Inside Big Day Out

Thu 24th Sep, 2009 in Features

THE 2010 LINE-UP HAS LANDED! CHECK IT OUT HERE.

From hopeful beginnings in 1992, Big Day Out has grown into a goliath of the festival season. With speculation on the line-up starting earlier every year, the travelling roadshow is synonymous with summer in Australia. This is the festival that has brought us Rage Against The Machine twice, Iggy Pop in all his glory, bombastic rock spectaculars from Metallica and Rammstein, all-day Boiler Room raving and much, much more.

Next Tuesday 29 September, FasterLouder will at last take the wraps off the 2010 bill, and it promises to be a dazzling one. As we impatiently count down the days, FL got on the phone with Big Day Out as part of our Festival Awards series. Here’s what Event Controller Sahara Herald Shepherd and Production Manager Matt Doherty had to say about the biggest day out around.

SAHARA HERALD SHEPHERD – EVENT CONTROLLER

Big Day Out epitomises summer in Australia – and it still remains the most-anticipated festival on the calendar. From a behind-the-scenes perspective, what has kept it at the forefront?
The BDO started as a small one off show in 1992 and has grown very organically to the size that it is today. It remains a very personal achievement for the small select group of amazing people that work on it. We’re not reliant on outside funding or sponsorship to stage the show. It means we’ve retained a level of integrity and independence which has become the backbone of the show.

Does the fact that BDO is a travelling festival create a special camaraderie between the acts on the line-up?
It does indeed lay the foundation for a very unique camaraderie that we strive very hard to build and maintain for the length of the tour. It’s actually quite amusing to watch the awkward social interaction between world-renowned artists at the first show in Auckland, in comparison to the final show in Perth where they are all arranging duets with each other personally and professionally. It’s a little bit like grade 10 school camp.

Obviously since Big Day Out began, the festival market has become significantly more crowded. Has that affected how BDO operates or made it more important to stick to your approach?
It has made us even more determined to continue to produce an incredible show that is great value for money. If it ain’t broke…

Is there any one element that you believe is most imperative to get right in a festival?
Lots of Portaloos.

When it comes to building a line-up, what is Big Day Out’s criteria? Are you first and foremost looking for artists who you know excel in the festival environment?
We’re always looking at artists that we know can deliver in the live festival format as well as going beyond our audience’s expectations and broadening their experience, rather than just providing what’s popular.

Last year, Neil Young was a bold choice for headliner, who delivered very special performances. Was it a conscious move to take a new risk after Rage Against The Machine in 2008?
Having Rage on the show was an incredible achievement that pushed all of our resources to the limit. It was a conscious decision to pull back from that intensity, but at the same time, finally having the legendary Neil Young on the show made 2009 a landmark year.

Any line-up regrets from across the festival’s history?
There are always some acts you click with and some you don’t. And some who just don’t get the show and make no effort to be part of it. At the other end of the spectrum, PJ Harvey and The Mars Volta have to be my personal all time favorites. I won’t elaborate on the bands I regret having on the show – other than to say they’re American…

Big Day Out has always been the festival to see homegrown artists really turn it on. Is it important to get the mix of locals right?
Any artist on the show, whether Australian or international, is chosen in the aim of producing an eclectic, dynamic and entertaining show, while still retaining an appealing balance.

Are there any local performances that really floored you over the years?
Faker. How great were they in 2008? They had an early spot on the mainstage which can be very daunting, but they completely delivered and made it their own. And they’re very cheeky and always up for late-night shenanigans.

Has there been a – œcrowning year’ for Big Day Out – one edition that holds particularly special memories and achievements?
Every year has its own individual ups and downs that create lasting memories (some I want to forget!) That said, opening the gates in Sydney each year is always a little piece of magic for me and the excitement on the kids’ faces reminds me why we’re all doing this. But I would have to say my personal highlight will probably always be dancing in a blue bear suit on stage with the Flaming Lips at Adelaide Big Day Out 2004.

MATT DOHERTY – PRODUCTION

What are some of the most significant challenges in coordinating a travelling festival of this scale?
The greatest challenge is knowing when to say, “Enough!” Most festivals do not tour, so you can keep on throwing stuff in and keep on building as much shit as you like until gates open, because you obviously have plenty of time to pull it down. On Big Day Out we have to be able to get it down, onto trucks and then to the next city and up again in a certain timeframe, so it takes an experienced eye to know when to say, “OK we have reached the limit now.”

The touring production is in excess of 600 tonnes of gear, including band gear, audio, video, lighting, barriers, generators, scenic items, weird sculptures, car crushers, giant chickens, pink houses, inflatable bars, nine-metre-high Humphrey Bears – just to mention a few things. We have to get all this gear packed and moving in under five hours, so you can understand that there is little room for error. We have the best production team in the world, people who are professional but more importantly love what they do. It is a tight outfit moulded over the years. It is very rare that anyone leaves, making it a rather exclusive club!

Besides Metallica breaking all the pyrotechnic laws in Australia, have there been any other significant production requests over the years that have created more than the average challenge?
Hey, no laws were ever broken! Bjork’s laser was a fair challenge for airplanes flying over the gig. Putting The Prodigy in the Boiler Room was a challenge in as much as we knew that the majority of the audience would want to see them, so that meant a whole set-up outside the Boiler Room of multiple audio systems and delayed video. That married production with crowd management and was a real challenge!

How has the production of the festival changed over the years?
Big Day Out production has obviously changed with the changes in technology, but the fundamentals have stayed the same. We endeavour to produce each band’s show as it would be produced in a solo show environment. This has always made for complex stage management but it gives the punters value for money. So as far as change goes, the show per se has changed little. It has however gotten much bigger.

The first years, from ‘92-’99, were the years it grew from a baby to what we all know as The Big Day Out. From 99 it had really reached critical mass and thereafter it was different each year but not necessarily any bigger. The biggest change in my opinion was in 2004, when we had Metallica as headliner. This was a statement that we could put a seriously big act on our festival. We had gone to a new level in terms of the level of production we were delivering. We started with eight semis and 14 personnel on the production team 17 years ago. We now have 54 staff and 28 semis.

Is Big Day Out your favourite festival? VOTE NOW in the 2009 Festival Awards to show it your love.

Article photo by David Youdell