Ten years ago, I broke the worst story ever.

The day the Big Day Out was no more.

It was a day that loomed like any other. I arrived at my desk, sat down, sipped at my coffee, and began reading emails: press releases, interview opportunities, a staff member calling in sick, spam, the usual sort of thing.

But this wasn’t going to be any normal Thursday. In amongst my emails on the morning of June 26, 2014, was a tip. Whoever it came from suggested the beloved-but-troubled Big Day Out music festival might be heading for the scrap heap.

At that point, the Big Day Out was in a state of flux. After a disastrous 2012 event, when only 20,000 turned up after Kanye West was announced-then-cancelled as the headliner, it made a comeback with a new look and a new venue in 2014.

That line-up looked like this…

So … many … men.

More than 40,000 people showed up in January, 2014 to see the Big Day Out in its new home, a dazzling day that opened with Randa blazing on the lakeside stage, Lorde dancing with Major Lazer, Deftones and Beady Eye subbing in for Blur, Mac Miller (!), and Snoop Dogg and Pearl Jam finishing things off.

After a day like that, calling the whole thing off seemed like a drastic move, so I got to work, started calling around, and tried to find out if this rumour someone had sent me might be true. Remember, 7am Aotearoa-time is 5am Australian-time. No one’s awake. No one responded to my calls or emails.

But America is well into its day by then, and the new owners, C3 Presents, were based in Austin, Texas, where it was the late afternoon. So I fired them a quick email. It contained one question: would the Big Day Out return in 2015?

Surprisingly, they responded almost immediately.

“C3 Presents is proud to own Big Day Out, one of the most iconic and established festival brands in the world. While we intend to bring back the festival in future years, we can confirm there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015. We love working on BDO and are excited about the future.”

They hadn’t said this yet.

I was the first to find out.

So I tapped out this quick story, hit publish, and watched all hell break loose.

Soon, it was leading news sites around the country.

When Australia woke up, the news hit there and they all followed suit.

Next, I called New Zealand promoter Campbell Smith, and managed to get him to talk.

He called the cancellation a “hiatus” and said: “We have got to keep going”.

I did this all day, finding different angles, writing updates, talking to people. Then a phone call interrupted my flow. It was TVNZ. Could I do an interview for the 6pm news?

This was new.

I had never been on TV before, let alone the 6pm news.

I was already feeling emotional.

I’d been to every Big Day Out aside from the first one.

I didn’t want it to end.

Still, I had a job to do. So, I said yes, and half an hour later I stood nervously outside the old NZ Herald building on Wyndham Street as a TVNZ journalist and a camera operator fired questions at me.

I blabbered about the Big Day out line-up releases feeling like Christmas Day to music fans.

I blathered about how there might be a way to bring it back, perhaps in a smaller, cut down format,

That video isn’t online anymore, but someone took a photo from the Herald’s newsroom television. So, yep, this is me, looking sad and terrified during the 6pm news…

“Music Writer.”

It’s been 10 years and change since that day, and I know what you’re thinking, that I’ve missed the deadline for this 10-year anniversary by several months. (Others have already covered this much better than I can: go listen to the podcast Inside the Big Day Out if you haven’t already.)

It’s taken me several months to get here because, just like that news story I wrote 10 years ago, I didn’t really want to write this piece either. It’s the worst news I’ve ever had to cover, and even 10 years on it still stings to have to look back, to remember it all.

A couple of years back, bored at the lack of festivals in Tāmaki Makaurau across January, I called Campbell Smith again, to ask him if he missed the Big Day Out as much as I did.

He admitted that he did. He sent me photos of his office, where all the old posters still hang on his walls. He admitted the decision was out of his hands.

But he also said: “Never say never … I would absolutely do it if we could.”

So, sometimes, when I’m feeling especially nostalgic for the days of the Big Day Out, the smell, the crowds, the anticipation of those headliners, I email C3 Presents to see if they’re any closer to delivering on their promise to “bring the festival back”.

I did this just a few months ago.

It took them weeks to reply.

When they did, this is what they said…

Everything you need to know.

• Electric Avenue needed a massive line-up after doubling in size, and here it is: As rumoured, The Prodigy is headlining, alongside Chase & Status, Empire of the Sun, Wilkinson, L.A.B, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Shapeshifter. Some huge names are in the mix but I’m also a big fan of the undercard: Real Estate, DJ Shadow, Troy Kingi and Jujulipps. There’s a lot to unpack here, but fans seem to love it: the line-up seemed to cause the festival’s website to crash this morning. Personally, I love how many local acts are included on this bill. Thoughts?

• In 2017, the I Love the 90s tour delivered Vanilla Ice, Color Me Badd, Salt N Pepa and Coolio to West Auckland’s Trusts Arena. It was a weird night that ended with Vanilla Ice yelling, “There's still beer in the keg...the party's over here,” at the crowd. Turns out, things were event stranger backstage. On his excellent Substack, local artist DC Maxwell reveals a chaotic backstage VIP meet-and-greet situation that included Coolio hitting on fans, lying on the ground and guests refusing to leave until they met Vanilla Ice. It’s a great read, one that nearly got the author into a lot of trouble.

• Competition to host stadium-sized concerts is growing which is why Eden Park wants to increase its capacity from 6 to 12 a year. According to a new report on NZ Herald, these restrictions mean we’re missing out on major shows. “Artists are bypassing New Zealand and fans are missing out,” CEO Nick Sautner says. Remember: Oasis may or may not be coming to play at Eden Park.

• The outcry over in-demand ticket prices in the UK is building, with calls for an inquiry into the Oasis ticketing debacle. I’ve appeared on a bunch of radio shows to discuss this lately, including Newstalk ZB and RNZ, including why we’re all talking about this now, and how punters can avoid paying those extra in-demand prices. The Daily Telegraph has a great wrap on how we got here.

• Finally, life’s been pretty hectic so I’ve been zoning out with the new Jon Hopkins album Ritual, which is more expansive and louder than his meditative 2021 release Music for Psychedelic Therapy but still morphs into weird and wonderful places. Here’s the title track, a masterful, throbbing, six-minute opus…