Download 2025

[Judas Yeast]

5 minutes ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

I love Korn, they’re one of my favourite bands. 
 

Doesn’t change the fact that selling 25k tickets for Gunnersbury park doesn’t ‘prove’ they should headline Download. 

 

Just liking your comments as they basically say what I've been saying 😂 I adore Korn. They will 100% put on an amazing show, no problem. Doesn't change them being a weaker booking and the mental gymnastics being done to move the bar enough for them to seem like a strong booking is already a bit over the top

[northernangel]

5 minutes ago, Spiral_Low said:

 

Both of you seem to be confusing what you like with what other people like. Ok you both don't like Korn that much. So what? The masses do. 

 

We aren't confusing anything. Is this now a debate of, you don't like a band...they can't headline, you do...so they can now? Because liking a band or not had nothing to do with a bands headline status.

 

2 minutes ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

I love Korn, they’re one of my favourite bands. 
 

Doesn’t change the fact that selling 25k tickets for Gunnersbury park doesn’t ‘prove’ they should headline Download. 

 

I don't love Korn but then I don't love other bands either than have headlined Download in the past but I can appreciate a band is of a size to do it. But Frankly is absolutely right here.

 

 

[NorthernSoul52]

2 minutes ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

Two nights at the 02 is 40k. But I think that quote has been taken out of context a little, I think the point Cam was making was the benchmark is usually the ability to shift 40k tickets in one place. Korn shifted 25k in London, if they thought they could shift 40k they’d have done Finsbury instead of Gunnersbury. 
 

I’m not saying Korn couldn’t have done more tickets on their recent tour, but the fact is they didn’t and some people are acting as if they sold out Wembley stadium.  Regardless Download have booked them, but anyone pretending it isn’t a weak/cheap booking is fooling themselves. 

I mean, The O2 Arena holds that many, but you don't see many gigs there actually reach the 20,000 threshold. The Killers sold out all six shows this summer there, but it was only 107,740 tickets in the end.

 

But yes, I do concur. They're not a strong booking, but at the same time, I get it. They'll be around longer than Maiden, or Def Leppard - theoretically - and can be effectively a future-proofed pick on a relative budget to go forward with.

[NorthernSoul52]

Bring back Feeder.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

3 minutes ago, Spiral_Low said:

My statement wasn't just based on the amount of tickets sold, it was also based on their performance and the crowd reaction to it. 

I said they’d smash it from a performance perspective in my original post that you quoted. 
 

Plenty of bands could smash a headline performance though, it doesn’t mean they ‘deserve’ it without shifting the tickets to back it up. 
 

Justify it in any way you like, but the fact is it’s a weak booking to save money. 

[charlierc]

4 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Bring back Feeder.

When I was in a discussion on the Reading thread about Biffy Clyro apparently having nobody there for Download 2022, it was mentioned on a lurk on the Download Reddit that Feeder headlined it in 2005 and were even more sparse.

 

Presumably the fact they couldn't sell out venues like Oxford O2 wouldn't exactly suggest they were about to be a big headline act at this point.

[northernangel]

9 minutes ago, Spiral_Low said:

My statement wasn't just based on the amount of tickets sold, it was also based on their performance and the crowd reaction to it. 

 

9 minutes ago, Judas Yeast said:

 

Just liking your comments as they basically say what I've been saying 😂 I adore Korn. They will 100% put on an amazing show, no problem. Doesn't change them being a weaker booking and the mental gymnastics being done to move the bar enough for them to seem like a strong booking is already a bit over the top

 

This is exactly is. No one is doubting a performance but to tell yourself it's not a weak booking is denial. It can be accepted for what it is.

 

You can perform and get a crowd reaction again from 25k but you're doing it for 70k now.

 

Also, a band playing 3rd or 4th can get the biggest crowd performance and crowd reaction going but they aren't headlining. 

Edited October 5 by northernangel

[Chavmeisterdeluxe]

Korn have a jam packed field everytime they play. They'll be fine.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

1 minute ago, Chavmeisterdeluxe said:

Korn have a jam packed field everytime they play. They'll be fine.

Having a jam packed field doesn’t necessarily translate to ticket sales though. Otherwise Skindred would be headlining. 
 

I agree though, I think they’ll get a decent crowd on the day. (Weather permitting as always with Download!)

[NorthernSoul52]

5 minutes ago, charlierc said:

When I was in a discussion on the Reading thread about Biffy Clyro apparently having nobody there for Download 2022, it was mentioned on a lurk on the Download Reddit that Feeder headlined it in 2005 and were even more sparse.

 

Presumably the fact they couldn't sell out venues like Oxford O2 wouldn't exactly suggest they were about to be a big headline act at this point.

You can find clips of Feeder from 2005 and it does look sparse, though by all accounts, it did fill up as it went along. Think there was more hesitation initially, but the band tend to reflect fondly on it.

[NorthernSoul52]

Just now, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

Having a jam packed field doesn’t necessarily translate to ticket sales though. Otherwise Skindred would be headlining. 

Aye, it's feet through the door before you get to the field.

[Alex Winstone]

On 10/4/2024 at 11:07 AM, Andre91 said:

Gallows will be back soon then 👀

Nah it will be Pure Love instead😂

[Andre91]

13 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Bring back Feeder.

Would be a perfect Avalanche headliner against Sleep Token. 

[Spiral_Low]

Some of you are obsessed with ticket sale numbers you seem to be forgetting what's it's like to be an actual music fan.

[Andre91]

Just now, Spiral_Low said:

Some of you are obsessed with ticket sale numbers you seem to be forgetting what's it's like to be an actual music fan.

Ticket sales is the #1 metric to gauge a band’s size though. That is what festival bookers will look at more than anything.

[charlierc]

2 minutes ago, Spiral_Low said:

Some of you are obsessed with ticket sale numbers you seem to be forgetting what's it's like to be an actual music fan.

All auditioning to get jobs in music industry data analytics to get jobs as the people that book festivals.

[NorthernSoul52]

Ditto. A band can be terrific, but if they can't shift the sales, it sadly screws the ecosystem.

[Spiral_Low]

8 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Ticket sales is the #1 metric to gauge a band’s size though. That is what festival bookers will look at more than anything.

To an extent but now people are trying to use it to justify why a legendary band like Korn can't headline and it just feels sad to me. 

5 minutes ago, charlierc said:

All auditioning to get jobs in music industry data analytics to get jobs as the people that book festivals.

Haha yup.

[charlierc]

Just now, Spiral_Low said:

To an extent but now people are trying to use it to justify why a legendary band like Korn can't headline and it just feels sad to me. 

There's people saying that Korn apparently had a bigger amount of people in the field than Biffy Clyro 2 years ago, and indeed Gunnersbury suggesting they do have enough of a crowd to go bigger than an O2 show. Honestly, 'nuff said.

[Andre91]

8 minutes ago, charlierc said:

All auditioning to get jobs in music industry data analytics to get jobs as the people that book festivals.

Nah, it’s just logic, isn’t it. You can have a tonne of monthly listeners on Spotify but if you can only shift a couple of thousand tickets, that’s going to limit where you get booked on a lineup. The same for some bands who can headline, don’t have loads of monthly listeners but shift arenas full of tickets on tour; bands like Tool and Biffy, for example. 

[Andre91]

1 minute ago, charlierc said:

There's people saying that Korn apparently had a bigger amount of people in the field than Biffy Clyro 2 years ago, and indeed Gunnersbury suggesting they do have enough of a crowd to go bigger than an O2 show. Honestly, 'nuff said.

KoRn had a way bigger crowd than Biffy. They routinely pull crowds as big as or bigger than headliners, they’ll be just fine headlining. 

[charlierc]

Just now, Andre91 said:

Nah, it’s just logic, isn’t it. You can have a tonne of monthly listeners on Spotify but if you can only shift a couple of thousand tickets, that’s going to limit where you get booked on a lineup. The same for some bands who can headline, don’t have loads of monthly listeners but shift arenas full of tickets on tour; bands like Tool and Biffy, for example. 

We saw this with SZA at Glastonbury ofc - huge numbers on streaming, selling decent tickets at arenas but perhaps lacking something in a crossover to pack out the Pyramid field. I know the rumour is that she was signed as a sub or other stage headliner that was promoted due to somebody else who was the Pyramid headliner bailing late in negotiations. It's as much about just being in the right place and time.

[NorthernSoul52]

Indeed.

 

Korn are, to me, a soft booking for selling tickets.

 

In practice, they will be completely fine, especially with a proven "white-whale" headliner for the festival elsewhere on the bill.

[Judas Yeast]

Give Korn a good undercard and day tickets will sell well enough I'm sure but will be interesting to see how well

[Andre91]

Would love Alice In Chains on the KoRn day. Dream world here but Cypress Hill would be wicked too.