2025 R&L Festival

[northernangel]

34 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

I guess but I can see them being main support to Linkin Park at Wembley Stadium. If they were to play R&L, I think they’d be one slot higher than Spiritbox and they would sub the co-headliners (third down, basically). 
 

I said this earlier on the DL Forums but, unless they come back next year, I don’t think we are seeing Bad Omens at Download again until they headline. I think their next tour is going to do Sleep Token numbers and they will headline by 2027. It’s happening for them the same way it has for Sleepy T. 

 

Sounds like Download are very much going into territory of needing lesser bands to work out now as everything older has been exhausted. You've got Maiden left once more but Metallica I reckon have played the last time they'll ever do it.

[Chad888]

49 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I wonder if the fact rock as a whole had a bad 2010s where it just seemed to slip back in the public consciousness didn't help. In 2009, there still seemed to be quite a healthy rock mainstream but the backlash to landfill indie just seemed to count against it.

 

Certainly I can't think of many rock bands who broke through in the 2010s at festival headline level. 1975 are the obvious ones, maybe also Bastille, but the numbers are nothing compared to the avalanche in the late 90s/2000s.

 

I don't think there's any coincidence that we say 2010 and that's when mobile phones with data plans hit the mainstream. Also the Tories got in. Kids went from listening to CDs they got from HMV with mates in a bedroom, to bumping the latest Grime track on a street corner from a Sony Ericsson that's been bluetoothed around the whole school.

 

Then there's the sudden import of American culture over the mid 90s to mid 00s. Simpsons, TGI Fridays, Garage Bands, Tony Hawks Underground etc really exposed us to a lot of American pop culture, which brought the new wave of US music (RHCP, RATM, Blink, Eminem, Jay-Z etc). When the mobile phones hit, it never gave the predecessors like US scene music time to develop before the world was listening Paramore, Fallout Boy, Kings of Leon, Imagine Dragons, PatD...

[Andre91]

13 minutes ago, northernangel said:

 

Sounds like Download are very much going into territory of needing lesser bands to work out now as everything older has been exhausted. You've got Maiden left once more but Metallica I reckon have played the last time they'll ever do it.

Bad Omens won’t be a lesser band. They’re very much on the up and are going to same way as Sleep Token. Colossal ticket sellers. 

[northernangel]

5 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Bad Omens won’t be a lesser band. They’re very much on the up and are going to same way as Sleep Token. Colossal ticket sellers. 

Its meant it a way of it's just very sudden isn't it, it doesn't like great when it's not been a progression.

[Andre91]

15 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Its meant it a way of it's just very sudden isn't it, it doesn't like great when it's not been a progression.

You can’t predict booms in popularity. Why is it any better or worse if the band has blown up in a few years or if it’s been prolonged over a decade or longer? Look at Sleep Token. Download obviously have the confidence in them to strike while the iron is hot. Festivals should be doing that. 

[northernangel]

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

You can’t predict booms in popularity. Why is it any better or worse if the band has blown up in a few years or if it’s been prolonged over a decade or longer? Look at Sleep Token. Download obviously have the confidence in them to strike while the iron is hot. Festivals should be doing that. 

I mean more so the change of what they are doing as in how it looks like two different festivals being booked into one. I don't think they need to book more lighter stuff to adapt to the heavier undercard that aren't big enough on a larger scale to move up but it'll alienate the crowd. You need to be spreading acts that would not be download in general across the days or the longer it goes it'll continue to be unbalanced and not have enough of one type of acts for either crowd.

 

Talking of sleep token, I might be wrong but i see them being a case of they'll sell tickets to their own gigs but a lot of them don't care about Download.

 

You've got a band in Korn that have played like 7 times and the most tickets they've ever sold at their own tour here in one gig is 24k. Yet, so many people would take them over a band that's sold 110k.

[Andre91]

6 hours ago, northernangel said:

I mean more so the change of what they are doing as in how it looks like two different festivals being booked into one. I don't think they need to book more lighter stuff to adapt to the heavier undercard that aren't big enough on a larger scale to move up but it'll alienate the crowd. You need to be spreading acts that would not be download in general across the days or the longer it goes it'll continue to be unbalanced and not have enough of one type of acts for either crowd.

 

Talking of sleep token, I might be wrong but i see them being a case of they'll sell tickets to their own gigs but a lot of them don't care about Download.

 

You've got a band in Korn that have played like 7 times and the most tickets they've ever sold at their own tour here in one gig is 24k. Yet, so many people would take them over a band that's sold 110k.

Zero evidence of this. This year, it felt like you were never out of sight of Sleep Token merch. Their fans will show up because they’re already at Download. The majority of Sleep Token fans are heavy music fans whose are far more likely to like bands like BMTH, Architects, Bad Omens and Spiritbox. 

[Chad888]

9 hours ago, Andre91 said:

You can’t predict booms in popularity. Why is it any better or worse if the band has blown up in a few years or if it’s been prolonged over a decade or longer? Look at Sleep Token. Download obviously have the confidence in them to strike while the iron is hot. Festivals should be doing that. 

 

Festivals have and always will try to predict the next hottest band/artist and try to throw them at the top of a bill quickly, just to catch them on their rise.

 

It seems though over the last few years these festivals are getting burned by picking artists that seem to be taking off, only for them to release 1 song and do nothing. 

 

Is there data showing a declining rate of acts getting a higher spot early in their career, that actually take off properly alà Arctic Monkeys, compared to the likes of Megan the Stallion, Glass Animals and Polo G of recent memory.

[gfa]

1 hour ago, Chad888 said:

 

Festivals have and always will try to predict the next hottest band/artist and try to throw them at the top of a bill quickly, just to catch them on their rise.

 

It seems though over the last few years these festivals are getting burned by picking artists that seem to be taking off, only for them to release 1 song and do nothing. 

 

Is there data showing a declining rate of acts getting a higher spot early in their career, that actually take off properly alà Arctic Monkeys, compared to the likes of Megan the Stallion, Glass Animals and Polo G of recent memory.

Download haven't 😂

[gfa]

1 hour ago, Chad888 said:

 

Festivals have and always will try to predict the next hottest band/artist and try to throw them at the top of a bill quickly, just to catch them on their rise.

 

It seems though over the last few years these festivals are getting burned by picking artists that seem to be taking off, only for them to release 1 song and do nothing. 

 

Is there data showing a declining rate of acts getting a higher spot early in their career, that actually take off properly alà Arctic Monkeys, compared to the likes of Megan the Stallion, Glass Animals and Polo G of recent memory.

A similar number are taking off, R&L are just booking more of them so a lower percentage are taking it off it feels like to me.

[wghennessy]

7 minutes ago, gfa said:

Download haven't 😂

Sleep Token?

[northernangel]

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Zero evidence of this. This year, it felt like you were never out of sight of Sleep Token merch. Their fans will show up because they’re already at Download. The majority of Sleep Token fans are heavy music fans whose are far more likely to like bands like BMTH, Architects, Bad Omens and Spiritbox. 

Well the booking feedback suggests otherwise. I don't think efestivals is the primary option for whether people think it's good or not. Can't remember what the % for and against them on here for Download was outside of this forum you have a very different collection of thoughts, minds etc and ther is way more or them than on here. 

[Chad888]

5 minutes ago, gfa said:

A similar number are taking off, R&L are just booking more of them so a lower percentage are taking it off it feels like to me.

I think it may have been a case of a few years ago when the TikTok bounce would randomly rocket a nobody act to the top of the charts, and the bookers hadn't really clocked on, and would get them thinking they were the next big thing. 

 

I think the MTS/Glass Animals year was endemic of that, where songs go viral but the artist returned to obscurity after the next trend takes over.

 

I think acts like Sleep Token and Bad Omens have an organic growth, reaching more and more people without going viral. 

 

Makes a nice change to industry couture acts like Wet Leg, whose viral moments were so clearly scripted, cringeworthy corporate sponsored-content.

[nathanh]

The lineup this year felt a lot less of the tiktok acts or atleast ones with little to know talent. It felt like the new booking team had an eye for quality vs getting a few more ticket sales and i would say that saw an overall boost in how high quality what i saw was (apart from that 21 savage set...) Hopefully it stays the same way this year. 

[Andrinald]

Chappell Roan / Hozier / Blossoms / Gigi Perez / FINNEAS

 

The Streets / Pa Salieu

 

The Kooks / Tom Grennan

 

Maggie Rogers / The Front Bottoms

---

Eminem / Kasabian / KSI / The Vaccines / English Teacher

 

Sammy Virji / Meekz

 

Sugababes / Declan McKenna

 

Big Thief / Bob Vylan

---

Chase & Status / Central Cee / Gracie Abrams / Enter Shikari / Wunderhorse

 

Headie One / JADE

 

Addison Rae / Soft Play

 

The Story So Far / Sea Girls

[nathanh]

16 minutes ago, Andrinald said:

Chappell Roan / Hozier / Blossoms / Gigi Perez / FINNEAS

 

The Streets / Pa Salieu

 

The Kooks / Tom Grennan

 

Maggie Rogers / The Front Bottoms

---

Eminem / Kasabian / KSI / The Vaccines / English Teacher

 

Sammy Virji / Meekz

 

Sugababes / Declan McKenna

 

Big Thief / Bob Vylan

---

Chase & Status / Central Cee / Gracie Abrams / Enter Shikari / Wunderhorse

 

Headie One / JADE

 

Addison Rae / Soft Play

 

The Story So Far / Sea Girls

You know what I'd be happy with that but the idea of Soft play subbing for Addison Rae makes me laugh 

[Lawsie]

1 hour ago, Andrinald said:

Chappell Roan / Hozier / Blossoms / Gigi Perez / FINNEAS

 

The Streets / Pa Salieu

 

The Kooks / Tom Grennan

 

Maggie Rogers / The Front Bottoms

---

Eminem / Kasabian / KSI / The Vaccines / English Teacher

 

Sammy Virji / Meekz

 

Sugababes / Declan McKenna

 

Big Thief / Bob Vylan

---

Chase & Status / Central Cee / Gracie Abrams / Enter Shikari / Wunderhorse

 

Headie One / JADE

 

Addison Rae / Soft Play

 

The Story So Far / Sea Girls

KSI third down is mental 

[nathanh]

21 minutes ago, Lawsie said:

KSI third down is mental 

Well technically hes the subheadliner or if thats too low for his ego they could give him the same billing as 21 Savage

[gfa]

Chase & Status and Central Cee beyond weak

 

---

 

edit

 

Do wonder if its Muse - UK exclusive or something as the rock act

Edited 7 hours ago by gfa

[Chad888]

15 minutes ago, gfa said:

Chase & Status and Central Cee beyond weak

 

---

 

edit

 

Do wonder if its Muse - UK exclusive or something as the rock act

 

Post Malone | Central Cee

Eminem | Chappel Roan

Muse | Kasabian

 

Christ, I'm having flashbacks. I guess we're on an 8 year recycle.

 

[Chad888]

1 hour ago, Lawsie said:

KSI third down is mental 

Post covid it would have made sense, the bookers seeing his songs hitting the charts and thinking that he's a solid artist.

 

I think today's bookers realise that his songs only hit the charts because of his tik tok skits popularity, and a booking that high will take credibility from the festival.

Edited 7 hours ago by Chad888

[nathanh]

19 minutes ago, Chad888 said:

Post covid it would have made sense, the bookers seeing his songs hitting the charts and thinking that he's a solid artist.

 

I think today's bookers realise that his songs only hit the charts because of his tik tok skits popularity, and a booking that high will take credibility from the festival.

I think the set would still be pretty big though people would go for irony if for nothing else but a major part of the core audience will know his songs so would show up and probably have a good enough time. I'm not a fan but i think he would sell enough tickets to warrant a special guest slot.

[Chad888]

1 hour ago, nathanh said:

I think the set would still be pretty big though people would go for irony if for nothing else but a major part of the core audience will know his songs so would show up and probably have a good enough time. I'm not a fan but i think he would sell enough tickets to warrant a special guest slot.

I think they tried that when they had Biq Shaq open up with Man's Not Hot. KSI would probably go down as well as when they presented bbno$ as a serious artist in '21, with the crowd a little confused why we were watching a gimmicky viral dance challenge song.

 

Or as well as KSI and the Paul brothers get taken when they do these stupid boxing matches 

[nathanh]

16 minutes ago, Chad888 said:

I think they tried that when they had Biq Shaq open up with Man's Not Hot. KSI would probably go down as well as when they presented bbno$ as a serious artist in '21, with the crowd a little confused why we were watching a gimmicky viral dance challenge song.

 

Or as well as KSI and the Paul brothers get taken when they do these stupid boxing matches 

To be fair to him, KSI has more hits than Big Shaq. He has 9 top 10s and currently has a song charting at 6 in the UK. Yes a lot of it is down to internet fame but the numbers are still there.

 

This is in no way me saying that its what the festival should book or that its whats best for the festivals integrity, because we all know its not, but i could see why they would book him.

[Andre91]

KSI is one of the most famous people in the world for teenagers. He would pull a gigantic crowd on name alone.