UPDATE 7:50pm AEST 26/06/14: AJ Maddah says he needs “a dollar” to buy back in to the Big Day Out, but many questions are left unanswered. Details here.
AJ Maddah says he is already working on Big Day Out 2016. Earlier today, C3 Presents, who now own 100 percent of the iconic Australian festival, confirmed that the event would not occur in 2015, after it was revealed yesterday that Maddah sold his 50 percent stake in the company to C3.
According to Fairfax Media, the Soundwave promoter is working on a 2016 instalment of BDO in collaboration with C3, the promoter behind Lollapalooza in the United States. “We’re working on BDO 2016 already,” Maddah told Fairfax. “We’re setting up a new [joint venture] structure.”
The Sydney Morning Herald also reports that an anonymous senior music industry source has told them that “as far as C3 was concerned AJ is completely out. They’ve shut down the offices, taken over social media… they’ve control of all intellectual property [connected to] the Big Day Out.”
Earlier today, Maddah claimed that the festival’s hiatus next year was due to a lack of viable headline options and told Triple J Hack host Tom Tilley not to “jump the gun” after Tilley referred to Maddah as the “former” promoter of the BDO whilst tweeting Maddah’s upcoming appearance.
In a statement, C3 assured fans the BDO would return in the future, writing, “C3 Presents is proud to own Big Day Out… While we intend to bring back the festival in future years, we can confirm there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015. We love working on BDO and are excited about the future.”
With Maddah not participating in the BDO in a financial role, Fairfax speculates that C3 Presents may keep the touring mogul on in a local manager or local promoter role, acting effectively as a figurehead and man-on-the-ground for the Austin promoter who don’t have offices in Australia.
