AC/DC Day Opinions?

[metalman]

back in black album in full plus special guest appearances on stage.

[Spengs Muck]

Thats not it either. It will be the same set they do at their gigs.

[Lithium05]

It's definately nothing good. I said depending on your viewpoint because big AC/DC fans will be able to look past this and just look forward to seeing then. Others may not be so forgiving.

[biffoire]

It's the reason the mainstage looks like an AC/DC gig.

Not a particularly good piece of news depending on your viewpoint - ie if any more bands are added it will be an absolute maximum of 2, but that's incredibly unlikely.

[theramm]

Maybe it's an earlier start time & earlier finish time as the DC guys want to get off early for travel reasons?

I was thinking of a DVD recording but surely that would benefit from the majoirty of the performance being in the dark? Lights, pyro's etc.

[Stalemate]

I just think it looks odd when you check out the line up and all you see for most of Friday is ACDC.

[r0w]

It's definately nothing good. I said depending on your viewpoint because big AC/DC fans will be able to look past this and just look forward to seeing then. Others may not be so forgiving.

[biffoire]

It's a huge coup that DL got ACDC but it appears to be at the detriment of the festival and the days running order. It appears to me that ACDC are running the show.

It would never happen but I think if Download are offering a significantly compromised offering on the main stage then Friday day tickets should be cheaper.

I just fail to see the logic behind holding a festival and then only having the main stage active for half the day. Also the whole thing seems like a bit of a rip off.

I will certainly be interested in the reasoning behind this and how they will justify it. They will have to do better than... it's ACDC headlining and they were awefully expensive and have certain demands, deal with it however I suspect that is whats coming.

[theramm]

The response would be something like...'We managed to get the biggest rock band in the world & some people still aren't happy, it seems with the '22 band announcement' & now this the moaners are out in force. We offered refunds & no-one took us up on it, we're not forcing you to go. Some people are negative & just like moaning'.

The general tone of the offical DL forums is that if any critisism is voiced, no matter how constructive then yuor'e lablled a 'moaner' & therefore your question/point is invalid. The mods over there just want 100 topics of people agreeing with each other.

[biffoire]

What a tonne of toss!!

We've booked the biggest band in the world and people are still moaning! ha ha ha!! When are they going to get around to booking the rest of the bands!

Sorry for being a moaner but since the mid nineties I have expected a main stage offering a little more than 3 bands!! Regardless of how big the headliner is!!

[Lithium05]

Personally I'm hoping the 2nd stage starts early and finishes before the main starts. Would be good to see Coheed and BFMV before heading to the main for Wolfmother TCV and AC/DC.

That way it also negates alot of the criticism, as it's as if the 2nd stage is acting as the early main. Though I doubt that will end up being the case.

[biffoire]

It'll be awefully packed as well!!

[jammy2211]

AC said that the ACDC day will have less bands simply cause ACDC have so much stuff backstage that there wouldn't be enough room for any more bands to have all their equipment and crew etc there.

When we all read that we were expecting like 6 or 5... 3 would be er, an incredibly lame amount though. Not to mention that the 2nd / 3rd stages are getting shafted too...

[t8yman]

Personally I'm hoping the 2nd stage starts early and finishes before the main starts. Would be good to see Coheed and BFMV before heading to the main for Wolfmother TCV and AC/DC.

That way it also negates alot of the criticism, as it's as if the 2nd stage is acting as the early main. Though I doubt that will end up being the case.

[biffoire]

AC said that the ACDC day will have less bands simply cause ACDC have so much stuff backstage that there wouldn't be enough room for any more bands to have all their equipment and crew etc there.

When we all read that we were expecting like 6 or 5... 3 would be er, an incredibly lame amount though. Not to mention that the 2nd / 3rd stages are getting shafted too...

[jammy2211]

AC/DC riders/set-up etc

Getting AC/DC booked has not been an easy ride. AC avoided going into details but was asked specifically about their rider requests. This is out of order but it was mentioned later in the meeting that the stage we walk into the arena and see on Friday morning will not be the normal Download stage, it will be the AC/DC's entire stage, rig everything and that will stay there until AC/DC finish their set Friday evening. It will then be loaded out and the normal Download main stage will be loaded in while we're all sleeping. (This was the most gobsmacking bit of the meeting to me, I can't even comprehend how the hell they're going to do this in the time they've got but that they've agreed to it, I think, speaks volumes about LN's ability to not only think outside the box but follow those thoughts through.)

However, as a result of this, there will be a slightly reduced number of bands on the main stage as there simply wont be room for anyone elses kit to be set up on the stage, so some workarounds are going to have to be implemented.

[biffoire]

From the fan forum. Love how at that stage they were just 'work arounds' and now it appears it's halfing the number of bands playing Friday lol.

[Spengs Muck]

its not just the main stage they have shrunk. the second and third (though ill admit may not be finished) also have less than the other days.

Its fine if the main stage isnt all day, but surely they could keep the other stages largely the same

[Lithium05]

its not just the main stage they have shrunk. the second and third (though ill admit may not be finished) also have less than the other days.

Its fine if the main stage isnt all day, but surely they could keep the other stages largely the same

[jammy2211]

this kind of supports what was said earlier about the other stages finishing before the main starts... Which would be great as far as I'm concerned!

[Spengs Muck]

to be honest ive said all along they're going to struggle to fill 3 days next year with headliners/bands big enough to warrant £200 ticket. Prices only go up, it wont go below the price we paid this year.

You can justify this year with the size of the headliners (if you had too) but can you honestly see them bagging anyone that big next year for the same price?

[lharris92]

to be honest ive said all along they're going to struggle to fill 3 days next year with headliners/bands big enough to warrant £200 ticket. Prices only go up, it wont go below the price we paid this year.

You can justify this year with the size of the headliners (if you had too) but can you honestly see them bagging anyone that big next year for the same price?

[jammy2211]

depends who is available next year. for all you know SOAD, Soundgarden and the likes of Metallica could be available - unlikely but all to think on

[LethalLegacy]

I reckon they should compensate in some way by putting on a few bands on the Thursday in the campsite area, a bit like the Download Boardie BBQ. Doesn't have to be anyone overly huge, maybe just a few lower-level bands, the main of which could be expected to fill a tent/small stage. Its been done before so I don't see why they couldn't now.

Honestly, I can't believe they've bent over backwards like this for AC/DC. As much as I like AC/DC, their demands are simply staggering. Its a good job I've an open mind otherwise my day would feel pretty empty. At the end of the day, the main bulk of the ticket fee, for me, is about the bands - doesn't matter if you're as small a name as Revoker or if you're as huge as AC/DC. If I don't think I've seen enough bands for my money it makes me think twice about coming next year. 2008 was an example of this and despite some cracking performances from Kiss, The Wildhearts, etc., I really had doubts about going in 2009 because the overall quality of the festival wasn't up to previous years for my liking. Thankfully they proved me wrong.

I'm hoping this year they'll pad out the second and third stages a bit more yet to give us a bit more choice and variety, and of course bang for our buck. But no way are they going to top this next year, and I don't reckon the ticket price will drop either. Hope it doesn't become a 2 1/2 day fest a la Sonisphere.

[superdjc]

To be honest, I can see it both ways. I'm going, and I'm probably one of those punters who those of you love Download love to hate, since I'm only really going to see AC/DC. I'm looking forward to seeing other bands too, and it should be a good weekend, but no AC/DC, no ticket sale in my case. I appreciate that makes me a bad person, and I'm sorry. So as far as I'm concerned, the best possible AC/DC show, the better for me.

Something that has been pointed out yet is that all of the tickets still haven't sold out. I appreciate this is normal for Download, but I'm a bit surprised- I'd have thought that if they announced an AC/DC show at Wembley, and sold them for £75 a pop, they'd have all gone by now. They might even have a chance at £180! I imagine AC/DC don't come cheap (they always have been money grabbing), so maybe sites like www.acdc-donington.com is to try and shift tickets, rather than selling out to AC/DC. At least, they want to get the number of people that an AC/DC solo show would get through the gates.