Yes, I am from the generation where Monsters Of Rock was always a near perfect festival. You’d get five bands, one stage and all of them would be huge acts you could not catch down the Dog And Duck. AC/DC, Metallica, Motley Crue, Queensryche, The Black Crowes. That was a magical day, sure I’m not the biggest fan of AC/DC, but they put on a classic headline show, chucked dollar bills down on the crowd, blew some cannons and it felt like something you could not see anywhere else than Donington. But, I remember people complaining, in the back pages of magazines, we had no Internet yet, that The Black Crowes were not metal enough to play. “They are just a counterfeit Aerosmith!”, they squealed, not realised that this description meant they were fair game for Monsters Of Rock, where I had seen Steven Tyler and crew just one year earlier.
Things change, there was a point where they decided to add a second stage and you suddenly got some lesser bands on the bill. Seattle kicked Donington in the knackers and the glory days were gone.
Aaaand that was the end of my festival days, remember when I went to Monsters Of Rock, it was a coach up in the morning and a coach back in the evening. I had no interest in a festival where I had to, gulp, camp out. Nope. But then I made a promise. I love KISS, my friend Keith loves KISS. So we used to talk about what would happen if America’s second best band (after The Beach Boys) decided to headline Download. “Well, we will go!”. Haha, that will never happen aaaand then in 2008, KISS headlined Download and we kept our promise and went to the festival and it was amazing. Again, people complained at Lostprophets headlining. They were one of the biggest bands in the world at that point, produced by Bob Rock, massive in America and we didn’t know the Ian Watkins horror, so it made perfect sense to me that they would end the festival. But people told me they were ‘too pop’ or ‘too boyband’, just because they had an attractive lead singer and very catchy singles, they did not deserve to be at the top of the world’s finest rock festival.
Well people would never act like that in 2024, when the festival has multiple stages and you can pass around and find something that you love or you know, grab some Tuborg and chill out, right? RIGHT?
“Holy shit, Busted are playing Download XXI!” – this can be taken two ways, for me it was being super excited that James Bourne and Matt Willis could play their first Download and Charlie Simpson could return after his emo phase with Fightstar, for other people online it was “a CRaYzee Pop BanD PlaYiNg a MeTal FesTivAl!” Now, I get it, I GET IT, but I am seeing it from the other side, where it seems insane that Busted are playing the third stage, that proves it is a dream for them. Also, their latest album featured Neck Deep, Dashboard Confessional, Simple Plan, Wheatus and All Time Low. No one would complain about any of these bands being on the Download stage, Wheatus in fact are on, right before Busted. But I have heard no one complain about that…yet.
But, if you don’t like Busted, that is cool, I don’t like Machine Head and they are headlining a stage. But I am not going on my socials and saying “WhY Are They PlaYing?”, if I was there with friends who liked them, I would go get myself a pizza slice and a Tuborg, no harm, no foul. But, if you are complaining about Busted not being a metal band, that is a different argument. The Prodigy played Download and you did not complain. Die Antwoord played and that went okay. Lethal Bizzle, Machine Gun Kelly, Download has always had a few bands that it took a chance on and that is always a good thing. If you don’t like a single band, go get a pint, if there is a day where you hate every band, get a day ticket for the next two. When you have a three day festival, it is impossible to please everyone.
But here we are, when Avenged Sevenfold are at their strongest, Life Is But A Dream was my second best album of 2023, but apparently they are also too pop for some of you too? (For me, they are bonkers Queen)
Fall Out Boy have been incredible every time I have seen them, from tiny venues to Wembley and they will love this big stage moment.
Queens Of The Stone Age? Well, I find it odd in 2024, Rated R is my sweet spot and I am sure there will be a few tracks from that, so cool. Sure Dave Grohl will turn up to steal the headlines as always.
Look, it is 2024, if these sort of events do not try and do new things, then they will all end up closing down and we will just have Glastonbury and Reading. Neither of which are ‘ROCK’ festivals. I find this list exciting, sure there are a number of bands I do not like or find boring, but the thing is, if you are going to Download, you will not be seeing every band, you will be having an adventure and this kind of adventurous bill seems just fine for that.
And hey, are Babymetal any more rock than Busted…Just sayin’. “This song is about chocolate, they can’t play our fest!!!!”
Kendall Lacey's Webworld 