With the Big Day Out 2014 tour now officially done and dusted, the question hovering over the festival is just how many people actually turned out to attend the national tour.
Various reports have suggested that attendance figures from this year’s edition have fallen well below the crowd numbers of previous years, while the confirmation that the event will not be returning to Perth and hints that the Big Day Out is scaling back next year suggest that ticket sales have not met expectations.
In a Fairfax article suggesting that organisers were facing losses of between $8 to $15 million, it was estimated that total attendance was around half of the Big Day Out 2013 reboot. The SMH report also alleges that media had been issued ‘fixed’ attendance figures for the 2014 festival.
The opening dates of the Big Day Out, at Gold Coast’s Metricon Stadium and the Sydney Showgrounds were reported to have 35,000 each, but according to Fairfax’s sources, “Sydney is believed to have drawn 27,000, Melbourne 26,000 and the Gold Coast 23,000.”
By either estimate, those numbers are still significantly lower than last year, where Sydney drew a massive 57,000, Melbourne around 50,000 and the Gold Coast nearly 40,000. “Sydney is believed to have drawn 27,000, Melbourne 26,000 and the Gold Coast 23,000.”
As for Big Day Out 2014’s two closing dates last week, in Adelaide’s Bonython Park for the first time and Perths’ Arena Joondalup for the first (and last) time, crowd numbers for the former are allegedly lower than the closing Perth leg, which drew a “tiny but appreciative crowd” – in the words of Big Day Out promoter AJ Maddah.
Maddah had noted last Friday that the Perth date had shifted around 15,000 tickets, but that final figure grew to 19,000 after punters took advantage of an offer of heavily discounted tickets at the gate from 6pm. But Maddah tweeted that the “$100 tickets made jackshot difference,” to sales – or the decision to “definitely” scrap the return of Big Day Out to Perth owing to poor attendance, the high costs of staging the event, and ongoing battles with local and state government.
The biggest crowd numbers were reportedly achieved across the pond, at the resurrected Auckland leg of the Big Day Out, with Fairfax claiming the Western Springs date was the only event to “achieve attendance of 30,000.”
FasterLouder – who have done their own report on Big Day Out 2014 attendance figures – concurs, estimating the Auckland leg drew up to 47,000 patrons, calling it “the biggest crowd of the tour.” They also estimate that Adelaide crowd numbers were around 15,000.
The future of the festival’s presence in Adelaide has also been put into question after Maddah told a fan in an errant tweet that the long-running Aussie event would be returning to New Zealand, the Gold Coast, Sydney, and Melbourne next year, but made no mention of Perth… or Adelaide.
More recently, Maddah has said that the status of the Adelaide Big Day Out is “up for discussion,” tweeting to another inquiry that “nothing had been decided” but there was contention about its survival.
@SheGoCrazi Nothing has been decided on Adelaide. I’d love to keep it at SA state Gov have always been supportive of events.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 3, 2014
In further news, last week Big Day Out co-promoters C3 Presents issued a statement to media in response to the Fairfax article that alleged there was internal turmoil between the Austin, Texas based company and AJ Maddah that would leave vendors and suppliers out of pocket.
“A Sydney newspaper reported that vendors would not be paid and that is simply not the case,” reads the statement. “C3 Presents always pays the hardworking vendors who help us to create music festivals around the globe.”
The statement also admitted that the Big Day Out 2014 had struggled with ticket sales. “Promoting concerts around the globe is a challenging adventure and sometimes the ticket sales do not preform as expected. This is part of the business and something we are prepared to deal with for each unique festival we produce. We thank all who attended Big Day Out this year and were able to experience all the amazing music at the festival,” it concludes.
Without Big Day Out organisers officially releasing attendance figures, there is only the combined estimates of various reports to go from, which you can view below along with our Big Day Out 2014 coverage.
Big Day Out 2014
Gold Coast – Sunday 19th January @ Metricon Stadium & Carrara Parklands
REVIEW | PHOTO GALLERY
Estimated Attendance Figures
2014: 23,000 – 35,000
2013: 40,000
Melbourne – Friday 24th January @ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
REVIEW | PHOTO GALLERY
Estimated Attendance Figures
2014: 26,000
2013: 50,000
Sydney – Sunday 26th January @ Sydney Showgrounds
REVIEW | PHOTO GALLERY
Estimated Attendance Figures
2014: 27,000 – 35,000
2013: 57,000
Adelaide – Friday 31st January @ Bonython Park
REVIEW | PHOTO GALLERY
Estimated Attendance Figures
2014: 15,000
2013: 19,000
Perth – Sunday 2nd February @ Arena Joondalup
Estimated Attendance Figures
2014: 19,000
2013: 35,000
