Big Day Out 2009

With the global economy on the brink of collapse, what better time to ask people to hand over their hard earned money to escape the world for a day.

And who better to prove to you that investing in music is safer and returns much more than banks any day: the man who has seen it all, Neil Young.

This is a proud moment for BDO. After 17 years of producing the most dynamic, entertaining and challenging event we possibly can, this yeara€™s shows promise to stand out from all others.

From the dynamic sounds of Arctic Monkeys or the lush depth of TV on the Radio to the wealth of great local talent or the welcome return of the Prodigy, the worlda€™s biggest travellina€™ circus will be once again back on the road next January.

We are also working on making sure the Melbourne site is green, has shade and offers the level of enjoyment you deserve. Drought or no drought.

So come and join us for just one day. We hope the first announcement will satisfy your musical needs, but for those who need more, there will be a second announcement in November...

BIG DAY OUT is honoured to announce the arrival of one of those rare modern musicians for whom the term a€œlegenda€ is more under than over-statement: NEIL YOUNG. At a prolific phase of his 40-year-plus career, YOUNG is leading his band through eclectic set lists, picking from 2008a€™s Chrome Dreams II, delving into classics like Hey Hey, My My, and venting his activista€™s spleen on Leta€™s Impeach the President. Witness the many faces of a true rock icon, NEIL YOUNG at BIG DAY OUT 2009. All shows

We bet that ARCTIC MONKEYS look good on the BIG DAY OUT stage...'cos that's exactly where they'll be this summer, inspiring a frenzy of indie dancing as they whip out tunes from their world-beating albums, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not and Favourite Worst Nightmare. But wait, there's more a€“ it appears the lads have decamped to the Californian desert to begin laying down album No.3a€¦ with none other than Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme manning the desk. The rock'n'roll mind boggles at what they'll come up with. Be first in the world to hear the results when Sheffield's own ARCTIC MONKEYS reveal all at BIG DAY OUT. All shows

Run away boys THE LIVING END had a monumental start to their career producing the highest selling Aussie single of the entire nineties with their EP/single a€œPrisoner of Societya€/ a€œSecond Solutiona€. And their well-loved punkabilly sing-alongs have continued to rock us out over the past ten yearsa€¦but enough talk of the past! THE LIVING END return to stand and deliver a rousing festival set for BIG DAY OUT fans this summer, with blistering hits from their uber successful LP White Noise. Recorded with the assistance of John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr) and mixed by the legendary Brendan Oa€™Brien (AC/DC and Pearl Jam) it wouldna€™t be stretching the truth to say this album is of the finest rocka€™na€™roll pedigree. Dig it live at BDO! All shows

Smack my BIG DAY OUT up! Ita€™s the one, the only, the original, THE PRODIGY, back for BDO No.4. The British pioneers of crash-bang-boom rocktronica will be armed with a brand new album (due in February), and the same old fierceness. After leaving festival fields littered with blown minds all across the European summer, Liam, Maxim and Keith are in rare form. Whata€™s the new stuff like? Liam Howlett has dropped the words a€œmada€, a€œbuzzinga€, a€œon firea€ and a€œfresha€. You could take his word for it, or just get it straight in yoa€™ face when THE PRODIGY invade BIG DAY OUT 2009. All shows

SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM have been spreading the good word far and wide for their brand new sophomore Number 1 album 2, (got that?) touring the UK, even fronting up at Glastonbury for an ass-busting set of groovy dance tunes. 2009 will see SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM return to BIG DAY OUT to set some jives free for crazy dance music fans on Australian and NZ shores! Their slow burning successful debut album delivered four singles which, at one stage, were all in the top forty chart AT THE SAME TIME! Talk about huge. And the album no less, spent 69 weeks in the Top 100. Cut to the present day, and 2008 sees radio stations across the country spinning their catchy wistful electro-dance single a€œKansas Citya€. SNEAKY are bound to set the kids bouncing at the BIG DAY OUT. Dona€™t go and do something stupid like miss a€˜em now! All shows

We couldna€™t help it; we had an evil urge to throw MY MORNING JACKET into the BIG DAY OUT 2009 mix. This Kentucky five-piece has graduated from barely-kept indie secret to mainstay status at US festivals like Bonnaroo Coachella, and will even play Madison Square Garden this New Yeara€™s Eve. Their 2008 album, Evil Urges, continued an unfettered string of critical acclaim, while mixing funk, falsetto and prog into their classic rock cocktail. a€œI need a human by my side,a€ frontman Jim James sings on the new album. Do him a solid and keep MY MORNING JACKET company at BIG DAY OUT. All shows

From Perth to the worlda€¦ now PENDULUM are swinging their way home for BIG DAY OUT. With UK No.2 album In Silico under their belts, the druma€™na€™bass upstarts have morphed into something altogether new a€“ a post-rave mash-up, perhaps? Whatever it is they do, ita€™s explosive a€“ fan raves from their recent UK festival sets include words like a€œimmensea€, a€œclassa€ and a€œthe future lies herea€. The banda€™s motto is simple: a€œWe spend nearly every waking moment trying to create music that takes you out of this universe.a€ Fasten your seatbelts, PENDULUM are on deck for BIG DAY OUT 2009. All shows

Readya€¦ Aima€¦ Scream! The a€œbest British band to emerge in yearsa€ (thanks, Q mag), Welsh metal-core heroes BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE are bringing their in-your-face aural assault to this summera€™s BIG DAY OUT. On their second album, Scream Aim Fire, BFMV are, frontman Matt Tuck says, a€œBetter, fresher, harder and more reala€. Damn right. Newly minted Best British Band at the 2008 Kerrang! Awards, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE are a powerful voice of a new metal generation. Join the chorus at BIG DAY OUT 2009. All shows

They wona€™t fit in any musical pigeonholes, but New York five-piece TV ON THE RADIO are a perfect fit for BIG DAY OUT. Drawing on post-rock, gospel, new wave and deep dub, TVOTR have won critical praise and defied preconceptions. Their third album, the spanking new Dear Science, has already been declared an a€œart-rock symphonya€. Owners of a spellbinding, combustible live show, the Brooklyn boys of TVOTR will set BIG DAY OUT 2009 alight. All shows

Whoa€™s gonna play ghetto-tech to the indie kids? Acid to the housed-up hordes? Whoa€™s gonna put the psychedelic wobbliness and the electro sci-fi in BIG DAY OUT 2009? Get ready to dance your arse off, a€™cos the answer isa€¦ SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO. London lads James Ford and Jas Shaw make a€œgood, old fashioned, analogue party musica€. You may have heard it on 2007a€™s sweaty, dirty, catchy-as-hell album Attack Decay Sustain Release. Whata€™s for sure is that it made you move. So get a move on a€“ to SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO at BIG DAY OUT 2009. All shows

Manchester duo THE TING TINGS are here to put the spunk in the summer and the buzz in BIG DAY OUT. The biggest noisemakers of the past year, Katie White and Jules De Martino scored a knock-out with a one-two punch of alt-pop perfection in the shape of singles Great DJ and Thata€™s Not My Name. Next came an instant UK No.1 album in We Started Nothing, and live shows best described by NME as a€œshort, sharp and perfectly formeda€. All proof that that THE TING TINGS have definitely started something. But what, exactly? Find the answer at BIG DAY OUT. All shows

After eleven years playing to the world with bands Salmonella Dub, Shapeshifter and Concord Dawn, TIKI TAANE embarked on his solo career in January 2007. An acclaimed musician in his own right Tiki has pushed the boundaries of his own creativity with a fearless and innovative musical melange of reggae, dub, rock and pop on his debut top ten album Past Present Future which featured the singles "Tangaroa", "Now This Is It" and the NZ number 1 a€œAlways on my Minda€. All shows

Is it dance? Is it rock? Yes! Ita€™s CUT COPY!! 2008 has launched the triumphant return of these electro pioneers: a new album In Ghost Colours which busted into the charts at number one, and sell out shows around the globe. The GLOBE people! The banda€™s 2004 debut Bright Like Neon Love introduced us to the era-defying hits a€œGoing Nowherea€ and a€œSaturdaysa€ (to name a few) we came to know and love. This summer the BIG DAY OUT will play host CUT COPYa€™s intergalactic pop and guitar heavy stomp - look out for them comina€™ atchya live, synths blazing, at the BDO! All Australian shows

2008 has been a busy year for progressive Australian rockers Flynn Gower, Lucius Borich, Luke Gower - aka COG. With their second album Sharing Space released in April, a massive two month tour to Australia wide to support ita€™s release through May and June followed by their first UK shows over the European summer, you could even say its been an epic year for these lads. And epic is the best way to describe the trio's multi faceted signature heavy sound. This is an album that truly captures the power of COG which Borich described as "some of our best work", and with the FF miles clocking up to match their extensive touring of recent months, youa€™re in for one hell of one tight kick-arse show at the BIG DAY OUT. All Australian shows

After touring in early 2008 with the likes of Interpol and Kings of Leon, YOUTH GROUP released their sumptuous 4th album The Night is Ours. The follow on from their ARIA Award winning Casino Twilight Dogs, their new LP dishes up lashings of lush layers of wide screen, surround-sound indie rock, and features the glitteringly melodic single a€œTwo Sidesa€. Recorded in a makeshift studio near the shores of Sydney Harbour, and heralded with a nautical album launch on board a boat, this summer YOUTH GROUP continue their adventure on the high seas of rocka€™na€™roll and set sail with the good ship BIG DAY OUT to take their music to fans across the country. All Australian shows

Bris-vegas indie darlings THE GRATES will bring the gutsy party anthems to BIG DAY OUT 2009. Their catchy yet edgy pop is destined to get inside your brain and stay there and will, without a doubt, have shoes aplenty shuffling on the dance floor this summer. With their debut album Gravity Wona€™t Get You High (2006) THE GRATES toured extensively winning hearts, minds and family pets across the country. This year sees their second album, Teeth Lost, Hearts Won: a major musical milestone for the band as they step up with a more sophisticated brand of raucousness, which theya€™ll be shakina€™ for YOU live at the BDO! All Australian shows

Well theya€™re not actually birds and theya€™re not from Tokyo. Theya€™re musicians and theya€™re from Western Australia, but their unstoppable force in rock music goes by the name of BIRDS OF TOKYO. At the front of this momentous rock extravaganza is one of the busiest front men in the business, Ian Kenny, who takes to the stage with another of WAa€™s favourites, Karnivool. Less than 16-months after their independent debut, Day One, BIRDS OF TOKYO take flight with their darker but pop-hook laden follow-up Universes. The album has won fans across the board clocking on at number 3 on the ARIA charts as well as winning them a nomination for a J Award in August. BIRDS OF TOKYO bring their driving guitars and straight up catchy rock to the BIG DAY OUT this summer. All Australian shows

Well-loved Aussie hip-hop crew TZU board the BIG DAY OUT tour bus for the first time in 2009. After two critically lauded LPs Position Correction (2004), Smiling at Strangers (2006) in 2008, Yerock, Joelistics, Count Bounce, and Paso Bionic have launched their music into a new orbit with Computer Love which landed at number 23 on the Australian music charts. From the swinging pop hip-hop of a€œGet Upa€, to the power and the passion of a€œCowboysa€ TZU have the technology, the flows and the style, and the beats with some laid back, funky down-under flavour with lyrical intelligence to boot. The Sun Herald advises us to, a€œExpect good times and a party atmosphere." We concur! All Australian shows

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING is being hailed the best live rock band in the country for their one hell of an arse-kicking live show, filled with shambolic humorous antics so entertaining that Devo took a shine to a€˜em and asked them to join their tour around the country. These new unassuming overlords of rock have bestowed a new album upon us in 2008, Primary Colours which surprised everyone, including the band, when it was nominated for Best Rock Album at this yeara€™s ARIA Awards. Join us for some sunny, slacker garage rock, and a relaxed and rollicking good time with EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING at the BIG DAY OUT.