r/downloadfestival

Hi All,

If anyone's heading to MCR at Wembley tomorrow and fancies making a new mate over a beer or water!

I'm travelling down on my own by coach and it'll be my first time at Wembley, so I'll probably be wandering around in full "ooh!" and "ahh!" mode taking it all in but If flying solo too and fancy a natter before the show, let me know :)

Just to clarify... I'm not looking for any forms of "how's your father." 😂 Just looking to meet some fellow fans and have a laugh before the gig.

Went through a rough patch and decided not to wait around for other people before doing things I know I'll enjoy. Since then I've been quite happy going to gigs and adventures solo!

Oh, and fair warning... I do have a habit of randomly dropping Hot Fuzz quotes into conversation. Very underrated comedy i feel, open for discussion!

"Ooh Friend"

It will be my first time going but I have severe OCD and autism ADHD etc , my OCD is quite bad and I hate the fact of feeling dirty or being somewhere that could be dirty. What also will set it off for me if it's raining and it's soggy and wet!!!!! As a autistic I can't stand the rain and the mud omg. Do I just cancel my payment plan?

There's been three posts in four days from different accounts and the last one even had a link to the ticketmaster.

Are these just bots? Actually pay for advertising at this point, its mildly infuriating just opening reddit to more RADAR festival posts.

Anyone lucky enough to get in the arena at doors when LP's crew were still sound checking?

It sounded bloody fantastic walking into the arena with the PA on full blast and the crew running through tracks.

Whoever was doing Mikes vocals sounded amazing 🤩

Maybe sort of DR.

You look like you've been to the gig, there's only one exit so you didn't go out of the wrong one. Theres thousands of people walking in the same direction but you look like you've turned up 3 hours late expecting to catch the last song or like you got halfway home and remembered about your lost shoe and turned back.

Who are you, where do you come from, and why do you do it?

So I saw Don Broco supporting Biffy at Finsbury Park yesterday and before starting a pit Rob said something along the lines of "we're all a team in this, if someone falls over, you know what to do, pick them back up".

I feel like when I was first going to gigs in my teens and 20s this was hammered into me loads and as such it's almost instinctive to help people up. I've also been helped up a few times from falling on my arse myself. It might just be me, but I feel like I don't hear bands say this as much now.

I was just thinking about all the set stoppages this year and the posts I've seen on here about younger people having bad approaches to moshing. Do people think bands need to be saying these sort of things more and would it help? Just interested to hear other people's thoughts recently.

Hi all!

So me and my friends are starting to get a bit older and instead of going out in the village Thursday, we do a quiz around the tent. Next year is my turn to host and I think it would be sick to do a pointless TV show style quiz. So I'm looking to try get 100 people between now and next year to just answer a few questions that I can use as answers for the quiz. Can do this through discord/WhatsApp or whatever people suggest. If anyone's interested please give me a message!!!

Love you all download community!

Suggestion: Intimate “club set” stage for Platinum ticket holders

I had a dream last night that I was waiting at the Avalanche Stage for a Slipknot set. It wasn’t even that busy, but everyone there was absolutely buzzing.

It got me thinking about whether Download could ever make something like that work? A tiny, intimate stage accessed by a limited number of Platinum-style tickets, where selected bigger bands from across the weekend play short 30 minute sets.

I’m thinking something like the Key Club stage at Slam Dunk. No big theatrics, no massive production, no screens. Just the band, their instruments, and a small room/tent full of fans losing their minds.

I think a lot of people crave intimate shows, especially with bands that are now far too big to play venues of that size anymore. I got a taste of it the other day at Corporation in Sheffield. King 810 (by no means huge, but reasonably well known) played to a crowd of a couple of hundred and everyone was feral with excitement. This could be a way of recreating that feeling within the festival.

It could work well for everyone:

Fans get a once in a lifetime type experience and a taste of what it might have been like seeing huge bands in their early days. Nostalgia sells too. I've seen bands like The Ghost Inside, Architects, A Day to Remember etc. in tiny venues. I crave that again.

Bands get to reconnect with fans in a raw, close up setting without all the pressure of a full headline style production.

Download gets a unique and exciting premium offering that isn’t just better toilets, bars, or viewing platforms. Put a bar and merch/meet and greet area inside too and potentially adds a viable revenue stream.

Obviously it would need capacity management, and the main festival sets should still be the priority, but as an extra “club set” experience, I think it could be incredible.

Imagine seeing a band like Slipknot, ADTR, Limp Bizkit, or Architects in a tiny packed out tent for half an hour. No gimmicks, just music.

I’d be all over that.

Hi guys, after many years of wanting to go next year will be our first time at download. Issue is we’re well into our 30s and could do with some of the extra facilities like plumbed in toilets and showers etc. We’ve been looking at both rock retreat and camping plus. The only difference I can see is that with rock retreat you’re on a separate camp site and you can park next to your tent so you can avoid carrying everything. Am I missing something? Anybody got any experience of either and if so which would you recommend?

Hi,

Looking for as un-bias as possible answers, I’m looking to buy my partner tickets for either Download or Hellfest next year (assuming there is a fair amount of crossover on the line up). Some considerations:

We already go to slamdunk but this would be our first camping fest.

I speak french so not a huge language issue

We can drive to either

Heat probably not an issue

Thank you!