Download 2026

[NorthernSoul52]

Dang it. Much easier to get to that Wembley from my perspective. May see how the cookie crumbles there.

[andyrhodes24]

8 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Dang it. Much easier to get to that Wembley from my perspective. May see how the cookie crumbles there.

I’m locked in with Wembley I think, hotel and  tickets booked for our group. Too much hassle to change unfortunately!

[NorthernSoul52]

To be fair, if Iron Maiden ends up being Knebworth - or even Cardiff - it makes sense for me at that end of the country to try and double-bill them. But think that will depend on whether my gig team wants to do both.

[Andre91]

13 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

To be fair, if Iron Maiden ends up being Knebworth - or even Cardiff - it makes sense for me at that end of the country to try and double-bill them. But think that will depend on whether my gig team wants to do both.

‘My gig team’ is an excellent turn of phrase! I’m going to steal it 😂

[northernangel]

45 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

To be fair, if Iron Maiden ends up being Knebworth - or even Cardiff - it makes sense for me at that end of the country to try and double-bill them. But think that will depend on whether my gig team wants to do both.

If they are doing Cardiff it would be silly to not allow them to play Download as well. Knebworth however, is 2 hours drive away and that for me would come down to lineup of each day.

[Marka23]

1 minute ago, northernangel said:

If they are doing Cardiff it would be silly to not allow them to play Download as well. Knebworth however, is 2 hours drive away and that for me would come down to lineup of each day.

If it's Cardiff then Maiden at Download would actually be a possibility since they played in Belfast in 2022 and still did Download. 

 

Even if it's Knebworth Download could still technically be possible if it's not the Run For Your Lives Tour they're doing for it and are doing something different. 

 

If it is still the Run For Your Lives Tour then Download would more likely be a no. 

[Andre91]

Iron Maiden are categorically not playing Download. 

[northernangel]

1 minute ago, Marka23 said:

If it's Cardiff then Maiden at Download would actually be a possibility since they played in Belfast in 2022 and still did Download. 

 

Even if it's Knebworth Download could still technically be possible if it's not the Run For Your Lives Tour they're doing for it and are doing something different. 

 

If it is still the Run For Your Lives Tour then Download would more likely be a no. 

Why would it be a different tour?, Maiden are only on their second year of touring it. Cardiff yes but it's still not as hard to spend time getting to as Belfast. They wouldn't make it obvious they were playing Download with own tickets to sell either, but it's made quite clear on here Maiden are out which I don't isn't a 100% definite but they seem sure.

[Marka23]

2 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Why would it be a different tour?, Maiden are only on their second year of touring it. Cardiff yes but it's still not as hard to spend time getting to as Belfast. They wouldn't make it obvious they were playing Download with own tickets to sell either, but it's made quite clear on here Maiden are out which I don't isn't a 100% definite but they seem sure.

Being billed as an exclusive UK show which implies it's something not being done anywhere else so potentially a separate show unrelated to the current tour. 

[Andre91]

9 minutes ago, Marka23 said:

Being billed as an exclusive UK show which implies it's something not being done anywhere else so potentially a separate show unrelated to the current tour. 

It’s the same Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark show, isn’t it? Isn’t that’s what’s on the advertisement? 

[dannyrage]

Officially ruling out Take That, The Script and Belinda Carlisle

[Marka23]

23 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

It’s the same Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark show, isn’t it? Isn’t that’s what’s on the advertisement? 

All it says for the UK show announcement is that it's an exclusive UK headline show. 

 

Someone on here a few pages back did mention it's not part of the RFYL tour which would explain why it's getting a separate announcement but it's definitely possible it's the same tour and the reason it's exclusive is because it's a single day festival.

[losing43]

5 hours ago, Jrose said:

very harsh from lots on GnR. yes axl can no longer sing anywhere close to what he used to, but they'll still be the biggest ticket seller of every band on the rumoured list. and at the end of the day thats all that matters to the festival. plus LP and GnR allows the festival to blood a new headliner or an up and comer. which they have to really if they want to be pushing 80-100k sales, you can't be going limp bizkit ghost 21p and expecting anything above 60/65k tickets which isnt sustainable for such a big festival. 

Always appreciate the love for GNR, especially with how big their reunion was. But since then, they have played too often over here, and that combined with poor performances, too long performances and the slight demise in the popularity for those type of bands, and the resurgence of nu-metal, as well as the push for new headliners - all creates a storm of which GNR suffers. The only band from that era that would sell super strongly is AC/DC, and that’s because of how infrequently they have played, and how tight they are still live. Lots of bands would outsell GNR at DL - MCR, Linkin Park, Pearl Jam to name a few.

[OllieJ77]

At this point I don’t think GnR are as big of a draw as people make them out to be. The younger generation won’t be that bothered about seeing them once they hear him sing. The older generation have seen them and know he can’t sing.

[Jos92]

3 hours ago, Marka23 said:

If it's Cardiff then Maiden at Download would actually be a possibility since they played in Belfast in 2022 and still did Download. 

 

Even if it's Knebworth Download could still technically be possible if it's not the Run For Your Lives Tour they're doing for it and are doing something different. 

 

If it is still the Run For Your Lives Tour then Download would more likely be a no. 

I don't know how much difference it makes but the Belfast gig was a makeup covid gig and I'd say download were just happy to get to be able to have punters through the door, FWIW download headliners don't tend to play anywhere in Ireland around that time.

[Spiral_Low]

3 hours ago, Marka23 said:

All it says for the UK show announcement is that it's an exclusive UK headline show. 

 

Someone on here a few pages back did mention it's not part of the RFYL tour which would explain why it's getting a separate announcement but it's definitely possible it's the same tour and the reason it's exclusive is because it's a single day festival.

We also know Maiden are doing European festivals dates in 2026 that are yet to be announced.

 

Im deffo thinking this is a day festival with Maiden headlining and a bunch of other bands. Probably an 12pm to 10:30pm deal with like 6 bands then Maiden. Why wouldn't they just have announced the show with the other dates otherwise? They are deffo hyping it up way more than just a UK stadium show like they've already done on this tour. 

[Marka23]

1 hour ago, OllieJ77 said:

At this point I don’t think GnR are as big of a draw as people make them out to be. The younger generation won’t be that bothered about seeing them once they hear him sing. The older generation have seen them and know he can’t sing.

2018 was big because of the partial reunion but now with no new album in site currently and probably no chance of a full reunion of the classic lineup that recorded Appetite For Destruction what reason is there really for Download to go for Guns n Roses outside of not being able to get any other big names. 

[Jos92]

At Pierce the Veil in Dublin, they have the top section of seats covered, wonder if that'll be the theme the rest of the tour, probably brings capacity well under 10k

[andyrhodes24]

6 minutes ago, Jos92 said:

At Pierce the Veil in Dublin, they have the top section of seats covered, wonder if that'll be the theme the rest of the tour, probably brings capacity well under 10k

I’m going to Manchester on Thursday, Co-op Arena always seemed ambitious. Standing looks sold out though which is apparently 7.5k.

[Jos92]

8 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

I’m going to Manchester on Thursday, Co-op Arena always seemed ambitious. Standing looks sold out though which is apparently 7.5k.

Standing sold out here I think, and the bottom tier looks decently well sold although I was nosying last week and still easy enough to get seated tickets, I think 3arena is 13/14k at a full standing sell out.

[northernangel]

1 hour ago, Jos92 said:

I don't know how much difference it makes but the Belfast gig was a makeup covid gig and I'd say download were just happy to get to be able to have punters through the door, FWIW download headliners don't tend to play anywhere in Ireland around that time.

 

1 hour ago, Spiral_Low said:

We also know Maiden are doing European festivals dates in 2026 that are yet to be announced.

 

Im deffo thinking this is a day festival with Maiden headlining and a bunch of other bands. Probably an 12pm to 10:30pm deal with like 6 bands then Maiden. Why wouldn't they just have announced the show with the other dates otherwise? They are deffo hyping it up way more than just a UK stadium show like they've already done on this tour. 

 

Due to both accounts, I reckon Maiden will play again but it'll be a wait until next time. I think they'll have 27 off and play Download in 28. For the last 15 years they've tended to play 2 years and have a year off apart from the 16, 17 and 18 run. And they have confirmed they will not be playing any shows in 2027. I think 2028 will be their last ever Download headline show. I think that's an easy prediction to make now.

[andyrhodes24]

54 minutes ago, Jos92 said:

Standing sold out here I think, and the bottom tier looks decently well sold although I was nosying last week and still easy enough to get seated tickets, I think 3arena is 13/14k at a full standing sell out.

Have a good one! Hope the crowd are up for it, it looked dead on the videos I’ve seen but that those were US videos.

[Larosterna]

1 hour ago, Jos92 said:

Standing sold out here I think, and the bottom tier looks decently well sold although I was nosying last week and still easy enough to get seated tickets, I think 3arena is 13/14k at a full standing sell out.

I managed to get standing on resale for about £40, pretty happy about that.

[Jos92]

3 hours ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Have a good one! Hope the crowd are up for it, it looked dead on the videos I’ve seen but that those were US videos.

Great performance,. although plenty of breaks in between songs where they just cut the lights, killed the momentum a bit, crowd were alright, nothing special

[BingusBongus]

Take it with a pinch of salt, but someone on the Primavera Sound forum has a leak for their lineup. Shows Nine Inch Nails as being in Europe next June...