Monday, 22 November 2010

Download Festival 2011 tickets on sale in December


Download Festival 2011 will going to take place from 11 to 12 June 2011. Organizers have confirmed date and also revealed that a limited amount of tickets will go on sale on 3 December 2010 at 9am.

The metal and rock festival will once again take place at Donigton Park and fans will be able to bag their festival tickets in less than three weeks time.

Organisers used Twitter to confirm the news. They tweeted: "Download 2011 early bird tickets go on general sale 9am Friday December 3rd. More news to follow."

Aerosmith, Rage Against The Machine, AC/DC, Them Crooked Vultures and Stone Temple Pilots have all played in the past but there are no names on the Download Festival 2011 line-up yet.

Sunday, 7 November 2010

Top Festival Awards Goes To Download Festival

The 2010 Billboard Touring Awards, which held in New York on November 4,beating off competition from the Coachella and Oxygen Festivals, the Download Festival wins top festival awards for this year

This is not the first time that the Download Festival has win the top festival awards, in year 2007 the festival had received the award.

Andy Copping Promoter of Download Festival said:

"This is fantastic news and a real honour, we need to say a big thank you to all the fans who made the weekend the greatest Download ever."

This year's Download Festival in Castle Donington was the biggest and best yet comparing AC/DC,Headlined by Rage Against The Machine and Aerosmith. It has a capacity allowing over 100,000 fans on site for the weekend - making Download the second biggest festival in the UK after Glastonbury.

The awards ceremony - which concluded the annual Billboard Touring Conference - also honoured Live Nation Entertainment, the promoters behind Download, with "Top Promoter".

Thursday, 14 October 2010

The Festival of Britain


The first acts of the second edition of a major music festival in Uttoxeter have been announced after this year a resounding success.
The Festival of Britain acoustic Mayfest 2010 welcomed the likes of Donovan, Sandi Thom and The Levellers at Uttoxeter Racecourse hot spring.
line next year for the festival is already beginning to take shape as the organizers of the sixth event seek to Uttoxeter his new house and party bigger and better than ever.
Consequently, they announced that the former singer in catatonia and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here survivor Cerys Matthews (pictured) headlining on Friday evening alongside U.S. rockers Hayseed Dixie Hillbilly.
Formed in 2001 with the release of their debut album, titled A Hillbilly Tribute to AC / DC, Hayseed Dixie are recognized as the creators of Rockgrass genre.
After selling over 500,000 records worldwide, the group has played the likes of Glastonbury and even heavy metal festival Download.
Welsh singer Cerys Matthews became famous as a singer of Catatonia rock that hit the top 10 in the nineties with anthems such as Road Rage and Mulder and Scully.
She moved to a more folk with his successful solo career and moved to the radio with a popular show on BBC 6 Music.
Organiser Mike Stephens said the announcer, he was delighted to have secured these two laws.
He said: "Cerys is a rare act live these days - she will have her full band and play a mixture of huge hits his card lead with Catatonia and his Nashville roots favorites.
"Hayseed Dixie will have their first festival concert in Europe next year and, therefore, the first UK show in 2011." One of the top tribute acts in Europe T-Rextasy have also confirmed they will conduct an unplugged set at the event which takes place from May 20-22 next year.
T-Rextasy play Sunday afternoon - a full set of acoustic classic Marc Bolan T Rex - do not miss, "said Stephens.
"This should inspire the flower power of the '60s and '70s glam costume theme for the day -. Attention to several bands of that era classic" rockers Fairport Convention Folk were also announced for the Sunday lineup.
local acts such as former Thomas Alleyne's High School student Jemma Johnson and Ghost Train will be back to do as well.
The organizers also said that the guitar is a theme running throughout the festival will include crafts such as Johnny Dickson, Rodney Brannigan, Rick Payne, Guy Maile, Steve Chapman Smith, Steve Blackman and Jack Picken.

Monday, 19 July 2010

Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour will appear at Download Festival

Two of the biggest names in the rock world, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour, will be joining forces for a co-headline UK tour in October and November.

Southern California’s Avenged Sevenfold last played in the UK to sold out crowds in 2008, when they also picked up a Kerrang award for Best Album.

They appearared at the Sonisphere Festival, Download festival as well as playing with Iron Maiden at Twickenham.

Guitarist Zacky Vengeance commented “We will be returning to the UK this fall. You have been warned”.

A7X’s have had two silver albums in the UK and now release their fifth album “Nightmare” on July 26th.

In late 2009, at Sonisphere festival they were voted No.2 band in the world (behind Metallica) by Ultimate Guitar magazine.

This August, Avenged Sevenfold will be co-headlining the Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival with Disturbed around the USA.

The UPROAR tour marks the band’s first shows since the passing of their friend and drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan in December last year.

Mike Portnoy from Dream Theatre plays drums on Nightmare and will also tour with the band for UPROAR and the UK tour.

Corey Taylor, front man of the three-time Grammy nominated Stone Sour, who steps over from his ‘other job’ fronting Slipknot, is excited to be returning to the UK stating; “This tour with Avenged Sevenfold is going to be great! We were looking for something different and exciting to do with our next UK tour and it just made perfect sense. The shows are going to be amazing and the fans are going to lose their minds. Here we ****ing GO!”

The Des Moines-based five-piece also release their third studio album, ‘Audio Secrecy’ on 6th September.

Download Festival celebrated 30 years of rock music at Donnington



This year, the Download Festival celebrated 30 years of rock music at Donnington. Top of the bill were AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine and Aerosmith.

AC/DC, who sold nine million copies of their last album, Black Ice, have just finished a sold out world tour. They had their own stage for the event - and rumours abounded in the music press that they were being paid anything up to £3m to perform.

This year, the Download Festival celebrated 30 years of rock music at Donnington. Top of the bill were AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine and Aerosmith.

AC/DC, who sold nine million copies of their last album, Black Ice, have just finished a sold out world tour. They had their own stage for the event - and rumours abounded in the music press that they were being paid anything up to £3m to perform.


Friday, 16 July 2010

Download Festival 2010 Highlights




First of all, apologies for the delay – technical issues. But hopefully it’s a refreshing change from the week’s attack of Glasto Festival coverage. Let’s return to Download…

The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, and the popular festival sings of “bollocks!” are getting ever louder across the campsite. It can only mean one thing – the arena opening time is quickly near, and almost audible tingles of Rage anticipation are already running riot up the spines of all and sundry.

The live consequence is almost always amazing – if a bit of an acquired taste. But sadly, this festival setting does the extraordinary five-piece no favours and the usual passion is weak.

Fresh from the hub of alternative music that is the “Land of Song” – better known as Wales to you and I – The Blackout [4/5] win over a sceptical crowd with surprising ease on the Dio stage,

Chino Moureno has got to be one of the famous showbiz names ever, despite belonging to the frontman of one of the least glitz-glam-thank-you-mam bands around – Sacramento’s best known quartet Deftones.

While the England foeti team kicked-off their World Cup hopes,

Finally, they’re here. It’s almost inconceivable that the band that fans once thought they’d never see together again could now play two UK dates within a week – the thank you gig for all who made Killing In The Name Of Christmas Number One at London’s Finsbury Park and now, Donington. Despite being 20 fashionable minutes late, Rage Against the Machine [5/5] were welcomed onto the main stage with a roar like no other that weekend, and which only intensified as the crowd swarmed into fight circles and mosh pits for classic provocatives Testify and Bombtrack.
When a security guard ventures onstage to tell frontman Zack De La Rocha that things are getting more than a little hairy in the front rows, the iconic political rap-vocalist (in true Rage style) asks: “Brothers and sisters, please please look after each other. There’s a couple people been real hurt over here.” As the fists return to the air from face-level for the restart of People Of The Sun, it’s clear that every ear in the crowd is hanging on every LA-accented word he says.
With a dig at Simon Cowell, and an outright chastisement of both American and Israeli governments, De La Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello and the team use every track to pound home the timeless sentiments of songs like Sleep Now in the Fire and Wake up.

Two words. Acoustic Blackout. Ok, technically that should be three words – Acoustic The Blackout – but that doesn’t sound good. What did apparently sound pretty good (due to timings changes that weren’t very clear I just missed it – shame on you Download for not letting us know) is The Blackout’s acoustic set. Phew, glad that paragraph is over.

Despite thousands missing them due to said mysterious timing rearrangements, Californian metallers Atreyu were undaunted, delivering a storming set as always.

Monday, 14 June 2010

Rain clears for Aerosmith's headline Download set

The skies over Donington Park cleared in order for Aerosmith to play a dry festival closing show at Download (June 13).Playing their first UK show since 2007's Hard Rock Calling in London's Hyde Park, Aerosmith opened up their main stage set with their 1989 single 'Love In An Elevator'.Wearing a black hat, sunglasses and a calf-length sequinned coat, frontman Steven Tyler sang much of the song from the walkway which jutted out into the middle of the crowd, using his trademark scarf-decorated microphone stand. After the second song, 'Back In The Saddle', Tyler yelled to the audience 'Britain! Did you miss us?' and the crowd responded with eager cheers. Tyler's impressive vocal acrobatics on the likes of 'What It Takes' also drew an enthusiastic audience reaction, as did the loud belch that Tyler finished 'Eat The Rich' with, asking for a spotlight on him before unleashing the rumbling burp. Joe Perry - who played a double necked guitar on 'Living On The Edge' - sang lead vocals on the band's cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Stop Messin' Around', after thanking the crowd for 'sticking around after three days of great rock and roll' and announcing 'we're gonna play a little blues for you'.In skin tight gold snakeskin print trousers and matching waistcoat, Tyler played harmonica on the song, and also played a solo on the instrument during an emotive 'Cryin''. After the band's rendition of 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing', Tyler mentioned that the song was their first ever Number One, but that he thought the following song 'Sweet Emotion' should have been their first. Perry then played theremin as well as guitar towards the end of the 1975 classic rock single. After the final song, 'Toys In The Attic, Tyler introduced the band to the audience, before Perry returned the favour and called Tyler 'the best lead singer on the planet'. To celebrate this honour, Tyler took off his top.
Aerosmith played:

'Love in an Elevator'

'Back in the Saddle'

'Mama Kin'

'Eat The Rich'

'Living On The Edge'

'What It Takes'

'Train Kept A-Rollin'

'Cryin'

'Lord of the Thighs'

'Stop Messin'

Around'

'I Don't Want To Miss a Thing'

'Sweet Emotion'

'Baby, Please Don't Go'

'Draw the Line''Dream On'

'Walk This Way'

'Toys in the Attic'