Unfortunate news for Big Day Out punters has just rolled in, as headlining act Blur made an unexpected announcement on their facebook page early this morning. The band has confirmed that they will not be touring Australia for Big Day Out in January and February next year.

The announcement is unusually unlike other band cancellations that Australian festivals have seen in the past, with a distinct taste of bitterness exposed between Blur and the Big Day Out organisers. It reads:

“Devastated to report that Blur won’t be performing at BDO in 2014. It’s a shock that it has come to this. Only 8 weeks to go, the band feels that with the constantly shifting goalposts and challenging conditions of the organisers, they can’t let it drag on any longer and want to make this announcement, to be clear to Blur fans that they won’t be there. We’ve done our very best to work with the organisers and considered every option to make it happen, but they’ve let us down and let everyone else down too.”

Certainly, the festival industry in Australia has struggled recently with cancellations and mergers becoming a commonplace headline in the past few months; however Blur’s shocking cancellation from the festival altogether, and their unashamed denouncing of the organisation around the Big Day Out tour will come as a huge surprise for festival-goers.

More on this news and the Blur 2014 tour as it comes.

Via Blur Facebook.