Keep It On The D.L

A festival booker sounds like one of those jobs that can be so awesome, but so frustrating at times. When it comes to a festival like Download, the booker (Andy Copping) has got so many people to try and keep happy. On top of that, he and his team have got to do all they can to get people excited about the latest editions to the festival. Now, we all found out, thanks to their on stage announcement, that Shinedown were playing Download. This must be so frustrating for Andy as there is nothing he can do to stop bands from announcing their slots before he does. He can ask very nicely for them to keep quiet until they are announced, but if it slips out when a lead singer is talking to the crowd, who all go on to Facebook and Twitter and share the news...what can he do? In my eyes, there is nothing he can do. After the last announcement which came last week, I thought “most of the line up is shaped now, and I can’t imagine the rest of the announcements catching my attention”. This isn’t a bad thing as there are already so many bands that I want to see playing, that anymore announcements of bands I want to see could cause a real problem for me.

Terrorvision were announced a little while ago (I forget which announcement they formed and instead of looking back through my blog, I’m just going to leave it at that) and with the last announcement, they appeared on the poster playing Friday on the Second stage. Today, they have posted an update to their Facebook page which confirms the running order for that stage and where they fit in. Awkwardly for Andy though, they have listed two bands that have not been confirmed by the festival yet. As of typing, the update to their Facebook page has been removed but the damage is done. It is being discussed on the festival’s forums and people will have shared that update to their own Facebook pages (hell, I did). If I were to speculate, then I would say that the fact the update has been removed is confirmation that the two bands are indeed playing Download. After all, if it was false, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Download could just post of their social media pages “this leak ISN’T true” and that’s it dead. The two bands that Terrorvision have leaked are Europe and Symphony X. Both bands are absolutely quality and are also great live. This is excellent news as far as I am concerned.

I attempted to post stage times last time I blogged about Download and it was a complete mess if I’m honest. It was a complete ball ache to do but assuming this leak is correct, that would mean the Friday would have all the slots for Main and Second stage filled. Using last year’s times, this is how the stages are looking:

Main Stage
21.00 – 22.50 The Prodigy
19.20 – 20.20 Chase & Status
18.00 – 18.50 Machine Head
16.50 – 17.35 Billy Talent
15.40 – 16.25 NoFX
14.40 – 15.15 Fear Factory
13.50 – 14.20 Cancer Bats
13.00 – 13.30 Rise To Remain

Second Stage
21.35 – 22.50 Slash
19.40 – 20.50 Nightwish
18.20 – 19.20 Opeth
17.15 – 17.55 Little Angels
16.10 – 16.50 Europe
15.20 – 15.50 Terrorvision
14.30 – 15.00 Symphony X
13.45 – 14.10 The Quireboys
13.00 – 13.25 Red, White & Blues

So my day would look like this:

13.00 – 13.30 Rise To Remain (Main)
13.50 – 14.20 Cancer Bats (Main)
14.40 – 15.15 Fear Factory (Main)
15.40 – 16.25 NoFX (Main)
16.25 – 16.50 Europe (2nd)
16.50 – 17.35 Billy Talent (Main)
18.00 – 18.50 Machine Head (Main)
18.50 – 19.20 Opeth (2nd)
19.40 – 20.50 Nightwish (2nd)
21.00 – 22.50 The Prodigy (Main)

Can’t complain about that day at all. Would have liked to have seen Slash but after much debate, I think that I’d prefer to see The Prodigy. I’m also a little bit gutted as I won’t be able to see Symphony X if I have those times right (or indeed close) but that happens at festivals sometimes. Just to finish off, apparently Theory of a Deadman confirmed on stage that they are also playing Download. I am interested to see what stage they are playing.