Big Day Out Rumour-palooza

It's coming to that time again when every man and his dog has their say on who will be making it out for the mother of all Aussie music festivals, the Big Day Out. With the Soundwave and Falls line-ups already out of the bag, it makes guessing the big acts for BDO a little bit easier. But it's still an open field and no doubt there'll be one or two surprises in there. Until then, let the speculation run riot!

Soundgarden

The most oft-repeated rumour in this year’s cycle of festivals, Soundgarden were a shoe-in for Soundwave at one point but with Iron Maiden taking headlining honours there, it’s looking highly likely that the re-formed Seattle group will top the BDO 2011 bill. It’s also been widely reported that Australian promoters were at the recent Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago to sign Soundgarden for a festival “in early 2011”. All the pieces fit, you can all but put the bank on Soundgarden.

Kings Of Leon

Another one that keeps on circulating the net, but without any real substance, is the possible inclusion of Kings Of Leon on the bill. They’re set to release their fifth album Come Around Sundown in October and have been played a couple of European summer festivals so it could be a well-timed run into the Australian summer next year.

Mark Ronson

Australian festival website Tonedeaf have been spinning all sorts of rumours about BDO 2011, and are claiming that Mark Ronson confirmed both his appearance and that of M.I.A. at next year’s festival “in an interview”. But they’re pretty hazy on the details and don’t reveal their source on that interview, so while they’d both make brilliant inclusions on next year’s line-up, don’t hold your breath just yet.

M.I.A.

See “Mark Ronson”

Red Hot Chili Peppers

When Red Hot Chili Peppers replaced out-going guitarist John Frusciante with Josh Klinghoffer at the start of the year, everyone expected they’d be gearing up for a new album and massive world tour to follow. While neither of those things have happened yet, drummer Chad Smith has confirmed the band’s 10th album will be dropping in 2011 and that Australia would definitely be on the schedule for a world tour. Given their previous relationship with BDO (which we all know is a BIG factor in them booking acts), they’re possible candidates in 2011. But the timing might just be a bit off.

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire love big sounds and big concerts. They recently broadcast a show of theirs at Madison Square Garden in New York to millions around around the world via Youtube. And as far as Australian festivals go, they don’t come much bigger than Big Day Out. Richard Reed Parry from the band recently talked up Arcade Fire’s chances of  touring Australia in the new year: "It's very likely we'll be there for this Australian summer,” he told Triple J. “We did it before and it worked out really well". Mark them down, they will be here.

Mystery Jets

We spoke to Mystery Jets’ frontman Blaine Harrison recently and quizzed him about when his band would next be in the country, to which he responded: “I'm almost certain that we’re coming over (to Australia) in January to take on the festivals. Hopefully we'll do Big Day Out or Falls Festival which we did two years ago and was absolutely amazing.” But the Falls line-up has been announced and Mystery Jets aren’t on it. So lock ‘em in for BDO.

* Update: Mystery Jets have been announced on the Pyramid Rock line-up over New Year's Eve.

Wolf Parade

The Montreal guys have never been to Australia before as Wolf Parade, although co-frontman Dan Boekner brought his Handsome Furs ‘side-project’ down here last year. In an interview with The Vine, Boekner revealed that Wolf Parade would be touring Australia in January for “club shows and festivals”. But their anticipated arrival date - Wed Jan 26 - might just be overshooting the early BDO dates. So they’re probably a safer bet for Laneway.

Blink 182

Since re-forming at the start of last year Blink 182 have been touring relentlessly all around the world, but are yet to revisit Australian shores. They were also hotly tipped for Soundwave next year but were absent on that line-up, leaving a possible headline slot at BDO open. There’s nothing really concrete to back up this rumour, but they’ve got to come here sometime don’t they?

Foals

This one’s turning into a poorly-kept secret. Even though they were recently in the country for Splendour In the Grass and some mind-blowing sideshows, Foals hinted that they’ll be back in Australia over the summer while they were here. According to the inside word, those summer appearances will be at the Big Days Out.

Wavves

Nathan Williams is yet to taste the Australian sun, and we all know how much the skater punk loves the sunshine. His recent album King Of The Beach has earned lavish praise in most music circles, making him more than just a champion of the blogosphere. Still, he might not be quite big enough for the star-studded line-ups of BDO. If not, you can pencil him on for laneway.

The Big Day Out line-up will be revealed in early October. Who do you want to see at Big Day Out 2011?

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