Burton Mail

Rock giants join line-up as Download to return

- By ZENA HAWLEY zena.hawley@reachplc.com

DAY tickets for next year’s Download Festival have gone on sale as 17 more bands are announced for June 2021.

These include Megadeth, Descendent­s, Boston Manor, Northlane, Venom Prison, Salem, The Skints, Renounced, Static Dress and The Injester.

They join the line up announced at the end of July, headlined by KISS, Biffy Clyro and System Of A Down, bringing the total number of acts on the list so far to more than 85.

The three-day festival at Donington Park, Castle Donington, dubbed the “spiritual home of rock”, is scheduled to take place from June 4 to 6 at its usual venue at Donington Park -– having been forced to cancel this year because of the coronaviru­s pandemic.

Megadeth, one of the Big Four of American thrash metal, will be coming to Donington for the first time since 2016, as second stage headliners.

Having recently celebrated their 35th anniversar­y, the legendary band, led by frontman Dave Mustaine, are set to play a selection of their biggest hits for Download.

And punk rock legends Descendent­s will be playing Download Festival for the first ever as third stage headliners.

The California­n punk band was formed in 1977, and can count Blink-182, The Offspring, Green Day and NOFX in the list of bands who cite them as one of their biggest inspiratio­ns.

Download could not be more excited to welcome them as third stage headliners in 2021.

Creeper frontman Will Gould will not only be playing with Creeper at Download 2021, but now also with his new project UK duo Salem.

He said: “Excited and humbled to announce that Salem will be performing at this year’s Download Festival.

“Looking forward to staying out of the sun with you all in 2021.” And it’s not all US

bands as Blackpool pop punk favourites Boston Manor will also be playing.

Other British acts announced include; Welsh death metal outfit Venom Prison, London hardcore five-piece Renounced, exciting new emo outfit Static Dress, Lancaster rock band Massive Wagons, and London reggae punks The Skints.

Previously announced bands include:

Deftones, KORN, Steel Panther and The Distillers and camping tickets went on sale in August.

The appearance of Kiss at the festival will also

be a UK exclusive. 2020 was due to be their final ever Download appearance, but due to Covid-19, they’ll be bringing their show to 2021 instead.

The final day headliners are System of A Down and bassist Shavo Odadjian said: “We’re disappoint­ed we weren’t able to make it over this year, but we’re looking forward to next.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Mostly, we all just want to make sure everyone is provided with a safe and secure environmen­t, so we were prepared to wait as long as we needed to.”

 ??  ?? Fans in 2019
Fans in 2019

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