Big Day Out

As 2010 looms on the horizon like a sci-fi sequel it's time to announce what's confirmed for the next instalment of travelling mayhem known as the Big Day Out.

This time around we intend to deliver a monster series of shows designed to put a smile on your face. The biggest party in the world featuring what we believe is one of our strongest line-ups ever.

In keeping with the Big Day Out tradition of presenting dynamic emerging acts as well as the worlds' most significant artists across many musical styles, we are very proud to welcome back the hottest band currently on the planet to close our 2010 event: Muse.

So from all at BDO to music fans far and wide we would like to present to you our first round of incredible artists.

So here we are again...

Resistance is futile. The invasion has begun. MUSE are taking over BIG DAY OUT 2010. Their weaponry is advanced beyond our planet's understanding - the most symphonic, intergalactic, bombastic, futuristic, astral-travelling musical arsenal the universe has ever heard. Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme may be just three men, but with MUSE they have built a rock galaxy all their own, from the ambitious baby steps of Absolution, to the super-massive heights of Black Holes and Revelations and the mind-blowing enormity of The Resistance. What on earth (and beyond) do they have in store for BIG DAY OUT this summer? You wouldn't believe us if we told you...

Australia's biggest music festival is super-excited to welcome back Australia's biggest rock band, POWDERFINGER. It's been an almost three-year wait between albums for 'FINGER fans, and a five-year wait between BIG DAY OUTs. But the drought breaks this summer with Golden Rule, the long-awaited new album, home to snapping, snarling, upbeat single All the Dreamers. Since first playing BIG DAY OUT in 1994, POWDERFINGER have become one of our all-time favourites. They're the people's band with a never-ending supply of people's anthems: My Happiness, DAF, On My Mind, Like a Dog, Pick You Up, Lost and Running... No band unites the Australian rock public like POWDERFINGER. So throw an arm around a mate and raise your voices as one when BIG DAY OUT 2010 brings you POWDERFINGER for the people.

She's brash, she's bold, she's magnificently mouthy, she's the one and only LILY ALLEN and she's bound to be the talk of BIG DAY OUT 2010. A rebellious national treasure in her British homeland, ALLEN has been adopted Down Under too, her second album It's Not Me, It's You owning the charts in 2009 and going three-times platinum along the way. From LDN to The Fear, she mixes sunshine with sass, social commentary with sardonic two-fingered salutes. She's a pop queen for the 21st century, and she's still not turned 25. When LILY ALLEN talks, BIG DAY OUT listens.

How does a band follow up a four-times platinum album and a triumphant run on the 2007 BIG DAY OUT? If you're ESKIMO JOE, you go home to Fremantle, take off the rock star gear, get back to reality, create your most powerful album yet in Inshalla, see it debut at No.1, then sign on for a triumphant run on BIG DAY OUT 2010. Black Fingernails, Red Wine catapulted Freo lads Kav, Stu and Joel to the top of the Australian rock ladder; Inshalla is looking to take them even further. This is music made to fill the wide open spaces of BIG DAY OUT: "The choruses are huge; the arrangements are ambitious," says the Sydney Morning Herald. "Epic choruses, experimental sounds, wailing guitar heroics," adds Rolling Stone. Epic, huge and heroic? That sounds like ESKIMO JOE at BIG DAY OUT.

Picture yourself, arms in the air, jumping in unison: you're Superstylin'. Picture yourself, swaying as a trombone wails: you're At the River. Now picture yourself in a state of musical euphoria... You're at BIG DAY OUT 2010 and GROOVE ARMADA have taken over. Brit beat masters Andy Cato and Tom Findlay know how to put on a party. And they'll be doing just that Down Under this summer, previewing songs from their forthcoming, harder-edged album Black Light. With their new frontwoman Saint Saviour getting rave reviews, one of the greatest live dance music shows ever to grace a stage just got even better. See GROOVE ARMADA in their element at BIG DAY OUT.

Australia's rockingest hard rock band GRINSPOON are no stranger to BIG DAY OUT. At the turn of the century they were making us jump to Ready 1, and Rock Show. A couple of years later, Phil, Kristian, Pat and Joe slayed it with Lost Control, No Reason and Chemical Heart. Add a few years, and there they were again, A Hard Act to Follow. In 2010, Grinners are reborn, packing tunes from their sixth album, Six to Midnight. Tight, frenetic, tense and absolutely loved by BIG DAY OUT punters, GRINSPOON return in 2010 to pummel us as only they can.

Strap yourself in, hold on, and feel free to scream. Few musical experiences match the roller coaster ride that is THE MARS VOLTA, and in 2010, they'll loop the loop at BIG DAY OUT for the third time. For the past eight years, composer and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala have followed their muse in experimental, boundary-breaking and virtuoso directions. Their fifth album, Octahedron, is the latest step in the evolution of one of the most exotic rock bands on the planet. THE MARS VOLTA's journey continues at BIG DAY OUT 2010.

Who's the lady who set the world alight with Paris is Burning? LADYHAWKE. Who's the lady melding "the best aspects of powerful '80s synth and enough rock grit to appease both the kids who breakdance and the kids who break hearts" (Chart Attack, September 2009)? LADYHAWKE. Who's the lady who'll have BIG DAY OUT 2010 in a state of delirium? You know it - LADYHAWKE. From Wellington to London via Melbourne, Pip Brown's musical journey is a tale of big tunes, pop flashbacks and ice-cool charisma. Take flight with LADYHAWKE at BIG DAY OUT.

After two No.1 singles and a string of festival triumphs, DIZZEE RASCAL was officially the feel good hit of the UK summer. Now it's the Southern Hemisphere's turn, with DIZZEE heading Down Under to drive BIG DAY OUT 2010 bonkers. He broke out of East London's grime scene with the Mercury Music Prize-winning Boy in da Corner in 2003. Now he's gone overground with his party album, Tongue n' Cheek, home to massive hits Dance Wiv Me, Bonkers and Holiday. Get loose, let go, throw a coupla shapes and get ready to dance wiv DIZZEE RASCAL at BIG DAY OUT.

BIG DAY OUT 2010 welcomes you aboard the "mesmerizing live juggernaut" (FasterLouder) that is KARNIVOOL. Few bands inspire the reverence, the loyalty and the sheer jaw-dropping, ear-popping awe of Perth's heavy, progressive, alt-rock prodigal sons. A gold certification for second album Sound Awake is evidence of their growing stature - a band "too big and too beautiful to be contained" (Beat, July 2009). From Ian Kenny's skyscraping voice to Steve Judd's pile-driving drums, KARNIVOOL offer an earth-quaking musical experience that swallows everything in its path. Be consumed at BIG DAY OUT.

Girls will curtsey and boys will bow down to the empress of electro, PEACHES, at BIG DAY OUT 2010. In your face, deliciously dirty, avant-garde and backed by a cracking three-piece band, Canadian minx PEACHES will have all your senses tingling naughtily as she fires off club throbbers, techno thumpers and rock torpedoes from her latest electro-pop classic I Feel Cream. "She's rude, lewd and she needs her mouth washed out with a large bar of soap" (stuff.co.nz), but we wouldn't have it any other way. Surrender to the force of nature that is PEACHES at BIG DAY OUT this summer.

There's a buzz in the air at BIG DAY OUT 2010, and it can be directly traced to the most buzzed-about band of the past year, THE TEMPER TRAP. This young Melbourne foursome with a knack for heavenly, epic pop and a live show euphoric enough to make a heart skip a beat, already have half the world under their spell. A single as unforgettable as Sweet Disposition will do that. A debut album that soars, jangles, ebbs and flows like the acclaimed Conditions will do that too. Led by the angelic, soulful voice of Dougy Mandagi, THE TEMPER TRAP will hit the sweet spot at BIG DAY OUT this summer.

At the 2007 BIG DAY OUT, they were upstart show-stealers. In 2010, KASABIAN return as kings, ready to rule BIG DAY OUT with a glam stompin' rock fist. The Leicester lads have dropped Processed Beats, built a future-rock Empire, and now they've taken over the West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum and set the place on Fire. KASABIAN are cocky, cool, and here to rule. Bow down before the kings of indie rock swagger at BIG DAY OUT 2010.

No Australian band straddles the indie/dance divide like MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS. Having spent most of 2009 in hiding, the Melbourne threesome will re-emerge in 2010 with TNT strapped to their chests - that's their second album, The New Technology; not dynamite, but just as explosive. The electro-rockers have been championed by Justice, bombarded the BIG DAY OUT stage with thumping beats back in 2008, and been praised from London town to New York City. This summer, MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS will live up to their name when their unstoppable live force explodes once again at BIG DAY OUT.

Don't just sit there. Get up. Raise your voice. Throw a fist in the air. Stand up and be counted with RISE AGAINST at BIG DAY OUT 2010. Chicago's melodic hardcore heroes RISE AGAINST will carry on the proud tradition of protest punk with a set as politically-minded as it is musically punchy. Their latest album Appeal to Reason is "about reaching people and challenging their ways of thought," says frontman Tim McIlrath. If you're up to the challenge, join RISE AGAINST as they give it all, and then some, at BIG DAY OUT this summer.

MAGIC DIRT will play Big Day Out 2010 in honour of their friend and band mate, Dean Turner who passed away on August 21 after a courageous nine year battle with a rare form of cancer. Through these shows, MAGIC DIRT wish to pay homage to Dean's inspiring and remarkable spirit and to his invaluable contribution to Australian music as a dedicated and passionate musician, producer and champion of local original bands. Since 1995, MAGIC DIRT have had a long and rich history with the Big Day Out, forging a unique and special bond with the festival.

BIG DAY OUT dares you to look into the eyes of the band that's changing the face of metal: MASTODON. Four Southern gents from Atlanta, Georgia, MASTODON have spent 10 years melding brains with brawn, technical proficiency with sheer ass-kicking thunder. They have become, so says Rolling Stone, nothing less than "the most important new band in metal". Armed with their fourth album Crack the Skye, MASTODON will make the earth rumble under the feet of BIG DAY OUT 2010.

Few singer/songwriters have charmed the nation in recent times like LISA MITCHELL. A country girl who found herself competing on a TV show, then disappeared to London to really find her sound, at just 19 years of age she's already become a leading light in Australian indie folk pop. Her debut album Wonder debuted at No.6, and singles Coin Laundry and Neopolitan Dreams cause smiles wherever they're heard. So, turn the volume down a little and take in the thing of wonder that is LISA MITCHELL at BIG DAY OUT 2010.

Out of the darkness and into the blinding sunlight, THE HORRORS will cut a captivating figure on stage at BIG DAY OUT 2010. Only two and a bit years since a wave of hype greeted their debut album Strange House, THE HORRORS have evolved beyond expectations with their Mercury Music Prize-nominated second album Primary Colours. A mess of sharp elbows, big hair, feedback and monochrome clothes, THE HORRORS will give us a glimpse of the flamboyant future of British rock at BIG DAY OUT.

Who are BLUEJUICE? A rock band you can dance to? An indie band with a sense of humour? A disco outfit with massive live cajones? As the Sydney Morning Herald put it: "BLUEJUICE are a hard act to pin down. They are too straight for funk, too groovy for indie rock and too sweaty for pop."  What we do know is that the BLUEJUICE experience is one of the most colourful in Australian music. The Sydney five-piece behind Triple J fave Vitriol have just dropped their second album, Head of the Hawk. Next, they'll be dropping in to freak you out at BIG DAY OUT 2010.

You might be ready for the weekend, but are you ready for CALVIN HARRIS at BIG DAY OUT 2010? The Scottish super-producer/DJ/chart-topping pop star is a one-man hit-making machine: I'm Not Alone, Acceptable in the '80s, The Girls, Ready for the Weekend and his smash Dizzee Rascal collaboration, Dance Wiv Me. On stage, these songs become hands-in-the-air anthems, with HARRIS fronting a live band that he calls "even more rocking than the tunes", while he's out front "working the stage like a true rock star" (inthemix). People get ready: you don't wanna miss CALVIN HARRIS at BIG DAY OUT this summer.

KISSCHASY are a band hitting their stride just as they hit BIG DAY OUT. Favourites with kids up and down the highways of Australia thanks to heavy touring and a slew of infectious singles, from Do Do's and Whoa-ohs to Spray on Pants, the Mornington Peninsula foursome took a great leap forward with their third album, Seizures, where smart songwriting, huge hooks and killer harmonies are the order of the day. Seizures is also full of "summer festival winners" (thanks, Rave Mag), so it's only right that KISSCHASY will be singing while they're winning at BIG DAY OUT 2010.

Australia and New Zealand will experience THE DECEMBERISTS' unique brand of theatrical indie folk for the very first time at BIG DAY OUT 2010. The Portland, Oregon five-piece have been crafting their baroque brand of prog pop since the turn of the century, releasing five albums, winning a torrent of critical praise and doing battle with Stephen Colbert (YouTube it). A band of vagabonds led by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy, THE DECEMBERISTS finally reach our shores on the back of their latest album, The Hazards of Love. Take a look inside a fascinating and fanciful career when THE DECEMBERISTS tell their story for the first time at BIG DAY OUT. 

Perth's psychedelic rock revelation TAME IMPALA love playing large areas of grass in the sun. Lucky, then, that the trio have emerged from the wilderness - where they've been recording their forthcoming debut album - to join the BIG DAY OUT roadshow this summer. With one ear-opening EP, TAME IMPALA burst not just out of WA, but into international waters. "Impressive and sexy," says inthenews.co.uk. "A band beyond their years," says ClashMusic, "Half Full Glass of Wine is a rollicking affair". Feel the love as TAME IMPALA lay their hypno-groove melodic rock on BIG DAY OUT 2010.

There is only one option. When GIRL TALK hits the Boiler Room at BIG DAY OUT 2010 you will party, or you will party. Here's how it will go: GIRL TALK (aka Gregg Gillis from Pittsburgh) will crack open his laptop. His unique style of jump up, get down, freak out, sample-savvy collages - co-opting everything from hip hop to Top 40 - will burst out of the speakers. Soon enough, GIRL TALK will be surrounded by a sea of dancing punters having a seriously good time. As GIRL TALK says, "I try to make my shows a rowdy event." And there you'll be, in the middle of all the rowdiness, doing what, exactly? There is only one option: come party with GIRL TALK at BIG DAY OUT this summer.

Stay tuned for the second announcement of artists coming soon!