Big Day Out may be several months away but that shouldn’t stop anyone from stirring up lineup rumours and gambling on their likelihood of being true with cash and peanuts. No acts have been confirmed but whispers and shamefaced lies have got the following acts front running at the rumour mill…
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Flea’s jubilant hotdogging is no stranger to Big Day Out stages having graced them at least once. Now that the band have released a new album they’re knocking out a world tour which includes a stop to Australian shores – information the shirt-adverse bassist confirmed in a recent interview.
Prince
Speaking of funk, the purple holy one himself is heavily rumoured to be making a return to Oz this summer. Our favourite anonymous festival bill whistleblower/s Miss Info very recently intimated that “Prince [has] been snared to headline”. Miss Info is never mistaken. And after headlining stints at Glastonbury and Coachella over the last 12 months Prince is hot property for festival bookers and we dearly hope they nail the little guy down. Let it (Purple) rain.
Blink 182
Last year Channel V’s Danny Clayton revealed Cali punk-rockers Blink 182 were on board for Big Day Out 2011 but to the distress of many that little nugget turned out to be a fallacy. Dammit. Will they make up for it with a slot on the 2012 bill? Miss Info said they were strong contenders and as it stands the band haven’t released January tour dates so we’ll be keeping vigil at blink182.com til they do. Feelin’ this.
Queens Of The Stone Age
Australia has virtually handed Josh Homme the keys to my heart the city, so the ginger Elvis and his cohorts make regular stops to our fair shores. “Promoters have been in Europe in the last couple of weeks. It’s looking like Blink-182 is back on the table [and] QOTSA, who put on a blistering performance at Glastonbury, they’re also on the table as well,” journo Nui Te Koha told Triple M back in July.
Eminem
White bro’s been gigging at quite a few major international festivals lately. After a recent Lollapalooza appearance (where he slayed based on 100 per cent of reports), Em’s playing Pukkelpop next week in Belgium then V Festival in the UK. Miss Info said “Rumblings about Eminem and/or Blink 182 are strongest contenders for headliners.” Does Australia like white Detroit rap boys? Yes. Yes it does.
Those acts are the close bets at the moment, but one little bird has also been whistling something about a possible summer time tour by The Shins. Front man James Mercer and his new band personnel have been doing a few dates in the US and are putting out an album in early 2012. Could The Shins join the BDO bandwagon…
Add to the speculation with any tips, guesses or even your wish list in the comments section.
