Spiral_Low

They are moving on by chasing the pop-punk and modern metalcore crowd. Metal crowd will be smaller this year, I'm not the only one staying home. Download's choice of course but if they continue with this path they shouldn't be shocked if another fest launches Sonisphere style to cater to crowd they are moving away from.

They won't get Green Day because they refuse to let them play their own shows. That's why they aren't there this year. Same goes for Foo Fighters.

Yup inc fees for Korn plus several support bands. Slipknot and Smashing Pumpkins I believe were £80+ fees for standing when they came on sale? Tool was over £120 for a decent seat. £70 inc fees is what I'd expect for a big gig these days but so many bands are going £100 or more.

Looking forward to this one. Spiritbox as one of the supports is awesome. Interested to check out the Loathe hype too. Plus it's actually a reasonably priced gig!

Corey Taylor just cancelled his US tour due to physical and mental health.

Sadly RATM are out. Looks like they've broken up for good given the message Brad just put on Instagram.

Forgot about Spiritbox playing R+L, my bad. But don't buy your 'same old bands' argument as none of Kreator, Testament, Exodus, Dark Tranquility, The Halo Effect, Paradise Lost and Svalbard have played in recent years. In fact Kreator has only been once in 2018, and some of the others have never played or it's been ages. Also given Elvana are there once again which is not trying to fresh is it? It might be trying to evolve, but in doing so it's actually shrinking it's audience. It's always done well by having a great mix of genres, but now deffo feels like it's chasing that 20-30 metalcore crowd that isn't as people make out.

The ever increasing number of metal bands doing Euro fests/shows next summer but no Download (or Bloodstock) surely has to be alarming. You've got Deftones, Lacuna Coil and Mushroomhead with 1 fest each at the mo, then Korn, Spiritbox, Kreator, Testament, Exodus, Dark Tranquility, The Halo Effect and a whole load of others with no UK dates yet. Paradise Lost and Svalbard are also examples of UK metal bands doing fests but with no UK fest yet. Why aren't any of these bands being booked for Download? They all have fanbases that would turn out to see them. Yeah maybe 1 or 2 might get added but Download has already announced the bulk of it's line up and there doesn't seem to be much space left for a lot of these bands. Bloodstock doesn't seem to have much space left for the bigger bands of these either. I do feel with Download's pursuit of pop punk and the more mainstream metalcore stuff that a lot of the metal bands are either avoiding it or simply aren't being booked. Disappointing to say the least.

Maybe it's an odd view, but for me it's like there are 2 Sepultura's. There's the band with that name and then there's the Calavara brothers doing their stuff. Both valid to me personally.

Hoping Korn come to the UK with Spiritbox though. I'd fork out for that as haven't seen Korn for ages and haven't seen Spiritbox at all yet.

Agreed arena gig prices have become too much. Plus as a non-driver there's train and hotel too, which has become extortionate. Normally go see Tool and Slipknot every tour but decided to miss out next year due to costs. Sticking with doing a few Bristol gigs for now (a short journey for me).

Been interesting talking to people I know who normally go to Download. A couple are still going and like the line up, but alot are not impressed and are not going. I think it will be a very different kinda year.

Limp Bizkit also means that it's true that there are more 'logos' than what are usually considered logo spots. Enter Shikari will probably be the biggest band for the next announcement I reckon.

Very unusual for Download to have an announcement of a single band, with an updated poster too! I would guess ticket sales are on the poor side, so they decided to announce a 'big band' now to try and boost them.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/02/festival-organisers-sound-alarm-as-big-name-artists-shun-their-events Found this article interesting and it's obviously something Download is struggling with for 2024.

No doubt Machine Head would have been significantly cheaper than those two. But still, them and The Prodigy are by far the two biggest bands playing on their day, so regardless of cost those two would still headline above all the others.

I still think a UK Knotfest is a strong possibility. Several bands doing the festival circuit that aren't on any UK bill ATM. Guess it depends on whether Slipknot are gonna tour after Coreys solo run ends, they are doing a few US shows before it starts.

Apologies meant to say arenas, have edited. And Amon Amarth are headlining Wacken and many of the mid size festivals btw including Bloodstock. Where did you see them in 2015?

They put in the hard work required to maintain a large loyal fanbase. Did multiple tours with 3 hour shows all across Europe then did a arena tour across Europe with Amon Amarth. Also the album they released last year (Of Kingdom and Crown) is fantastic and one of their best. What have AX7 done? Nothing since 2018 except an album that splits opinions.

Surprised that Spiritbox have gone for Reading + Leeds rather than Download. Maybe they come back to Download in 2025 in a higher slot?

I went in 2022 and it's a very chilled festival, very focused on the music. A lot of people will be trying to see as many bands as possible and they do they scheduling really well to allow that. The Wednesday was really low key when I went only about 1500 people I think, was pretty cool. Obviously people do drink there but getting wasted and acting crazy is deffo frowned upon, ot at least it was the year I went.

Have you considered that perhaps Download has done so well for so long because of the metal? Whereas Reading and Leeds has had to pivot towards pop and hip hop to keep the teenagers going. Indie bands from the 2000s just don't cut it anymore.

They are literally doing that with the 2024 fest and are getting a massive backlash.

I do miss Sonisphere and that would make a lot of sense. It's problem though was it that it was trying to compete band wise with Download whilst having a capacity of 60000. Download gets 70000-90000 average fest and more when it gets likes of Metallica. Hence why I want a fest aimed at like the 40000 mark where bands that would sub or do second stage at Download could headline. Bloodstock is only 20000 atm.

Disagree about the first part. But I have said for awhile now we need another festival, either a 1 or 2 day thing. A sort of mid tier between Bloodstock and Download where bands can headline to 30000-40000. Rather than being tagged on to Download this could be at Knebworth or MK Bowl in July. Would be a good way to promote bands into bigger slots.