Big Day Out promoter Ken West denied rumours the financially struggling Big Day Out would become the Australian leg of the ever growing Lollapalooza festival.
The Age recently suggested Big Day Out, expected to run at a loss of roughly $10 million, may become part of the Lollapalooza franchise as way of turning around the festival’s financial woes. With both festivals being owned, in part, by C3 Presents, it was a matter of time before media outlets began spinning the rumour.
Although he says the idea has been talked about with parent company C3, West says the Lollapalooza model isn’t viable Down Under.
“We’ve discussed that a few times with the others [C3],” West told The Music late last week. “I don’t think there’s any real plan. They’ve got the Big Day Out brand, that’s what they’re trying to do. It’s not like they’re trying to go all over the world to [expand Lollapalooza].”
“So there is no intention to do anything. I mean, I’ve asked them a few times and said, ‘If you’re not happy with Big Day Out, you can do it like that.’ And they’ve said, ‘No, that’s not the thought’.”
Turning the huge three-day Lollapalooza into something profitable for smaller Australian audiences wouldn’t work according to West.
“I think the problem with it is that the Lollapalooza model works as one show in one country. And always – even with Splendour – [it’s] that struggle of going ‘What do you do with all these acts, if it’s one [show]?’ So if you’re talking about a three-day model the scale of Lollapalooza … then you’re getting back to the same problem of scale and cost and everything else”.
Lollapalooza has expanded rapidly in the past few years, going international with stops in Chile, Brazil, Israel and next year Argentina.
Last week co-BDO promoter AJ Maddah revealed just how expensive it is to operate an Australian festival. The man behind some of the country’s biggest tours divulged the cost of his Soundwave festival, with just half of the estimated $50 million bill being spent on the headline acts.
A second Big Day Out lineup announcement is expected tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19, but will not include a fourth headliner to compliment the already announced Pearl Jam, Blur and Arcade Fire.
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