Music Fans Slam Download Festival’s 2023 Lineup For Being “Lazy”

The lineup for Download Festival’s 2023 edition has been confirmed – but music fans seem far from excited at next year’s roster. 

Download, a leading player in the rock events industry, will celebrate its 20th anniversary in June 2023 with a lineup of over 60 music heroes. Although it is usually a three-day event, Download’s management announced the festival would return to Leicestershire’s Donning Park with an extra day.  

A quick peek at its lineup made festival-goers think they were seeing double. In an unprecedented move, legendary rock band Metallica will perform two different sets on both Thursday and Saturday. 

Although each setlist will be unique and won’t feature repeated songs, many festival-goers slammed the decision as “just fucking lazy.” Another user commented on the Download Festival’s lineup announcement saying, “imagine being charged to see a dad rock band twice in a weekend.” 

Mask-wearing heavy metal band Slipknot is also part of the headliners, which marks the group’s third performance at the rock festival in the last six years.

Download also received backlash for repeating the same music acts, as one Twitter user said organizers could “put a smidge of effort” since they “are hiking the prices up.”

Other Download Festival fans expressed their disappointment by calling out the event for missing other important artists. Rammstein, AC/DC, Ozzy Osburne, and Iron Maiden are some of the bands that – according to the Twitter comments – fans would have wanted as part of the festival’s lineup. 

But some festival-goers were pleased with the announcement. “BMTH and Metallica x2 is worth the price of admission alone for me. Top it off with Architects, Lorna Shore, Parkway Drive and Ghost and it’s the most inspired bit of booking from DL in years,” one user said. 

Other headlining acts that will perform at Download Festival’s 20th anniversary are Disturbed, Placebo, Within Temptation, and Disturbed.