Download Festival : Why do I love Download?

It is sometimes hard to actually discern why we all hold Download in such high regard. Its infrastructure has on numerous occasions left a lot to be desired (putting the second stage in a car park in 2008, those bloody one way systems, last year’s bar queues from hell, I could go on…). It has made a number of questionable headliner decisions (Lost Prophets in ’08, Biffy Clyro in both ’12 and ’17) and does seem to recycle the big names over and over (System of a Down, again?). The campsites are soooooo far from main arena, it’s not just another postcode, they feel like they are in another county. And on each and every wet Download weekend, it feels like the appearance of rain takes the organisers by surprise. Frankly there are times where it doesn’t feel like the slick machine that the large continental Metal fests are and it doesn’t have that independent “us against the world” vibe that Bloodstock has. 

Yet we still venerate it, we still love and adore it and this weekend there will hordes of mopping metalheads, including myself, feeling an enormous sense of loss. In my opinion, there are three main reasons that despite of all its faults and shortcomings, Download means so much to so many of us :

1. It’s Ours. Yes Live Nation are a massive corporate body and sometimes it does feel like Download is simply a massive advert for the tours that they have forthcoming in the Autumn. But the amount of fan power and fan interaction is incredibly high for a festival of its size. Download was born at the start of this second digital revolution that saw social media become such an integral part of our lives and Andy Copling and his team embraced that brave new world to make us, the fans, an enormous and integral part of the festival’s fabric. The fan boards are used as a sounding board for forthcoming changes and bookings and even take over a stage in he village on the Thursday night before the festival. There is the loyalty scheme which is unheard of anywhere else in the vast festival market and they have led he way on disability accessibility from the start and work closely with Access is Everything to ensure that everyone can join in the fun. As said it does have its rough edges, but we all have an investment in Download. It belongs to us all, this is our festival. Which brings us neatly onto:
   

2. The people. In many ways it is the audience that makes a festival. It is the crowd, the camaraderie and the general feeling of belonging. Download, like no-other festival, feeds on our feeling of difference from the rest of society and gives us our own playground for the weekend. It is the ultimate meeting of the tribes, it is a place for the geeks, thrashers, moshers, emo’s, goths, hardcore kids and trads to come together in unity. The campsite is an unholy mismatch of those that love rock and metal in its many many different forms and flavours. Some of the best times I have had at Download have been in the campsite. I have good friends that I have met and bonded with specifically because of Download. As it has been pointed out to me only last night, every year I complain about the place and say never again and every year I go back. The reason is the quite simply people. The people that I already know and that I know I will see on site. I love the random hugs and greetings for people that you see but once a year. Even more importantly are people that I don’t know and won’t ever actually meet, but are all around me during the weekend. The people that are like me, like the same music as me and are liable to get as excited about Powerwolf as I am. I don’t come across these people much in my everyday life and it is joy to be surrounded by them for the weekend.
   

3. Yes I did above question some of the decisions made about headliners, but I also need to concur that the third reason why Download has managed to develop such a loyalty over the years is its diversity of bookings within its undercard. It is obvious from their tweets and their booking policy that the team behind the festival love this music and love the bands within it and want to share that love with us all. The returns of Lawnmower Deth, Little Angels and  Funeral for a Friend are all examples of where the bookings seem to be about, what the promoters want to see as much as what the fans want. We are a diverse musical form and the billing over the years has reflected that diversity. In the past I have run from brutal Death Metal in a small tent to sweeping prog on the second stage to plodding classic rock on the main stage. Even the Avalanche stage which, to be honest, I visit at best once during the weekend, is an example of them looking at the diverse tastes that make up their audience and accommodating accordingly.
   

At the end of the day, Download has become an essential part of our world. Yes it is in a market of one but it has earned that slot. It saw off the competition from Sonisphere and vanquished Leeds/Readings Metal day. We may complain to hell about it, but god do we love it so. It is our festival and our weekend. See you next year.