Arcade Fire, Pearl Jam, Blur Big Day Out 2014 line-up announced The Big Day Out announces its first line-up with headliners Pearl Jam, Blur and Arcade Fire, catering for the young and the young at heart. Big Day Out headliner Blur are thrilled about joining next year's line-up, but bass player Alex James says the Britpop four-piece plan to not only deliver great shows, but also dominate when it comes to backstage table tennis. "We're the table tennis champions, no one will take us; Damon (singer/keyboardist Damon Albarn) is our star player," James told Fairfax Media ahead of the band's upcoming shows in Dublin, Rome and Milan. It's a new audience and a lot of them can't have been born when Blur first started ... splitting up was the best thing we ever did, probably. Blur, Seattle rock band Pearl Jam and Grammy Award-winning Canadian group Arcade Fire are joint headliners for next year's travelling festival, with Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion), Tame Impala, hip-hop/mash up act Major Lazer and New Zealand's post-punk band The Naked And Famous among other main stage performers. Headliners: "I thought Blur was all over, but we had an amazing year last year." Photo: Linda Brownlee The Big Day Out (BDO) comes to Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse on January 24 and makes two stops at the Sydney Showgrounds on January 26 and 27. Pearl Jam, who along with Blur makes their Big Day Out debut, will play different sets at each Sydney show. Blur will close the festival each night. "It's hugely exciting and there's something for everybody there," James said. It's a while since we've played festivals, but everything about festivals has got better ... the only thing you can't guarantee is the weather. We had a great time in Australia last time (in 1997), so I think it's going to be crazy. I'm having my mind blown by travelling all over the world again with the band, it's fantastic, and we're playing better than we ever have before. Gangbuster show ... Pearl Jam is performing at Big Day Out, with Blur and Arcade Fire. Photo: Danny Clinch I thought Blur was all over, but we had an amazing year last year - we were given a Brit [Award], released a couple of new songs, did a big show to mark the end of the Olympics in Hyde Park and we thought 'let's get to some places we haven't been to for a while' to say thank you to everyone for their patience and support. James said he, Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon and drummer Dave Rowntree, who together have released seven albums including 1994's Parklife, were enjoying live shows and touring more than ever. "You start off playing to 200 people and then you're playing to 2000, and we never really had any sense of how special what we had was," the 44-year-old said. It's really wonderful the shows we've been doing, it's a new audience and a lot of them can't have been born when Blur first started ... splitting up was the best thing we ever did, probably. Thirty-two acts have been revealed in the first of the BDO announcement, with Grammy nominated folk/rock group The Lumineers, indie-pop darlings Grouplove, Portland rockers Portugal. The Man, local band Kingswood and Loon Lake among the acts. BDO founder Ken West said he would make the festival "pretty magical" for fans, the musicians and support staff on tour. More acts will be announced in the coming months. "We're pumped about how many good people are coming ... great acts with such a great body of work," West said. The timing of when you get acts is really important too, particularly if they've got a big catalogue. Snoop Dogg is one of the main stage performers that West was thrilled to attract to the BDO for the first time. "You want to make sure the audience is entertained, but you want as much depth as you can get and what I particularly liked about this year's process was that it's been very interactive with the main acts," he said. You've got Major Lazer with a track on Snoop's album, you've got Blur with Damon, who did the Gorillaz album that Snoops' got a track on, then you've got Mudhoney (who feature in the new Cosmic Psychos documentary Blokes You Can Trust) and the Cosmic Psychos. Mudhoney was brought up by Eddy (Vedder) and then we went: 'Well, we need the Psychos as well.' We're trying to make sure we've got a show that works for the people that's also a great exercise in building some on-road camaraderie, and they're the sort of artists that are open to that kind of thing. House veteran Steve Angello (Swedish House Mafia) and Sydney's 21-year-old beatmaker Flume (Harley Streten) will be among the main attractions in the Boiler Room, while Pittsburgh's rising hip-hop star Mac Miller, Chicago's Flosstradamus and 23-year-old Toro Y Moi have all signed up for this year's BDO adventure. "The line up is strong ... you wouldn't be able to get these three (headline acts) on the one day anywhere else in the world," West said. We had an opportunity to put a gangbuster show together, we've got that and we're going to make sure it's the best experience. Alex James, meanwhile, also plans to indulge his love of cheese while travelling around the country. "We'll see you over there in January, big smiles on our faces," he said. Excellent. The Big Day Out launches in Auckland, New Zealand, January 17 and travels to a new site on the Gold Coast before arriving in Melbourne. Following the Sydney shows, the festival travels to Adelaide and Perth. Tickets for Melbourne's Big Day Out go on sale August 9 and both Sydney shows go on sale August 8. Artists who are currently listed as performing: