#DOWNLOAD 2014 FESTIVAL LINEUP DOWNLOAD#

True, it seems a bit daft that Linkin Park should headline again after their last recent attempt in 2011. What kind of message does it send to young metal bands if you have to be a dinosaur to be eligible to headline? Heavy music struggles to reach new audiences in today's climate, so a band who can pull off what they've achieved deserve to be celebrated. What do you want? Sabbath, Metallica, Maiden, Motley Crue and Judas Priest on rotation until they die? Avenged Sevenfold are a band that I personally couldn't give two shits about, but for over a decade and six albums they've brought metal to the masses of a new generation, working their way up from sweaty toilet venues to fill arenas. There seems to be a frustrating disposition in rock to automatically assume that older is better. Pretty solid, we can all agree - but you can't help but wonder why. A few examples spring to mind: last year when we were treated to Slipknot, Iron Maiden and Rammstein and the glorious triple-header of AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine and Aerosmith back in 2010.

#DOWNLOAD 2014 FESTIVAL LINEUP DOWNLOAD#

'It's very rare that the Download line-up doesn't upset vast swathes of metalheads. The market is there as metal fans are the most devoted out there, so why divide it?' - Edward Keeble While we have no doubt the rest of the line-up will be 'heavy' we want to see them announcing Devil Driver, Machine Head and In Flames. To pull on the old cliche, it needs to be heavy and hard, because where else can you go to see that kind of music now that nearly every other festival has choked and fallen due to poor ticket sales? It's quite frankly impossible to see at other events. Download on the other hand, is a specialist festival for devoted fans of bands. Herein lies the blunt crux of the problem: the headliners and acts announced so far would be more at home at Reading and Leeds. What this leaves is a very thin and frankly vanilla selection of festivals that attempt to please everyone, but as in the case of the specialist audience expected at Download, would end up pleasing no one. Whilst things have recovered, we have seen various important festivals fall by the way side - including competitor in the metal market Sonisphere. The UK festival economy is still in a fragile state following years upon years of cancellations thanks to a direct consequence of the recession. This is bad for the reason that it seems to be an attempt to popularize what is one of the few fringe music events left in the UK. Yesterday saw the announcement of Avenged Sevenfold as headliners along with Rob Zombie as a special guest, whereas today saw the announcement of Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy. 'This year's Download Festival line-up has caused a fair amount of upset, with a slew of announcements that have been met with extremely mixed reactions.

Download 2014 festival lineup