Download 2026

[Spiral_Low]

1 hour ago, partypirate said:

I don’t think SOAD or MCR do it in 2027. MCR more likely for R&L. If Gojira make the leap to arena’s with the next album they could be in with a shout.

They already made the leap dude. 

[OllieJ77]

6 hours ago, foolee said:

I can see BMTH having a year off in 2027 to release new music & then play in 28. Maybe something like the following for the next 5 years for fun. 
 

26 - Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses & Linkin Park

27 - Deftones, My Chemical Romance & Ghost

28 - Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon & Blink-182

29 - Nine Inch Nails, Nickelback & Iron Maiden

30 - Biffy Clyro, Muse & Metallica

Bring me and Slipknot in same year is too much of a repeat of 2023

[OllieJ77]

3 hours ago, Spiral_Low said:

They already made the leap dude. 

Yeah I saw them in Nottingham arena few years ago it didn’t sell out mind 

[northernangel]

16 hours ago, foolee said:

I can see BMTH having a year off in 2027 to release new music & then play in 28. Maybe something like the following for the next 5 years for fun. 
 

26 - Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses & Linkin Park

27 - Deftones, My Chemical Romance & Ghost

28 - Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon & Blink-182

29 - Nine Inch Nails, Nickelback & Iron Maiden

30 - Biffy Clyro, Muse & Metallica

If Biffy Clyro are still in contention to headline Download in 2030, 6 editions away then something went majorly wrong.

[foolee]

45 minutes ago, northernangel said:

If Biffy Clyro are still in contention to headline Download in 2030, 6 editions away then something went majorly wrong.

At the end of the day it’s easier to predict a band that are selling out arena tours and have a back catalog than predict a band that may not even be formed yet or a band that like Spiritbox/Bad Omens/Turnstile/Parkway Drive that are all touted by not quite there and I’m not sure any of those ever will be. Turnstile probably have the most crossover appeal. I was convinced on Bad Omens but they’ve tried to copy Sleep Token a bit too much but not actually pulled it off on this new stuff, if they’d have had an album like the last I think they would’ve pushed that way.
 

People won’t like it but I think PRESIDENT are more likely if they carry on their trajectory. Falling In Reverse will headliner if they get let back into the country but didn’t put them on as there doesn’t seem to be any signs of them doing that yet. 

[northernangel]

28 minutes ago, foolee said:

At the end of the day it’s easier to predict a band that are selling out arena tours and have a back catalog than predict a band that may not even be formed yet or a band that like Spiritbox/Bad Omens/Turnstile/Parkway Drive that are all touted by not quite there and I’m not sure any of those ever will be. Turnstile probably have the most crossover appeal. I was convinced on Bad Omens but they’ve tried to copy Sleep Token a bit too much but not actually pulled it off on this new stuff, if they’d have had an album like the last I think they would’ve pushed that way.
 

People won’t like it but I think PRESIDENT are more likely if they carry on their trajectory. Falling In Reverse will headliner if they get let back into the country but didn’t put them on as there doesn’t seem to be any signs of them doing that yet. 

We're talking 5/6 years time though  and Biffy still have plenty of tickets left for a couple of dates. Wait to see what it looks like in 3 years time.

 

29 and 30 predictions right now aren't even an agenda. The only reason 28 enters the frame is because Maiden would have had a years gap and if Bad Omens sub next year for example thats a natural progressive point.

[Jos92]

Impericon festival announced Black Veil Brides for June, first I've seen them on any posters, another band to throw into the mix

[foolee]

42 minutes ago, northernangel said:

We're talking 5/6 years time though  and Biffy still have plenty of tickets left for a couple of dates. Wait to see what it looks like in 3 years time.

 

29 and 30 predictions right now aren't even an agenda. The only reason 28 enters the frame is because Maiden would have had a years gap and if Bad Omens sub next year for example thats a natural progressive point.

To be fair I was only doing the next 5 years for a bit of fun. The actual chance of getting 26 or even 27 is pretty slim tbh.
 

Subbing a festival seems like a great thing but I find unless you have a massive album that takes you to another level you end up stuck at sub or dwindling down lineups. It’s a weird one. I don’t think bands like Korn/Deftones/Bizkit can even be counted with the usual sub metrics as they’ve all had the nostalgia push/tiktok/numetal resurgence/woodstock thing. 

[northernangel]

8 minutes ago, foolee said:

To be fair I was only doing the next 5 years for a bit of fun. The actual chance of getting 26 or even 27 is pretty slim tbh.
 

Subbing a festival seems like a great thing but I find unless you have a massive album that takes you to another level you end up stuck at sub or dwindling down lineups. It’s a weird one. I don’t think bands like Korn/Deftones/Bizkit can even be counted with the usual sub metrics as they’ve all had the nostalgia push/tiktok/numetal resurgence/woodstock thing. 

I don't think any of them really are above sub level unless you really capacities and undercard quality down. Saturday and Sunday this year.

 

If QOTSA for example now subbed Reading with Foos for example they then become a weaker option for Download and makes the last one look more so. 

[alexs7]

Apparently Slash said in an interview GnR are touring North America next year but made no mention of EU and UK 

[chatty]

29 minutes ago, northernangel said:

I don't think any of them really are above sub level unless you really capacities and undercard quality down. Saturday and Sunday this year.

 

If QOTSA for example now subbed Reading with Foos for example they then become a weaker option for Download and makes the last one look more so. 

Think those borderline bands can tend to sway and fro a bit tbf. Releases some music and have a relative hit or two and they are back in the main event. Truck on without that and can fall to sub headliner. 

 

Don't think once you've hit a level you have to stay there. You can move depending on how things are going at the time. 

[northernangel]

1 minute ago, chatty said:

Think those borderline bands can tend to sway and fro a bit tbf. Releases some music and have a relative hit or two and they are back in the main event. Truck on without that and can fall to sub headliner. 

 

Don't think once you've hit a level you have to stay there. You can move depending on how things are going at the time. 

Its not often bands will fluctuate up and down to headliner. Once you kind of make it at an event, you'd generally not want to return there less than that level unless it's like years and years down the line like 20 years ago for the likes of Travis and MSP that were once right at the top.

[Marka23]

17 minutes ago, alexs7 said:

Apparently Slash said in an interview GnR are touring North America next year but made no mention of EU and UK 

Seen this mentioned as well. He was asked if GnR has any upcoming dates and wasn't asked specifically about any countries so it's possible this means they're just doing the US next year. 

[Jos92]

Someone in other forums said he'd heard from a crew member that GnR were playing Graspop next year, take that with the usual pinch of salt I assume 

[chatty]

30 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Its not often bands will fluctuate up and down to headliner. Once you kind of make it at an event, you'd generally not want to return there less than that level unless it's like years and years down the line like 20 years ago for the likes of Travis and MSP that were once right at the top.

From some festivals I've seen these bands fluctuate between headliner and further down before. It's probably more in favour for staying there overall but ai don't think being a headliner then means you are there for life. Some examples:

 

The Killers, Kings of Leon, Pixies, The Offspring, Skunk Anansie, Biffy Clyro, Limp Bizkit, QOTSA, Prodigy, The Darkness, Faith No More. 

[Marka23]

15 minutes ago, Jos92 said:

Someone in other forums said he'd heard from a crew member that GnR were playing Graspop next year, take that with the usual pinch of salt I assume 

We heard they were playing Nova Rock and that ended up not happening so I'd expect the same for this 

[korokband]

4 minutes ago, Marka23 said:

We heard they were playing Nova Rock and that ended up not happening so I'd expect the same for this 

 

Starting to wonder if at some point they did have a Euro festival tour pencilled in that they've binned off.

[Marka23]

16 minutes ago, korokband said:

 

Starting to wonder if at some point they did have a Euro festival tour pencilled in that they've binned off.

Certainly possible or they just happened to be in talks for Nova Rock but fell through and they're still doing other festivals. 

 

Slash also had an interview recently and only mentioned they're touring North America, no mention of Europe or the UK. They also last played Graspop in 2023 so seems too soon for a return. 

[alexs7]

43 minutes ago, Jos92 said:

Someone in other forums said he'd heard from a crew member that GnR were playing Graspop next year, take that with the usual pinch of salt I assume 

Crew members would not share that information 

[northernangel]

2 hours ago, chatty said:

From some festivals I've seen these bands fluctuate between headliner and further down before. It's probably more in favour for staying there overall but ai don't think being a headliner then means you are there for life. Some examples:

 

The Killers, Kings of Leon, Pixies, The Offspring, Skunk Anansie, Biffy Clyro, Limp Bizkit, QOTSA, Prodigy, The Darkness, Faith No More. 

 

To be honest Skunk Anansie are playing Beared Theory, they are never returning to headline major festivals. The Offspring aren't either and I'm a huge fan. Faith No More aren't, and The Darkness certainly aren't. The Prodigy didn't get the booking at Reading and I don't think they will elsewhere either. I think they got IOW because it isn't quite the same level it was, but gets in a bigger headliner which wasn't them. Pixies definitely aren't either. The Killers have done some smaller one's as part of a collection but still I'll give that. LB have never got there and don't have the sales of those that have, they would be a smaller headliner without doubt. Biffy Clyro failed to sell out their last outdoor Scottish big date and have never been booked for their own outdoor date in England, again I like a lot of their stuff and they've played the 60k Victorious but that's more a case id them having the capacity than it's really a major festival. They have bands below to even the budget out that major festivals wouldn't put sub or 3rd and they didn't sell out even with QOTSA, KOL and VW. I like 3 QOTSA songs, won't claim to be even a casual fan really and they are an incredibly overrated band for me personally. 

 

So yes there have be some but it's a very small pool. KOL have never here dipped down below headline from what I know since being there.

[korokband]

Biffy is a weird case because they're not exactly a spent force, but they definitely shouldn't be near the top lines of R+L or Download anymore, they seemed to pull a small crowd at Glastonbury (by the standard of that festival) yet I imagine they will always do well at their own arena shows.

[northernangel]

2 hours ago, alexs7 said:

Crew members would not share that information 

 

Its funny that everyone wants to know about GNR to be able to rule them out rather than in lol.

3 minutes ago, korokband said:

Biffy is a weird case because they're not exactly a spent force, but they definitely shouldn't be near the top lines of R+L or Download anymore, they seemed to pull a small crowd at Glastonbury (by the standard of that festival) yet I imagine they will always do well at their own arena shows.

This tour sold better than their last arena tour. But this also comes down to ticket sales and fanbase do not just mean they would do well at festivals, Biffy Download crowds tell you that all over. They were by all accounts as well going to take a least than headliner spot level again at Reading this year when Foos were still in

[craigcharles420]

The Killers have absolutely never dropped from headline status at all

[Siddey1994]

9 minutes ago, craigcharles420 said:

The Killers have absolutely never dropped from headline status at all

Yeah didn’t they headline R+L like 2 years ago? And were the biggest band on that lineup 

ETA: Billie Eilish was also there and (probably currently) bigger. But still, they’re an established headline band

Edited October 24, 2025 by Siddey1994

[charlierc]

7 minutes ago, craigcharles420 said:

The Killers have absolutely never dropped from headline status at all

They definitely have had a renaissance after Glastonbury 2019. The previous year was Swansea, Bolton and Latitude, and I'm not 100% certain they sold out the first two, even if they were still selling well in arenas. But then that show and what I recall was a positive reception for Imploding the Mirage and then they're selling out their biggest ever stadium tour.