Big Day Out have admitted that Blur's announcement that they had pulled out of next year's festival took them by surprise after the festival themselves first learnt of the news through the band's Facebook.
In a day of drama for the event, a statement from Blur indicated that “constantly shifting goalposts and challenging conditions of the organisers” was the reason behind their cancellation.
Big Day Out's Adam Zammit and AJ Maddah have addressed the topic on Twitter, expressing their surprise and intention to find a replacement, and now the festival have issued an official statement.
“We were disappointed to learn of Blur's cancellation via their Facebook page yesterday morning,” the brief note reads.
“We are working on replacements and will bring you new additions to the Big Day Out line-up shortly.”
Maddah has indicated that the replacement may be one artist, or a number of acts.
@carlosaromanosa Will depend on who is available and interested. No matter what, we will try and improve the value of the ticket.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) November 24, 2013
@normo94 @thenatosummit That's the feeling I get. Not sure why they would blame festival when all everyone here has done is kiss their ass..
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) November 24, 2013
Maddah also alleged that this is not the first time Blur have pulled out of an event in similar fashion.
@niceguyollie @AdamZammit Only band can tell you that. Or maybe their Asian promoters last year who also found out via similar fb message
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) November 25, 2013
