Following this morning’s news, confirming that Big Day Out 2015 had been cancelled, the sage over Australia’s iconic music festival continues to offer its share of surprises.
Despite documents surfacing that Big Day Out co-promoter AJ Maddah selling his 50% share in the festival to C3 Presents, making the American company the sole owners of the festival, the Soundwave boss is still involved with the historic event with reports suggesting that he’s set to continue working with the Austin-based company for a future edition of the festival.
According to a report from Fairfax, Maddah has told the publication, “we’re working on BDO 2016 already. We’re setting up a new JV(Joint Venture) structure;” referring to a collaboration with C3 Presents.
In a rather confusing on-air interview with Triple J’s Hack this afternoon, Maddah discussed the complex financial dealings of the Big Day Out and his personal involvement with the festival.
Confirming, “Yes, I’m still involved. Yes, Big Day Out will come back 2016… The festival is alive.” Maddah also said that the “ugly” financial fallout from Big Day Out 2013 mean losses of “five and a half million dollars” hinting that there was an option to buy his 50% stake back into the festival once the event had recuperated its losses.
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The cancellation of Big Day Out 2015 follows yesterday’s shock revelation of Maddah’s pull-out, less than a year after the Soundwave boss first purchased a stake into the Big Day Out last September, (shortly after the cancellation of his own Harvest music festival) from previous promoter and former rival Ken West.
According to documents lodged with ASIC earlier this month however, West was out of Big Day Out last November, while as of 4th June, Maddah stepped down as Big Day Out director, the same day he (trading as Madjo BDO Pty Ltd) had transferred his 50% shares in the company over to C3 Presents LLC, who first bought into the Big Day Out in January 2012 with West.
Maddah had previously admitted that this year’s Big Day Out had suffered “ugly” financial losses and low ticket sales in an interview with Triple J’s Hack in February, but had indicated optimism the festival was still “a brand people will come back to.”
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Reports have been circulating for months about Big Day Out’s future, with speculation that it was in serious doubt after facing losses of between $8 to $15 million from lax attendance figures. There’s also been industry whispers that a lawsuit may erupt between Maddah and C3 Presents over losses accrued from the national one-day event, with Fairfax citing an anonymous source claiming that Maddah was unable to meet his obligations to pay off his half of debts incurred from Big Day Out 2014’s financial losses.
Maddah has refuted the allegations, dismissing there was any souring in the relationship with C3, calling Fairfax “enablers of gossip… they will take any old rubbish from any idiot [and] run with it completely irresponsibly;” just one volley in a vicious war of words that broke out between the Big Day Out and Fairfax earlier this year.
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In a later interview in which Maddah discussed the moment ‘Big Day Out fucked their brand’, he admitted that “the event was seriously wobbly” before he bought into the company, revealing that the festival was “on the verge” of cancelling before he entered the picture.
“[I] got involved for very selfish reasons,” Maddah told Triple J’s Hack program in February. “All my happy memories from my childhood are from the Big Day Out, from Livid Festival. It was the one or two days of the year where I could get away from my shitty home life or whatever else.”
Blake Kendrick, the same person listed as the festival’s Assistant Accountant, is listed as the newly appointed director of BDO Presents, while the festival company’s new registered address belongs to a law firm based in Australia.
