The Big Day Out 2014 is taking place in Adelaide today ahead of its last ever edition in Perth this Sunday, “definitely the last” according to promoter AJ Maddah owing to the high costs of staging the event, battles with local authorities, and low ticket sales.
Now reports are surfacing that the long-running Aussie music festival is facing million-dollar losses, according to a Fairfax report that alleges there could be impending court battles between co-owners Maddah and presenting partners C3 Presenters, while accusing Big Day Out organisers of inflating its 2014 attendance figures
The Fairfax report, published in the Sydney Morning Herald by a trifecta of music reporters – Bernard Zuel, Peter Vincent, and Martin Boulton – claims Big Day Out is facing an estimated loss of between $8 – 15 million from the current 2014 tour, citing anonymous sources that claim the state of the festival team had become “a f—ing mess.”
The article sees the unidentified “senior insider” speculating that the event has not recovered form a $5 million debt accrued when Maddah bought an alleged 50% equity stake into the Big Day Out last September, while speculating that the co-promoter could walk out on C3, leaving the Texan-based company to saddle the losses from the 2014 Big Day Out.
“If AJ walks away I’d be surprised if C3 picked up a $15 million loss,’’ the anonymous source tells Fairfax. “I imagine they’d bankrupt the company, go back to America and forget about Australia.” “If AJ walks away I’d be surprised if C3 picked up a $15 million loss…’’
There are also allegations that Big Day Out had ‘fixed’ their attendance figures, inflating them for a media release that 35,000 had attended the opening Gold Coast leg and Sydney on Australia Day, but other figures have offered much lower numbers that are around half of 2013’s attendance figures.
The SMH piece quotes: “Sydney is believed to have drawn 27,000, Melbourne 26,000 and the Gold Coast 23,000… and [Big Day Out] have reportedly faced questions from the management of headliners such as Pearl Jam over their estimates.”
Yesterday, Maddah confirmed that the closing Perth date had only shifted around 15,000 tickets, contributing to the decision to “definitely” scrap its return to the West Australian state; “people have lost faith in the event in recent years… it’s the end of an era,” he said.
Of scrubbing the Perth event from the festival’s future, Big Day Out CEO Adam Zammit was quoted by WA Today as contradicting Maddah, denying claims that this year’s Big Day Out would be the WA capital’s last as “gossip.” “The event was a basket-case before I walked in and I did my best to try and make it a success.”
Responding to the discrepancy, Maddah tweeted yesterday that Zammit “didn’t say otherwise. Desperate lying c–t at website needed a headline.”
Earlier today, Zammit also tweeted that today’s Fairfax report is false. “SMH article is all wrong,” he wrote of the article, which claims that the CEO was sacked and since been re-hired.
Maddah also refuted several of the Fairfax report’s claims, saying that Zammit’s sacking, his 50% stake in the festival, and the breaking down of a relationship with C3 Presents was all “nonsense.”
The promoter did admit that while attendance figures were down, they were higher than reported in the Fairfax story, saying 31,000 people had attended the Sydney leg, even after a second day was scrapped last September to help consolidate ticket sales.
Speaking of the issues the festival had faced this year – from the high-profile Blur cancellation to the battles with West Australian state government and local council that led to the last-minute Perth venue change – Maddah tells SMH, “The event was a basket-case before I walked in and I did my best to try and make it a success.”
It’s not the first time that a Fairfax investigation has claimed major troubles at the Big Day Out camp.
Last October, Zammit and Maddah lashed out at journalists behind a SMH report claiming the festival was facing a $10 million loss, while saying they were already organising preparations for the Big Day Out 2015 lineup.
Big Day Out 2014 Coverage
Gold Coast: REVIEW | PHOTOS
Melbourne: REVIEW | PHOTOS
Sydney: REVIEW | PHOTOS
Big Day Out 2014 Set Times – Adelaide
Friday 31st January ~ Bonython Park
View/download the Adelaide Map here
Click To Enlarge
Big Day Out 2014 Set Times – Perth
Sunday 2nd February ~ Arena Joondalup
View/download the Perth Map hereClick To Enlarge
