Download 2025

[northernangel]

16 minutes ago, Deckard said:

Stayed in Derby and caught the bus in each day. Bit of a walk to the arena but the weather was almost perfect. Could have done with a couple more showers to damp down the dust. I agree about the water points - not enough plus such low pressure that it took ages to fill a bottle. No complaints about the bar or toilet queues.

 

Musical highlights - a nice spread with Opeth, Within Temptation, Green Day, Hatebreed, Polaris, Sex Pistols and a great main stage run the last day of Jinjer, Meshuggah, Spiritbox and Bullet.

 

 

 

Did the Derby bus not drop you into the transport hub? I think the arena from there is about 20 minutes.

1 minute ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Compared to Leeds which has been my camping festival of choice for the last 10 years, Download wins hands down. Better facilities (campervan site showers were outstanding), merch stands well stocked, arena toilets clean as mentioned and obviously a better vibe with the different demographic. Far less thorough with arena searches too so getting booze in wasn’t a problem.

 

No complaints at all, the sun was almost relentless so the rain during Green Day was welcome relief. Still better than it turning into a swamp mind!

 

Also Frank Carter is just the man, he looked like he was having a wonderful time on stage.

 

I actually got hit pretty bad with arena searches lol. I was driving so not much to be found. 

[andyrhodes24]

2 minutes ago, northernangel said:

 

Did the Derby bus not drop you into the transport hub? I think the arena from there is about 20 minutes.

 

I actually got hit pretty bad with arena searches lol. I was driving so not much to be found. 

Maybe it was the campervan field in that case, quick search of my bag and I was in, no pat downs. Didn’t even search the vans on the way in on Friday.

 

No queue when I came back from the megastore before shinedown, not like Leeds when the entrance is rammed all day.

[northernangel]

9 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Maybe it was the campervan field in that case, quick search of my bag and I was in, no pat downs. Didn’t even search the vans on the way in on Friday.

 

No queue when I came back from the megastore before shinedown, not like Leeds when the entrance is rammed all day.

I don't remember the Leeds entrance being that bad but it's been a couple of years now. It's a different vibe and gateway of festival though, people will sit in camp all day just drinking and watch 1 band. The arena entrance friday at Download was slow and sh*t lol.

[andyrhodes24]

Friday was a good day but there was a lot of people clearly just waiting for that one song e.g. Savior, The Middle and Buddy Holly. Weezer very good but RA and JEW fell a bit flat even near the front around us.

 

Same with Alien Ant Farm and Awolnation while waiting for Polaris and someone else. Both bad and just felt like lineup filler than conscious bookings.

 

Broco and Apocalyptica were excellent, would like Broco to bring some older stuff back in, Priorities would’ve been nice.

[northernangel]

18 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Friday was a good day but there was a lot of people clearly just waiting for that one song e.g. Savior, The Middle and Buddy Holly. Weezer very good but RA and JEW fell a bit flat even near the front around us.

 

Same with Alien Ant Farm and Awolnation while waiting for Polaris and someone else. Both bad and just felt like lineup filler than conscious bookings.

 

Broco and Apocalyptica were excellent, would like Broco to bring some older stuff back in, Priorities would’ve been nice.

Where i was the crowd were really in to most of JEW and Rise Against but Weezer fell flat. And I was 6 rows back from the front.

[andyrhodes24]

16 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Where i was the crowd were really in to most of JEW and Rise Against but Weezer fell flat. And I was 6 rows back from the front.

I put it down to individual preference at the time, I was in front of the left screen tower and a lot of people were just having a chat.

[northernangel]

13 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

I put it down to individual preference at the time, I was in front of the left screen tower and a lot of people were just having a chat.

Fair. From Rise against I was 6 rows back either standing or say down. I knew where I wanted to be. This was for JEW after but basically the same place.

[Siddey1994]

Download was incredible this year. So many great bands, met a lot of very nice people, and as much as people love to moan about queues, they all moved quickly. Never waited more than 10 mins for water even at peak times. (Assuming the merch queue was a lot worse but we got that out of the way on Wednesday morning).

 

My worst fumble was only getting to Bunnyman’s between BFMV and Korn, meaning they’d run out of stock and closed for the weekend. Gutted.

[Gingerfish79]

23 hours ago, northernangel said:

You had a different experience with certain bits than most. Water waiting queues were the worst but the toilet queues by the Avalanche was horrendous and there should be no need for that. Luckily as a guy I can get round things but I'd hate to be a female in that situation. Bars fluctuated i thought but beings I drove I drank very little. £6.95 for a pint of Somersby isn't the best thing lol, £5.70 for a pack of 4 in the shop lol. I wasn't there last year so can only compared to 2023. I can't fault the music I saw or the sound of it and that's what I take away, the rest I kind of expect there. 

I don't think my experience was different to most, if you go on the Download Forum there are loads of people expressing how much of an improvement the organisation was this year.

 

There will always be queues for toilets, bars and food at festivals, its just the way it is. I joined the toilet queue in the middle of the field several times at Avalanche and it didn't take more than 5-10 mins to clear and the toilets were always clean when I got there. I don't think that's unreasonable. Bar prices were no different to most festivals, though I grant you that running out of draft cider and charging the same price for a can is a poor showing!

 

As for water, I counted 8 water points. I think the problem is the water pressure, not the number of points, which is why the queues move so slowly and grow so quickly. Not sure how they fix that some serious infrastructure and help from Severn Trent. 

[northernangel]

3 minutes ago, Gingerfish79 said:

I don't think my experience was different to most, if you go on the Download Forum there are loads of people expressing how much of an improvement the organisation was this year.

 

There will always be queues for toilets, bars and food at festivals, its just the way it is. I joined the toilet queue in the middle of the field several times at Avalanche and it didn't take more than 5-10 mins to clear and the toilets were always clean when I got there. I don't think that's unreasonable. Bar prices were no different to most festivals, though I grant you that running out of draft cider and charging the same price for a can is a poor showing!

 

As for water, I counted 8 water points. I think the problem is the water pressure, not the number of points, which is why the queues move so slowly and grow so quickly. Not sure how they fix that some serious infrastructure and help from Severn Trent. 

If there is 8, the big issie is sign posting and directions for them. I saw 3 if I was lucky. Yes with the bar, just upgrade what you sell though to a better option and chathe the extra 80p lol.

 

Aside from this though, a guy on Facebook reckons it's Maiden, Ghost, LP next year confirmed. I haven't seen anywhere confirm it myself. I can only see Maiden on the Saturday night but I would definitely do Saturday and Sunday. Book MM to headline second on one of those nights.

[Paul ™]

Just now, Gingerfish79 said:

As for water, I counted 8 water points. I think the problem is the water pressure, not the number of points, which is why the queues move so slowly and grow so quickly. Not sure how they fix that some serious infrastructure and help from Severn Trent. 

There was 8 on the customer map and the arena site plan

[DomDom1984]

Maiden are definitely still doing this tour next year so they're a decent bet. Them, LP and Ghost would do decent business. 

[rock_on]

1 hour ago, DomDom1984 said:

Maiden are definitely still doing this tour next year so they're a decent bet. Them, LP and Ghost would do decent business. 

The only way it isn't Ghost / Linkin Park / Iron Maiden is if one of them pulls out. I can't see who else they'd be willing to book.

[Andre91]

58 minutes ago, rock_on said:

The only way it isn't Ghost / Linkin Park / Iron Maiden is if one of them pulls out. I can't see who else they'd be willing to book.

Deftones. 

[northernangel]

2 hours ago, rock_on said:

The only way it isn't Ghost / Linkin Park / Iron Maiden is if one of them pulls out. I can't see who else they'd be willing to book.

Parkway Drive. You still get a decent performance then.

[rock_on]

6 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Parkway Drive. You still get a decent performance then.

Reckon they'd sub. 

[Andre91]

Parkway Drive have more recognisable bangers than Sleep Token and have an even more impressive stage show. They’re a little bit like KoRn (not as much legacy, obvs) in that they will have doubters about being ‘big’ enough for it but come the night, they’ll attract and keep a massive crowd. Your average Download attendee would doubt Parkway headlining less than Sleep Token despite Sleepy T being much bigger. 
 

I would take Parkway all day long. Thoroughly deserved and will put on an all-timer spectacle. 

[Andre91]

3 minutes ago, rock_on said:

Reckon they'd sub. 

I don’t. They’ve done it once. They will 100% headline next time they play. 

[northernangel]

2 minutes ago, rock_on said:

Reckon they'd sub. 

 

That is my hunch too. Just book Ghost, Blink and LP. To be honest after the Green Day sales, why wouldn't you want to increase that kind of booking across the weekend and go for them. While Blink and LP are different types of music, I reckon a lot of people would buy into both.

[rock_on]

4 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

I don’t. They’ve done it once. They will 100% headline next time they play. 

Have you seen how badly there latest album tanked - I think that puts them back to being subs - they'd be a weak headliner and I say that as a fan. They'll have to wait until the next album cycle which puts them out the picture next year - 2028 doing a full album performances of Reverence for it's 10th anniversary seems appropriate. Also gives them time to get a decent album out and win back the fans. 

[Andre91]

3 minutes ago, rock_on said:

Have you seen how badly there latest album tanked - I think that puts them back to being subs - they'd be a weak headliner and I say that as a fan. They'll have to wait until the next album cycle which puts them out the picture next year - 2028 doing a full album performances of Reverence for it's 10th anniversary seems appropriate. Also gives them time to get a decent album out and win back the fans. 

I don’t think they play again until they headline. I don’t think it’ll be 2026, personally. 

[rock_on]

Do we reckon Green Day will become part of the regular rotation at Download or was that a one off?

[Andre91]

3 minutes ago, rock_on said:

Do we reckon Green Day will become part of the regular rotation at Download or was that a one off?

Glasto next. 

[rock_on]

9 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Glasto next. 

 

Glast don't have that kind of money. 

[Andre91]

1 hour ago, rock_on said:

 

Glast don't have that kind of money. 

People don’t play Glasto for the money.