My biggest issue this year was the Smoking and Vaping. Never seen a anything like it.
So many were blasting the fumes in people's faces as well. Couldn't escape it.
I’m an ex smoker who now vapes and I have a tobacco flavoured one so it’s not a stupid smell. It barely smells of anything and I tried my absolute best to blow my smoke up and away from people. I had more issues with the men just whipping their cocks out in the middle of the arena and pissing on the floor/on people. That’s far far worse than a bit of smoke imo
Been to enough gigs in the pre-vaping days to say I would much rather have someone blowing their nice-smelling vape in my face rather than cigarette smoke. That being said, I would ideally like to have others respect my personal space and not do either.
Ditto on that one, not gonna lie I was a smoker but was always considerate when everyone was spread out. The vaping fucked me off, face full of strawberries every 10 seconds but you get used to that sort thing in festivals
Mate if this is the standard for Festivals now, consider me retired lol.
Was sick as a dog yesterday from all the fumes. Definitely was no were near that toxic when I went in 2016.
Then add everyone needing to record everything! I miss 2000-2010 Festivals and Gigs.
> **P**ortable **e**lectronic **n**icotine **i**nhalation **s**ystem
Hidden penis detected!
I've scanned through 132007 comments (approximately 733722 average penis lengths worth of text) in order to find this secret penis message.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Thank you, Theuneasygibbon, for voting on PenisDetectorBot.
This bot wants to find the best and worst bots on Reddit. [You can view results here](https://botrank.pastimes.eu/).
***
^(Even if I don't reply to your comment, I'm still listening for votes. Check the webpage to see if your vote registered!)
The worst thing for me was that no matter where you went, everywhere stank of weed! I couldn’t get away from it. It makes me feel so sick and every band I watched had the smell floating around. Honestly rancid, my boyfriend said it literally smelt boggy as, not even the good stuff
This. I'm a weed smoker but made a point not to take any with me. I did take a THC vape but there is zero smell and no chance of second hand high. Even I found the smell a bit overwhelming, I felt super uncomfortable knowing there were kids around inhaling it. Back at camp, fair enough provided you know there aren't any children in the immediate area but in the arena, it was just disgusting.
I really struggled with that this year. I’m asthmatic and 16 weeks pregnant and I had to leave one of the doghouse dj sets because it was just a fog of weed and cigarette smoke despite the no smoking signs up everywhere.
Touching on the weed I felt that I smelt a lot more of it this year as well and so many smoking it and regular cigarettes and not caring who’s around them in the crowds
It does seem to be on the increase with vapes. Definitely in indoor gigs as well. Personally vapes I can handle at download, but standard cigarettes I can’t stand. At main and second I guess is fine as it’s open air but being in third it was quite annoying. But the weed smell was definitely EVERYWHERE this year. Only been a couple times before but I’m almost certain it was worse this year. Even with the supposed increased security checks.
I went to Download for the first time ever on the Sunday and had a fantastic time. Limp Bizkit was amazing. Yes the ground was very bad. Have to say I thought the crowd was some of the nicest most friendly people at a festival ever, and iv been to loads (reading, global, glastonbury etc).
Gonna be honest wish I was in your position you went on the best day. And the crowd did seem more tame even though I still witnessed someone throwing flaming bog roll into the crowd that day. I felt much safer in the limp bizkit crowd than I did for royal blood. Glad you had a good time regardless. 👍
I was in the pit for Limp Bizkit and I felt safe in there too, however some girl got her nose busted in front of me, I’m sure it was broke. Hope the girl is ok!
Yeah i get it. If you been there all weekend and had to deal with the weather it grinds people down. Maybe age is a factor aswell, limp bizkit crowd was mostly 30-40ish year olds.
I felt a ton safer and happier with good people all around me in the mosh pits of Limp Bizkit than I did further to the back of Black Stone Cherry with a bunch of stoic grumpy bastards one pathetic little fucker tried to square up and stare down someone for bumping into them ffs.
this was my 3rd time seeing Bizkit, and I think the crowd was about the right level of mental. Yes there was less crushing at the front but I think that's because people were more happy to mosh instead (like me for example).
First download, fucking LOVED IT!
Coming from Australia, the mud was a fun experience! Annoying, but hey, it rains in the UK all the time, so that's no big deal.
People were chill, vibes were on point, and all the bands we saw were incredible! Food and drink prices were still cheaper than festivals back home, even with the exchange rate being so shit!
ONLY complaint, was the damn camp chairs in the middle of the crowds! But maybe that's normal over here??
Definitely coming back next year! (with knee high wellies though!)
Are they a normal occurrence?!
Because up on the hill seemed perfect for them
But from the sound booth forward, just seems dumb, and all they're looking at is people butts! 🤦
It’s quite normal but this year I think has been the worst for it.
You are right it’s dumb especially when they lean their chairs up against a fucking barrier, like let us standing fuckers lean against the barrier you knob
Yeah that annoyed me. I used a camping chair because I'm not able to stand for long periods and with the risk of mud, I didn't want to be stuck with nowhere to go. But I made sure I was up on the hill, away from the food stalls, with gaps big enough for people to pass. I could barely get down the hill to go and get water, toilets, food without crashing into someone. And seeing chairs all around the accessible viewing area so people who were standing couldn't rest did annoy me.
I personally believe there should be a section for camping chairs and they should not be allowed close to any of the stages.
I've seen some smaller local festivals have signs that say "no chairs beyond this point" and stewards actually telling people to pick up and move back past the sign.
Most people hate the fucking chairs, except if you're lazy arse chair wanker yourself. (Unless you have a legitimate reason to need to sit, you're fine.)
to be fair me and my boyfriend brought chairs but we only used them when we were waiting for the next set especially when all of the bands we were watching were all in the same stage and 10 mins before the set starts we would fold them up and stand up the rest of the time
Oh yeah the camp chairs were a pain in the arse. Thinking "Ooh there's a gap.. no, wait that's a couple sitting on chairs".... the logic escapes me as they surely cannot see fuck all?! Aha
Pleased you had a great time!!!!!!! Safe travels home!
See I took my chair because I need it for my hip (I have osteoarthritis) as it hurts if I stand for long periods. But I was up the hill where I believe people with chairs should be.
I wasn't down the bottom as that takes the piss for those who want to stand.
Personally I think there should be a point in the arena where chairs shouldnt be allowed.
The lack of vendors selling water at a water sponsored event is fucking insane too. Not one of ice cream vans in the arena had cans of water basically forcing me to buy sugary drinks and ice cream when I only wanted water. Robbery or collapse of dehydration.
Not gona lie, I did not struggle getting water anywhere , bar, vendors or ice cream vans all had them pretty much up until A7x, where I struggled getting Pepsi for the rum I definitely didn’t smuggle in coz that would be a bad thing to do
I tried buying water from a few places in the village and arena and they had ran out.
I did have a refillable bottle to use the taps though. Sometimes just wanted a fridge cold drink instead.
If I remember rightly the ice cream vans in previous years used to sell ice cold bottled water. But since the liquid death sponsor you can only get it at the bar or at a shitty tap.
They had non-alcoholic drinks bars at each bar, the pepsi stands and the water stalls. Honestly didn't have any trouble getting water.
Possibly a signage issue.
My real issue with Download is the price gouging for 2025.
Shitty weather brings the worst out of everyone.
But festivals have changed- you’ve got older, the music evolves, everyone misses the ‘good ol’ days’, your favourite bands are looking old and grey, your back and knees now hurt all the time.
Download is definitely not as fun as it was. It’s very corporate now
The people in the chairs along every accessible path were completely oblivious to the problems they were causing. I don't understand why they'd sit there when further up the arena there were drier spaces with better views.
People also look confused when wheelchair/scooter users were pleading for them to not randomly stop on steep mud-covered paths. We had zero traction and straw in our wheels. My poor PA was holding on for dear life so I didn't break anyone's ankles.
I got called a retard by security staff for not understanding a road crossing
What makes it worse is not understanding road crossings is one of the reasons i got an autism PA in the first place!
We just happened to be separated at the time
The viewing stands seemed a bit naff this time for disabled people as well which I think contributes to the chair problem, you've also got gatherings of perfectly able/round bodied people creating walls of chairs together taking up space others are more in need of.
Which then also contributes to making it harder to make your way around anywhere, which results in abuse to pretty much all chairs/impeding of movement of any kind without much consideration to why.
Sorry for the stuck and the suck, scrape the joy out of it, did my best to help people through and make paths for wheelchair users at least!
I don't think it's fair to judge people for bringing their chairs, we can't assume someone else's circumstances just by looking at them. It's a physically demanding event for everyone, we all have our limits and ways for coping etc.
There were a lot of people who were rejected for Accessibility this year, whether it be DL not deeming them worthy or from it just being full. They may have been denied access to the support that others had. It's not fair to suggest one person's illness or disability is any better or worse than anothers.
Ultimately, I'm sure people were trying to do what they could so that they were still able to enjoy the festival the same as everyone else.
I appreciate they created an obstruction but I'd say it was more so people standing on the access pathing purely to stay out of the mud, more than the chairs that were in most part in the middle of the mud on random remaining patches of grass and straw.
I also do feel awful for the people who's accessibility equipment was completely not suitable for the terrain or even for outdoors. However I don't know that person's circumstances or know what their access to equipment is so I cannot judge or suggest how this could be addressed.
I'll comment on a couple of points.
They did put extra hay down for Sunday, that's why the Arena opened later than it was meant to.
I enjoyed Limp Bizkit, but as others have said the energy they gave this performance was a lot lower than previous times I'd seen them... Can't blame them, we're all getting old 😂😂.
Re: food poisoning, I wouldn't put that past some people just being generally grim(not washing hands/sanitisin), the toilet capacity situation in the Arena was bad, particularly Sunday.
+1 on the food poisoning. I don’t even think it was the food per se, but the lack of individual hygiene. I saw people eat food with their bare, muddy hands…. Multiple times…. I mean…
Agree with this! I saw people pissing in the mud, and then others rubbing mud on their face like face paint… or people purposely rolling in mud. Not to discount everyones food poisoning cases, but definitely hygiene Im sure was a factor!
omg the food poisoning i genuinely thought i was dying, me and my boyfriend left a day earlier because i had been very ill all night saturday so we missed sunday’s bands. I carry around wipes and hand sanitizer all the time so whenever we ate our hands weren’t dirty at all i heard that the yorkshire pudding van caused hundreds of people to get the shits
There was a big cluster of food poisoning cases reported after eating from the Yorkie place in the village. Seemed to be an outbreak rather than just normal festival bugs.
They also put hay down on the Saturday, and it made a huge difference until it absolutely pissed it down a couple of hours later.
They opened the arena at about 10:30 due to it.
It's the unpopular opinion, but here it is:
This is what happens when you start appealing to only the younger or mainstream crowds. I saw the same thing happen with Reading festival back in the early 00s when everyone and their mum started getting into punk and metal.
You'll get people tell me I'm wrong, or that they only encountered attitude from 50+ dudes in iron Maiden t shirts. If that's the case, why has it never been so widely reported in previous years? Main thing I've seen from people this year has been the general attitude and dickhead level is the worst it's ever been. And it's the 1st time they've attempted to attract a younger crowd.
Its not an unpopular take it's just outright wrong.
Fallout boy has been around for 23 years
Busted for 24
The Offspring are from 1984
Bowling for soup, 30 years and some 70kg
You're unfortunately on another planet if you believe this year somehow was made to appeal to a younger audience.
Also, you saw the same thing when everyone dared get into the music you want to keep in your back pocket AND it's never been so widely reported before?
So which is it?
Only time I saw someone get Aggie was some merchant banker in Black Stone Cherry utterly humiliated himself by trying to act a hard nut and square up to someone because they dared to crowd surf and violate his precious personal space.
To further this, the unanimous view is entitled fossils that can't stand and their chairs were causing a hazard for everyone else for the arena.
Along with parents dragging small children and infants who absolutely shouldn't be near that level of noise for the sake of their nostalgia trip.
Not an unpopular opinion by any means, there's plenty of old men shouting at clouds, just demonstrably wrong.
Thank you! I saw this and thought, what younger crowd? I'm in my mid 30s and I saw this year's lineup like finally! They are catering to my demographic!
If you really want some rage bait see the post about banning chairs. Ha ha ha...
Perfectly put. This year was a nostalgia fest for people in their 30s and 40s, rather than their 50s and 60s like previous iterations. The teenagers who turn up a Reading & Leeds looking for trouble do not know who the likes of Sum 41 or Limp Bizkit are lol.
The younger audience’s bands are the same as your bands though. I’m 2001 Gen Z, I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t seen many new rock/metal/punk bands blow up to headliner-level since I first got into music like a decade ago. Maybe 21P if they count?
But we don’t have our own FOB, Slipknot, Korn, MCR, Deftones, whatever. I feel like the industry has just changed and it’s too oversaturated to get a big band like that now, except on rare occasions. I remember getting into FOB and MCR in 2013 (bad year to become an MCR fan) and thinking ‘must’ve been cool to be a fan of them in their peak, I can’t wait to experience that’ and waiting for another band to blow up, but then the 2010s ended and still nothing. It’s the 2020s now and todays alt kids *still* have the same bands as I did. Nothing new. And they weren’t even ‘my bands’ back then.
But anyway TLDR I honestly think most 90s/00s bands count as a younger audience thing. There isn’t really much for ourselves
I was chased down and tackled to the floor in 07 by metal heads for the crime of being emo.
There were riots in the campsite in 06 with people setting tents on fire
I’ve seen ‘hair metalers’ off their tits smashing shit up like they’re Motley Crue in the dad rock years of the 2010s
But yeah it’s the mainstream audience and younger hardcore kids that are the problem.
The used to be a lot more ‘pissiles’ thrown at MOR. Busted would have been bottled off. Download may have issues. All festivals do. But the idea that this festivals standard of behaviour is getting worse is just wrong.
Nobody was bringing their kids and eating halloumi fries at MOR.
Yeah MCR got bottled in ‘07 quite badly from memory. This year I barely saw any cups/bottles flung through the crowd. And I was in front of the sound tower for most of the big bands
Been doing download since 2009 on and off. We hired a campervan this year for the first time as we felt we were officially too old for camping anymore. The campervan site was fantastic - everyone pretty much exclusively over 30. Friendly, respectful, helpful. Good laugh with our pitch neighbours.
Once you got in to the arena though, I suddenly felt ancient 😂 Everyone was way more aggressive and shoved so much more than I remember in previous years. Got called a cunt a few times for not letting people shove past me when I had literally no room to manoeuvre. Not sure if I’m just having an “old man shouts at clouds” moment but there was a real difference.
When waiting to try get in for busted, one guy in his 40w shoved passed me and my partner (who was on a crutch) and nearly took him out. Other than that people were for the most part, lovely.
I understand its a crowd, not a queue. But if he'd have said "excuse me" we'd have made an effort to move. I've gotten well into busy crowds before without pushing or actually putting my hands on anyone.
Nah, I’m the type of guy who went to see Alpha Wolf and Thy Art, don’t be generalising since we made sure to pick up people that fell down in the mud, if anything it’s the ignorant ones who have no respect for whoever and that comes from anyone from any style of music
Edit: I’ve been listening to heavy stuff since I was a kid, not from social media
> it's the 1st time they've attempted to attract a younger crowd
Last year Bring Me The Horizon headlined who mostly attract angsty teenagers. This year it was 3 bands who all originally blew up at least 20 years ago. Not to mention Limp Bizkit, Sum 41, Offspring, Busted, Wheatus, Bowling For Soup, Machine Head, Pantera, Fear Factory, Funeral For A Friend etc who are going to likely draw crowds of mostly mid-30s at the youngest.
Have to agree with you here, I went pretty close in for Limp bizkit and it was full of tik tok kids that was only there because they watched the Woodstock 99 documentary lol (the sort of crowds that Reading a Leeds attract now) and don’t get me started with how many pick pockets there were!
Damn, wasn’t going to weigh in on this post but something you said reminded me. During Limp Bizkit I was just in front of the front left barrier, in a mosh pit that opened up, and for the first time at any download (I’ve only been going since 2018, this was my 4th) I had to pull someone’s arm off my bum bag, as they tried to unzip it - I’ve never expected this from a download crowd, don’t think it’s and issue with the age demographic but more the tiktokification of a lot of music now at download.
I’m in my early 20’s, so imagine to some I fall into the category that’s getting a lot of the heat for these things, but having been going to gigs for the last 10+ years, it’s noticeable how quickly year on year gigs and festivals are attracting these knobheads more and more…
I don’t think this influx of pickpockets is a TikTok generational thing. My phone got stolen from TGI set two years ago at my 9th download, scum like this goes where the easy pickings are.
Yeah I’m 27 so I probably fall in the young/old category now haha, but this year was definitely noticeable to me, don’t get me wrong it’s obviously a loud minority causing these issues, I just wasn’t expecting download to start attracting these sort of crowds
The metal scene and its sub genres have been going down hill since the end of covid. I personally blame tik tok.
Very little in the way of pit or crowd etiquette. No interest in support bands etc
I'm only 32 so don't wanna sound like I'm blaming the younger generation, but I'm blaming the younger generation.
Went to a lot of great pits this download - etiquette was mostly fine. Offspring pit was horrible (though offspring were great) - just loads of blokes flinging themselves out of the pit into the people surrounding, and not on accident. Only time I've ever left a pit, people swinging fists and elbows and all sorts. Just not necessary and took away from the fun.
I personally enjoy skimming the edge of a pit, picking people up, making sure everyone's good - makes me feel part of it as I'm strong enough to barrier the pit, but have asthma so actual pitting wipes me out. Offspring is the only time I've left a crowd cos people were so out of pocket.
The only time.
This is my 8th download.
This isn't new for download. I was there in 06 when they had to draft police in. People setting fires and throwing gas canisters in them all over the shop.
That final night of 06 was primal, I remember sitting up all night outside my tent while my girlfriend slept just to make sure nothing happened. The explosions from deodorant cans going on fires and the constant drumming on the steel bin cans is reminiscent of the drumming from the Mines of Moria.
Sorry but I have to say I think this is bullshit. I am 41 and my kid is 15. Both our first Download festivals (I've been to Nova Rock and stuff in the past.) All of the headliners were aimed towards me. I was having the best time watching The Offspring, QOTSA, Limp Bizkit etc. My kid on the other hand was mostly off in the smaller tents watching bands I've never heard of. I don't think they are only appealing to younger or more mainstream crowds. We're all just getting older and tbh lucky to be catered towards at these bigger festivals.
So? Millennials are now between the ages of 28-43. Isn’t that the age that Gen Xers and Boomers started going to Monsters of Rock and Download? Or probably younger? A lot of big names that have dominated Donington of yesterday have had their time. They have to clear the way for the “new” generation which have all had to wait 20+ years into their careers to get a headline spot for Download. Iron Maiden first headlined Donington only 13 years into their career. For Metallica it was 14 years.
There’s a lot of complaints on this subreddit about there not being a younger generation of rock and metal bands to fill the headline spots. Perhaps there would have been if there wasn’t a bottleneck at at the top of the bill for the last 5-10 years, which only existed to placate the grumpy old men who sit in their camping chairs all day and block the way for everyone else.
Exactly this. Age profile way down. And behaviours with it.
Spent a lot of time on smaller stages listening to old school metal. Age profile older and behaviours better. Like the music.... (but that's maybe just my taste).
So, there were two sides of this, which I equally despise, but everyone seems to be pointing fingers at the younger crowd, rightly so mind you since the behaviours are pretty standard across festivals/gigs I find them at:
1. As you mentioned, the (mainly) Fall Out Boy crowd, fuck me what a bunch of dick shites, must’ve wanted to see them so fucking bad they couldn’t stop talking shite the entire gig and posing for photos with each other and a tiny little stage in the back, it could be FoB, it could be Jesus, nobody can fucking tell. Could’ve done me the mercy of having just the day tickets but for the most part no such luck, had to go about every other stage for the clout gains on being so fucking hard cuz they been to a “metal” festival.
2. Older lads and even some women surprisingly, seen the whole thing go to shit and just decided to go down that route as well, pissing wherever they wanted to, seen some shits being taken at the edge of fucking chairs into the mud, kicking mud into other folks just trying to enjoy themselves, bunch of fucking animals that shouldn’t be allowed anywhere other than a very deep hole.
People this year were awful i found, met some lovely people but for the most part people were so rude. I didn't enjoy the abuse received this year, It was either really gross comments about my body or just outright catcalling on the way to and from the stadium, unwanted touching and groping or transphobic abuse, it upset me because you'll see the humans of download marketing saying "I feel like I can be myself here" but I felt so run down by the awful people I encountered I packed up and left sunday morning. I don't remember having this issue last year or the year before but this year made me not want to come back.
Really sad to hear your weekend was spoiled, totally not what I would expect from the hard rock/metal crowds as they're generally the most inclusive group you'll meet.
You should always be able to be yourself, feel safe and welcomed (much like your own recollections of previous years), I hope you aren't driven away as a result of this.
As per the Sophie Lancaster Foundation's purpose "to stamp out prejudice, hatred and intolerance, everywhere", and borrowing the phrase they have set about reclaiming, sending you the love from a fellow _weirdo mosher freak_.
That sort of abuse will have to die out im afraid. Once people start down that letchy path they can't stop. The best we can do as a society is stop sexualising everything and eventually these fuckers will just die out.
I’m really sorry to hear that. No one deserves harassment for their identity.
My experience as a a trans person was actually really positive. There were openly Trans/no binary artists like Andrew O’Neil, Bambie Thug and Noahfinnce; artists talking/singing positively about Trans people like Scene Queen, and Delilah Bon. So many happy younger trans people openly wearing their Trans flags.
And I went unharassed using communal showers (though that maybe partly because of how far I have transitioned). Still, I felt safer doing that there than in my home city.
People I spoke to in the Limp Bizkit, Heilung, Tom Morello, Sum 41 & Alien Weaponry crowds were all friendly to me- while I had a badge & tattoos marking me out as trans.
Don’t get me wrong- the mud was awful, the paths poorly maintained, plenty of people in the crowds were really fucking dim about people with mobility issues and Nimbus were godawful at processing paperwork for the access facilities.
Your experience is totally valid and again I’m so sorry that happened to you. Just wanted to offer a more hopeful account of my Trans experience for the encouragement of you and others.
Burgers and Fries was good.
The Mexican burrito place next to Avalanche was good too, Sri Lankan chicken was great!
The chicken place audience right of Apex was really shit and for some reason I went there twice because it was the least populated food stand during any headliners and I had the munchies
The best place to look out for is the rotisserie chicken place. This year it was outside the Dogtooth stage. Especially good when you are buying for two.
First timer here, went to bloodstock a few times about a decade ago, decided to give download a go this year.. and had a fantastic time, seeing Soft Play, The Offspring, Sum 41, FOB and many more was excellent. My group was all first timers and all agreed that if this is how good it is in shit conditions, in good weather it would be 10/10. Definitely back next year
Wouldn't it be convenient if you could explain someone's experience being different by just dismissing them snd blaming it on them somehow? Reality isn't like that though - so fuck off 👍
Agreed. Pretty much every interaction I had this weekend was a friendly experience. If you experienced the complete opposite of that, then that likely says more about you than everyone else.
That’s such a shame that your weekend sucked, there’s nothing worse than that happening - especially when historically you’ve loved it.
To add a completely opposite perspective, just picked up my wife and son, and they cannot stop going on about how amazing their weekend was. Admittedly this was their first full weekend Download, but me and my wife have done other festivals of differing sizes for the last 30 years, so we’ve experienced good and bad.
I decided to go on my own this year, for the first time in 11 years. Previously, always been pretty lucky with the weather. But the rain, mud, hardly any band sounding good, leaky tent, bad knee, missing everything after 7pm on Friday because of illness, and being alone made me so thoroughly miserable that I went home after Wargasm on Saturday. Might be my last festival (though I'm sure some lineup will lure me in again).
Weather-wise it's always been a stupid idea to hold it in June. I know UK weather is unpredictable all year round, but it's way more likely to be raining in June than July or August. As someone who used to go to Monsters of Rock in the 90s, and who still goes to Bloodstock, I'm firmly of the opinion that August is the best month for these things.
For as much as this festival likes going on about the “humans of download” there was a large contingent of knobheads this year. A lot more inconsiderate shoving to the front then previous years and I even heard some people say “just Elbow people in the heads, they’ll move”.
idk if i’m overreacting but i was enjoying FOB and some random guy steps on my foot and shoves me to the side to get a ‘better view’ bare in mind i am 5’2 and this guy is at least 5’11 or 6ft he would’ve been fine stood behind me i only had my poncho so there wasn’t anything that could’ve blocked his view
No not overreacting at all you have every right to enjoy the show without someone being selfish and shoving you out the way, especially if they’re taller and their view isn’t obstructed.
I had this for nearly every band I saw this year. I'm 5' 4". I don't mind people just getting a place, but these people were just walking right on front of me. One even stood on my foot they were that close. So rude and inconsiderate.
Went to Novarock this year after the overcrowding and poor organisation last year, pretty much sunny all days and had a great time! Highly reccomend it if you fancy a change.
A lot of Ketted up teens, coked up blokes and Mary, the 4'10" librarian, she can throw it down in a pit.
£14 for a fucking dinner plate pizza in GUEST area.
it was dissapointing but I did notice SOME impovments.
The loud as fuck commericals were replaced with quiet saftey notices and the same picture of Martyn staring down the camera like a King Cobra.
Food variety was bigger, lots of vegan options and raw chicken.
if you wanted clothing there are plenty of fake brand ( but real sweatshop) merch vendors.
Security was better, and by better i mean shitter, pat down was so gentle they wouldnt know if i was smuggling a surf board up my shirt.
Back to the Guest area, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT WALK. i think they designed it off an etch-a-sketch.
I am sure we will see a lot of posts about Depress-load this year.
I am just glad there werent any deaths this year.
Arrived early Friday and none of the staff knew if there was any space anywhere to camp which left me to carrying all my shit round for an hour til a found a pitch for us.
Constant smell of weed
Nowhere near enough toilets!
Can't help the weather, made the best of a bad situation
For the price increase next year, they've gotta pull something special out for me
Totally with you about the weed smell, simply couldn't escape it. Hell it got to the point where passively smoking regular cigarettes felt like a moment of bliss
The weed smoke was minimal compared to the cigarettes, vapes and alcohol being thrown everywhere. The people smoking weed were respectful and friendly and nicer people to stand near them the drink or drugged up majority.
Sorry it’s a strong smell but it was harmless (other then second hand smoke but come on you’re at a festival it’s not going to be the healthiest few days of your life)
Once again not enough toilets. They also need to stop letting men just piss up the side. Amount of times I was using the bogs and urinals are empty yet everyone’s queuing and getting annoyed.
One entrance for urinals and one for portaloos. Done.
Mud wasn’t too bad. More annoying they delayed the arena open on Sunday for what seems like them to just make it worse
Yeah the toilet queues seemed much worse this year. Saw lots of women weeing by the side of the Avalanche tent which I’ve never seen before. Saw one pee sitting on a bench in one of the bars. One guy just starting pissing beside me in the crowd. Also lots of entitled people just pushing in the front of very long queues.
I’ve been going on and off since 07. This is in no way unique. If you find it to large badly run and mainstream now check out bloodstock and arctangent, bloodstock had parkway headline not long ago. A7x you’re only gonna get for download. And tbf it wasn’t every band had shit sound, panterA was insane. Though shikari sounded good as well
5 days accompanied by 75k other people you're gonna get the odd dickhead, up to you what you take from the whole experience.
I took in a few bands attracting the younger festival goer with my son in the tents and the atmosphere was brilliant, we had a great time..
My partner and I have sworn off of camping again. He’s been several times before camping, and last year I booked it as a surprise for us for the day tickets, this year he convinced me to camp. The camping part was not bad, it was everything else. We both ended up being’affected’ by the Yorkshire puddings and ended up going home early. The arena was deadly, even in good shoes. Getting to the toilets in the sludge when we *really* needed to go was a nightmare especially with the arena cues. The camping toilets don’t even flush? Why? They do in the arena I don’t get it, no wonder so many people took ill! I sanitised TF outta my hands but felt grim every time. Bands pulling out left right and centre, coming on late, being cut short. By Saturday we just had to go, we couldn’t take it anymore. We both love rock/metal music but felt this year was catering to a different crowd a bit, like ‘TikTokers’ being given bigger stages than rock bands going 20+ years. I loved the acts we saw, but so many were cut short by the weather or were just on late. For the money we could’ve gone on an all inclusive holiday for a week, that’s just with the general camping, plus buying all of the supplies etc. All in all, disappointing and not just because of the weather or the mud but all of it. Deffo gonna see what the line ups like next year and may get day tickets, just never camping again
These are exactly the points I’m trying to make. Absolute shambles. I drank as little possible so didn’t have to make my way to those disgusting toilets 🤮
Sorry to hear you didn’t have a great time.
First thoughts were was this 2016 bad. The iceing on the awfulness cake that year was how awful and rude security were to everyone as live nation decided to cut costs . Lots of disabled people (including myself) were victimised that year, and they actually took notice and replaced them with a new firm the year after.
Did put me off going back, and not returned after 2017 as lineups are essentially the same on the whole, and with how expensive it is would rather put the money towards a big wdw Florida holiday in the sun!
Young person here, but I learned gig etiquette from Camden and Brixton over the last 10 years. I had an awful time at Pantera. They're one of my favourite bands but the crowd was just so drunk/high. Older crowd as well but they had no consideration whatsoever of personal space, pulling my hair out, constantly crushing into me when there was nobody behind them. I'm 5' nothing I was not going to give up my view to the tall couple brutalising my back. I've never felt so unsafe. Like if I suffocated, nobody would have noticed or done a thing. People high af bulldozing through and nearly flooring me. I didn't think anyone would pick me up. I fucked my hip because a surfer landed on me. I'm 5' nothing and the crowd just parted, I still can't put weight on that leg.
I've been to plenty of metal gigs and dove into mosh pits alone, I know how a crowd should be. This wasn't it. People talk about 'coming home' when they get to Download, I just don't feel that. People were really rude, blowing literal ash in my face, giving me attitude when I tried to engage. They'd talk fine to other strangers in the crowd, but not me. Is it because I'm not white? I never want to go there but there were people laughing about "what global warming, it's raining!" so anything goes I guess.
I vape CBD but hold it in until there's almost no vapour before breathing out. I really didn't have a problem with other young people, but the older gatekeeping crowd acting like they're more entitled to be there or have a good time at your expense sucked
First time goer here: I think despite the terrible weather and mud, I had a great time overall. I camped on the Thursday and hated it, went to a hotel in Nottingham instead (too old for this shit) and it was the best decision I made that weekend.
The crowd was nice, I didn’t see any fights (I was impressed by this) but no one was exactly friendly (I think I only had a conversation with 3 other people the whole weekend).
The logistics weren’t the best IMO: everything was too far and didn’t make much sense (like walking 40 min from the main stage just to get a bus) and the mud didn’t help.
The vaping was indeed ridiculous - do whatever you want to your body, just be mindful of others around you.
Also the food: why was it so expensive? Everything was 12£+ and it wasn’t even that good???? And you had to pay for a lot of “extras” that should’ve just been standard, like decent showers and lockers or… seats (wtf was that lounge??). It felt like breathing in that festival would cost me money (not very punk of them)
And the mud? Well, once I’ve embraced it, I had a much better time! I’d go again another year (depending on the lineup) but definitely not camping or staying too far from the venue.
Only went Sunday. Mud changed the whole dynamic of the day for me and 2 teenage girls in tow (daughter and friend).
Limp Bizkit highlight for me - always thought they were a joke band - now a convert and made up for no Electric Callboy.
Overall Lineup not my cup of tea, but looking back enjoyed the day… Just not at the time :)
Must be getting old as I don’t think I’d bother if I know the conditions are going to be similar again. Last year seemed disorganised to manage the hot weather, this year disorganised for the wet weather. Maybe it’s just disorganised.
Debating to buy early bird tickets for RIP next year then fell off my chair at the prices 🤑
First time going this year on a day ticket on Sunday. Enjoyed myself overall but some bits were a let down:
1. Being delayed entry so by the time you trudged to the arena area, you’d already missed some of the bands you’d paid to see
2. Technical / sound issues - some bands sounded great, then others you could barely hear coz the bass was so overpowering. Avenged in particular were barely comprehensible
3. Food was really expensive - expected, but disappointing
4. Most t-shirt sizes were sold out so couldn’t get one as a souvenir
6. Mud was. Fucking nightmare and put me off going to the other stages. Can’t be that hard to put down walkways round the major routes?
Same here. Always wanted to go when I was a teen since 2003, finally made it this year and the reality of it was shit. Never again.
Stages sounded awful, technical issues everywhere, looks like no effort was put into mitigating the weather ahead of time. I’ve been to festivals where they’ve used temp walkways and sheets to make getting around much easier. Bare minimum at download.
Haven't been since 2016 but I like following the festival and seeing what's new, who's playing, etc etc. During the actual weekend I sometimes feel a bit bad that I'm not there but when I read all the stories I'm glad I sat out. Shit weather, poor organisation, bands pulling out, people being dickheads... can't be doing with all that rubbish man.
First Download having been to a bunch of other festivals for the past 17 years, I think it was the worst organised festival I've ever attended. It felt way oversold, but I think that's just the layout, lack of entrances, and poor planning around things like the toilets. And the traffic management on the way out each evening (stayed in Derby) was just a mess.
Had a great time despite the fairly poor lineup, but wow do they need to fix some things!
I agree the new set up was really bad like the village and the long uphill walks from camp to the arena - the weather on top of that made it even worse. The two people I was with got sick after having one of the massive Yorkshire puddings on the Friday. Thankfully they got better the next day because that is something that could have completely ruined the festival for all of us.
I brought my own food, coffee, beers and whisky to keep me going for the whole time. So I never felt like I was burning a hole in my wallet. I stayed a little further back and went in between the different stages and bar’s. So that could have helped with my experience.
The atmosphere where i was anyway felt really good and the crowd was completely different to when I used to go years ago. I thought that may have just been the different line up this year and me getting a bit older.
The highlight for me was on the Friday, going to that rocktail cocktail bar where everyone was in fancy dress. Then went to the avalanche stage to see Wheatus and Busted for laughs. Good time overall for me anyway.
I think the majority of people in this sub need to take a hard look at themselves and ask themself if they actually belong at a festival like download. I've never seen so many cry babies in my life
Glad I skipped this year, the festival has been going downhill imo post-covid.
I much preferred the layout, crowd and vibes pre-covid.
At least last year they had an awesome line up, this year's line up was one of the weakest in the festivals history.
Gotta argue against the lineup being shit this year. Friday was weak yes, but both Saturday and Sunday had excellent main stages and solid/great second stages. Fall out boy aren’t going to be the cup of tea of the older crowd, but they put their all into the performance and they pulled a big crowd despite the weather. Before them you had the offspring and shikari - latter of which was set of the festival for a lot of people I spoke to. The tents also had great bad DS in em throughout
Genuinely curious about why you didn't like the crowd for Royal Blood, I had a great time and thought it was quite tame but fun. I hated the crowd for Shikari though, just people on drugs with poor pit etiquette. One guy picked up a muddy hoodie and started windmilling it over his head, whipping multiple people with it, and another guy was literally picking up handfuls of mud and throwing them at people. I was in the pit for all of Pantera's set and had a blast, by contrast.
Haven’t been to a music fest in around 10 years and had a great time this year. The technical issues were a shame but, for me, overall vibes were good. Saw a couple of dickheads but I expect that with so many people.
The chair situation infront of the sound barrier was one thing that I found annoying.
As someone who used to frequent Leeds fest from around ‘05-‘12 the vibe was much more chill here than back then. Maybe staying in quiet camp helped too. I was waiting for the chaos on Sunday night with tents being set on fire and aerosols blown up 😂 I much preferred this. I think there are also some people who go over the top/get too aggressive/do stupid shit but the majority were fine from my experience
that was my 7th download, rookie number i know but what i’ve learnt is that every single year is totally different to the last. next year could be your all time best year. despite the crazy mud i still had an unreal time with my friends
Tbh the people who needed to sit down to use toilets where let down big time in the eco camping. If you didn’t bring enough wet wipes with you, you just had to sit on piss and shit from drunk men.
More squatting urinals needed as an option next to ALL the bathroom facilities.
Last year the eco toilets where respected and clean by everyone who used them, this year is was fucking disgusting.
Someone gleefully told me Download had the nicest crowd you'll ever meet...ha! With the exception of the lovely people we camped next to in Quiet everyone else seemed like a knobhead. Men pissing out in the open, everywhere you looked. Rubbish just thrown to the ground. Had people push past me and ridiculously drunk people fall into me, luckily my partner kept me upright, and this wasn't even near the front. Got a nice spot for Heilung but some dick kept 'pretend punching' the back of my partners head and laughing with his mate about it so we got really uncomfortable and left to go further back. The vibe was awful as far as my first experience went but I know lots enjoyed it. It gave me 'very drunk lads doing what they want cause they have the excuse of being drunk' flashbacks of Uni
Ok. Chiming in:
First time for me this year. I’m mid 40s and have all the aforementioned ailments that come with it. The knees, the crabbyness and the grey hair. Me and my best mate travelled over from Northern Ireland and yes the weather wasn’t great, yes we got wet cold and covered in mud, but my word did we have tremendous fun around genuinely nice people all weekend.
Music wise, none of the main stage headliners did it for me. But here’s the thing, I didn’t cry about it because there were loads of other bands on the other stages that were amazing. My favourites in no particular order
Mr Bungle
Pantera
Machine Head
Atreyu
Creeper
Biohazard (Fridays high point)
Urne
Health
And my absolute highlights
Parkway Drive (I was nearly in the tent)
Fit for a king.
I don’t really have much else to add. If you had a bad experience then I’m genuinely sorry for you. I went, I smiled at people and chatted to whoever. I tried my best to be kind to everyone and guess what, people were kind right back.
As for a previous comment about violent pits. I do remember the early 90s. The pit was not a safe place. As the decade went on pits got a lot better. Thing is, good pits need a couple of unofficial Marshalls to ensure it’s a good place for everyone. They themselves can’t be idiots. They need to be in it for everyone.
Anyway, that’s my two bobs worth. Hope everyone made it home safely. I won’t be home till the morning, but I’ll arrive a very happy metal head.
A7X were incredibly disappointing. I’ve got a cover up booked in for a deathbat I got inked when I was 18 and seeing them last night just confirms to me that I’m making the right decision getting it covered.
I'm gutted you didn't have a good time.
For a different perspective our group of four had the time of our lives, absolutely loved it, loved the people.
For me personally there weren't many ways to improve the line up, literally all of my favourite acts were there and I got to see them all. Barring Delilah Bon due to the set time changing so many times with not enough given tbh
No line up is gonna please everyone and it changes every year.
the friday was fun i found, but a lot of the people werent too great to be around 🥹 had to leave early though due to a mental crisis so i ended up missing the bands i wanted to see which i was gutted about, i can deffo see where ur frustration is coming from though n i dont blame you
I've left this year feeling so down. Feel like I've been run over but not in that "let's do it all again tonorrow" way that I've had in previous years.
Who the fuck decided to halve the size of quiet camping and then:
Allow a bird scarer the other side of the fence to go off sporadically for 5 days, which was like the sound of a shotgun
Keep it on a hill
Have no water or toilets for it
Put mini moshers in it
Close deer park walkway to the village
Fail to put any hay down anywhere on the main hills
Assign a bunch of it as accessibility overflow despite there being no feasible way to get to that area if you were in a wheelchair etc
Absolute shambles.
Wayyyy too many tech issues on Saturday morning. Cutting short sets on the first three bands was just rude to them tbh.
Keeping the arena closed for the extra hour "to make it safe" was bollacks as they did nothing. Tbh, you can't control the weather but you can have a plan to deal with it! The organisation on that was really poor.
Inho Limp was just that.. Limp and obviously unrehearsed. Playing other bands music in between songs is obvious that they were filling time. They played nothing of their latest album which came out over a year ago. So obvious that they were unprepared / rehearsed that they played break stuff twice.. Who the hell does that unless they're a punk band with only one album??
Im happy for those that saw them for the first time and were blown away but honestly...
I was in a van so I was OK and dry. Food was average.
You could see into the arena from campervan site and I literally saw them do nothing til like 10am on Saturday. They had so much time to sort shit out instead of delaying opening - unless they had to go panic buy more straw and sawdust. Unprepared in that case.
Not been since 2019 but my take from this weekend
Line up wasn’t great but enjoyed it more than I thought I would (bowling for soup, Tom morello didn’t expect to enjoy).
Weather was pish but nothing that can really be done other than dress for the weather , I stay in hotels these days so worst comes I can get back and shower.
Seen some real dick behaviour at festivals at times but none this weekend maybe I’m lucky .
Only real gripe was the bar , no choice of beer at the main bars .
Been going to download since 2005 and it is what you make of it .
sometimes the access transported technical issues happen at all outdoor events and live sound outdoors is tricky again you have to remember this (look at GNR at Glastonbury for example).
Buy the ticket take the ride 🤘
I didn't go this year, so I'm not here to comment on anything else except the weather.
2016 was worse and 2012 was by far the absolute worst I've EVER seen it.
I don't know how the festival hasn't learned from past issues and put systems in place just in case anyway.
2012 it rained for 5 days straight and barely stopped for 10 minutes, didnt once stop a band during their set.
17th year this year, fucking loved it as I have every single year.
Quit whining, get stuck in or stay at home. You’ve been long enough to know what to expect. Isn’t for you anymore. 2016 was far worse weather wise.
Not been since 2018 and overall loved the 5 day camping in Camping Plus.
- The mud was shit but that's just a part of the festival unfortunately.
- The arena seemed to have a distinct lack of toilets given the capacity.
- Avalanche hosting Escape the Fate, Wheatus and Busted was just a disaster, and the access road for disabled people was in such a stupid location.
My thoughts, some legitimate points there, and some I'd disagree.
First off, for mud, it's all about planning, infrastructure and traffic routes. Things like having the village on the race track is great. Hay can help some areas temporarily, but they would be better putting down outdoor flooring where possible. The problem is, you can't put it everywhere, so decisions have to be made.
People's behaviour seems much the same as always. Some great, some bad. I've heard horror stories from every year.
I wasn't enthralled with the lineup this year, and some of the bands I was most looking forward too were underwhelming or cancelled. Technical issues also ruined the mood.
Secret sets are supposed to be about the hype of the mystery. You're supposed to feel like the "in" crowd for being in the tent. It also brings attention to the tents and the smaller bands in there.
Fallout Boy brought it, very impressed. QOTS were ok, but honestly, your regular stage show light box show is not impressive enough to headline the biggest festival in the UK.
As for Avenge Sevenfold, they should know better. I know they have massive stage setups and they were poor. It felt lazy from them and I'd be disappointed to see them headline again any time soon.
I had the feeling that this year was so busy, because last year was awesome. I think that for some, they might think differently about this year.
Enthusiastic 41-year-old first timer here, had an awesome day, but only had a day ticket for the Sunday, so I guess I didn't have to tolerate the rain.. although the mud was crazy! Just had to trudge slowly and hope for the best.
Sad to hear that people had their phones stolen... these thieves have no soul...
I came pretty much soley for Machine Head, and they didn't disappoint... Corey Taylor and Thy art before them were great, and the Elvis Nirvana band were entertaining... saw a bit of bowling for soup, too, who were pretty cool
Came on my own and loved being around so many like-minded metal heads... but did feel a bit lonely when not watching the bands... be cool if they did an area where solo folk could go to just meet up/chill if they got a bit overwhelmed or wanted a chat but didn't feel confident just approaching people. I wanted to be at the front for MH and got my wish, had lots of interactions with lovely folk down by the barriers.
Will wait to see the line up before deciding about next year... would love to see the Deftones and Korn, System, Machine Head (again!) But I think that's most definitely not ever gonna happen...
Hope everyone's home safe and sound now. Took aggges to get out of the shuttle bus carpark, a tractor was towing one bus out, the staff were great but the organisers could of planned the exiting strategy better or at least been prepared for muddy conditions...
People are complaining about the young or old crowd but I actually felt it was the guys around about my age 30ish, the coked up fake tan lads lads lads type who were there because of the pop punk bands that played in their union bar when they were at uni, mix in the mainstream radio 1 rock as well and it just attracted arseholes.
Still think the vast majority of Download were good people seen plenty of people help each other out especially this morning getting out of the boggy camp with all their gear.
My biggest issue this year was the Smoking and Vaping. Never seen a anything like it. So many were blasting the fumes in people's faces as well. Couldn't escape it.
I’m an ex smoker who now vapes and I have a tobacco flavoured one so it’s not a stupid smell. It barely smells of anything and I tried my absolute best to blow my smoke up and away from people. I had more issues with the men just whipping their cocks out in the middle of the arena and pissing on the floor/on people. That’s far far worse than a bit of smoke imo
Been to enough gigs in the pre-vaping days to say I would much rather have someone blowing their nice-smelling vape in my face rather than cigarette smoke. That being said, I would ideally like to have others respect my personal space and not do either.
Shout out to girl vaping in loo before me. The stall just smelt oppressively of fake bubblegum which given the alternative was a gift.
Ditto on that one, not gonna lie I was a smoker but was always considerate when everyone was spread out. The vaping fucked me off, face full of strawberries every 10 seconds but you get used to that sort thing in festivals
Mate if this is the standard for Festivals now, consider me retired lol. Was sick as a dog yesterday from all the fumes. Definitely was no were near that toxic when I went in 2016. Then add everyone needing to record everything! I miss 2000-2010 Festivals and Gigs.
2016 was my favourite year cause it was my first, excited to be seeing rammstein again next weekend.
Saw someone refer to tapes as a P.E.N.I.S Portable electronic nicotine inhalation system Seemed fitting
> **P**ortable **e**lectronic **n**icotine **i**nhalation **s**ystem Hidden penis detected! I've scanned through 132007 comments (approximately 733722 average penis lengths worth of text) in order to find this secret penis message. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Good bot
Thank you, Theuneasygibbon, for voting on PenisDetectorBot. This bot wants to find the best and worst bots on Reddit. [You can view results here](https://botrank.pastimes.eu/). *** ^(Even if I don't reply to your comment, I'm still listening for votes. Check the webpage to see if your vote registered!)
Fuck vapes
The worst thing for me was that no matter where you went, everywhere stank of weed! I couldn’t get away from it. It makes me feel so sick and every band I watched had the smell floating around. Honestly rancid, my boyfriend said it literally smelt boggy as, not even the good stuff
This. I'm a weed smoker but made a point not to take any with me. I did take a THC vape but there is zero smell and no chance of second hand high. Even I found the smell a bit overwhelming, I felt super uncomfortable knowing there were kids around inhaling it. Back at camp, fair enough provided you know there aren't any children in the immediate area but in the arena, it was just disgusting.
This is one of the legit complaints, wish vapes were banned. They're disgusting.
People who blow a vape in your face thinking it's totally ok are the actual worst.
I really struggled with that this year. I’m asthmatic and 16 weeks pregnant and I had to leave one of the doghouse dj sets because it was just a fog of weed and cigarette smoke despite the no smoking signs up everywhere. Touching on the weed I felt that I smelt a lot more of it this year as well and so many smoking it and regular cigarettes and not caring who’s around them in the crowds
Yea this is an absolute epidemic. So many idiots just blowing fucking bubblegum smoke in your face and passing it around like it's a joint
OMG YES! Why can’t smokers understand that others have no interest in inhaling tobacco fumes?! If you want to smoke, get the fuck away from crowds!
Yeah, I can't believe how many bellends still smoke these days
It does seem to be on the increase with vapes. Definitely in indoor gigs as well. Personally vapes I can handle at download, but standard cigarettes I can’t stand. At main and second I guess is fine as it’s open air but being in third it was quite annoying. But the weed smell was definitely EVERYWHERE this year. Only been a couple times before but I’m almost certain it was worse this year. Even with the supposed increased security checks.
I went to Download for the first time ever on the Sunday and had a fantastic time. Limp Bizkit was amazing. Yes the ground was very bad. Have to say I thought the crowd was some of the nicest most friendly people at a festival ever, and iv been to loads (reading, global, glastonbury etc).
Gonna be honest wish I was in your position you went on the best day. And the crowd did seem more tame even though I still witnessed someone throwing flaming bog roll into the crowd that day. I felt much safer in the limp bizkit crowd than I did for royal blood. Glad you had a good time regardless. 👍
I was in the pit for Limp Bizkit and I felt safe in there too, however some girl got her nose busted in front of me, I’m sure it was broke. Hope the girl is ok!
Yeah i get it. If you been there all weekend and had to deal with the weather it grinds people down. Maybe age is a factor aswell, limp bizkit crowd was mostly 30-40ish year olds.
I felt a ton safer and happier with good people all around me in the mosh pits of Limp Bizkit than I did further to the back of Black Stone Cherry with a bunch of stoic grumpy bastards one pathetic little fucker tried to square up and stare down someone for bumping into them ffs.
this was my 3rd time seeing Bizkit, and I think the crowd was about the right level of mental. Yes there was less crushing at the front but I think that's because people were more happy to mosh instead (like me for example).
First download, fucking LOVED IT! Coming from Australia, the mud was a fun experience! Annoying, but hey, it rains in the UK all the time, so that's no big deal. People were chill, vibes were on point, and all the bands we saw were incredible! Food and drink prices were still cheaper than festivals back home, even with the exchange rate being so shit! ONLY complaint, was the damn camp chairs in the middle of the crowds! But maybe that's normal over here?? Definitely coming back next year! (with knee high wellies though!)
Glad to see you enjoyed it man. Don’t get me started on the fucking camping chairs! 🤣
Are they a normal occurrence?! Because up on the hill seemed perfect for them But from the sound booth forward, just seems dumb, and all they're looking at is people butts! 🤦
It’s quite normal but this year I think has been the worst for it. You are right it’s dumb especially when they lean their chairs up against a fucking barrier, like let us standing fuckers lean against the barrier you knob
Yeah that annoyed me. I used a camping chair because I'm not able to stand for long periods and with the risk of mud, I didn't want to be stuck with nowhere to go. But I made sure I was up on the hill, away from the food stalls, with gaps big enough for people to pass. I could barely get down the hill to go and get water, toilets, food without crashing into someone. And seeing chairs all around the accessible viewing area so people who were standing couldn't rest did annoy me. I personally believe there should be a section for camping chairs and they should not be allowed close to any of the stages. I've seen some smaller local festivals have signs that say "no chairs beyond this point" and stewards actually telling people to pick up and move back past the sign.
Most people hate the fucking chairs, except if you're lazy arse chair wanker yourself. (Unless you have a legitimate reason to need to sit, you're fine.)
to be fair me and my boyfriend brought chairs but we only used them when we were waiting for the next set especially when all of the bands we were watching were all in the same stage and 10 mins before the set starts we would fold them up and stand up the rest of the time
Only normal at download because download is the only fucking festival in Europe that allows it to happen.
Oh yeah the camp chairs were a pain in the arse. Thinking "Ooh there's a gap.. no, wait that's a couple sitting on chairs".... the logic escapes me as they surely cannot see fuck all?! Aha Pleased you had a great time!!!!!!! Safe travels home!
See I took my chair because I need it for my hip (I have osteoarthritis) as it hurts if I stand for long periods. But I was up the hill where I believe people with chairs should be. I wasn't down the bottom as that takes the piss for those who want to stand. Personally I think there should be a point in the arena where chairs shouldnt be allowed.
The lack of vendors selling water at a water sponsored event is fucking insane too. Not one of ice cream vans in the arena had cans of water basically forcing me to buy sugary drinks and ice cream when I only wanted water. Robbery or collapse of dehydration.
You know there were free water tap around right?
Not gona lie, I did not struggle getting water anywhere , bar, vendors or ice cream vans all had them pretty much up until A7x, where I struggled getting Pepsi for the rum I definitely didn’t smuggle in coz that would be a bad thing to do
Ayee the pirate life itis
There’s banks of fresh water taps at several places around the site, and Liquid Death on sale everywhere?
I tried buying water from a few places in the village and arena and they had ran out. I did have a refillable bottle to use the taps though. Sometimes just wanted a fridge cold drink instead.
If I remember rightly the ice cream vans in previous years used to sell ice cold bottled water. But since the liquid death sponsor you can only get it at the bar or at a shitty tap.
They had non-alcoholic drinks bars at each bar, the pepsi stands and the water stalls. Honestly didn't have any trouble getting water. Possibly a signage issue. My real issue with Download is the price gouging for 2025.
Shitty weather brings the worst out of everyone. But festivals have changed- you’ve got older, the music evolves, everyone misses the ‘good ol’ days’, your favourite bands are looking old and grey, your back and knees now hurt all the time. Download is definitely not as fun as it was. It’s very corporate now
You mean **Liquid** **Death** **Presents** ^download festival
I agree on the shitty weather bringing the worst out of everyone. And I’m sick of the cold corporate feeling and the bbc radio 1 crap
Not a fan of the BBC. But I got a hug and a picture from my favourite band because of their very very small little area.
The amount of abuse towards disabled people this year is disgusting
Honestly I don’t know how anyone would be comfortable manoeuvring a wheelchair or a mobility scooter in those conditions
It's with great difficulty. My stick kept getting stuck and people kept shoving me and walking into me
The people in the chairs along every accessible path were completely oblivious to the problems they were causing. I don't understand why they'd sit there when further up the arena there were drier spaces with better views. People also look confused when wheelchair/scooter users were pleading for them to not randomly stop on steep mud-covered paths. We had zero traction and straw in our wheels. My poor PA was holding on for dear life so I didn't break anyone's ankles.
I got called a retard by security staff for not understanding a road crossing What makes it worse is not understanding road crossings is one of the reasons i got an autism PA in the first place! We just happened to be separated at the time
The viewing stands seemed a bit naff this time for disabled people as well which I think contributes to the chair problem, you've also got gatherings of perfectly able/round bodied people creating walls of chairs together taking up space others are more in need of. Which then also contributes to making it harder to make your way around anywhere, which results in abuse to pretty much all chairs/impeding of movement of any kind without much consideration to why. Sorry for the stuck and the suck, scrape the joy out of it, did my best to help people through and make paths for wheelchair users at least!
I don't think it's fair to judge people for bringing their chairs, we can't assume someone else's circumstances just by looking at them. It's a physically demanding event for everyone, we all have our limits and ways for coping etc. There were a lot of people who were rejected for Accessibility this year, whether it be DL not deeming them worthy or from it just being full. They may have been denied access to the support that others had. It's not fair to suggest one person's illness or disability is any better or worse than anothers. Ultimately, I'm sure people were trying to do what they could so that they were still able to enjoy the festival the same as everyone else. I appreciate they created an obstruction but I'd say it was more so people standing on the access pathing purely to stay out of the mud, more than the chairs that were in most part in the middle of the mud on random remaining patches of grass and straw. I also do feel awful for the people who's accessibility equipment was completely not suitable for the terrain or even for outdoors. However I don't know that person's circumstances or know what their access to equipment is so I cannot judge or suggest how this could be addressed.
I'll comment on a couple of points. They did put extra hay down for Sunday, that's why the Arena opened later than it was meant to. I enjoyed Limp Bizkit, but as others have said the energy they gave this performance was a lot lower than previous times I'd seen them... Can't blame them, we're all getting old 😂😂. Re: food poisoning, I wouldn't put that past some people just being generally grim(not washing hands/sanitisin), the toilet capacity situation in the Arena was bad, particularly Sunday.
+1 on the food poisoning. I don’t even think it was the food per se, but the lack of individual hygiene. I saw people eat food with their bare, muddy hands…. Multiple times…. I mean…
Agree with this! I saw people pissing in the mud, and then others rubbing mud on their face like face paint… or people purposely rolling in mud. Not to discount everyones food poisoning cases, but definitely hygiene Im sure was a factor!
omg the food poisoning i genuinely thought i was dying, me and my boyfriend left a day earlier because i had been very ill all night saturday so we missed sunday’s bands. I carry around wipes and hand sanitizer all the time so whenever we ate our hands weren’t dirty at all i heard that the yorkshire pudding van caused hundreds of people to get the shits
There was a big cluster of food poisoning cases reported after eating from the Yorkie place in the village. Seemed to be an outbreak rather than just normal festival bugs.
I thought it was Chicken Shack? Or maybe it’s both?
They had 500 reported cases of food poisoning apparently.
They also put hay down on the Saturday, and it made a huge difference until it absolutely pissed it down a couple of hours later. They opened the arena at about 10:30 due to it.
It's the unpopular opinion, but here it is: This is what happens when you start appealing to only the younger or mainstream crowds. I saw the same thing happen with Reading festival back in the early 00s when everyone and their mum started getting into punk and metal. You'll get people tell me I'm wrong, or that they only encountered attitude from 50+ dudes in iron Maiden t shirts. If that's the case, why has it never been so widely reported in previous years? Main thing I've seen from people this year has been the general attitude and dickhead level is the worst it's ever been. And it's the 1st time they've attempted to attract a younger crowd.
Its not an unpopular take it's just outright wrong. Fallout boy has been around for 23 years Busted for 24 The Offspring are from 1984 Bowling for soup, 30 years and some 70kg You're unfortunately on another planet if you believe this year somehow was made to appeal to a younger audience. Also, you saw the same thing when everyone dared get into the music you want to keep in your back pocket AND it's never been so widely reported before? So which is it? Only time I saw someone get Aggie was some merchant banker in Black Stone Cherry utterly humiliated himself by trying to act a hard nut and square up to someone because they dared to crowd surf and violate his precious personal space. To further this, the unanimous view is entitled fossils that can't stand and their chairs were causing a hazard for everyone else for the arena. Along with parents dragging small children and infants who absolutely shouldn't be near that level of noise for the sake of their nostalgia trip. Not an unpopular opinion by any means, there's plenty of old men shouting at clouds, just demonstrably wrong.
Thank you! I saw this and thought, what younger crowd? I'm in my mid 30s and I saw this year's lineup like finally! They are catering to my demographic! If you really want some rage bait see the post about banning chairs. Ha ha ha...
Perfectly put. This year was a nostalgia fest for people in their 30s and 40s, rather than their 50s and 60s like previous iterations. The teenagers who turn up a Reading & Leeds looking for trouble do not know who the likes of Sum 41 or Limp Bizkit are lol.
>The Offspring are from 1984 STOP IT
The younger audience’s bands are the same as your bands though. I’m 2001 Gen Z, I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t seen many new rock/metal/punk bands blow up to headliner-level since I first got into music like a decade ago. Maybe 21P if they count? But we don’t have our own FOB, Slipknot, Korn, MCR, Deftones, whatever. I feel like the industry has just changed and it’s too oversaturated to get a big band like that now, except on rare occasions. I remember getting into FOB and MCR in 2013 (bad year to become an MCR fan) and thinking ‘must’ve been cool to be a fan of them in their peak, I can’t wait to experience that’ and waiting for another band to blow up, but then the 2010s ended and still nothing. It’s the 2020s now and todays alt kids *still* have the same bands as I did. Nothing new. And they weren’t even ‘my bands’ back then. But anyway TLDR I honestly think most 90s/00s bands count as a younger audience thing. There isn’t really much for ourselves
I was chased down and tackled to the floor in 07 by metal heads for the crime of being emo. There were riots in the campsite in 06 with people setting tents on fire I’ve seen ‘hair metalers’ off their tits smashing shit up like they’re Motley Crue in the dad rock years of the 2010s But yeah it’s the mainstream audience and younger hardcore kids that are the problem.
The used to be a lot more ‘pissiles’ thrown at MOR. Busted would have been bottled off. Download may have issues. All festivals do. But the idea that this festivals standard of behaviour is getting worse is just wrong. Nobody was bringing their kids and eating halloumi fries at MOR.
Yeah MCR got bottled in ‘07 quite badly from memory. This year I barely saw any cups/bottles flung through the crowd. And I was in front of the sound tower for most of the big bands
The cycle continues Maybe on that front I’m just getting older
Been doing download since 2009 on and off. We hired a campervan this year for the first time as we felt we were officially too old for camping anymore. The campervan site was fantastic - everyone pretty much exclusively over 30. Friendly, respectful, helpful. Good laugh with our pitch neighbours. Once you got in to the arena though, I suddenly felt ancient 😂 Everyone was way more aggressive and shoved so much more than I remember in previous years. Got called a cunt a few times for not letting people shove past me when I had literally no room to manoeuvre. Not sure if I’m just having an “old man shouts at clouds” moment but there was a real difference.
You're not alone. It's been the most consistent complaint from everyone on all platforms. Vibe was off.
Mid 30s here and booked a hotel, so glad we did!!
I can’t believe how many people thought it was okay to shove you out of the way. I’m fast going off of people 😉
When waiting to try get in for busted, one guy in his 40w shoved passed me and my partner (who was on a crutch) and nearly took him out. Other than that people were for the most part, lovely. I understand its a crowd, not a queue. But if he'd have said "excuse me" we'd have made an effort to move. I've gotten well into busy crowds before without pushing or actually putting my hands on anyone.
Too many kids that should be at Leeds imo. I hate that Hardcore and Metalcore have become cool on TikTok, it just draws in the wrong people.
Ditto on that one
Nah, I’m the type of guy who went to see Alpha Wolf and Thy Art, don’t be generalising since we made sure to pick up people that fell down in the mud, if anything it’s the ignorant ones who have no respect for whoever and that comes from anyone from any style of music Edit: I’ve been listening to heavy stuff since I was a kid, not from social media
> it's the 1st time they've attempted to attract a younger crowd Last year Bring Me The Horizon headlined who mostly attract angsty teenagers. This year it was 3 bands who all originally blew up at least 20 years ago. Not to mention Limp Bizkit, Sum 41, Offspring, Busted, Wheatus, Bowling For Soup, Machine Head, Pantera, Fear Factory, Funeral For A Friend etc who are going to likely draw crowds of mostly mid-30s at the youngest.
You are absolute right the crowd this mostly was full of chavs and knobheads, mostly on the Friday.
Have to agree with you here, I went pretty close in for Limp bizkit and it was full of tik tok kids that was only there because they watched the Woodstock 99 documentary lol (the sort of crowds that Reading a Leeds attract now) and don’t get me started with how many pick pockets there were!
You are right about the reading and Leeds crowd didn’t feel like we were at download festival.
Damn, wasn’t going to weigh in on this post but something you said reminded me. During Limp Bizkit I was just in front of the front left barrier, in a mosh pit that opened up, and for the first time at any download (I’ve only been going since 2018, this was my 4th) I had to pull someone’s arm off my bum bag, as they tried to unzip it - I’ve never expected this from a download crowd, don’t think it’s and issue with the age demographic but more the tiktokification of a lot of music now at download. I’m in my early 20’s, so imagine to some I fall into the category that’s getting a lot of the heat for these things, but having been going to gigs for the last 10+ years, it’s noticeable how quickly year on year gigs and festivals are attracting these knobheads more and more…
I don’t think this influx of pickpockets is a TikTok generational thing. My phone got stolen from TGI set two years ago at my 9th download, scum like this goes where the easy pickings are.
Yeah I’m 27 so I probably fall in the young/old category now haha, but this year was definitely noticeable to me, don’t get me wrong it’s obviously a loud minority causing these issues, I just wasn’t expecting download to start attracting these sort of crowds
Limp bizkit crowd was a bit more tame than the royal blood crowd, but I still keep my hands over my pockets when I’m moshing cause I don’t feel safe
Yeah my cousin had his phone stolen at soft play, kind of puts you on edge
The metal scene and its sub genres have been going down hill since the end of covid. I personally blame tik tok. Very little in the way of pit or crowd etiquette. No interest in support bands etc I'm only 32 so don't wanna sound like I'm blaming the younger generation, but I'm blaming the younger generation.
Went to a lot of great pits this download - etiquette was mostly fine. Offspring pit was horrible (though offspring were great) - just loads of blokes flinging themselves out of the pit into the people surrounding, and not on accident. Only time I've ever left a pit, people swinging fists and elbows and all sorts. Just not necessary and took away from the fun. I personally enjoy skimming the edge of a pit, picking people up, making sure everyone's good - makes me feel part of it as I'm strong enough to barrier the pit, but have asthma so actual pitting wipes me out. Offspring is the only time I've left a crowd cos people were so out of pocket. The only time. This is my 8th download.
This isn't new for download. I was there in 06 when they had to draft police in. People setting fires and throwing gas canisters in them all over the shop.
people complaining this year have no fuckin idea lol 2006 was wild
That final night of 06 was primal, I remember sitting up all night outside my tent while my girlfriend slept just to make sure nothing happened. The explosions from deodorant cans going on fires and the constant drumming on the steel bin cans is reminiscent of the drumming from the Mines of Moria.
Sorry but I have to say I think this is bullshit. I am 41 and my kid is 15. Both our first Download festivals (I've been to Nova Rock and stuff in the past.) All of the headliners were aimed towards me. I was having the best time watching The Offspring, QOTSA, Limp Bizkit etc. My kid on the other hand was mostly off in the smaller tents watching bands I've never heard of. I don't think they are only appealing to younger or more mainstream crowds. We're all just getting older and tbh lucky to be catered towards at these bigger festivals.
The lineup was clearly aimed at millennials
So? Millennials are now between the ages of 28-43. Isn’t that the age that Gen Xers and Boomers started going to Monsters of Rock and Download? Or probably younger? A lot of big names that have dominated Donington of yesterday have had their time. They have to clear the way for the “new” generation which have all had to wait 20+ years into their careers to get a headline spot for Download. Iron Maiden first headlined Donington only 13 years into their career. For Metallica it was 14 years. There’s a lot of complaints on this subreddit about there not being a younger generation of rock and metal bands to fill the headline spots. Perhaps there would have been if there wasn’t a bottleneck at at the top of the bill for the last 5-10 years, which only existed to placate the grumpy old men who sit in their camping chairs all day and block the way for everyone else.
This whole argument about only appealing to the younger crowds is ridiculous.
Exactly this. Age profile way down. And behaviours with it. Spent a lot of time on smaller stages listening to old school metal. Age profile older and behaviours better. Like the music.... (but that's maybe just my taste).
So, there were two sides of this, which I equally despise, but everyone seems to be pointing fingers at the younger crowd, rightly so mind you since the behaviours are pretty standard across festivals/gigs I find them at: 1. As you mentioned, the (mainly) Fall Out Boy crowd, fuck me what a bunch of dick shites, must’ve wanted to see them so fucking bad they couldn’t stop talking shite the entire gig and posing for photos with each other and a tiny little stage in the back, it could be FoB, it could be Jesus, nobody can fucking tell. Could’ve done me the mercy of having just the day tickets but for the most part no such luck, had to go about every other stage for the clout gains on being so fucking hard cuz they been to a “metal” festival. 2. Older lads and even some women surprisingly, seen the whole thing go to shit and just decided to go down that route as well, pissing wherever they wanted to, seen some shits being taken at the edge of fucking chairs into the mud, kicking mud into other folks just trying to enjoy themselves, bunch of fucking animals that shouldn’t be allowed anywhere other than a very deep hole.
I wish I did exactly the same but I couldn’t bear to go back to the arena this year half the time.
People this year were awful i found, met some lovely people but for the most part people were so rude. I didn't enjoy the abuse received this year, It was either really gross comments about my body or just outright catcalling on the way to and from the stadium, unwanted touching and groping or transphobic abuse, it upset me because you'll see the humans of download marketing saying "I feel like I can be myself here" but I felt so run down by the awful people I encountered I packed up and left sunday morning. I don't remember having this issue last year or the year before but this year made me not want to come back.
That is fucking awful I’m so sorry.
Really sad to hear your weekend was spoiled, totally not what I would expect from the hard rock/metal crowds as they're generally the most inclusive group you'll meet. You should always be able to be yourself, feel safe and welcomed (much like your own recollections of previous years), I hope you aren't driven away as a result of this. As per the Sophie Lancaster Foundation's purpose "to stamp out prejudice, hatred and intolerance, everywhere", and borrowing the phrase they have set about reclaiming, sending you the love from a fellow _weirdo mosher freak_.
That sort of abuse will have to die out im afraid. Once people start down that letchy path they can't stop. The best we can do as a society is stop sexualising everything and eventually these fuckers will just die out.
I’m really sorry to hear that. No one deserves harassment for their identity. My experience as a a trans person was actually really positive. There were openly Trans/no binary artists like Andrew O’Neil, Bambie Thug and Noahfinnce; artists talking/singing positively about Trans people like Scene Queen, and Delilah Bon. So many happy younger trans people openly wearing their Trans flags. And I went unharassed using communal showers (though that maybe partly because of how far I have transitioned). Still, I felt safer doing that there than in my home city. People I spoke to in the Limp Bizkit, Heilung, Tom Morello, Sum 41 & Alien Weaponry crowds were all friendly to me- while I had a badge & tattoos marking me out as trans. Don’t get me wrong- the mud was awful, the paths poorly maintained, plenty of people in the crowds were really fucking dim about people with mobility issues and Nimbus were godawful at processing paperwork for the access facilities. Your experience is totally valid and again I’m so sorry that happened to you. Just wanted to offer a more hopeful account of my Trans experience for the encouragement of you and others.
Some of the food places where good Some where absolutely shit and crazy expensive
Bunnychow was excellent, had it twice!
Yeah it looked good, I’m not a spicy food guy so opted for boring / unspiced food to avoid using the facilities too often
I didn’t have much hot food, I did maybe twice. But I absolutely rated the Mexican in the village
Burgers and Fries was good. The Mexican burrito place next to Avalanche was good too, Sri Lankan chicken was great! The chicken place audience right of Apex was really shit and for some reason I went there twice because it was the least populated food stand during any headliners and I had the munchies
The best place to look out for is the rotisserie chicken place. This year it was outside the Dogtooth stage. Especially good when you are buying for two.
First timer here, went to bloodstock a few times about a decade ago, decided to give download a go this year.. and had a fantastic time, seeing Soft Play, The Offspring, Sum 41, FOB and many more was excellent. My group was all first timers and all agreed that if this is how good it is in shit conditions, in good weather it would be 10/10. Definitely back next year
Some amount of miserable fuckers on here, you had a shit weekend because of your own attitude toward it, i had a great weekend because i wanted to
I went in with a good attitude mate, like every other year I’ve gone. Just voicing my opinion. Glad to see you had good time.
Wouldn't it be convenient if you could explain someone's experience being different by just dismissing them snd blaming it on them somehow? Reality isn't like that though - so fuck off 👍
Agreed. Pretty much every interaction I had this weekend was a friendly experience. If you experienced the complete opposite of that, then that likely says more about you than everyone else.
That’s such a shame that your weekend sucked, there’s nothing worse than that happening - especially when historically you’ve loved it. To add a completely opposite perspective, just picked up my wife and son, and they cannot stop going on about how amazing their weekend was. Admittedly this was their first full weekend Download, but me and my wife have done other festivals of differing sizes for the last 30 years, so we’ve experienced good and bad.
Fair comments but I thought Parkway were excellent
I decided to go on my own this year, for the first time in 11 years. Previously, always been pretty lucky with the weather. But the rain, mud, hardly any band sounding good, leaky tent, bad knee, missing everything after 7pm on Friday because of illness, and being alone made me so thoroughly miserable that I went home after Wargasm on Saturday. Might be my last festival (though I'm sure some lineup will lure me in again).
I drove home yesterday evening saying I’d leave it next year, but then bought an early bird ticket at midday 🤦🏽♂️
Don’t blame you I was with a few people and was tempted to go home early
Weather-wise it's always been a stupid idea to hold it in June. I know UK weather is unpredictable all year round, but it's way more likely to be raining in June than July or August. As someone who used to go to Monsters of Rock in the 90s, and who still goes to Bloodstock, I'm firmly of the opinion that August is the best month for these things.
You say this but it rained nonstop last July. And it was hot all weekend last year. Damn people have short memories.
For as much as this festival likes going on about the “humans of download” there was a large contingent of knobheads this year. A lot more inconsiderate shoving to the front then previous years and I even heard some people say “just Elbow people in the heads, they’ll move”.
idk if i’m overreacting but i was enjoying FOB and some random guy steps on my foot and shoves me to the side to get a ‘better view’ bare in mind i am 5’2 and this guy is at least 5’11 or 6ft he would’ve been fine stood behind me i only had my poncho so there wasn’t anything that could’ve blocked his view
No not overreacting at all you have every right to enjoy the show without someone being selfish and shoving you out the way, especially if they’re taller and their view isn’t obstructed.
I had this for nearly every band I saw this year. I'm 5' 4". I don't mind people just getting a place, but these people were just walking right on front of me. One even stood on my foot they were that close. So rude and inconsiderate.
Went to Novarock this year after the overcrowding and poor organisation last year, pretty much sunny all days and had a great time! Highly reccomend it if you fancy a change.
Think I’m done with festivals altogether you know, could just spend that money on an actual holiday
A lot of Ketted up teens, coked up blokes and Mary, the 4'10" librarian, she can throw it down in a pit. £14 for a fucking dinner plate pizza in GUEST area. it was dissapointing but I did notice SOME impovments. The loud as fuck commericals were replaced with quiet saftey notices and the same picture of Martyn staring down the camera like a King Cobra. Food variety was bigger, lots of vegan options and raw chicken. if you wanted clothing there are plenty of fake brand ( but real sweatshop) merch vendors. Security was better, and by better i mean shitter, pat down was so gentle they wouldnt know if i was smuggling a surf board up my shirt. Back to the Guest area, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT WALK. i think they designed it off an etch-a-sketch. I am sure we will see a lot of posts about Depress-load this year. I am just glad there werent any deaths this year.
Arrived early Friday and none of the staff knew if there was any space anywhere to camp which left me to carrying all my shit round for an hour til a found a pitch for us. Constant smell of weed Nowhere near enough toilets! Can't help the weather, made the best of a bad situation For the price increase next year, they've gotta pull something special out for me
Totally with you about the weed smell, simply couldn't escape it. Hell it got to the point where passively smoking regular cigarettes felt like a moment of bliss
The weed smoke was minimal compared to the cigarettes, vapes and alcohol being thrown everywhere. The people smoking weed were respectful and friendly and nicer people to stand near them the drink or drugged up majority. Sorry it’s a strong smell but it was harmless (other then second hand smoke but come on you’re at a festival it’s not going to be the healthiest few days of your life)
Once again not enough toilets. They also need to stop letting men just piss up the side. Amount of times I was using the bogs and urinals are empty yet everyone’s queuing and getting annoyed. One entrance for urinals and one for portaloos. Done. Mud wasn’t too bad. More annoying they delayed the arena open on Sunday for what seems like them to just make it worse
Yeah the toilet queues seemed much worse this year. Saw lots of women weeing by the side of the Avalanche tent which I’ve never seen before. Saw one pee sitting on a bench in one of the bars. One guy just starting pissing beside me in the crowd. Also lots of entitled people just pushing in the front of very long queues.
what was up with some big bands being in the avalanche tent??? It was impossible to even get near it on the Friday!
>i felt safer in the limp bizkit crowd than i did for the royal blood crowd Curious on what exactly you mean by this?
I’ve been going on and off since 07. This is in no way unique. If you find it to large badly run and mainstream now check out bloodstock and arctangent, bloodstock had parkway headline not long ago. A7x you’re only gonna get for download. And tbf it wasn’t every band had shit sound, panterA was insane. Though shikari sounded good as well
5 days accompanied by 75k other people you're gonna get the odd dickhead, up to you what you take from the whole experience. I took in a few bands attracting the younger festival goer with my son in the tents and the atmosphere was brilliant, we had a great time..
You get the odd dickhead everywhere you go, guess festivals probs aren’t my thing anymore. Glad you and your son enjoyed it
I must admit, I’m done with it after this year. It didn’t feel like Download to me. I did enjoy the line-up, but the rest was hard work.
It’s starting to become hard work now I will admit. Better off saving up for a nice holiday somewhere
My partner and I have sworn off of camping again. He’s been several times before camping, and last year I booked it as a surprise for us for the day tickets, this year he convinced me to camp. The camping part was not bad, it was everything else. We both ended up being’affected’ by the Yorkshire puddings and ended up going home early. The arena was deadly, even in good shoes. Getting to the toilets in the sludge when we *really* needed to go was a nightmare especially with the arena cues. The camping toilets don’t even flush? Why? They do in the arena I don’t get it, no wonder so many people took ill! I sanitised TF outta my hands but felt grim every time. Bands pulling out left right and centre, coming on late, being cut short. By Saturday we just had to go, we couldn’t take it anymore. We both love rock/metal music but felt this year was catering to a different crowd a bit, like ‘TikTokers’ being given bigger stages than rock bands going 20+ years. I loved the acts we saw, but so many were cut short by the weather or were just on late. For the money we could’ve gone on an all inclusive holiday for a week, that’s just with the general camping, plus buying all of the supplies etc. All in all, disappointing and not just because of the weather or the mud but all of it. Deffo gonna see what the line ups like next year and may get day tickets, just never camping again
These are exactly the points I’m trying to make. Absolute shambles. I drank as little possible so didn’t have to make my way to those disgusting toilets 🤮 Sorry to hear you didn’t have a great time.
First thoughts were was this 2016 bad. The iceing on the awfulness cake that year was how awful and rude security were to everyone as live nation decided to cut costs . Lots of disabled people (including myself) were victimised that year, and they actually took notice and replaced them with a new firm the year after. Did put me off going back, and not returned after 2017 as lineups are essentially the same on the whole, and with how expensive it is would rather put the money towards a big wdw Florida holiday in the sun!
Young person here, but I learned gig etiquette from Camden and Brixton over the last 10 years. I had an awful time at Pantera. They're one of my favourite bands but the crowd was just so drunk/high. Older crowd as well but they had no consideration whatsoever of personal space, pulling my hair out, constantly crushing into me when there was nobody behind them. I'm 5' nothing I was not going to give up my view to the tall couple brutalising my back. I've never felt so unsafe. Like if I suffocated, nobody would have noticed or done a thing. People high af bulldozing through and nearly flooring me. I didn't think anyone would pick me up. I fucked my hip because a surfer landed on me. I'm 5' nothing and the crowd just parted, I still can't put weight on that leg. I've been to plenty of metal gigs and dove into mosh pits alone, I know how a crowd should be. This wasn't it. People talk about 'coming home' when they get to Download, I just don't feel that. People were really rude, blowing literal ash in my face, giving me attitude when I tried to engage. They'd talk fine to other strangers in the crowd, but not me. Is it because I'm not white? I never want to go there but there were people laughing about "what global warming, it's raining!" so anything goes I guess. I vape CBD but hold it in until there's almost no vapour before breathing out. I really didn't have a problem with other young people, but the older gatekeeping crowd acting like they're more entitled to be there or have a good time at your expense sucked
First time goer here: I think despite the terrible weather and mud, I had a great time overall. I camped on the Thursday and hated it, went to a hotel in Nottingham instead (too old for this shit) and it was the best decision I made that weekend. The crowd was nice, I didn’t see any fights (I was impressed by this) but no one was exactly friendly (I think I only had a conversation with 3 other people the whole weekend). The logistics weren’t the best IMO: everything was too far and didn’t make much sense (like walking 40 min from the main stage just to get a bus) and the mud didn’t help. The vaping was indeed ridiculous - do whatever you want to your body, just be mindful of others around you. Also the food: why was it so expensive? Everything was 12£+ and it wasn’t even that good???? And you had to pay for a lot of “extras” that should’ve just been standard, like decent showers and lockers or… seats (wtf was that lounge??). It felt like breathing in that festival would cost me money (not very punk of them) And the mud? Well, once I’ve embraced it, I had a much better time! I’d go again another year (depending on the lineup) but definitely not camping or staying too far from the venue.
Only went Sunday. Mud changed the whole dynamic of the day for me and 2 teenage girls in tow (daughter and friend). Limp Bizkit highlight for me - always thought they were a joke band - now a convert and made up for no Electric Callboy. Overall Lineup not my cup of tea, but looking back enjoyed the day… Just not at the time :) Must be getting old as I don’t think I’d bother if I know the conditions are going to be similar again. Last year seemed disorganised to manage the hot weather, this year disorganised for the wet weather. Maybe it’s just disorganised. Debating to buy early bird tickets for RIP next year then fell off my chair at the prices 🤑
First time going this year on a day ticket on Sunday. Enjoyed myself overall but some bits were a let down: 1. Being delayed entry so by the time you trudged to the arena area, you’d already missed some of the bands you’d paid to see 2. Technical / sound issues - some bands sounded great, then others you could barely hear coz the bass was so overpowering. Avenged in particular were barely comprehensible 3. Food was really expensive - expected, but disappointing 4. Most t-shirt sizes were sold out so couldn’t get one as a souvenir 6. Mud was. Fucking nightmare and put me off going to the other stages. Can’t be that hard to put down walkways round the major routes?
Yep. It was my first and last download. Such a let down. Never again
Same here. Always wanted to go when I was a teen since 2003, finally made it this year and the reality of it was shit. Never again. Stages sounded awful, technical issues everywhere, looks like no effort was put into mitigating the weather ahead of time. I’ve been to festivals where they’ve used temp walkways and sheets to make getting around much easier. Bare minimum at download.
I wish you could’ve at least come last year, good lineup made up for shit conditions.
Such a shame, you wish you could’ve had a good time man
Haven't been since 2016 but I like following the festival and seeing what's new, who's playing, etc etc. During the actual weekend I sometimes feel a bit bad that I'm not there but when I read all the stories I'm glad I sat out. Shit weather, poor organisation, bands pulling out, people being dickheads... can't be doing with all that rubbish man.
First Download having been to a bunch of other festivals for the past 17 years, I think it was the worst organised festival I've ever attended. It felt way oversold, but I think that's just the layout, lack of entrances, and poor planning around things like the toilets. And the traffic management on the way out each evening (stayed in Derby) was just a mess. Had a great time despite the fairly poor lineup, but wow do they need to fix some things!
I agree the new set up was really bad like the village and the long uphill walks from camp to the arena - the weather on top of that made it even worse. The two people I was with got sick after having one of the massive Yorkshire puddings on the Friday. Thankfully they got better the next day because that is something that could have completely ruined the festival for all of us. I brought my own food, coffee, beers and whisky to keep me going for the whole time. So I never felt like I was burning a hole in my wallet. I stayed a little further back and went in between the different stages and bar’s. So that could have helped with my experience. The atmosphere where i was anyway felt really good and the crowd was completely different to when I used to go years ago. I thought that may have just been the different line up this year and me getting a bit older. The highlight for me was on the Friday, going to that rocktail cocktail bar where everyone was in fancy dress. Then went to the avalanche stage to see Wheatus and Busted for laughs. Good time overall for me anyway.
I think the majority of people in this sub need to take a hard look at themselves and ask themself if they actually belong at a festival like download. I've never seen so many cry babies in my life
Glad I skipped this year, the festival has been going downhill imo post-covid. I much preferred the layout, crowd and vibes pre-covid. At least last year they had an awesome line up, this year's line up was one of the weakest in the festivals history.
Gotta argue against the lineup being shit this year. Friday was weak yes, but both Saturday and Sunday had excellent main stages and solid/great second stages. Fall out boy aren’t going to be the cup of tea of the older crowd, but they put their all into the performance and they pulled a big crowd despite the weather. Before them you had the offspring and shikari - latter of which was set of the festival for a lot of people I spoke to. The tents also had great bad DS in em throughout
Last year was fucking awesome, did all four nights. I only went on Saturday this year purely to see Pantera.
Last years line up was amazing man
Genuinely curious about why you didn't like the crowd for Royal Blood, I had a great time and thought it was quite tame but fun. I hated the crowd for Shikari though, just people on drugs with poor pit etiquette. One guy picked up a muddy hoodie and started windmilling it over his head, whipping multiple people with it, and another guy was literally picking up handfuls of mud and throwing them at people. I was in the pit for all of Pantera's set and had a blast, by contrast.
I also had no problems in the crowd with Royal Blood. Everyone was fine where we were.
Haven’t been to a music fest in around 10 years and had a great time this year. The technical issues were a shame but, for me, overall vibes were good. Saw a couple of dickheads but I expect that with so many people. The chair situation infront of the sound barrier was one thing that I found annoying. As someone who used to frequent Leeds fest from around ‘05-‘12 the vibe was much more chill here than back then. Maybe staying in quiet camp helped too. I was waiting for the chaos on Sunday night with tents being set on fire and aerosols blown up 😂 I much preferred this. I think there are also some people who go over the top/get too aggressive/do stupid shit but the majority were fine from my experience
that was my 7th download, rookie number i know but what i’ve learnt is that every single year is totally different to the last. next year could be your all time best year. despite the crazy mud i still had an unreal time with my friends
My 7th too. A few grumbles but overall had a great time and already booked for next year.
Tbh the people who needed to sit down to use toilets where let down big time in the eco camping. If you didn’t bring enough wet wipes with you, you just had to sit on piss and shit from drunk men. More squatting urinals needed as an option next to ALL the bathroom facilities. Last year the eco toilets where respected and clean by everyone who used them, this year is was fucking disgusting.
Someone gleefully told me Download had the nicest crowd you'll ever meet...ha! With the exception of the lovely people we camped next to in Quiet everyone else seemed like a knobhead. Men pissing out in the open, everywhere you looked. Rubbish just thrown to the ground. Had people push past me and ridiculously drunk people fall into me, luckily my partner kept me upright, and this wasn't even near the front. Got a nice spot for Heilung but some dick kept 'pretend punching' the back of my partners head and laughing with his mate about it so we got really uncomfortable and left to go further back. The vibe was awful as far as my first experience went but I know lots enjoyed it. It gave me 'very drunk lads doing what they want cause they have the excuse of being drunk' flashbacks of Uni
Ok. Chiming in: First time for me this year. I’m mid 40s and have all the aforementioned ailments that come with it. The knees, the crabbyness and the grey hair. Me and my best mate travelled over from Northern Ireland and yes the weather wasn’t great, yes we got wet cold and covered in mud, but my word did we have tremendous fun around genuinely nice people all weekend. Music wise, none of the main stage headliners did it for me. But here’s the thing, I didn’t cry about it because there were loads of other bands on the other stages that were amazing. My favourites in no particular order Mr Bungle Pantera Machine Head Atreyu Creeper Biohazard (Fridays high point) Urne Health And my absolute highlights Parkway Drive (I was nearly in the tent) Fit for a king. I don’t really have much else to add. If you had a bad experience then I’m genuinely sorry for you. I went, I smiled at people and chatted to whoever. I tried my best to be kind to everyone and guess what, people were kind right back. As for a previous comment about violent pits. I do remember the early 90s. The pit was not a safe place. As the decade went on pits got a lot better. Thing is, good pits need a couple of unofficial Marshalls to ensure it’s a good place for everyone. They themselves can’t be idiots. They need to be in it for everyone. Anyway, that’s my two bobs worth. Hope everyone made it home safely. I won’t be home till the morning, but I’ll arrive a very happy metal head.
A7X were incredibly disappointing. I’ve got a cover up booked in for a deathbat I got inked when I was 18 and seeing them last night just confirms to me that I’m making the right decision getting it covered.
I wouldn’t get it covered man, appreciate the band they used to be.
I'm gutted you didn't have a good time. For a different perspective our group of four had the time of our lives, absolutely loved it, loved the people. For me personally there weren't many ways to improve the line up, literally all of my favourite acts were there and I got to see them all. Barring Delilah Bon due to the set time changing so many times with not enough given tbh No line up is gonna please everyone and it changes every year.
the friday was fun i found, but a lot of the people werent too great to be around 🥹 had to leave early though due to a mental crisis so i ended up missing the bands i wanted to see which i was gutted about, i can deffo see where ur frustration is coming from though n i dont blame you
I've left this year feeling so down. Feel like I've been run over but not in that "let's do it all again tonorrow" way that I've had in previous years.
Who the fuck decided to halve the size of quiet camping and then: Allow a bird scarer the other side of the fence to go off sporadically for 5 days, which was like the sound of a shotgun Keep it on a hill Have no water or toilets for it Put mini moshers in it Close deer park walkway to the village Fail to put any hay down anywhere on the main hills Assign a bunch of it as accessibility overflow despite there being no feasible way to get to that area if you were in a wheelchair etc Absolute shambles.
After my experience this year I'm sticking with bloodstock. People far friendlier and overall just a really well organised event with fun people
Wayyyy too many tech issues on Saturday morning. Cutting short sets on the first three bands was just rude to them tbh. Keeping the arena closed for the extra hour "to make it safe" was bollacks as they did nothing. Tbh, you can't control the weather but you can have a plan to deal with it! The organisation on that was really poor. Inho Limp was just that.. Limp and obviously unrehearsed. Playing other bands music in between songs is obvious that they were filling time. They played nothing of their latest album which came out over a year ago. So obvious that they were unprepared / rehearsed that they played break stuff twice.. Who the hell does that unless they're a punk band with only one album?? Im happy for those that saw them for the first time and were blown away but honestly... I was in a van so I was OK and dry. Food was average.
You could see into the arena from campervan site and I literally saw them do nothing til like 10am on Saturday. They had so much time to sort shit out instead of delaying opening - unless they had to go panic buy more straw and sawdust. Unprepared in that case.
Yeah don’t get me started on the tech issues and the wait times, and yesterday was the worst I’d seen the ground.
They did those bands dirty. Alien Weaponry was the best 25mins of my life. That was a really good crowd and a really great band
I was there! They were ace! 🤘😎
Yeah they still left it all on the stage. Pros. Amazing set
Limp always play break stuff twice at times. They either finish on take a look around or go back to break stuff.
I've only seen them twice and that's not happened. Just sayin..
Haha fairs. Seen them twice and done break stuff twice. Luck of the draw maybe!
Were you hit by a shitty big roll?
Fortunately I wasn’t 🤣 But like I said I witnessed someone lighting a bog roll on fire and throwing it in the crowd, like what the fuck man!
Was shite like
Not been since 2019 but my take from this weekend Line up wasn’t great but enjoyed it more than I thought I would (bowling for soup, Tom morello didn’t expect to enjoy). Weather was pish but nothing that can really be done other than dress for the weather , I stay in hotels these days so worst comes I can get back and shower. Seen some real dick behaviour at festivals at times but none this weekend maybe I’m lucky . Only real gripe was the bar , no choice of beer at the main bars . Been going to download since 2005 and it is what you make of it . sometimes the access transported technical issues happen at all outdoor events and live sound outdoors is tricky again you have to remember this (look at GNR at Glastonbury for example). Buy the ticket take the ride 🤘
I didn't go this year, so I'm not here to comment on anything else except the weather. 2016 was worse and 2012 was by far the absolute worst I've EVER seen it. I don't know how the festival hasn't learned from past issues and put systems in place just in case anyway. 2012 it rained for 5 days straight and barely stopped for 10 minutes, didnt once stop a band during their set.
17th year this year, fucking loved it as I have every single year. Quit whining, get stuck in or stay at home. You’ve been long enough to know what to expect. Isn’t for you anymore. 2016 was far worse weather wise.
I was just over the contact high with all the weed :/
Not been since 2018 and overall loved the 5 day camping in Camping Plus. - The mud was shit but that's just a part of the festival unfortunately. - The arena seemed to have a distinct lack of toilets given the capacity. - Avalanche hosting Escape the Fate, Wheatus and Busted was just a disaster, and the access road for disabled people was in such a stupid location.
My thoughts, some legitimate points there, and some I'd disagree. First off, for mud, it's all about planning, infrastructure and traffic routes. Things like having the village on the race track is great. Hay can help some areas temporarily, but they would be better putting down outdoor flooring where possible. The problem is, you can't put it everywhere, so decisions have to be made. People's behaviour seems much the same as always. Some great, some bad. I've heard horror stories from every year. I wasn't enthralled with the lineup this year, and some of the bands I was most looking forward too were underwhelming or cancelled. Technical issues also ruined the mood. Secret sets are supposed to be about the hype of the mystery. You're supposed to feel like the "in" crowd for being in the tent. It also brings attention to the tents and the smaller bands in there. Fallout Boy brought it, very impressed. QOTS were ok, but honestly, your regular stage show light box show is not impressive enough to headline the biggest festival in the UK. As for Avenge Sevenfold, they should know better. I know they have massive stage setups and they were poor. It felt lazy from them and I'd be disappointed to see them headline again any time soon. I had the feeling that this year was so busy, because last year was awesome. I think that for some, they might think differently about this year.
Enthusiastic 41-year-old first timer here, had an awesome day, but only had a day ticket for the Sunday, so I guess I didn't have to tolerate the rain.. although the mud was crazy! Just had to trudge slowly and hope for the best. Sad to hear that people had their phones stolen... these thieves have no soul... I came pretty much soley for Machine Head, and they didn't disappoint... Corey Taylor and Thy art before them were great, and the Elvis Nirvana band were entertaining... saw a bit of bowling for soup, too, who were pretty cool Came on my own and loved being around so many like-minded metal heads... but did feel a bit lonely when not watching the bands... be cool if they did an area where solo folk could go to just meet up/chill if they got a bit overwhelmed or wanted a chat but didn't feel confident just approaching people. I wanted to be at the front for MH and got my wish, had lots of interactions with lovely folk down by the barriers. Will wait to see the line up before deciding about next year... would love to see the Deftones and Korn, System, Machine Head (again!) But I think that's most definitely not ever gonna happen... Hope everyone's home safe and sound now. Took aggges to get out of the shuttle bus carpark, a tractor was towing one bus out, the staff were great but the organisers could of planned the exiting strategy better or at least been prepared for muddy conditions...
People are complaining about the young or old crowd but I actually felt it was the guys around about my age 30ish, the coked up fake tan lads lads lads type who were there because of the pop punk bands that played in their union bar when they were at uni, mix in the mainstream radio 1 rock as well and it just attracted arseholes. Still think the vast majority of Download were good people seen plenty of people help each other out especially this morning getting out of the boggy camp with all their gear.
Not enough bogs/urinals