OPINION: An Ode To Download Festival
Recently voted the greatest edition of the festival ever, the initial promo video for Download Festival 2009 opened with a quote from Lars Ulrich that still holds water over a decade later; “if you’re a hard rock fan, this is ground zero; this is the centre of the universe.”
Come rain, shine or torrential mud and downpours, nothing has stopped the peace and tranquillity of Castle Donington from being shattered on a yearly basis as over 100,000 rockers, metalheads, punks, emos and all that come under the umbrella term of ‘alternative’ bundle their way through the picturesque village for up to five days of outright debauchery and mayhem. People will argue until the cows come home about its price, lineup, capacity and every other variable they can cover, but the fact is that Download Festival is a British institution, the first thing in the diaries of many the minute one year finishes.
There’s no way one can talk about Download Festival without covering Monsters of Rock either, because that’s where it all started. What was initially conceived as a one-off event in 1980 to celebrate hard rock and metal along with the end of RAINBOW’s UK tour has surpassed any expectation that original bookers Paul Loasby and Maurice Jones would have even thought in passing at the time. It opened up a new option alongside the established Glastonbury and Reading Rock Festival for fans to experience the music they loved. It survived two years out, in 1989 and 1993, to provide over a decade and a half of brilliant events. Perhaps most importantly though, it established Donington Park as a Mecca for rock and metal fans to hold their own annual pilgrimages, cementing the racetrack as close to a national heritage site as possible without the official stamp of approval. This meant that, when Download Festival was launched in 2003, it had enough weight behind it from its predecessor to ensure a near iron-clad foundation to build on year on year, something that has been proved without question ever since.
Since then, Download Festival has overcome its own pitfalls to remain strong. Perhaps the biggest of these was at the turn of the last decade, when Sonisphere gave the festival its first genuine contender as the premier rock weekend away for years after Reading & Leeds began to diversify its own lineup. The autumn and winter of 2010 saw a huge battle unfold as both giants traded blows with every passing announcement for the 2011 editions and many would agree that the young upstart unseated its more experienced rival that year. Alas, it was as good as it got, with Sonisphere’s inability to hold a 2012 edition proving so fatal a blow that it could only come back once more before disappearing completely. One more, Download reigned supreme and, with no current UK festival coming close to matching it in terms of size and financial clout, seems to be in such a position that it seems impossible for it to be overthrown by a newcomer any time soon.
Alongside its ability to hold off opponents, Download Festival has been the scene of countless performances that have gone down in the annals of history. METALLICA’s secret set in 2003 and their headline show the following year without Lars, TRIVIUM’s career-defining spot in 2005, the return of FAITH NO MORE and SLIPKNOT’s triumphant show in 2009, AC/DC bringing their own stage in 2010, IRON MAIDEN’s spitfire in 2013, LINKIN PARK playing Hybrid Theory in full the year after, SLAYER’s last ever UK show twelve months ago…the list goes on, but all have added to the legacy of the festival and it’s certain that more will come about in time, providing that feel-good statement that everybody loves to say – ‘I was there’.
Another point to consider is the people who actually attend. As mentioned previously, Download Festival is already penned into people’s schedules as soon as one edition is over, with many choosing to go there as their annual holiday to escape the grind of working life. There are also those who may go for financial reasons, which may seem strange to say given that it’s now £250 for a weekend ticket, but a one-off, luxury purchase like that compared to a combination of standalone gigs across the year may provide greater value for money to people who cannot afford to attend many shows either due to location or limited income. Finally, there will be those who want to see particular bands because they’ve either never had the chance or they just want to keep doing so. Seasoned festival-goers are very quick to bemoan the bookings of bands who always seem to play, but there will always be someone out there who will be interested and that will draw them in; if for the first time, it might kickstart a love affair that continues for a long time after.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so they say, and even though many are enjoying Download TV over the weekend just gone, the aching they feel for not actually being in that field right now is bordering on the unbearable. Throw that into the mix for next year and it could just be that, although currently atop the mountain, Download 2009 might not be the best edition of the festival for long…
Download Festival will return to Donington Park on June 4th-6th 2021.
For more information on Download Festival like their official page on Facebook.