Also coming back for second or third goes are Scotland's Primal Scream, performing their 1991 Screamadelica album in full, local '70s revivalists Wolfmother and California's Deftones, with sixpack-sporting rapper Lupe Fiasco and Fremantle's beard-sporting roots star John Butler another of those backing up.

Not everyone is old news. Although decidedly male and not afraid of a raucous noise, Nick Cave's side band, Grinderman, will be not just BDO virgins but also a rare bit of comic timing and sardonic bile. However, the real humour, and at last a woman in the mix, is likely to come from the outrageous South African rap outfit Die Antwoord who have become an online sensation thanks to film clips and short films capturing their heavily accented, markedly profane and dangerously funny hip-hop.

Hip-hop also provides the strongest female presence in the Sri Lankan-British rapper M.I.A, whose consciousness-raising lines made her a controversial and popular figure on her previous BDO trip. She may vie with another returning band, New York's LCD Soundsystem or the Italian techno mavens Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 for big-gest hit on the dance bill.

Old or new, Sydney's Big Day Out, on January 26 at the Homebush Bay Showground, is expected to sell out soon after tickets go on sale on October 6, even before the second tranche of acts is announced. In fact it's often said that you could sell it out without announcing any of the performers as this has become as much a cultural institution as the January Test at the SCG.

Although rapidly nearing its 20th anniversary, the BDO is proving more than resilient at a time when summer festivals have been falling over at alarming rates. Homebake, the all-Australian festival which was once the unofficial start of the summer festival circuit in early December, has taken a sabbatical while the Days Like This festival, due to return in January, has also announced a year off. If rumours are right there are several other festivals whose ticket sales have been slow, worryingly so. Maybe they need more men playing rock very loudly.