Download Festival 2020 is go! Maiden! Kiss! System! Deftones! Korn! Arghhhhhhh!
Iron Maiden, System Of A Down, Kiss and Korn head up a blockbuster first announcement for 2020
It feels like we’ve barely had time to brush the grass off our jeans and wipe the mud from our wellies from this year’s Download Festival, and yet already the 2020 edition has come racing out of the gates with a blockbuster first announcement that’s bound to have metalheads salivating into their collector cups. Ready? Alright, deep breaths: Iron Maiden, System Of A Down, Kiss, Deftones, Korn, Disturbed, Gojira, The Offspring, Of Mice & Men, Alestorm, Black Veil Brides and Daughtry are all playing next year’s festival! Holy shit!
Download 2019 was widely seen as a huge success for the festival, the likes of Slipknot, Def Leppard, Tool, Slayer, Slash, Smashing Pumpkins and more establishing one of its biggest line-ups ever and a host of career-best performances earning the weekend rave reviews. It’s perhaps understandable, then, that they’d want to waste no time getting stuck into next year, and the first batch of bands revealed runs the full gamut of rock and metal bands – from bona fide legends to modern-day arenafillers to exciting younger names. Put short: we’re in for another big weekend.
Of the first round of 2020 announcements, the biggest talking point is undoubtedly Saturday night headliners Iron Maiden. Metal’s most beloved band are currently finishing off the second incarnation of their Legacy Of The Beast tour (see page 56), and have evidently decided to bin the idea of taking a year off. “Next year we will play a number of countries and cities we have yet to play on this incredible tour, so it’s terrific to be able to return to Download in 2020,” says singer Bruce Dickinson. “We will certainly go to town and add a few extra items to the show.”
Headlining the Sunday night are System Of A Down. The metal heavyweights will be welcomed with open arms for what will be their only UK show of the year. “Castle Donington has always had a special place in my heart”, says bassist Shavo Odadjian. “We’re proud and excited to continue its legacy.”
Rock royalty Kiss are also announced as one of this year’s headliners, closing out the Friday night for their final UK show ever. “Download will be the culmination of 47 years of unapologetic bombast and spectacle,” says Paul Stanley. “We will make this a fitting farewell to a country whose music remains the blood in our veins.”
The big names don’t stop there; some of metal’s biggest bands have also been announced for the festival. Nu metal godfathers Korn will be returning to Donington off the back of their rapturously received latest album, The Nothing, which got a 9/10 review from Metal Hammer writer Stephen Hill in last month’s issue. “I’m extremely anxious and enthusiastic at the same time,” jokes guitarist James ‘Munky’ Shaffer, “but I’m looking forward to getting back out there and returning to Download!” Deftones are expected to release a new album at some point in the coming 12 months, and their addition to the Download bill suggests we may just get it this side of the summer. “Download has been a big part of our history,” says drummer
Abe Cunningham of their set. “The fans and organisers have always shown us so much love and support,
Kiss’s headline set will be their final UK show
so when the opportunity to play arises, we answer the call!”
Another band expected to unveil new music in the coming months are Gojira. The French metal titans have been shooting up festival bills in recent years, including a headline slot at Bloodstock Open Air in 2018 and a debut gig at Glastonbury earlier this year. Gojira just don’t do bad gigs, so it’s probably safe to assume they’ll be coming to smash Donington to bits.
Want more big names? How about Disturbed? Last year’s Metal Hammer cover stars will be making another triumphant return to Download for a set bound to be stacked with nu metal classics, modern metal crushers and, you’d imagine, at least a cover song or two.
Alestorm have, against all odds, become one of the biggest British metal bands of the 21st century. Anyone who has seen them live recently knows that they’ve become one of our world’s ultimate big-time party bands, so expect them to cause all kinds of daft pandemonium when they come to Download. They even have a giant rubber duck.
Rounding off the first round of metal announcements are California metalcore mainstays Of Mice & Men, who just recently released sixth album Earthandsky and will be looking to make a big impact after their wellreceived main stage set at Download 2017. They’re joined by Hollywood’s own Black Veil Brides, who released their fifth studio album, Vale, last year, plus pop-punk veterans The Offspring and US rockers Daughtry.
Stay tuned to www.metalhammer. com for further line-up additions, and let us know what you think of this year’s bill at www.facebook.com/ metalhammerreaders.
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2020 TAKES PLACE JUNE 12-14 AT DONINGTON PARK. HEAD TO WWW.DOWNLOADFESTIVAL.CO.UK FOR TICKET INFO