Download 2026

[Spiral_Low]

1 minute ago, Andre91 said:

Scarborough is about 6k, same as the Piece Hall. But yes, KoRn sold them all out, as have Deftones. The Smashing Pumpkins haven’t sold them out so that’s why they wouldn’t be considered for a headline slot but the other two are/would be. 

Was just editing at you posted but Scarborough wiki says 8000. But yeah Korn and Deftones clearly sell tickets at 'headliner' level.

[Siddey1994]

Wasn’t trying to debate the validity of the O2 thing in terms of tickets sales, I just genuinely want to get away from that particular verbiage because it gets everyone focused on arenas and nothing else, hence you had a bunch of people saying Korn weren’t big enough when they clearly are. Why not just “can the band sell a headline crowd sized amount of tickets?” 🤣

Edited June 22, 2025 by Siddey1994

[northernangel]

39 minutes ago, Spiral_Low said:

 Gunnersbury Park plus the other shows they did last year was virtually equivalent capacity wise to 2 nights at the O2 and they sold them all out. Gunnersbury was 25000 which is bigger than 20000 at the O2. Scarborough I believe 8000 and Halfax I think 6000. So if the question is can a band sell around 40000 tickets headlining 2/3 of their own shows then yes Korn showed they could (39000 sell out in 3 dates is basically 2 nights at the o2 ticket sales wise).

 

To be honest I think you should be selling two nights at the 02 or doing one 02 and a wembley arena at least plus dates at other venues to be considered a decent headliner level, Korn got away with it because of who they are and their heritage there. There is a major difference between selling two dates in london and elsewhere and then the equivalent of two london dates across the country. If you're comparing that to Sleep Token who sold 100k tickets over multiple venues then it's not even a debate. You can put FIR into that for slightly less tickets to who were only deemed a sub. There are so many bands out there that wouldn't touch headline level but can still sell out 38k tickets across the UK. Some of whom wouldn't even sub big festivals.

34 minutes ago, Spiral_Low said:

Was just editing at you posted but Scarborough wiki says 8000. But yeah Korn and Deftones clearly sell tickets at 'headliner' level.

 

Said this before and I'll maintain it, while Deftones have sold a similar amount of tickets to Korn on this tour, they pulled Weezer in who are subbing Download this year as main support. Korn pulled Spiritbox in who the year after are still only playing 3rd down below Bullet who can't see arenas out and are just turning up to the festival to play the exact same set. If Spiritbox had been subbing this year then it's a different debate but they aren't. If they were thought of as the same level then why do you need such a strong support which naturally was due to the ticket prices too.

32 minutes ago, Siddey1994 said:

Wasn’t trying to debate the validity of the O2 thing in terms of tickets sales, I just genuinely want to get away from that particular verbiage because it gets everyone focused on arenas and nothing else, hence you had a bunch of people saying Korn weren’t big enough when they clearly are. Why not just “can the band sell a headline crowd sized amount of tickets?” 🤣

 

They can if the capacity is reduced from the normal. Korn has been a long time in waiting for many people. If Korn headline years ago then now is a different aspect.

[BrutalLegend]

Surprisingly if you want to go off Spotify listeners Deftones have more than Korn.

[BrutalLegend]

Love him or hate him anyone think MGK will play next year? 

[DomDom1984]

Heritage acts probably have a bit of wiggle room on that point. As long as they shift a decent amount, their legacy will do the rest. I think that's fair enough too.

[Andre91]

12 minutes ago, BrutalLegend said:

Love him or hate him anyone think MGK will play next year? 

Would be an excellent sub under Blink-182.

[Spiral_Low]

51 minutes ago, BrutalLegend said:

Surprisingly if you want to go off Spotify listeners Deftones have more than Korn.

Tik tok effect. Same reason Ghost's shot up as well. If you look the 2 songs we mentioned previously Chery Waves and Sex Tape are way higher number of listens then you'd expect....those 2 songs didn't really get that much attention comparatively before. 

1 hour ago, Siddey1994 said:

Wasn’t trying to debate the validity of the O2 thing in terms of tickets sales, I just genuinely want to get away from that particular verbiage because it gets everyone focused on arenas and nothing else, hence you had a bunch of people saying Korn weren’t big enough when they clearly are. Why not just “can the band sell a headline crowd sized amount of tickets?” 🤣

Fair 🙂

Edited June 22, 2025 by Spiral_Low

[Andre91]

23 minutes ago, Spiral_Low said:

Tik tok effect. Same reason Ghost's shot up as well. If you look the 2 songs we mentioned previously Chery Waves and Sex Tape are way higher number of listens then you'd expect....those 2 songs didn't really get that much attention comparatively before. 

Fair 🙂

It’s like KoRn with Y’all Want A Single. That was never as much of a staple of their sets until it blew up on TikTok a couple of years ago; now they’re closing their main sets with it! 

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

5 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Scarborough is about 6k, same as the Piece Hall. But yes, KoRn sold them all out, as have Deftones. The Smashing Pumpkins haven’t sold them out so that’s why they wouldn’t be considered for a headline slot but the other two are/would be. 

To be fair Smashing Pumpkins only toured last year, and it was a huge arena tour (with Weezer) that seemed to sell really well, so I’m not surprised demand is lower this year. Neither Korn nor Deftones had toured the UK for years before their shows. 

[Siddey1994]

9 hours ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

To be fair Smashing Pumpkins only toured last year, and it was a huge arena tour (with Weezer) that seemed to sell really well, so I’m not surprised demand is lower this year. Neither Korn nor Deftones had toured the UK for years before their shows. 

That’s a tricky one, their arena tour was technically a co-headline with Weezer which would have propped up ticket sales quite a lot. I doubt they’d do as well on their own but tbh I can’t really gauge how big SP are these days.

[Andre91]

Smashing Pumpkins playing the game and doing a proper greatest hits set would make for an excellent Second Stage headline slot. 

[rock_on]

28 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Smashing Pumpkins playing the game and doing a proper greatest hits set would make for an excellent Second Stage headline slot. 

 

That'd be a short set. They only have 3 decent hits. 

[Andre91]

14 minutes ago, rock_on said:

 

That'd be a short set. They only have 3 decent hits. 

You madman. 

[northernangel]

On 22/06/2025 at 19:41, BrutalLegend said:

Love him or hate him anyone think MGK will play next year? 

 

Hopefully not.

19 hours ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

To be fair Smashing Pumpkins only toured last year, and it was a huge arena tour (with Weezer) that seemed to sell really well, so I’m not surprised demand is lower this year. Neither Korn nor Deftones had toured the UK for years before their shows. 

So a pretty huge sub Deftones got for their shows compared then.

[non-attendee]

On 22/06/2025 at 19:41, BrutalLegend said:

Love him or hate him anyone think MGK will play next year? 

R&L I rekn

[Andburn]

A friend who works in concert production heard that Ghost will do the Halifax/Gunnersbury/Margate size market next year rather than a one off.  Still bitter with DL after 2023 treatment  - apparently. 

[rock_on]

6 minutes ago, Andburn said:

A friend who works in concert production heard that Ghost will do the Halifax/Gunnersbury/Margate size market next year rather than a one off.  Still bitter with DL after 2023 treatment  - apparently. 

 

What happened in 2023 regarding Ghost?

[Andburn]

Not sure. It was rammed. Maybe they thought it was too small a slot. 

[Andre91]

Would be an odd move from Ghost considering that they’ve sold out indoor venues bigger than those summer circuit ones. 
 

Also they can’t have been that bitter about 2023 because they accepted and played the slot. 

[Siddey1994]

I have never even heard an inkling that Ghost were unhappy about 2023, and we know for a fact they were still on good terms with the organisers as recently as last year. I’m not buying it

[Spiral_Low]

2 hours ago, Andburn said:

A friend who works in concert production heard that Ghost will do the Halifax/Gunnersbury/Margate size market next year rather than a one off.  Still bitter with DL after 2023 treatment  - apparently. 

As I said earlier in this thread would not be surprised by that at all. 25000 people paying to see them.....merch sales would be crazy too...big payday 

2 hours ago, rock_on said:

 

What happened in 2023 regarding Ghost?

Them and Placebo had their sets cut short I believe. 

 

34 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

 

Also they can’t have been that bitter about 2023 because they accepted and played the slot. 

I believe there was some concern at the festival following Skindred and Evenesence headlining second stage about the crowds rushing to see headliners after, so thet cut Placebo and Ghost's pre-agreed set times. And I admit I was one of a huge steam of people leaving Ghost earlier to try and get into the Slipknot pits (made it). 

 

Anything else just speculation. 

[BrutalLegend]

[northernangel]

If Ghost do that run then it's bigger than both Korns and Deftones is, reaching approximately 46k with 25, 15 and 6k overall in capacity.

 

Deftones 35.5k

Korn 39k

 

The difference being the size of Eden compared to Scarborough Open Air. So as mentioned before, that's 46k purely with their own headline show, stage setup and merch sales. Not saying it's a done thing but it doesn't sound that bad. They would also have the ability to add a second Piece Hall date should the second sell really well quickly reaching over 50k.

 

Even LB didn't play all those 3 venues close together the same year, they did the 39k Korn did and played Margate the next year. They did play Wembley Arena earlier in the first year though. 

[Andre91]

Turnstile are about to announce two big shows that total 20,000 people. Ally Pally & Depot Mayfield in Manchester early November. Big band now, lads.