Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock/metal/punk festival held annually at the spiritual home of rock music in England - Donington Park, which hosted the Monsters of Rock Festivals between 1980 and 1996, and 2002's Ozzfest. It takes place in early summer, and is owned and managed by the US media conglomerate Clear Channel (see also Clear Channel UK ).
History
2003
The first Download Festival was held in 2003. The headliners were originally Iron Maiden and Limp Bizkit, although Limp Bizkit pulled out and were replaced by Audioslave. Metallica attempted to step in as headliners, but were unable due to already being headliners at that years Reading and Leeds Festivals. Instead, they played an unannounced "secret slot" in the afternoon on the second stage; this has been attributed to a chance meeting of fan James Dodd with Lars Ulrich in Heathrow airport.
2004
The 2004 Festival was headlined by Metallica and Linkin Park, and another stage was added, bringing the total to three. 72 Bands played over the two days. The 2004 event also featured Iggy Pop and The Stooges and was noticeable for several last minute hitches. Firstly Soil got lost on the way to Donington and missed their main stage appearance on Saturday (they later joined Drowning Pool on stage to perform Drowning Pool's "Bodies" and their own song "Halo"). Static-X missed their slot due to a bus breakdown. Sunday was no better - Slayer arrived on time, but their equipment did not, leading to a slot change from the middle of the afternoon on the main stage to a later slot (and longer set) on the second stage. The biggest news came from the headliners Metallica however, when Lars Ulrich was rushed to hospital. Taking to the stage an hour and a half late, James Hetfield explained the situation with Lars and the show began with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, Slipknot's Joey Jordison and Metallica's drum technician, Flemming Larsen taking over.
Download Scotland
In June 2004 a two day Download festival was held on Glasgow Green, several days before the Donington event. This shared many of the same bands including the headliners, Metallica and Linkin Park.
2005
Download 2005 was held again at Donington Park, on 10-12 June 2005.
The official line-up included:
Friday, 10 June:
- Main Stage:Feeder, Garbage, Dinosaur Jr, Megadeth, Biffy Clyro, JJ72
- Snickers Stage:Billy Idol, The Used, My Chemical Romance, The Bled
Saturday, 11 June - Ozzfest Day:
- Main Stage:Black Sabbath, Velvet Revolver, HIM, Anthrax, Alter Bridge, Bowling For Soup
- Snickers Stage:In Flames, Chimaira, Lamb of God, Bullet For My Valentine, Meshuggah, Unearth, Every time I Die
Sunday, 12 June:
- Main Stage:System of a Down, Slipknot, Slayer, Nightwish, Killswitch Engage, Papa Roach
- Snickers Stage:Motörhead, DKT/MC5, Lacuna Coil, Mastodon, Caliban, As I Lay Dying
2006
Download will return, June 9th-11th at Donington Park. Artists rumoured to be playing include Aerosmith, Bowling For Soup, Trivium and Opeth.