Blur pulls out of Big Day Out via Facebook post, leaves fans and organizers baffled

We knew a guy back in the day that broke up with his girlfriend via Facebook. Not even a message, just changed his relationship status and let her figure it out. We gave him crap for months on end, and it was well-deserved. Blur may be in for similar treatment from concert organizers and Australian fans after they pulled out of the Big Day Out Festival by posting a message on their own Facebook page. Essentially, concert organizers found out at the same time we did.

"Devastated to report that Blur won't be performing at BDO in 2014," the band posted. "It's a shock that it has come to this. Only 8 weeks to go, the band feels that with the constantly shifting goalposts and challenging conditions of the organisers, they can't let it drag on any longer and want to make this announcement, to be clear to Blur fans that they won't be there. We've done our very best to work with the organisers and considered every option to make it happen, but they've let us down and let everyone else down too."

There weren't very many specifics given, and Big Day Out organizers questioned the legitimacy of the complaint. A.J. Maddah, an executive for the festival, didn't hold back when responding to fans via Twitter.

"Far as I know BDO gave into every demand within the possibility of curfews & public safety," he wrote in one tweet. In another, he let out a little steam, declaring "Not sure why they would blame festival when all everyone here has done is kiss their ass."

Organizers say they plan on replacing the headliner by the time the traveling show kicks off in Auckland. Fans have the option to get a refund for their tickets, but we might hold out, considering The Arcade Fire, Pearl Jam and Snoop "Dogg" Lion remain on the bill.

Tags
Blur, Pearl Jam, Snoop Dogg, Snoop Lion
Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics