Download 2026

[northernangel]

1 hour ago, OllieJ77 said:

I don’t think they book Manson. Think ADTR Volbeat Bad Omens.

I think they do because not many others have an it'll look unique in a way. Download won't care about booking him.

[TWY2911]

ADTR subbing LB would be class and an acceptable replacement for Papa Roach 

[OKMess]

1 hour ago, northernangel said:

I think they do because not many others have an it'll look unique in a way. Download won't care about booking him.

He's disappointed at Download so many times though. Reckon MM might be a shout for the Piece Hall in Halifax. 

[Audiorocker]

Manson struggling to shift tickets at the motorpoint arena in notts. Looked out of curiosity yesterday and there's plenty left. Does he still draw a crowd? Never seen the appeal personally.

[RedJosh]

I mean his tour got a load of news coverage and Live Nation passed on promoting his tours over here, so I wouldn't be certain they'd book him.

 

Also have to factor in that of all the controversial bookings they could make - FIR, Pantera, Brand New, etc., etc. - he is the only one that is going to be known outside the metal community and there has been loads of stuff in the news about him recently. Women's groups would be all over it as would Download fans in a way that has never happened before.

[Andre91]

Limp Bizkit / ADTR / Skindred / Hollywood Undead 

 

Trivium / DOWN 

 

Soft Play 

 

Static-X 

 

 

Ghost / Volbeat / Megadeth / Anthrax 

 

Electric Callboy / Babymetal 

 

Social Distortion 

 

Periphery 

 

 

Linkin Park / Bad Omens / Ice Nine Kills / The Pretty Reckless 

 

All Time Low / Alexisonfire 

 

Basement 

 

Cavalera (Chaos AD) 

[OKMess]

5 hours ago, King101 said:

The GNR rumour didn’t originally come from the Nova Rock “leaks”.

GNR were first mentioned in this thread back in July when someone said they had heard it was GNR and Linkin Park. The Nova rumours came later and then the LB/GNR/LP trio came shortly after that.

Year on year the same thing happens and there's some early 'leak' that people get totally stuck on, this seems to be it. Linkin Park make loads of sense because they did stadiums this year and have been confirmed to be doing festivals in June around Europe. Similar story with Limp Bizkit. GnR have absolutely zero evidence they'll be doing anything next summer. Ghost have at least said they're not done after the second American leg of Skelatour. NIN similarly have announced they're doing a second leg of Peel it Back. I'm not aware of Muse doing anything this summer, I don't know why they're so regularly linked. Foo Fighters haven't announced anything for summer, but I think there's the general feeling they're too big for Download at the moment. BMTH I think are still technically possible but they have shows on I think 3 of the 4 days of Download weekend so are pretty much ruled out. 

[OKMess]

11 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Limp Bizkit / ADTR / Skindred / Hollywood Undead 

 

Trivium / DOWN 

 

Soft Play 

 

Static-X 

 

 

Ghost / Volbeat / Megadeth / Anthrax 

 

Electric Callboy / Babymetal 

 

Social Distortion 

 

Periphery 

 

 

Linkin Park / Bad Omens / Ice Nine Kills / The Pretty Reckless 

 

All Time Low / Alexisonfire 

 

Basement 

 

Cavalera (Chaos AD) 

Wouldn't get any of my pound coins. 

[astrotwatter]

I'm pretty much at the same point with Ghost as I was with Sleep Token this time last year. Hadn't really given them much of a listen. Spent months trying to give Sleep Token a chance but it just never clicked for me, tried to watch their headline set but my airbed was calling me after an hour. I've been giving Ghost a listen today and I'm very much vibing with it. Such a fun listen. Think the old heads would get on with it too if given a chance

[Audiorocker]

Ghost definitely a better listen than ST 👍

[Andre91]

[Marka23]

28 minutes ago, Audiorocker said:

Manson struggling to shift tickets at the motorpoint arena in notts. Looked out of curiosity yesterday and there's plenty left. Does he still draw a crowd? Never seen the appeal personally.

Manchester sold out very quickly but every other venue is struggling and one got forced to be cancelled 

[northernangel]

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Limp Bizkit / ADTR / Skindred / Hollywood Undead 

 

Trivium / DOWN 

 

Soft Play 

 

Static-X 

 

 

Ghost / Volbeat / Megadeth / Anthrax 

 

Electric Callboy / Babymetal 

 

Social Distortion 

 

Periphery 

 

 

Linkin Park / Bad Omens / Ice Nine Kills / The Pretty Reckless 

 

All Time Low / Alexisonfire 

 

Basement 

 

Cavalera (Chaos AD) 

 

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

 

Both rubbish except for Friday and the irony of Trivium appearing there instead lol. Stick 2nd to 4th Friday bands on Sunday for a proper day. Good old Megadeth and Anthrax keeping Download really fresh!

 

Added to that Three Days Grace can't be in Czech Republic and Donnington on the same day and there is zero chance they play the same slot as 3 years ago after their tour sold really well.

[BillyBobJones]

Missing a neat little party trick not announcing Ghost at least just before/on Halloween surely. The fact they're nowhere about in any of the other festival announcements so far is a bit worrying (for Ghost @ Download Fans at least).

 

Would be happier with Muse I think than LB but again not sure why they keep coming up so much as very little to indicate they'd be around. Ghost, Muse, Blink would be ideal for me with a bit of Volbeat, Sabaton, Cooper thrown in. 

 

I wouldn't mind Manson, seems to be on somewhat of a comback and innocent until proven guilty and all that. Although he was shocking way back in 2009

[northernangel]

2 hours ago, RedJosh said:

I mean his tour got a load of news coverage and Live Nation passed on promoting his tours over here, so I wouldn't be certain they'd book him.

 

Also have to factor in that of all the controversial bookings they could make - FIR, Pantera, Brand New, etc., etc. - he is the only one that is going to be known outside the metal community and there has been loads of stuff in the news about him recently. Women's groups would be all over it as would Download fans in a way that has never happened before.

 

Download booked an act that RAR actually decided to cancel and remove due to backlash. Also a LN festival. 

[Marka23]

15 minutes ago, BillyBobJones said:

Missing a neat little party trick not announcing Ghost at least just before/on Halloween surely. The fact they're nowhere about in any of the other festival announcements so far is a bit worrying (for Ghost @ Download Fans at least).

 

Would be happier with Muse I think than LB but again not sure why they keep coming up so much as very little to indicate they'd be around. Ghost, Muse, Blink would be ideal for me with a bit of Volbeat, Sabaton, Cooper thrown in. 

 

I wouldn't mind Manson, seems to be on somewhat of a comback and innocent until proven guilty and all that. Although he was shocking way back in 2009

For Ghost either Download have said they want to be the first to announce them (something they've done before), Download has them as an exclusive or for some reason they're not playing.

 

Would be a bit surprising if they're not given them not announcing all their '26 dates in one go like they did for '25 means they're likely doing festivals. 

[OllieJ77]

4 hours ago, RedJosh said:

I acknowledged that they wouldn't be big enough and intimated that they only would be with two much bigger headliners. I do also think that there are are other things to take account of.

 

Yeah, ticket sales are king, but a band like Parkway are going to have lower expectations before they headline than someone without a long history with the festival who have played big slots, with a big crowd, big production and strong reviews. I think there are very few bands that fall into this category and Skindred certainly aren't one of them. 

 

Download needs to bring new blood into the headline pool and while I think it would be a massive risk in a normal year, if they have 2 really big hitters seems like the perfect way to push them. 

 

I actually think the best thing for them to do is come back with a new album and a Parkwaves in 2027 on a Saturday at Gunnersbury, so most of their set is in the dark, and a strong undercard. 

Thing is there a plenty of new blood bands they can bring in that have the ticket sales to back up. By new blood I mean bands who haven’t headlined or even played.

 

Foos, Blink, Paramore, Twenty One Pilots, Nickelback, Pearl Jam, Ghost, NIN, Deftones, RHCP, Panic, Limp Bizkit. All outsell Parkway which pains me to say as I love Parkway.

[OllieJ77]

4 hours ago, northernangel said:

I think they do because not many others have an it'll look unique in a way. Download won't care about booking him.

They dropped a major sponsor because people and bands complained. They absolutely do care what people think.

[northernangel]

6 minutes ago, OllieJ77 said:

They dropped a major sponsor because people and bands complained. They absolutely do care what people think.

Yeah if people want to see bands they will, barclaycard don't make music.

[OllieJ77]

46 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Yeah if people want to see bands they will, barclaycard don't make music.

I mean fans got one of his gigs cancelled. I simply think Download decide not to take the risk.

[rivalschools.price]

1 hour ago, OllieJ77 said:

Thing is there a plenty of new blood bands they can bring in that have the ticket sales to back up. By new blood I mean bands who haven’t headlined or even played.

 

Foos, Blink, Paramore, Twenty One Pilots, Nickelback, Pearl Jam, Ghost, NIN, Deftones, RHCP, Panic, Limp Bizkit. All outsell Parkway which pains me to say as I love Parkway.

Parkway would also be much cheaper than all of those though 

[Andre91]

Pantera is one thing but Manson is another. He’s a legitimate mainstream media personality. Your Mum knows who Marilyn Manson is, she likely doesn’t know who Phil Anselmo is or who Pantera are. His tour and cancellations etc. got actual mainstream UK media coverage. I don’t think DL want that smoke. 

[Andre91]

Kanonenfieber to be the random, out of place extreme band that gets booked to play 25mins on the Dogtooth. 

[cw125]

Any chance of this one being true?

[northernangel]

26 minutes ago, OllieJ77 said:

I mean fans got one of his gigs cancelled. I simply think Download decide not to take the risk.

We shall see I guess. My 3 subs that would get my interest would be ADTR, MM and Halestorm.