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...aaaaand the official 2023 aftermovie is here. It's over 7 minutes old as in the old days!

I went to the opening night. Mrs is a proper Madonna superfan so I had the privilege of being in the pit and basically front row. She was amazing apart from a little technical issue with the sound. Would love to see her again on the Pyramid. This is where I was.

Only Download fans could call a band who have sold 100k+ tickets ‘weak’. See you down the front for Saturday, fools.

Haha I listened to my first chart show in like 4000 years just to find out... Was announced over 30 minutes ago now

Maybe the leaker that has got things right in the past was correct with A7X/Iron Maiden/Rammstein but with the Rammstein allegations and Bruce deciding to tour solo they’ve had their hand forced and those two were the next best options.

We know that from October 12 when they were announced for Hurricane/Southside

^

Yeah it's a new festival (as if we did not have enough in Belgium). 2022 was the first edition on the beach in Zeebrugge. 3 days, one stage, 5-6 acts a day. No camping. I was there for the National day with Wilco and dEUS on the undercard. Food lineup is curated by the Best Kept Secret festival team. I paid 69 EUR that day for general admission but there were seating tickets in a stand behind the pit at 89 EUR and "front stage tickets" at 99 EUR, which is the biggest downside of this festival in my opinion. VIP areas in a festival is a no for me. I wasn't there this year but they moved to the Middenvijverpark in Antwerp and it was only 2 days IIRC. They also added an acoustic stage with a few acts. No camping either. Might be useful to get an idea of the location :

Absolutely! Add SBTRKT in the mix, so Sampha can perform with him too.

Absolutely no way Ed Sheeran doesn't return - one of the biggest uk acts

Just played a club show in NYC

Green Day and Pumpkins as part of an early summer EU run?

No Ed Sheeran at Sziget next year

Spot on this. Ozanne desperately trying to stay involved in this conversation by insinuating people are racists - always very cryptically so that he can back out at a moments notice and claim ignorance.

Best get him on the SR list then! Oh, wait…

This is a ridiculous take. They're a solid arena level band. The sun said "stadium sized." Download is stadium sized.

Awesome live band. If you don't know them, start with High Violet then Boxer then Sleep Well Beast. Or just put on Space Invader at 11.

This would be my guess tbf. Smashing Pumpkins are busy in June with UK/EU shows of their own.

I don’t think MGK is there, he was just using that as a not-so-subtle clue to signal that Eminem was playing.

Eminem then?

Eminem.

Dua Lipa, Pulp Coldplay, Olivia Rodrigo Madonna, rap act The Prodigy The National The Chemical Brothers

That’s why we are in Jersey😉😊

Completely agree. They did Mad Cool a few years ago too so could play there too. I can also completely see The XX being back next year and taking one of the headliner spots.

Really enjoying the album, but have to say the art work is truly abysmal, and how come only Lady Gaga gets a 'featuring...' on the reverse, not McCartney or Stevie W (Or even Bill Wyman)?

Worse is that in most parts of the US clocks go back on T-Day (5 Nov). As if it weren't stressful enough, I have to make sure that I've got the conversion to GMT right very early that morning.

Gonna have to make sure I check out Downloads social media when/if they announce that trio as I imagine the reaction is gonna be overwhelmingly negative, but I suppose they’ve only done it to themselves by refusing to budge on headliners for so long until they’ve finally had their hand forced in to booking two very un-metal headliners at once.

Think it's safe to say people have worked out the headliners I was told at least. Once again, they might be nonsense but it's what I've been told

I was certain SOAD will not tour in 2024., but looking at all this, and their appearance again at Sick New World in Vegas in the spring, it could be that its them for the Nov 2/3 announcement.

get my mate Guy on the Pyramid with my other mate mike just below him

Resurrection fest also teasing an announcement soon, probably same time as RAR/RIP, Nova Rock, Download (date still unknown but rumours are around November 7). If we look back to 2020, SOAD was announced for festivals that will have announcement soon. June 2020 5-7 – Nürburg and Nuremberg, Germany @ Rock am Ring and Rock im Park 10-13 – Nickelsdorf, Austria @ Nova Rock Festival 14 – Castle Donington, United Kingdom @ Download Festival July 2020 1-4 – Viveiro, Spain @ Resurrection Fest

Got standing at London for £85 from See tickets so thats clearly a resale ticket.

I'm not so sure. Their first confirmed date is June 21. Maybe The National's European tour will not start before the second half of June and then they could still be here for Mad Cool or Bilbao BBK.

2008 says hello.

Saw Dreamwife the other week absolutely 5* they even threw in a cover of Tatu - All the things you said. Cracking underrated band. Would love to see them back at the farm missed them last time (2019) due to a clash with IDLES

People on the Download forums think they've deduced the headliners to be QOTSA, Fall Out Boy and A7X.

https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/ren-pulls-ahead-of-rick-astley-in-race-of-uks-number-1-album/?fbclid=IwAR3ugShjfDIcjM4Y_hsnVmYcBcbVERdqf6NTq-kUld-w017XgaUboyDvu40_aem_ATcKt5sk1q8zP8_tRF1ZGOXonsG1NYdS7WdaQwAOxF8DZfAxG3ZZAp0l8vpsi0YMe3o

Foo Fighters played RaR this year, so I guess it's not them.

Yeah I just find it odd - feel like he gets mentioned a lot in this thread by people who claim to dislike him. Also I'm sure his views are more aligned to mine on what's happening in Palestine, so I reckon I'd take him over a PM shaking hands with a war criminal. Ukraine is a different kettle of fish so I'll give you that one. Covid, if you think he'd have done a worse job than the Tories then you need your head examining.

I think his history with the festival, working up from Croissant Neuf to the top spot, will see him back again - it's too good a story from both sides

Sampha's new album is brilliant. Really hoping to finally catch him this summer, and what a great Barn name he would be!

Bad Bunny is an enormous artist in some cultures and age groups. He even acted in a fairly major role with Brad Pitt in that "Bullet Train" movie recently, and the Bunny fans were very excited. But his music is completely irrelevant to most Werchter fans, and the money he would command is enormous, such that it would remove one of the biggest rock headliners. No thank you. My measuring stick for how annoyed I am by a headliner choice is if it prevented an act I really would have paid $100 to see alone... that's what your headliners should be. Not "Oh, okay, I guess I'll see them", but "Wow, I would have paid $100, it's like getting the rest of the festival day for free!"

said above, but what wasn't said is it's an electronic wristband that is used by various festivals in different ways.

For that song, it's not just a costume, it's intrinsic to the personal journey he's been on over the last ten years or so, living with a chronic auto-immune disorder that has given him extreme physical and mental health issues. There's nothing new under the sun, but this version is elevating his influences to a whole new level. Incidentally, the fact that a lot of this has been done before is directly addressed in the song itself.

It's actually PVC sleeves that are the problem, even records housed in a "protective" pvc outer sleeve can be affected, the problem arises because PVC releases gases over time and this attacks the vinyl, other plastic sleeves such as polythene are fine.

Got an email from Music Glue apologising for issues experienced by many, so it wasn't just me. All fixed now. I already bought a bundle too (though it hasn't arrived yet.) And the standard version of the digital album. However, the new track and the instrumentals weren't to be missed. Been messing around with Reason, FL and Cubase again lately, so hoping I can steal some samples from them haha (purely for my own enjoyment of course!)

Presuming they do Leeds - they should open with Anthem Pt1 - Pt2 and Pt3

Is netanyahu also very short then? Explains quite a bit

What does 'wrong' mean in terms of music? There's no objective right or wrong. I can find Imagine Dragons insufferable but that doesn't invalidate the fact someone else might get a lot out of their music. Them liking it doesn't stop me liking the things I like instead, so let them have it. I'll evangelise about my favourites but I don't see the benefit of twisting that into being a missionary hell-bent on converting people to like the same things you do. After all, convert everyone to my idiosyncratic taste and it will get an awful lot harder to buy gig tickets before they sell out. As for other aspects of life - that's an eclectic list but sure. I can't stand artichokes but not going to convince someone who likes them that they're a crap vegetable unworthy of a place in the larder. My parents have decorated their new house in a manner I find hideous but they love it so what's it to me? I'm an avid reader but if you tell me you've never been able to finish a Charles Dickens novel it doesn't change the fact I have. Of the other things you list, I'd argue politics is an outlier as actual harm can be done to people's lives rather than just causing some annoyance that you don't like a festival headliner. Although I reserve the right to change that view if Imagine Dragons are ever demonising immigrants, sanctioning corruption and driving families into poverty. Or if artichokes bring back the death penalty. Wouldn't put it past them to be honest. Anyway, back on topic, I think Bryan Adams is in the sweet spot of being big enough in a previous decade to be a 'legend', not big enough to be a headliner, still playing shows and with enough songs to entertain the crowd for an extended slot. Gives Mel C an excuse to turn up again as well.