News

One Week Until Download

• 3rd Jun 2010

With only one week to go until the gates open at Donington Park for the eighth DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL, featuring rock’s biggest hitters AC/DC, Aerosmith and Rage Against The Machine, organisers have confirmed that this year’s Download is already the biggest and have urged fans not to miss out on one hell of a way to celebrate 30 magnificent years of heavy rock at Donington Park!

Weekend and day tickets are still available from link.

In true AC/DC, over-the-top style, only their own stage can handle the legendary spectacle that is AC/DC – resplendent with pyrotechnics, hell’s bells, cannons, and of course the inflatable Rosie! For the first time ever a headlining act is bringing their own stage and specifications to the Donington site, the AC/DC Stage will be situated next to the Main Stage on Friday 11 June.

This means that rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures will be headlining the Main Stage on the Friday, before AC/DC take over on their own stage. Supporting Them Crooked Vultures will be Wolfmother, 36 Crazyfists (having just returned to Roadrunner), and Unearth. All other stages will be up and running as usual.

Expanding the already tremendous line up even further, Download Festival has added another 14 acts to the bill.

Taking time out from his usual gig with the Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins brings his Coattail Riders to Donington to showcase the band’s new album ‘Red Light Fever, and Kerrang! cover stars My Passion make their Download debut. Also confirmed are progressive / ambient metallers Devil Sold His Soul, , atmospheric rockers Anathema, death metallers Trigger The Bloodshed, UK riff-makers Enemo-J, modern British metallers The More I See and Sondura, Rising Records signings Everything Burns, melodic rockers Starseed, ‘porno rockers The Dirty Feel, new Thin Lizzy vocalist and ex-Almighty frontman Ricky Warwick and 80s influenced rockers Jett Black. In addition to playing with Michael Monroe, The Wildhearts’ Ginger will also be playing a solo set, as will Tyketto’s Danny Vaughn plus an exclusive DJ stand off set from Classic Rock editor Scott Rowley and Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas. Some of these acts will be playing on the brand new Jägermeister acoustic stage – bringing the total of stages to five (see line up at end of release).

In addition to the live music, Download will be hosting the first public screening of forthcoming Rush documentary, ‘Beyond The Lighted Stage’ in The Village. A comprehensive exploration of the legendary Canadian rock band, the film is directed by Sam Dunn (Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey) and Scot McFadyen (Iron Maiden: Flight 666) and featuring interviews from Gene Simmons, Kirk Hammett and Billy Corgan plus others, Beyond The Lighted Stage will receive its full theatrical the week after Download. For more information go to link.

Last month, the search for the next bright star in rock broadcasting started with Download’s “THE LOWDOWN” competition in association with media partner Kerrang! Magazine, which invited fans of Download to enter a nationwide competition to become the ‘face’ of Download and interview bands all weekend on site at Donington. An expert panel of judges last week selected the winner as 22 year old Adam Elouadihi from Guildford, who bowled the judges over with his winning personality and in depth rock knowledge!

Since the launch of the festival, ‘THE LOWDOWN’ has been fronted by ex-Kerrang! writer Katie Parsons, who has been travelling all over the UK interviewing bands such as 30 Seconds to Mars for exclusive Download Festival podcasts! Due to Katie now being ensconced overseas, the hugely talented Kylie Norman (Global Radio, The Sun) will be taking over the reigns and picking up from where Katie left off. For all the latest Lowdown videos and news go to link

In other festival news, those coming to Download this year will get to try out lots of new activities and stunts courtesy of some big brand names. TUBORG will be showcasing a bungee run as well as hosting a Beat The Intro tent to get face painted up for the festival – as well as offering a classic VW van as a prize.

The EA HUB will be making its fourth appearance at Download Festival this year where festival goers can get onboard to try out the latest EA games on the best HD technology. With19 gaming stations on the truck, not to mention a 70” tournament screen, Download fans can also become a video game star in EA’s onboard Get in the Game Virtual Studio – and even get to try out the new unreleased titles before they are released in the shops!

The VK ON THE ROCKS party will be in The Village and set to continue the party once the music finishes in the arena, with music from some of the UK's best DJs, refreshing ice-cold drinks, the VK area in the Village will be the place to rock out and continue with more music, drinks and entertainment to take campers into the early hours. JÄGERMEISTER are back to Download this year with their monolithic metal beast, the ex-army truck, transformed into a mobile rock music paradise, featuring famous live rock band sets throughout the day.

Leicestershire Police have set up Facebook and Twitter pages to ensure their messages on safety and security are communicated to all those attending this year’s Download. For Facebook go to link, and for Twitter, follow them at @Downloadcops.

Inspector Chris Brown, who’s in charge of policing Download, said; “We are looking forward to policing Download again this year and meeting as many people as possible. We’ll have uniformed and plain clothed patrols on all the campsites and car parks throughout the festival to keep you safe and make sure you have a great time. You’ll be pleased to know we had very little car crime last year but we do rely on you taking your stuff out of your car and not leaving anything on display.

“Also, please don’t leave anything of value in your tent, take it with you or lock it in an on site locker and at night sleep with your valuables and phone.

“We are using Facebook and Twitter this year so please follow us on there for crime prevention advice and we can answer any questions you have if you post them on those sites.”

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) Just Tick It campaign is warning festival-goers that summer events are also a peak time for scammers, conning people out of their cash by sophisticated online fake ticketing sites. Nearly 5,000 fans were scammed when trying to buy tickets for the UK’s top music festivals last summer, figures released for the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) Just Tick It campaign has revealed. Download Festival organisers have joined the OFT and a host of rock acts including Lostprophets, Biffy Clyro and Frank Turner to support the campaign which warns music-lovers about online scams.

The Just Tick It campaign is urging everyone to tick off the following checklist before buying tickets online from a website:

1. How has the website got the tickets to sell? Check with the festival to find out when tickets are being released for sale and when the tickets will be sent out
2. Find out what are others saying about the website? Search the internet to find out what other people’s experiences have been
3. How can you contact the company behind the website? Check that you know their full geographic address and check they have a working landline phone number
4. Can they provide ticket details? Ensure that the face value of the tickets and the seat location/festival area are clearly listed and consistent with the official Festival website
5. Do they provide refunds? Make sure there is a refund policy in case something goes wrong
For more information about scam ticket websites and how to protect yourself visit: link
Day and weekend tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from link. Due to overwhelming demand, Download’s bespoke RIP Packages have now all sold out.

The Download Festival takes place 11-13 June at Donington Park and is headlined by AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine and Aerosmith.

The Monsters of Rock festival was established in 1980 by promoter Paul Loasby and the late Maurice Jones who died last year, originally created as a day-long summer festival dedicated to rock and heavy metal bands. Over the years it was quickly established as the annual event for the UK hard rock fraternity. It was destined to become a British music tradition, with Download taking over the reigns in 2003 – 30 years on and Download has become the UK’s premier rock festival.