Download 2024

[markopaddy]

The fact that BMTH are the biggest band in rock/metal now shows that the future is very bleak. 

[Jericode]

Hardly.

[Alex Winstone]

Muse, Enter Shikari, Turnstile, Knocked Loose

A7X, Limp Bizkit, Sabaton, Code Orange

QOTSA, Royal Blood, Idles, The Hives

Opus: Gojira, The Prodigy, Sum 41

Avalanche: New Found Glory, Soft Play, Pennywise

Dogtooth: Fit For An Autopsy, Ghostemane, Mr.Bungle

[Hazz]

I’ll carry on from my controversial comments and suggest the followIng as lineup for 2024:

Friday Main stage :Enter Shikari, Pendulum, The Prodigy

Second stage: Motionless in white , Memphis May fire , Ice nine Kills

Saturday Main stage : My Chemical Romance,Babymetal, Of Mice and Men

Second stage: Parkway Drive , Spiritbox, Lorna Shore 

Sunday Main stage: Iron Maiden, Bullet for my Valentine , Limp Bizkit

Second stage : Sum 41, All time low,Bowling for Soup

[Jericode]

46 minutes ago, Hazz said:

I’ll carry on from my controversial comments and suggest the followIng as lineup for 2024:

Friday Main stage :Enter Shikari, Pendulum, The Prodigy

Second stage: Motionless in white , Memphis May fire , Ice nine Kills

Saturday Main stage : My Chemical Romance,Babymetal, Of Mice and Men

Second stage: Parkway Drive , Spiritbox, Lorna Shore 

Sunday Main stage: Iron Maiden, Bullet for my Valentine , Limp Bizkit

Second stage : Sum 41, All time low,Bowling for Soup

Prodigy are surely bigger than Shikari?

Parkway aren't going to come back and play second again, they'll want the top spot.

Sum 41 are splitting up and ATL sold out Wembley Arena in March, they aren't gonna be second on the second stage.

[justanothername]

BFMV are currently headlining 2000trees which has been recently offering massive discounts on the 3 day tickets. They are not headlining Download.

[FloorFiller]

3 hours ago, justanothername said:

BFMV are currently headlining 2000trees which has been recently offering massive discounts on the 3 day tickets. They are not headlining Download.

Yup, they’re a stinker of a booking even for 2000trees tbh so them managing to work their way up to Download headliner at this point is pretty laughable. They had their shot at maybe getting there, they f**ked it, and now here we are. 

[OKMess]

17 hours ago, Swansea93 said:

Green Day 20th anniversary of American Idiot next year isn’t it?

 

Starting to believe this is the way. Offspring subbing and Weezer 3rd down. 

[gabrielomachado]

I believe Architects will fall into the same category of ADTR, Alter Bridge and BFMV of bands who almost did It but for some reason never will

 

The only band that i could easily getting the bump on the very few years it's Ghost

 

Also would love to see Gojira and Trivium getting sub spots but don't think neither will headline too

[Jonny_Naylor]

7 minutes ago, gabrielomachado said:

I believe Architects will fall into the same category of ADTR, Alter Bridge and BFMV of bands who almost did It but for some reason never will

 

The only band that i could easily getting the bump on the very few years it's Ghost

 

Also would love to see Gojira and Trivium getting sub spots but don't think neither will headline too

Ghost, Sleep Token, Parkway Drive, Korn, Enter Shikari, QOTSA, Deftones are some that spring to mind as future headliners. There will be a point where they can't ignore the bands that consistently play second down either, and just have them do a Saturday with stronger headliners on the Friday/Sunday. 

[FeverDream]

34 minutes ago, gabrielomachado said:

I believe Architects will fall into the same category of ADTR, Alter Bridge and BFMV of bands who almost did It but for some reason never will

 

The only band that i could easily getting the bump on the very few years it's Ghost

 

Also would love to see Gojira and Trivium getting sub spots but don't think neither will headline too

Trivium subbing Avenged Sevenfold would be great

[OKMess]

25 minutes ago, Jonny_Naylor said:

Ghost, Sleep Token, Parkway Drive, Korn, Enter Shikari, QOTSA, Deftones are some that spring to mind as future headliners. There will be a point where they can't ignore the bands that consistently play second down either, and just have them do a Saturday with stronger headliners on the Friday/Sunday. 

The ship has surely sailed for Korn, Enter Shikari and Deftones. Nowhere near as popular as they were in their prime and never been above Sub-Headliner. QOTSA are maybe just about there but would probably be a weak booking. 

[FeverDream]

31 minutes ago, OKMess said:

The ship has surely sailed for Korn, Enter Shikari and Deftones. Nowhere near as popular as they were in their prime and never been above Sub-Headliner. QOTSA are maybe just about there but would probably be a weak booking. 

Dare I say maybe it’s time for two main stages? The Opus stage is clearly too small for the likes of Evanescence and Ghost, definitely too small for bands like QOTSA, Deftones and Korn to headline, but non of them seem quite ready for that main closing slot of the night.

Or maybe the simple solution is to just have 1 weaker headliner each year to introduce some new blood to the pool. I guess Biffy Clyro (as much as I love them) fall into the “weaker” headline category if there ever was one, but even then, Biffy Clyro could now be considered regulars and will probably be repeated every 3 or so years like all the other headliners. 

Edited June 13, 2023 by FeverDream

[OKMess]

29 minutes ago, FeverDream said:

Dare I say maybe it’s time for two main stages? The Opus stage is clearly too small for the likes of Evanescence and Ghost, definitely too small for bands like QOTSA, Deftones and Korn to headline, but non of them seem quite ready for that main closing slot of the night.

Or maybe the simple solution is to just have 1 weaker headliner each year to introduce some new blood to the pool. I guess Biffy Clyro (as much as I love them) fall into the “weaker” headline category if there ever was one, but even then, Biffy Clyro could now be considered regulars and will probably be repeated every 3 or so years like all the other headliners. 

I think this year was a good advertisement for dual mainstage, there was overcrowding issues at the 2nd stage and then I know people missed bands because they couldn't be arsed with the crush rushing between stages. 
They had it at Mad Cool when I went a few years ago and it worked nicely. Stages at a right angle to each other so you can set yourself up to get a good view of your preferred band without having a bad view of the band on the other stage.

I also think they need an alternative on to the mainstage headliner each night. I don't like that people were basically being forced to go back to their tent or watch whoever the ticket seller is. 

Yeah, Dual Mainstage is the way to go in my books. 

 

Biffy are a funny one, they probably outsell most other headliners in terms of albums in the UK but also probably don't sell that many tickets for download. Music wise, much more suited to R+L but they've also worked their way up at DL and deserve their spot. 

My personal take is that each year their should be an effort to have:
One Legacy Headliner (e.g. Maiden, Sabbath, Metallica)
One British Headliner (e.g. Maiden, Biffy, Muse)
One first-time headliner (e.g. Green Day, Ghost, Pearl Jam)

Of course a band could cross over more than one of these categories, you could make the argument that The Sex Pistols would tick all three boxes, but if the organisers said the above was their stated aim I think the fanbase would forgive some questionable headliner bookings a bit more easily. 

[gabrielomachado]

i was very surprised that they kept opus on the same size as last year (even smaller than 2019)

 

really a tiny stage for multi-arena selling out bands like Ghost, Evanescence, Placebo and FFDP (originally) 

[FeverDream]

37 minutes ago, OKMess said:

I think this year was a good advertisement for dual mainstage, there was overcrowding issues at the 2nd stage and then I know people missed bands because they couldn't be arsed with the crush rushing between stages. 
They had it at Mad Cool when I went a few years ago and it worked nicely. Stages at a right angle to each other so you can set yourself up to get a good view of your preferred band without having a bad view of the band on the other stage.

I also think they need an alternative on to the mainstage headliner each night. I don't like that people were basically being forced to go back to their tent or watch whoever the ticket seller is. 

Yeah, Dual Mainstage is the way to go in my books. 

 

Biffy are a funny one, they probably outsell most other headliners in terms of albums in the UK but also probably don't sell that many tickets for download. Music wise, much more suited to R+L but they've also worked their way up at DL and deserve their spot. 

My personal take is that each year their should be an effort to have:
One Legacy Headliner (e.g. Maiden, Sabbath, Metallica)
One British Headliner (e.g. Maiden, Biffy, Muse)
One first-time headliner (e.g. Green Day, Ghost, Pearl Jam)

Of course a band could cross over more than one of these categories, you could make the argument that The Sex Pistols would tick all three boxes, but if the organisers said the above was their stated aim I think the fanbase would forgive some questionable headliner bookings a bit more easily. 

I went to Mad Cool last year and it was great! Have you seen the new layout for the new site? The VIP section is between the two main stages meaning you can’t see both of the now which is a shame…

I agree with Biffy, they’ve played 7 times (I think) now and were a natural choice as headliner after their 2012 sub slot to Metallica and then subsequent headline slots at Sonisphere, R&L, T in the Park, IOW, TRNSMT etc. I think Biffy would sell more Download day tickets if that day was tailored towards alt rock / hard rock bands. The 2017 and even 2022 Biffy days look so bizarre with the bands underneath them. As for R&L, I fear its new direction may mean even bands like Biffy don’t really fit the vibe of R&L anymore. The reaction to QOTSA when they were booked for 2021 wasn’t great before they pulled out.

I think your take is a good one; it would please the majority of attendees by giving everyone at least 2 headliners they probably enjoy. I think the Download community are probably a lot less conservative and more liberal when it comes to bands that can be given the bump up to headline than say 10 years ago, particularly with more young adults attending the festival.

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by FeverDream

[OKMess]

18 minutes ago, FeverDream said:

I went to Mad Cool last year and it was great! Have you seen the new layout for the new site? The VIP section is between the two main stages meaning you can’t see both of the now which is a shame…

I agree with Biffy, they’ve played 7 times (I think) now and were a natural choice as headliner after their 2012 sub slot to Metallica and then subsequent headline slots at Sonisphere, R&L, T in the Park, IOW, TRNSMT etc. I think Biffy would sell more Download day tickets if that day was tailored towards alt rock / hard rock bands. The 2017 and even 2022 Biffy days look so bizarre with the bands underneath them. As for R&L, I fear its new direction may mean even bands like Biffy don’t really fit the vibe of R&L anymore. The reaction to QOTSA when they were booked for 2021 wasn’t great before they pulled out.

I think your take is a good one; it would please the majority of attendees by giving everyone at least 2 headliners they probably enjoy. I think the Download community are probably a lot less conservative and more liberal when it comes to bands that can be given the bump up to headline than say 10 years ago, particularly with more young adults attending the festival.

 

I went to Mad Cool in (I think) 2018, the year with NIN and Depeche Mode and Pearl Jam. The bands were great and I liked the dual mainstage but there were so many organisational issues I'm put off going back unless the lineup is insane. Is it still Astroturf? Do you get static shocks every time you bump into someone? 

This is again one of my gripes with download, a lot of it is setup to please the vendors, I've heard the organiser talk about how he likes people to move from stage to stage throughout the day, that doesn't benefit the attendees. Get the days more genre so you can just camp at main or second for most of the day. This year they had Clutch, Alexisonfire then Disturbed on main, that's a hot mess. 

For example if you had three headliners, lets say Green Day, A7X and AC/DC next year the logical progression would be to have someone like The Offspring under Green Day, FFDP under A7X and Greta Van Fleet under AC/DC then have the alternate stages satisfying the pop punk, metal and classic rock demographics on the other days, but download just never seems to do this they'll do something mad like put Rancid on the same day as Green Day. 

R&L is doing what R&L has always done and leaning to getting teens and people in their early 20's in, it used to be more rock because that's what kids were listening to at the time, i'm not mad at it, it's just not for me anymore. 

I've rambled on enough for now anyway, peace out. 

[49Lawson]

Meant to pop up here yesterday but this weekend has fully wiped me out, how hot was it man! 

Few things just as an overall thought in response to what many have said;

1) Having not done Download for a considerable number of years I absolutely loved this; crossed so many names off the list and all were at least good or really impressed me (Alter Bridge, Pendulum, Slipknot, Disturbed and Evanescence)

2) Ghost walk into a headline slot next Download

3) Metallica arguably in the best form I’ve seen them since I seen them 10 year ago

With regards to the dual main stage set up, my twopenneth is whilst I think it would work (felt like there was about 100million people at Evanescence) I don’t like it when UK festivals do it because they don’t do it for quality reasons, they usually do it to strip everything back and save themselves a fortune. And it absolutely wouldn’t work at Download unless they added another stage I don’t think. 

But I would just keep it the way it is; if they want to promote “weaker” headliner options just keep a very small programme on the Thursday to help give the organisers the option of booking 3 headliner size bands whilst promoting another one each year. 

But to conclude, brilliant weekend, line up depending will be there next year

[panda97]

4 hours ago, OKMess said:

 

Starting to believe this is the way. Offspring subbing and Weezer 3rd down. 

Would love this, think it would be a great booking, new headliner, they reliably put on a good show, you can theme the day a little like you suggested and shift a tonne of day tickets too

[FeverDream]

2 hours ago, OKMess said:

I went to Mad Cool in (I think) 2018, the year with NIN and Depeche Mode and Pearl Jam. The bands were great and I liked the dual mainstage but there were so many organisational issues I'm put off going back unless the lineup is insane. Is it still Astroturf? Do you get static shocks every time you bump into someone? 

This is again one of my gripes with download, a lot of it is setup to please the vendors, I've heard the organiser talk about how he likes people to move from stage to stage throughout the day, that doesn't benefit the attendees. Get the days more genre so you can just camp at main or second for most of the day. This year they had Clutch, Alexisonfire then Disturbed on main, that's a hot mess. 

For example if you had three headliners, lets say Green Day, A7X and AC/DC next year the logical progression would be to have someone like The Offspring under Green Day, FFDP under A7X and Greta Van Fleet under AC/DC then have the alternate stages satisfying the pop punk, metal and classic rock demographics on the other days, but download just never seems to do this they'll do something mad like put Rancid on the same day as Green Day. 

R&L is doing what R&L has always done and leaning to getting teens and people in their early 20's in, it used to be more rock because that's what kids were listening to at the time, i'm not mad at it, it's just not for me anymore. 

I've rambled on enough for now anyway, peace out. 

Yeah the organisation was still a mess last year. We booked a hotel blind as they didn’t release travel arrangements until about a week before the festival. Was still AstroTurf, can’t remember getting any shocks though! They only confirmed the new location a few weeks ago also, even though tickets have been on sale nearly a year now…

Agree with everything else, also. R&L is becoming less for me and Download is appealing to me more than it ever has done!

[gabrielomachado]

imagine a Green Day mainstage run of something like

GREEN DAY / The Offspring / Turnstile / The Interrupters / Billy Talent / Boston Manor / Dream State

[lexiins]

Seeing that early bird tickets for next year's Download are the same price as this year's one, do you guys reckon it's going to be 3 days again? Or they'll keep the 4 day festival?

[Deviceing]

3 hours ago, lexiins said:

Seeing that early bird tickets for next year's Download are the same price as this year's one, do you guys reckon it's going to be 3 days again? Or they'll keep the 4 day festival?

It says 14-16 June so 3 days.

[northernangel]

9 hours ago, lexiins said:

Seeing that early bird tickets for next year's Download are the same price as this year's one, do you guys reckon it's going to be 3 days again? Or they'll keep the 4 day festival?

Definitely 3, Download also don't have enough bands to go to for four days.

I'd be surprised too if they managed to get any of Foo Fighters, Green Day or Blink to play. FF are going to do a 2024 early stadium tour it looks like, Blink play Reading for me and Green Day will do their own shows I think.

They also will do everything to book AC/DC if they can so you're closer to A7X, Aerosmith and AC/DC....don't reckon they'll get them though.

[OKMess]

15 hours ago, 49Lawson said:

Meant to pop up here yesterday but this weekend has fully wiped me out, how hot was it man! 

Few things just as an overall thought in response to what many have said;

1) Having not done Download for a considerable number of years I absolutely loved this; crossed so many names off the list and all were at least good or really impressed me (Alter Bridge, Pendulum, Slipknot, Disturbed and Evanescence)

2) Ghost walk into a headline slot next Download

3) Metallica arguably in the best form I’ve seen them since I seen them 10 year ago

With regards to the dual main stage set up, my twopenneth is whilst I think it would work (felt like there was about 100million people at Evanescence) I don’t like it when UK festivals do it because they don’t do it for quality reasons, they usually do it to strip everything back and save themselves a fortune. And it absolutely wouldn’t work at Download unless they added another stage I don’t think. 

But I would just keep it the way it is; if they want to promote “weaker” headliner options just keep a very small programme on the Thursday to help give the organisers the option of booking 3 headliner size bands whilst promoting another one each year. 

But to conclude, brilliant weekend, line up depending will be there next year

Dual Mainstage... I think bring bring back the 'big' tent from '06/'07 era as an alternative stage and keep the two smaller tents. IMO there *needs* to be something playing at the same time as the main headliner. If there isn't an alternative a bad headliner puts me off as much as a good one attracts me, I don't want to pay and support bands I don't like.