian promoter said they lost $1.5 million, which saw the festival canned for 2013.

:We had it all stacked the wrong way. We’d been talking about the viability in New Zealand for five years leading up to that ... You get into a position where you think, ‘It’s not viable, we shouldn’t do it,” West continued. “But we were committed so we followed it through.”

But West is more positive that the 2014 show would be different. The BDO leg at Western Springs Stadium and Park had been reorganised to make the show viable.

“We’ve gone into this one on the basis that it has a standalone budget and we’ve pulled everything into line. We’ve negotiated the artist’s fees down specifically for New Zealand and explained that it’s New Zealand dollars over there.

“We’ve had to reinvent the process to create a viable event.”

As for Blur, making their BDO debut is exciting. They will play different sets at both Sydney shows on January 26 and 27, and will close the festival each night.

“It’s hugely exciting and there’s something for everybody there,” bassist Alex James told Fairfax Media. “It’s a while since we’ve played festivals, but everything about festivals has got better... the only thing you can’t guarantee is the weather.”

Tickets go on sale at 9 am on August 12.

Big Day Out 2014 schedule:
Jan 17 – Western Springs, Auckland
Jan 19 – Metricon Stadium & Carrara Parklands, Gold Coast
Jan 24 – Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
Jan 26 – Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney
Jan 27 – Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney
Jan 31 – Bonython Park, Adelaide
Feb 2 – Claremont Showgrounds, Perth

List of lineup:
Pearl Jam
Arcade Fire
Blur
Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion
Major Lazer
Steve Angello
The Naked and Famous
The Lumineers
Tame Impala
Mac Miller
Flosstradamus
Ghost
Grouplove
Dillos Francis
The Phoenix Foundation
Portugal.The Man
Toro y Moi
Diiv
SJD
Ladi6
The 975
P-Money
Mudhoney
Beastwars
Concord Dawn
Clap Clap Riot
PleasePlease
Kody Nielson
Randa