This post is more of an open question than a definitive piece, because I know there’s bigger and more knowledgeable metal-heads than me out there!
I ask the question because, as the headliners for Download were being announced earlier this week, I couldn’t remember a weaker looking set of headliners for the UK’s premier ROCK festival. I also couldn’t remember Download ever having such a bad social media reception to their headline announcements.
There was also a touch of comedy to the whole furore, with them leaving the final announcement that bloated, tired, irrelevant US soft-rock outfit Aerosmith will close the festival til last. So after the deafening criticism they got for booking journeymen Avenged Sevenfold and pop band Linkin Park had died down, it got even worse when fans were told they would also have the pleasure of Steven Tyler and co on the Sunday night!
So what’s your opinion? Is this the worse set of Download headliners ever? And is the Download Festival in danger of losing its edge as the hard rocking festival of choice next summer? Join the discussion in the comments below…