Next Announcement

[LethalLegacy]

true colours? the f**k does that even mean? A festival may be a weekend of music for us, but it's one massive promoting and money making exercise, so if the initial lineup delivers promise, and then later on delivers dogshit, people who have paid two ton are well within their rights to bitch about it.

Despite my rants i'm happy in that the headliners alone cover the price for me, but they really have misled people here, come out all guns blazing and then not followed it up in the slightest. I was starting to smell bullshit when the guy kept on twittering "something for everyone", as it always translates to sub standard bollocks.

[jammy2211]

Fair enough if you've reason to back it up, but there's many more out there who've probably not even listened to half the bands and turned their nose up at it. Its that attitude that does my head in. I personally am still pretty much main stage this year as it stands, so I too am hoping for a little more quality on the lower stages. That said, to me it doesn't look bad at all, I'd happily see a number of those second stage bands.

Its the people who suddenly switch between Download & Sonisphere & R+L with every passing announcement. Their attitude is awful - if they bothered to check out every band and give them more than 30 seconds of their time, I'm sure they'd have a greater appreciation of the line-ups. I can imagine people round here probably are more appreciative than those on the Kerrang boards and the like.

[Greeny_Musicchild]

What i get annoyed at is Download promising massive, massive bands and turning up dogshit. The a bunch of people on forums tell me i should be HAPPY that i've spent £200 on a festival (the most i have ever spent on a festival) and the undercard is worse than almost any festival i've ever been to.

I wasn't expecting bands playing down the bill to rival headliners, i was expecting more than 1 band i would want to see, I was expecting fewer old, crap hair metal bands and i was certainly not expecting HIM to be booked.

My problem here is the money to bands ratio. For this amount of money per ticket i expet a higher quality of bands.

[thedudeman]

What i get annoyed at is Download promising massive, massive bands and turning up dogshit. The a bunch of people on forums tell me i should be HAPPY that i've spent £200 on a festival (the most i have ever spent on a festival) and the undercard is worse than almost any festival i've ever been to.

I wasn't expecting bands playing down the bill to rival headliners, i was expecting more than 1 band i would want to see, I was expecting fewer old, crap hair metal bands and i was certainly not expecting HIM to be booked.

My problem here is the money to bands ratio. For this amount of money per ticket i expet a higher quality of bands.

[tweemo freak]

I'm happy with most of the announced acts, escpecially HIM, The Blackout, Rise To Remain, Whitechapel, Dillenger Escape Plan,Lamb Of God and A Day To Remember .

[jammy2211]

What i get annoyed at is Download promising massive, massive bands and turning up dogshit. The a bunch of people on forums tell me i should be HAPPY that i've spent £200 on a festival (the most i have ever spent on a festival) and the undercard is worse than almost any festival i've ever been to.

I wasn't expecting bands playing down the bill to rival headliners, i was expecting more than 1 band i would want to see, I was expecting fewer old, crap hair metal bands and i was certainly not expecting HIM to be booked.

My problem here is the money to bands ratio. For this amount of money per ticket i expet a higher quality of bands.

[Greeny_Musicchild]

So you spent £200 on a festival which you didn't think was worth £200 and only had 1 band you like 0_o?

The majority of the announcement was bands who have played Download before, so it's not like it was anything surprising that you couldn't foresee - and HIM are playing the lowest slot they've ever played at Download...

I've no idea what you thought was going to get announced, or what you find so shocking about the undercard, as in truth the majority of bands there have played the same slot (Or higher) before. People were just heaping unrealistic expectations of Download, and even though it has in my opinion the 3 biggest headliners a UK festival has ever booked (In recent years) are still expecting more...

[luckysalt]

HIM, Airbourne, Steel Panther and Coheed and Cambria would all be great additions, if they were low main stage instead we get Taking Dawn and Hell Yeah, I'd never heard of either of these acts before

If the Main Stage instead looked like this

SAT

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

DEFTONES

MEGADETH

HIM

LAMB OF GOD

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH

COHEED AND CAMBRIA

36 CRAZYFISTS

or something like that and put Hell Yeah and Taking Dawn on second stage

and whacked STEEL PANTHER low Sunday main stage, Id have been much happier

[jammy2211]

I'm not putting unrealistic expectations on download. Put the price up every year, make the bands better every year. Surely now the festival is so big it can stop booking so much rubbish?

My main problem is with so many good bands around touring and how much they talked up the announcement i did expect something better, yes. I havent heard music of maybe 15 of the bands, i've been sticking it on and i've got to say some are not bad. Possibly 3. This is the second big announcement of bands, i expected Mastodon or Alexisonfire or somebody of that kind of caliber.

Top 9 bands on the main stage across the 3 days i can't complain really, bar Aerosmith i like them all. I like a lot of the bands on the line up...but this announcement and the quality of the subsequent lower bands playing is just bad..

I didn't expect a long list of awesome names but i did expect at least 1 big act of the moment. What we got bands who were good 20+ years ago (Saxon, Cinderella, RATT - we have enough of this already), bands who hit their peak in the last decade and are on the way down (Lamb of god, 36 Crazyfists, Coheed and Cambria) and HIM. I know HIM played before, and higher, it's my opinion they shouldn't be allowed. At all. Not impressed.

[jammy2211]

HIM, Airbourne, Steel Panther and Coheed and Cambria would all be great additions, if they were low main stage instead we get Taking Dawn and Hell Yeah, I'd never heard of either of these acts before

If the Main Stage instead looked like this

SAT

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

DEFTONES

MEGADETH

HIM

LAMB OF GOD

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH

COHEED AND CAMBRIA

36 CRAZYFISTS

or something like that and put Hell Yeah and Taking Dawn on second stage

and whacked STEEL PANTHER low Sunday main stage, Id have been much happier

[thedudeman]

check out taking dawn tho, they gt a cracking album on the way. still nt main stage material tho. its the 30th anniversary ffs! could they nt have pulled something outta the bag? not 1 big name? tbh i dont think they will be adding much, if anything,to the main stages on sat/sun.

f**kin hope im wrong tho cz this lookin dire! (lets just pray for sunshine!)

[armthehomeless]

HIM, Airbourne, Steel Panther and Coheed and Cambria would all be great additions, if they were low main stage instead we get Taking Dawn and Hell Yeah, I'd never heard of either of these acts before

If the Main Stage instead looked like this

SAT

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

DEFTONES

MEGADETH

HIM

LAMB OF GOD

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH

COHEED AND CAMBRIA

36 CRAZYFISTS

or something like that and put Hell Yeah and Taking Dawn on second stage

and whacked STEEL PANTHER low Sunday main stage, Id have been much happier

Edited March 24, 2010 by armthehomeless

[Greeny_Musicchild]

I've not given up hope on an Alexisonfire or Mastodon yet as there are imo still a few slots they could take. I know what you're saying and all but to me the undercard is no different to what it usually looks like - bare in mind we've had Jimmy Eat World and FFAF second headline before.

It's very difficult to judge imo anyway as we've no idea what happens on their side - there arn't many rock/metal acts breaking through as it is and with Soni now around making big money offers it's going to be tough for Download to book every band touring. Roadrunner pretty much have them by the balls too - as if they want Slipknot, Machine Head etc then they're gonna have to give them main stage slots to Taking Dawn and Dommin...

I think my attitude honestly just comes from going to 5 Readings and no other festival - now there's a festival that has a second stage dedicated to filler, so I guess I can just cope with it better.

Also can someone tell me where they talked up this announcement? They said it'd have 22 bands and something for everyone, they delivered on that...

[jammy2211]

I agree about the second stage, but the thing about Leeds for me is the Lock Up...sadly only 2 of the 3 days now. That stage is awesome for anytime nothing is on the mainstage.

I'm sure it will still be excellent...imo if the price goes up, the quality of the bands does too and it hasn't. Top 3 bands on the mainstage all 3 days are good quality, they must have paid too much.

[t8yman]

I loved the bands before this last 22, very few I disliked, but my best festival experiences are very rarely the top3 on the main stage. MC Rut were my fave band last year - friday after noon on the 3rd stage. These are the gems that you discover at a festival (although I did already know mc rut's material).

I am however, very disappointed with the standard of the undercard so far. Not enough to call the wahmbulance, but I was hoping for bands of the stature of aic, mastodon, clutch, skindred etc.

It was the fact that this announce was built up to be great, and it wasnt.

and please - classic rock sunday may be a great idea, but ratt were shit when they were in their prime, so were cinderella - and a little bit of tingly nostalgia wont change that fact. Ratt had a bout 3 singles out in the 80s - and that qualifies for a mainstage slot?

and dont even f**king start me on steel panther.

[bekimo]

So you spent £200 on a festival which you didn't think was worth £200 and only had 1 band you like 0_o?

[Spengs Muck]

I dont understand those people complaining about the price.

Youd pay more than £200 to see Aerosmith, AC/DC and Rage Against The Machine anyway.

Yes it is expensive, but imagine next year when bands of this calibre arent actually around and its gone up to £220 because of inflation. Then you can complain when its three bands you can see at your local 02 academy. But those headliners are worth £200. So price isnt a factor.

Youre complaining because they overhyped the announcement and yes they probably did. I too have never heard of some of the bands theyve stuck on the main stage, but Hell Yeah have played there before and they played on the main stage then. Its Vinnie Pauls band.

As someone else said, there are big bands playing very low spots this year (second stage for example)

Andy Coppings comeback to all this was that you have to look at the actual size of some of these bands playing, regardless of if you personally know them or not. There are some big bands playing.

HOWEVER i will agree that Cinderella and Ratt as nostalgic as they may be...maybe dont deserve main stage spots, they were never THAT big. Steel Panther have probably sold out more gigs in the last year than they ever did.

The thing that bugs me the most, especially about the facebook page is the naive narrow minded almost chav like approach to music that metal heads have because there's not enough generic metal announced for the '30th anniversary'. It's the 30th anniversary of rock at donington NOT of Download festival. Its NOT a metal festival.

Thats my two cents anyway. Dont like the festival? Dont go. Sell your ticket on ebay. You wouldnt catch me spending two hudnred quid on something i passionately didnt want to be a part of.

[fred_flintstone]

There seems to be a bit of an opinion that Cinderella and Ratt are poor additions and somehow dont deserve to be on the main stage because they were never reall that big. To a degree I can see that with Ratt who despite their success in the States were never that big over here but they are in a pretty low spot and at the very least a lot of people know Round and Round Cinderella had a reasonable amount of success in the Night Songs/ Long Cold Winter era in the UK as well as the States. Cinderella arent that high either and theres an argument that they are no less deserving of a main stage spot than Tesla or Skin last year, even Journey despite their huge success in the States in the 80's are pretty much a one hit wonder over here.

[Greeny_Musicchild]

I dont understand those people complaining about the price.

Youd pay more than £200 to see Aerosmith, AC/DC and Rage Against The Machine anyway.

Yes it is expensive, but imagine next year when bands of this calibre arent actually around and its gone up to £220 because of inflation. Then you can complain when its three bands you can see at your local 02 academy. But those headliners are worth £200. So price isnt a factor.

Youre complaining because they overhyped the announcement and yes they probably did. I too have never heard of some of the bands theyve stuck on the main stage, but Hell Yeah have played there before and they played on the main stage then. Its Vinnie Pauls band.

As someone else said, there are big bands playing very low spots this year (second stage for example)

Andy Coppings comeback to all this was that you have to look at the actual size of some of these bands playing, regardless of if you personally know them or not. There are some big bands playing.

HOWEVER i will agree that Cinderella and Ratt as nostalgic as they may be...maybe dont deserve main stage spots, they were never THAT big. Steel Panther have probably sold out more gigs in the last year than they ever did.

The thing that bugs me the most, especially about the facebook page is the naive narrow minded almost chav like approach to music that metal heads have because there's not enough generic metal announced for the '30th anniversary'. It's the 30th anniversary of rock at donington NOT of Download festival. Its NOT a metal festival.

Thats my two cents anyway. Dont like the festival? Dont go. Sell your ticket on ebay. You wouldnt catch me spending two hudnred quid on something i passionately didnt want to be a part of.

[cornucopia]

Firstly, price is an issue. You may pay more than £200 for those 3 headliners individually but then, i wouldn't pay £200 for ACDC or Aerosmith, i would however pay £200 to see them at a festival with Rage (i would pay £200 for Rage alone).

But this is completely missing the point isn't it? When you pay for Aerosmith at the O2 they pay for a one off show (venue, staff, band, show, promoter etc.), at Download they pay once for 3 days worth of infrastructure once and then the bands on top so you can afford to give the bands the same amount but the price of the ticket for all 3 days is comparatively less (without forgetting the crowd is much larger). A festival is not a gig, they are not comparable imo.

I have watched Girls Aloud, The Streets, Pink, Kelis and countless more bands and artists i don't like at festivals, i do this because it is a festival and not because i am trying to get my moneys worth. £200 pounds is more than it costs for a Glastonbury ticket, so lets get some f**king perspective here.

The quality of the last 22 bands that were announced was awful. Anyone who is doubting this need their head checked. We all paid a stupid amount of money for this festival and instead of comparing it to gigs lets compare it to other festivals.

Other than the top 3 Download's massive price is now looking very unjustified. When we got the first big announcement you would bite your arm off for a ticket,the quality was so high. This shows that they just had a shit under card in waiting. T, Glasto, Leeds...all set to have a better under card with headliners that are as good if not marginally worse than the Download headliners and all 3 cost less for a weekend with camping ticket.

And to those who keep telling me to sell my ticket and not go if i'm not happy, i'm not going to simply because i love RATM. I paid close to £200 to see them at T2008 and i only went for a day, they make the festival worth it. I'm going with a lot of mates, we all know thats what makes a festival. With a bill like this is just begs the question "why am i paying so much more than last year?". I do think i am perfectly entitled to moan at the price paid for the bands delivered. They promised us more than this! Bigger bands! Why are so few of you annoyed by this?!

and quoted dude, Donnington IS NOW a metal festival, deal with it. Its spent the last decade as either Ozzfest or Download and when it was MOR it had A LOT of metal on the bill over the years, explain to me exactly how you think this does not warrant more metal and a least a little less dated rock music on the bill?

Ran out of money after the top 9 bands, that's what this bill screams of. It was so promising too.

[Greeny_Musicchild]

Well don't go then - simples

Edited March 25, 2010 by Greeny_Musicchild

[armthehomeless]

Well don't go then - simples

[jammy2211]

I just can't fathom what you were expecting for the undercard, pretty much all the bands announced have played before in similiar placed slots, I know earlier you said you wanted an Alexisonfire or Mastodon, but how is getting Coheed and Lamb of God honestly any different? Other then your own personal tastes.

Whenever I look at previous Download line ups, I just don't see this strong undercard it's apparently ever had. This year feels to me no different then before, just with stadium filler headliners instead of cash-in reforms (inb4RATM) or arena fillers...

Download is definitely not a metal festival, AC has said this on numerous occations...

The one complaint I really do feel is valid is anything about repeat bookings - Download really does need to stop cycling bands on a 2 year basis. This says more about the state of alternative music then Download tbh, but the bookers could easily branch out and avoid so many repeat bookings, albeit it seems more festivals are guilty of this nowadays anyway.

[Greeny_Musicchild]

Ok, so it's no better than any previous year.

Why was it hyped up as a 30th year spectacular? Why are they charging £200 and increasing the capacity by such a large amount when apparently none of that money is going into improving the quality of the bands? (or as the case may well be, all into the pockets of the top 3 bands?)

If neither is the case the organisers are taking a much larger amount, without improving the overall quality of the bands.

Purely as a consumer don't you think that's just a little bit bullshit?

Edited March 25, 2010 by Greeny_Musicchild

[jammy2211]

I think alot of that extra money has gone to booking stadium filler headliners instead of bands like Slipknot or Def Leppard - who although maybe big certainly imo wouldn't headline any other UK festivals simply cause they arn't that big...

I never got any of this 30th year hype either, I've a feeling more of it was just the festival goers getting carried away thinking they'd get Metallica and Van Halen to sub, or something. Still don't see how ACDC, Aerosmith and RATM isn't delivering though? With the rest of the undercard bands who have played the same or higher slots in previous year...

If I thought it was 'a little bit bullshit' and we were getting ripped off, I wouldn't have bought a ticket.