What started as a Violent Femmes headline tour with Nirvana supporting, ended in a one-day music festival with 21 bands. When Nirvana released Nevermind just before coming to Australia, the Big Day Out found themselves dealing with the biggest band in the world.
Host: Gemma Pike
Producer: Gab Burke
Supervising Producer: Mike Williams
Executive Producer: Meagan Loader
Sound Engineers: John Jacobs, Tim Jenkins
Theme music: Lindsay McDougall
Music: Hamish Camilleri
Artwork: Brad Cook
Digital Team: Dan Condon, Luanne Shneier

02 | The Big Day Off

For music fans across Australia, The Big Day Out was a rite of passage headlined by some of the biggest names in music. Like Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, it was a summer's day out in the sun with mates and an introduction to mind-blowing music. For the people who created it, it was a wild ride of legendary line-ups and backstage shenanigans — until it fell apart.

In this 5-part series, Australia's ABC Radio's Double J takes you inside the story of this iconic music festival. Meet the characters who kept this juggernaut rolling and find out what really went down on tour;  from the coup of securing Nirvana in its first year in 2001, to its tumultuous downfall in 2014, and all the partying in between. Follow the story of the rise and rise, then sudden demise of Australia’s Big Day Out.

 

Host: Gemma Pike

Producer: Gab Burke

Supervising Producer: Mike Williams

Executive Producer: Meagan Loader

Sound Engineers: John Jacobs, Tim Jenkins

Theme music: Lindsay McDougall

Music: Hamish Camilleri

Artwork: Brad Cook

Digital Team: Dan Condon, Luanne Shneier