Metallica have released new pro-shot footage of the band playing Harvester Of Sorrow live.

The song, which was originally featured on 1988’s …And Justice For All, was filmed during the band’s set in St Louis, Missouri, on November 3.

Metallica played at The Dome At America’s Center in St Louis on November 3 and November 5 as part of the ongoing M72 world tour. The tour sees the band perform two shows at every city they visit with no repeated songs.

Metal Hammer attended the band’s twin M72 headline sets at Download festival in Donington, UK, back in June. Journalist Merlin Alderslade gave the nights 4.5-star and five-star reviews, respectively.

Alderslade called night two “the ultimate celebration of heavy metal”, reporting: “[James] Hetfield is on epic form, his voice sounding rich and powerful, his stage banter equal parts moving ("We are Metallica...and so are you") and hilarious (his embarrassed reaction to Lars Ulrich accidentally terrifying a young fan the drummer very sweetly offers to bring on stage draws peals of laughter: "Oh, Lars...Lars makes all the girls cry."). He also remains the coolest motherfucker in rock music, looking like a heavy metal sheriff surveying his township as he strides out on stage, cigar in mouth and squid-adorned ESP in hand, as the band slice through Ride The Lightning instrumental The Call Of Ktulu.

“Donington eats it all up: the scenes that break out during Whiskey In The Jar look like something from a particularly rowdy wedding dancefloor; an explosive One sees everyone full-heartedly singing along to the riff, solo and everything in between; the huge fireworks display that explodes into life during Enter Sandman draw 'Oohs', 'Ahhs' and cheers aplenty. It's the ultimate heavy metal celebration, and no one is holding back.”

Metallica are touring to promote their 72 Seasons album, which they released in April to positive reviews. Hammer journalist Stephen Hill gave the album 3.5 stars.

Metallica will next perform live in mainland Europe, from May to July 2024, then tour the Americas from August until September.

The Smith family have been all over the news recently. Have you noticed? Since Will slapped the saliva out of Chris Rock’s mouth on worldwide television in 2022, he and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith – a comment about whom inspired the whole fracas – have been cross-examined by every pundit and armchair detective in the land. There’s one thing that seems to not be mentioned in this whole multimedia firestorm, however: for a brief stint in the mid-2000s, Jada fronted a nu metal band.

Wicked Wisdom, as this outfit were called, existed from 2002 to 2006. And, although now they’re an oft-forgotten curiosity in the history of music, back in the day they were the industry’s biggest darlings. They released their debut album in 2004 and followed it by touring with Britney Spears and taking slots on the two biggest rock festivals on either side of the Atlantic: Download and Ozzfest. Their second album, 2006’s Wicked Wisdom, was executive-produced by Will Smith himself and promoted by a stint on the road with Sevendust. But then… nothing.

According to interviews Jada gave about Wicked Wisdom, the Nutty Professor and Matrix sequels star is a lifelong fan of heavy music. “I listened to all kinds of metal as a kid,” she told MTV in January 2006. “Metallica, Guns ’N’ Roses… I would always look at Axl Rose and say, ‘Why aren’t there any chicks out there doing this now?’ I always wanted an opportunity to get out there and rock out.”

Jada had connections in the music industry long before she decided to grab a mic and scream out some metal. Of course, Will was a rapper up until 2005, but before their marriage she’d had a close friendship with Tupac Shakur in the early 1990s. So, when the actor decided to perform on heavy music’s stages, she was easily able to make some phone calls and corral a lineup. Guitarist Pocket Honore became her main collaborator, with the aforementioned MTV interview describing him as “the Zakk Wylde to her Ozzy”.

When Wicked Wisdom released their debut album, My Story, in 2004 then embarked straight on the Britney tour, their music was less metal than soul, hip-hop and rock ’n’ roll. It was playing live shows that organically ramped up the band’s sonic aggression, with Jada later commenting, “It just started getting heavier and heavier, and that’s when it clicked for us.”

The next year, Wicked Wisdom’s metal credentials were seriously amplified by the band getting on the radar of Sharon Osbourne. As Will Smith recalled in his autobiography Will, the reality TV star, manager and wife of Ozzy Osbourne caught the band live and decided to add them to the 2005 Ozzfest lineup.

“Ozzfest is the least African American event outside of that broom-and-big-ass-hockey-puck thing they do at the Olympics,” Will wrote in his book (via Metal Hammer). “‘Babe, are you sure you don’t wanna do some R and B?’ I asked softly, but I meant it hard. ‘[Metal] is the music I feel,’ Jada responded softly, but she meant it hard. So we packed up our children and headed down the black brick road to the land of Ozz.”

The 2005 Ozzfest run also brought Wicked Wisdom across the pond, as that year’s Download was billed as a clash of the titans that united the two rock festival monoliths. The band capitalised on the attention they’d amassed on those stages in February 2006, when they released their self-titled album. Reviews were moderately positive: Blabbermouth wrote, “Pinkett Smith does a convincing job with the aggressive vocals and her clean singing may not be stellar, but it is heartfelt and competent.” And, today, that album is the last remnant of Wicked Wisdom’s existence, as it’s their only music on Spotify.

After a supporting tour with Sevendust, Wicked Wisdom vanished. It’s been reported since that the reasoning was Jada wanting to spend more time with her family. However – with her being a successful actor and producer, and Wicked Wisdom then being two albums deep and not even touching the US Billboard 200 – commercial concerns were likely a pretty strong factor as well.

Today, Wicked Wisdom persist only in the minds of a persistent few, with their biggest song Bleed All Over Me not even having 500,000 Spotify streams. Jada’s daughter Willow Smith performed that track live with the instrumentalists of the band in 2021, giving them one last gasp of relevance, but don’t be surprised if that’s the last we ever hear of this short-lived nu metal experiment.

Download Festival 2026 promises to be another huge one, with three huge acts returning to Donington Park after last year's festival successfully debunked the "there are no more headliners" theory with three first-time bill-toppers.

Download XXIII might not match the scale of 2023's mammoth 20th-anniversary celebration, which provided a full four days of music instead of the usual three, but if that event proved anything – and the two festivals held since have certainly proved it again – it's that Download can still pull a massive crowd if the right bill is put in place.

Here's everything we know about Download Festival 2026.

When is Download festival 2026?

Download festival will take place on the weekend of June 12 - 14, 2026, with gates opening on June 10.

Where is Download Festival 2026?

Download festival will take place at its long-traditional home of Donington Park, Derbyshire, the former home of the iconic Monsters Of Rock festival.

Where can I get tickets for Download Festival 2026?

Early bird options have been exhausted, but a wide range of ticket packages are available from Ticketmaster.

Who is playing Download festival 2026?

Headlining Download 2026 on Friday night will be nu metal icons Limp Bizkit, who've appeared at the festival multiple times but never headlined – indeed, this is their first time headlining a major festival in the UK. Saturday will play host to serial stadium fillers Guns N' Roses, who previously headlined in 2006 and 2018, while Sunday night will surely be a triumph for Linkin Park, as Emily Armstrong becomes the first female to front a headline act in Download's history.

The full line-up (announced so far) is below.

Download 2026 - confirmed acts

Ankor
Architects
As Everything Unfolds
As It Is
Ash
Babymetal
Bad Omens
Behemoth
Black Veil Brides
Blood Incantation
Bloodywood
Boundaries
Bush
Catch Your Breath
Cavalera
Corrosion Of Conformity
Cypress Hill
Decapitated
Die Spitz
Dinosaur Pile-Up
Dogstar
Drain
Drowning Pool
Ego Kill Talent
Elder
Electric Callboy
Feeder
Gatecreeper
Guns N' Roses
Halestorm
Headwreck
Hollywood Undead
Holywatr
Ice Nine Kills
Imminence
Ivri
James And The Cold Gun
Kublai Khan Tx
Lake Malice
Lakeview
Landmvrks
Last Train
Letlive.
Limp Bizkit
Linkin Park
Lowen
Magnolia Park
Mammoth
Mastodon
Melrose Avenue
Mouth Culture
Nasty
Native James
Nevertel
P.O.D
Palefeace Swiss
Pendulum
Periphery
Pussyliquor
Rain City Drive
Return To Dust
Røry
Scene Queen
Self Deception
Set It Off
Silent Planet
Slay Squad
Sleep Theory
Snot
Social Distortion
South Arcade
Spineshank
Spitting Glass
Static-X
Story Of The Year
Sweet Pill
Sweet Savage
Tailgunner
The All-American Rejects
The Plot In You
The Pretty Reckless
The Pretty Wild
Thornhill
Those Damn Crows
Thrown
Tom Morello
Trivium
Tropic Gold
Tx2
Unpeople
Vianova
Wayside
We Came As Romans
Zero 9:36

Another year, another Download festival is in the history books. A surprisingly sun-filled weekend with 80,000 metalheads losing their minds and punishing their livers to some of the greatest bands of all time. Aerosmith, System Of A Down, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Prophets Of Rage, AFI, Orange Goblin, Biffy Clyro, Rob Zombie the list goes on and on. And while we could write more about the best performances we saw over the weekend (there’s still an ongoing argument in the office about who took the crown), we thought we’d actually show you what this year’s Download festival looked like.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

10 things we learned on the Friday of Download festival 2017

10 things we learned on the Saturday of Download festival 2017

10 things we learned on the Sunday of Download festival 2017

Download 2017: Patchwatch Photo Gallery

Here we go, into the home straight, it’s the final day of Download festival. Having seen System Of A Down and Biffy Clyro sign off proceedings over the previous two nights, it’s now time for the old guard of Aerosmith to step up to the plate and show everybody just how it’s done. In a field filled with some of the biggest names in classic rock and the final sendoff of The Dillinger Escape Plan, eclecticism is the order of the day. Here’s what we learned.

Orange Goblin have earned their spot

Having been a mainstay of British metal for over two decades, it’s heartening to see the London wrecking crew on the main stage of Download. No, it’s not the largest crowd in the world, but it means so much to everyone on and off stage. Countless days of blood, sweat and tears have been poured into the Goblin machine by Ben Ward and his messy men, and seeing them blast out their whiskey-stained riffs for all of Donington to hear is a clear symbol of recognition from the metal community. Plus, they always rule live.

Tom Araya is your favourite cuddly uncle

Slayer operating at full-throttle are still a fearsome proposition — and there are few things as thrilling as Kerry King churning out those apocalyptic riffs — but as Tom Araya gets older and more grizzled he’s like a Satanic Santa, outwardly scary but ready to break into a broad grin at the slightest provocation. Spending most of Seasons Of The Abyss barely able to sing because he’s giggling at some unseen incident is one of the weekend’s highlights.

We’ll not see the like of Dillinger Escape Plan again

Chaos. Carnage. Bedlam. There’s always been lot more to Dillinger than their apparent willingness to sacrifice personal health and safety for the sake of the live show, but it’s a big part of the experience. As Greg Puciato dives into the audience one final time (“I wanna be amongst the people!” he shrieks, before clawing his way towards the middle of the tent), you know people will be talking about their shows for years to come.

We’ve figured out the curly fries thing

After spending two days pondering the point of curly fries — someone even suggested they tasted better, as if the shape of a fried potato increases its deliciousness by a noticeable degree — we finally have it figured. Despite their undoubted aesthetic appeal, we think Facebook commenter Pete Runcieman probably has it nailed. “They take up more space in the tray than regular fries,” he says. “So they’re giving you less for your money and they’re making a bigger profit as a result. Simple.” Thanks Pete.

Those £2 pint pots are good idea

Despite the initial shock of an initial round of four drinks costing £8 more than it might, and despite drinking from the same glass all weekend, and despite the occasional scramble for neglected glasses by those wanting to make a few quid on the side, we think it’s a goods idea. The arena is so much cleaner without tens of thousands of cheap plastic glasses littering the grass, and the redemption points are run by Greenpeace, so many people will donate their returned deposits to a good cause.

• 10 things we learned on the Saturday of Download festival 2017
• In pictures: Download Festival reacts to the general election
• 10 things we learned on the Friday of Download festival 2017
• Download 2017: Patchwatch Photo Gallery

Quiet is the new loud

We don’t actually mean that. But when so much of what’s on show is about non-stop, balls-to-the-wall, eviscerating volume, one way to stand out is to head in the opposite direction. Anathema stroll on in the middle of Sunday afternoon and play a gently restrained set with plenty of light and shade, and it makes them sound like no one else all weekend. Not everyone’s convinced, though: “What’s this lame shite?”, asks the man to Hammer’s left, before he stomps off to watch Airbourne.

Chris Jericho is a rockstar

Opening the main stage at Download is no easy task, but one that Fozzy relish in. The weather is still holding up and there’s a healthy crowd piling into the arena for the final round, all here to watch Y2J and co. do their thing. Flanked by fire dancers, the Ayatollah Of Rock N Rolla has Donington in the palm of his giant hands. Oozing the same magnetism as we see in his ‘other job’ it’s hard to take your eyes off the WWE legend. WWE Superstars Ember Moon and Trent Severn even turn up at the side of stage to check out the action for themselves.

Steel Panther are still the ultimate party band

While not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s hard to deny Steel Panther’s charisma and passion for putting on a show. Playing the Download main stage in the late afternoon, a place they look and feel most at home, it’s very much a greatest hits set from the glamorous ones. Eyes Of A Panther, Just Like Tiger Woods, Community Property… the list goes on. There’s crudeness, lewdness, and everything in between from the hair-sprayed veterans. Don’t be surprised if they move up the bill next time round.

There’s not enough spandex

When you consider than the whole day is headlined by Aerosmith and that Steel Panther are hitting the main stage hard, you’d expect the field to be flooded with catsuits and tight pants that leave very little to the imagination, but it’s not the case. Sure, there’s one or two die-hards here and there, but there’s a definite lack of ‘80s spirit this afternoon. C’mon guys, get your lycra out!

Aerosmith are our history

Was this Boston’s finest’s final farewell? Maybe they’ll end up touring until Tyler and Perry are bent double over bed baths and zimmer frames, but if this is the way they’re bowing out, then they’re bowing out in style. One of the greatest bands ever, led by one of the greatest singers ever. The oldest band on the bill, and still one of the brightest. A masterclass.

The Top 10 Best Aerosmith Videos

2017 was the year the battle jacket became high culture, as an exhibition devoted to their history and the art of the jacket opened in London.

“I want people to start to see connections between metal imagery and historic cultures,” said the exhibition’s curator, Tom Cardwell, “to realise that it’s not only a contemporary genre. For me, the jackets themselves are incredible objects that show skill, dedication and commitment from their makers.”

Indeed they do. So we ventured into the Download paddocks to capture some of this artistry on home turf. And we weren’t disappointed.

Download 2016: Patchwatch Photo Gallery

Bloodstock 2016: Patchwatch photo gallery

With System Of A Down’s Friday night headline set still ringing in the ears of Downloaders, it’s time to crack open another warm beer and baby wipe away the mud from your face, because Saturday is here AND IT STILL HASN’T RAINED! With Biffy Clyro topping the bill tonight, there’s a lot going on around the site to get everyone in the mood for dangerous levels of partying. Here’s what we learned from our Saturday experience.

The weather gods are still on Download’s side

This time last year, Black Sabbath had played their final festival show in a near-deluge, and people were beginning to sink into the swamp. This time around the rain has almost entirely stayed away, there’s firm footing underfoot, and the punters are working on their tans. Bonus weather trivia: the lack of rain effectively makes the site more compact, as it’s much easier to get around when every step finds solid ground. More of this next year, please.

Devin Townsend would make a good Prime Minister

While Theresa May attempts to form her “coalition of chaos” with whoever’s willing to listen, the Right Honourable Devin Townsend is better placed than many to unite the nation, even if he is Canadian. He’s modest - the “Lower Mid Tier Prog Metal” t-shirts show both humour and humility - but he’s also a natural leader, talking to the crowd about strength and unity and the brotherhood of metal. He ends it all by asking strangers to embrace, and all the way up the hill people do just that. His set’s pretty good, too.

Alestorm are going to need a bigger boat

Everyone’s favourite pirate-themed novelty metal act draw a vast crowd to the second stage, many of them dressed for the occasion in pirate hats, eye patches and parrots. Saturday isn’t stuffed with bands you’d necessarily think of as “party acts”, so perhaps it’s only a festival thing… or maybe it’s part of something bigger. Either way, we can imagine the boozy Scots will find themselves further up the bill when they return from wherever their adventures take them next. Batten the hatches! Blow the man down! Etc.

We still don’t know what the deal with curly fries is

We asked this question yesterday, and no one has been able to supply a satisfactory answer.

If you’re not headlining, pretend that you are

It might sound obvious, but the main stage is a big place, and it requires a lot of personality to fill it. SikTh hit the boards at lunchtime, and while the wind might toy with their sound, they act as if they own the festival. They use the runway that extends into the crowd to its fullest extent, and Mikee Goodman acts like he’s been coming here and dominating for years. Ballsy.

The UK might have forgotten about AFI

Heading into the final straight of Saturday, California goth punks AFI stride out onto the main stage to remind everyone why they were such a formidable force in the mid-noughties. Having barely set foot in the UK for the best part of a decade (aside from the recent dates with Deftones), you’d expect thousands of fans to be down the front calling for blood… but unfortunately that isn’t the case. Despite putting on a devastatingly good greatest hits set (and Miss Murder still sounding just as fresh as it did in 2006), there’s a poor turnout from the Download contingent. Maybe AFI’s reluctance to play the UK has led to apathy from music lovers, or maybe it’s because Max and Iggor are levelling the second stage at the same time by playing Roots in full. Hopefully Davey Havok and co. will come back soon, though.

Bobby Roode is a wanker

Wrestling fans have been packing out the WWE NXT tent all weekend and tonight we see NXT Champion Bobby Roode take on Kassius Ohno in the main event. And of course, with this being Download, the chants aren’t the ones you usually hear on TV, with hundreds of fans chanting “Bobby Roode is a wanker, is a wanker” - much to his annoyance. This eventually morphs into chants of “Glorious wanker!” which sends Roode into a rage, storming out of the ring. However, during the match, while holding Kassius in an abdominal stretch, he tells the crowd to “wank on that!”, to the delight of everyone in the tent.

Rob Zombie is still king

Rob can be hit and miss at festivals, but today is was a solid stone-cold hit to the face. Schlocky, B-movie visuals and gallons of fire blast out from the Zippo Encore stage to a capacity crowd, all enthralled at the mere sight of everyone’s favourite master of horror. Living Dead Girl, More Human Than Human, Never Gonna Stop all send the unwashed masses into spasm, with even newie Everybody’s Fucking In A UFO receiving a hero’s welcome (and two crowdsurfing aliens). Covers of Blitzkrieg Bop and School’s Out only add to the fun factor, and Dragula hammers home just how many tunes Zombie is actually responsible. This is very much how it’s done.

John 5’s guitars are better than yours

Guitars that illuminate, guitars made of stained glass, guitars full of green slime that moves – Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 makes everyone else’s six-strings look beige by comparison. Even John’s teeth light up different colours! Something slightly different to just another flying V.

Biffy Clyro love a bit of pyro

While Friday night’s closers System Of A Down opted for strobes and thick coloured lighting, Biffy have brought a ridiculous amount of production, complete with a mesmerising light show and screens that engulf the entire main stage. But they’ve brought some extra goodies to end things with a bang. As Stingin’ Bell rings out across Donington, the sky is lit up like the Fourth Of July as fireworks rocket into the air from behind the main stage and on platforms either side of the sound desk. Suddenly the sky is ablaze with colourful fireballs, burning a mark into the retinas of everyone present to remind us that Biffy are one of the greatest bands in the UK right now.

10 things we learned on the Friday of Download festival 2017

It’s that time of year again, folks. Over a hundred bands and tens of thousands of headbangers have descended on Donington Park for the rock and metal behemoth that is Download festival. Headlined this year by System Of A Down, Biffy Clyro and Aerosmith, it’s a varied and super-exciting bill for those of us with working ears. But before Saturday and Sunday hangover slap us around the chops, there’s the small matter of Friday to deal with.

Here’s what we learned.

The sky doesn’t hate rock music after all

It’s finally happened! After years of rain and thunderstorms and muddy floods, the unthinkable has happened and the big ball of fire in the sky has gifted Castle Donington with his presence. It’s incredible just how much a bit of sunshine adds to the posi vibes of a festival - and everyone looks so much better in shorts than muddy jeans and poorly-chosen footwear. Although we are a bit sunburnt today because we didn’t actually plan for good weather.

Change is confusing for idiots like us

Because we’re bumbling music journalists who can barely remember our own phone numbers, the new layout of Download festival this year has required some tactical planning. We’ve got lost twice trying to find the Avalanche stage, and there’s no point asking us where the toilets are. Everyone else seems to be getting along fine with it, which probably says more about us.

Prophets Of Rage silenced the critics

Since Prophets Of Rage was announced, there have been complaints and moans from Rage fans across the globe that it’s just karaoke and not the same without Zack de la Rocha. And they’re right, it isn’t the same as Rage Against The Machine, but it is an hour of absolute jams from one of the most important bands in metal, fronted by one of the true innovators of hip-hop. Oh, and B-Real for good measure! How can you not enjoy it? From Sleep Now In The Fire to Fight The Power to Insane In The Membrane to Guerrilla Radio - this is the perfect afternoon festival set. New track Unfuck The World sounds great, too!

Chuck D is still a force

When Chuck spits those infamous “Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me” lines from Prophets’ version of Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, it sounds every bit as vital today as it did back in 1990. There’s never been a more exciting MC: he could recite Watership Down and make it sound like a call to arms.

The spirit of Chris Cornell is alive at Download

Mid-way through Prophets Of Rage’s barnstormer set, they play an instrumental version of Audioslave’s epic Like A Stone, with Tom Morello asking everyone to sing along or to say a prayer for peace if they don’t know the words. And just like that, the air of Donington is thick with thousands of voices singing that oh-so-powerful chorus back to the main stage and up to the heavens. There are no voices quite like Chris Cornell’s, but hearing Download sing as one in tribute to a fallen comrade brings a tear to the eye.

System Of A Down’s setlist is unfairly good

System Of A Down haven’t released a new album for 12 years, but when you consider that their previous five full-lengths are packing such serious heat as Aerials, Violent Pornography and Sugar, it doesn’t really matter. Tonight as they bring the Friday to a close, it’s frankly ridiculous how many festival-sized songs SOAD are responsible for. For an hour and forty minutes, there’s no lull, no piss break, it’s a clinic on how to raid your back catalogue to get tens of thousands of people losing their minds in unison. That said, can we have the new album soon please?

The wind isn’t kind to prog metal

Mastodon are on the main stage mid Friday afternoon. They’re a frighteningly complex operations, but much of that complexity is lost outdoors, especially when the wind blows and only the headliner has had a proper soundcheck. All that detail lost is in a one-dimensional sludge. And occasionally, on the second stage, the wind whips the sound away and brings in the bottom end from the main stage, and you end up briefly watching one band while hearing parts of another. On the other hand, The Contortionist play the Dogtooth stage at the same time as System Of A Down, but it’s inside. They’re complicated, and it sounds great.

Curly fries: what’s the point?

Seriously. Why? They don’t hold condiments or sauces as well as the traditional shape, and they’re harder to eat.

Fancy dress becomes more of a thing every year

Pirates are everywhere. There are cowboys, Indians, wrestlers, Mounties, bananas, penises, kangaroos, half-men-half-sharks, superheroes, aliens, Donald Trumps and enough onesies to fill an outlet mall on the edge of medium city. By 2022 it’ll look like Comic-Con.

Download is still Download

The organisers may tinker with the geography and try new ways of doing things, but the song remains the same. Anyone remember the payment wristbands from two years ago? Seemed like a good idea at the time, but things didn’t run smoothly and we’ve been back to cash for the last two. This year there’s more of an emphasis on security after Manchester and scare at Rock am Ring, but once you’re standing with your friends with a beer in your hand watching metal’s finest, it could be any year. The family stays together. The family gets stronger. And Download is home.

Download festival have announced this year’s official stage times. Headlined by System Of A Down, Biffy Clyro and Aerosmith, Download takes place at Donington Park, Leicestershire on June 9-11.

Below are the stage times for this year’s instalment of the UK’s biggest rock and metal festival, across all four stages.

Main Stage - Friday

System Of A Down: 9:10pm – 10:50pm
Prophets Of Rage: 7:00pm – 8:10pm
Five Finger Death Punch: 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Mastodon: 4:10pm – 5:00pm
Sabaton: 3:00pm – 3:40pm
Motionless In White: 2:00pm – 2:30pm
Northlane: 1:00pm – 1:30pm

Main Stage - Saturday

Biffy Clyro: 8:50pm – 10:30pm
A Day To Remember: 6:40pm – 7:50pm
AFI: 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Pierce The Veil: 3:40pm – 4:30pm
Of Mice & Men: 2:25pm – 3:10pm
Sikth: 1:15pm – 1:55pm
Creeper: 12:05pm – 12:45pm
Hacktivist: 11:00am – 11:35am

Main Stage - Sunday

Aerosmith: 8:50pm – 10:50pm
Alter Bridge: 6:40pm – 7:50pm
Steel Panther: 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Airbourne: 3:40pm – 4:30pm
In Flames: 2:25pm – 3:10pm
The Cadillac Three: 1:10pm – 1:55pm
Orange Goblin: 12:00pm – 12:40pm
Fozzy: 11:00am – 11:30am

Zippo Encore Stage - Friday

Sum 41: 8:50pm – 10:00pm
Good Charlotte: 7:20pm – 8:20pm
Baroness: 6:00pm – 6:50pm
Suicidal Tendencies: 4:45pm – 5:30pm
Machine Gun Kelly: 3:30pm – 4:15pm
The Raven Age: 2:30pm – 3:00pm
Blackwater Conspiracy: 1:30pm – 2:00pm

Zippo Encore Stage - Saturday

Rob Zombie: 9:30pm – 10:40pm
Devin Townsend Project: 7:40pm – 8:40pm
Coheed And Cambria: 6:20pm – 7:10pm
Max & Iggor Cavalera Return To Roots: 5:00pm – 5:50pm
Kvelertak: 3:50pm – 4:30pm
Suicide Silence: 2:40pm – 3:20pm
Alestorm: 1:30pm – 2:10pm
Raveneye: 12:30pm – 1:00pm
Tax The Heat: 11:30am – 12:00pm

Zippo Encore Stage - Sunday

Slayer: 7:35pm – 8:45pm
Opeth: 6:15pm – 7:00pm
Clutch: 5:10pm – 5:50pm
Ministry: 4:05pm – 4:45pm
Anathema: 3:10pm – 3:40pm
Devildriver: 2:15pm – 2:45pm
Red Fang: 1:30pm – 1:50pm
The Dead Daisies: 12:30pm – 12:55pm
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown: 11:45am – 12:10pm
Broken Witt Rebels: 11:00am – 11:25am

The Avalanche Stage - Friday

Sleeping With Sirens: 7:50pm – 8:50pm
State Champs: 6:30pm – 7:10pm
Four Year Strong: 5:20pm – 6:00pm
Issues: 4:25pm – 4:55pm
Code Orange: 3:30pm – 4:00pm
The Devil Wears Prada: 2:40pm – 3:05pm
Astroid Boys: 1:50pm – 2:15pm
M O S E S: 1:00pm – 1:25pm

The Avalanche Stage - Saturday

Simple Plan: 8:40pm – 9:40pm
The Story So Far: 7:30pm – 8:10pm
Every Time I Die: 5:50pm – 6:30pm
Crown The Empire: 4:50pm – 5:20pm
Knuckle Puck: 3:50pm – 4:20pm
As It Is: 2:50pm – 3:20pm
The One Hundred: 1:50pm – 2:20pm
Trash Boat: 12:50pm – 1:20pm
Greywind: 11:50am – 12:20pm
Normandie: 11:00am – 11:25am

The Avalanche Stage - Sunday

The Dillinger Escape Plan: 8:10pm – 9:10pm
Moose Blood: 7:00pm – 7:40pm
Basement: 5:50pm – 6:30pm
The King Blues: 4:50pm – 5:20pm
Touché amoré: 3:50pm – 4:20pm
Dinosaur Pile-Up: 2:50pm – 3:20pm
Dead!: 1:50pm – 2:20pm
Blood Youth: 12:50pm – 1:20pm
Grove Street Families: 11:50am – 12:20pm
Wallflower: 11:00am – 11:25am

The Dogtooth Stage - Friday

Exodus: 10:15pm – 10:55pm
The Contortionist: 9:20pm – 9:50pm
Krokodil: 8:30pm – 8:55pm
Lost Society: 7:40pm – 8:05pm
Venom Prison: 6:50pm – 7:15pm
God Damn: 6:00pm – 6:25pm
Red Sun Rising: 5:10pm – 5:35pm
Yonaka: 4:20pm – 4:45pm
Otherkin: 3:30pm – 3:55pm
Holding Absence: 2:40pm – 3:05pm
She Must Burn: 1:55pm – 2:15pm

The Dogtooth Stage - Saturday

Wednesday 13: 7:40pm – 8:25pm
I The Mighty: 6:40pm – 7:10pm
Sick Puppies: 5:45pm – 6:15pm
The Lounge Kittens: 4:50pm – 5:20pm
Casey: 4:00pm – 4:25pm
The Lafontaines: 3:10pm – 3:35pm
Idles: 2:20pm – 2:45pm
Junior: 1:30pm – 1:55pm
Blackwaters: 12:40pm – 1:05pm
Drones: 11:50am – 12:15pm
Dead Label: 11:00am – 11:25am

The Dogtooth Stage - Sunday

Perturbator: 7:40pm – 8:30pm
Like A Storm: 5:45pm – 6:15pm
Aaron Buchanan & The Cult Classics: 4:50pm – 5:20pm
Devilskin: 4:00pm – 4:25pm
Love Zombies: 3:10pm – 3:35pm
Fizzy Blood: 2:20pm – 2:45pm
The Charm The Fury: 1:30pm – 1:55pm
Stone Broken: 12:40pm – 1:05pm
Brutai: 11:50am – 12:15pm
The Fallen State: 11:00am – 11:25am

Steel Panther: why we love Download Festival

Following on from the success of last year, WWE’s NXT brand will be rolling into Download festival this June for a weekend of high-octane sports entertainment. Already confirmed for the event are Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka and Eric Young. But we’re most excited about the MOST METAL SUPERSTAR ON THE PLANET Aleister Black. Don’t believe us? Look at his entrance.

But what bands will Aleister be watching across the weekend? Well, we had a chat to find out!

Protip: If you see him in the pit, keep your distance.

Touché Amoré

“The first time I heard Touché Amoré, it really stood out for me because they combine aspects of hardcore with these almost life-like lyrics that are so relatable to who I am as a person. I got hooked on that band the first time I heard them. I’ve never seen them, so I definitely want to see them play.”

Venom Prison

“I discovered Venom Prison a couple of months ago. I started listening to it and it’s disgusting in a good way, it’s just gnarly, they’re a gnarly gnarly band and they take no prisoners. Sometimes you come across a band and they sound so evil. Remember when you found that one band where you thought ‘Yeah, this is me right here,’ Venom Prison kind of did that for me. The genre that they’re playing, there’s so many bands that try to do what they do, but you really get that eerie, creepy vibe to about their music, having the right pitches in the vocal tones, it speaks to me, it’s rare, but Venom Prison did that for me.”

AFI

“I’ve been a fan of AFI since I was 14 years old. AFI have made a huge transition in their style over the years and it hasn’t hindered them. They went from this punk hardcore music to you-name-it! This music will forever have the AFI edge, just in a different package.”

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• The TeamRock+ Singles Club
• The story behind WWE Superstar Sami Zayn's punk entrance music
• Dave Mustaine presents Triple H with Spirit Of Lemmy Award at Download

Code Orange

“Have you heard anything like Code Orange in this genre? The different styles, the female vocals as well, the song Bleeding In The Blur, I’ve never heard anything like that from a hardcore band, it’s wild. I’ve labeled them hardcore but they’ve transcended that genre completely, I don’t know what to call them. I know as human beings we like to label everything but I can’t put Code Orange in a box, and I think that’s a very good thing. It’s hard to find something that gives you music you haven’t heard before.”

Every Time I Die

“I got into them seven or eight years ago, and their guitar player Andy has become one of my best friends in life. I worked at Download and he was playing with Every Time I Die, and after that he came over to the Progress Wrestling booth and we became friends from the first two sentences that we said to each other. And of course, Andy dabbles in professional wrestling. He’s huge.”

Exodus

“They’re just old school. It’s Exodus, c’mon! How can you not love Exodus? It’s just old school, they’re still going, they’re still kicking ass, it’s still loud, it’s still obnoxious, it’s still heavy and it still rips!”

Slayer

“You’ve got to watch Slayer, I can’t just name all these bands and not name Slayer. If you’re at Download you have to watch Slayer. I’ve watched them a couple of times now and it’s going to happen again.”

Aerosmith

“You’re not going to get any more chances to see them. Aerosmith have persevered throughout the years, they’ve always been a great band, and it’s just such a cool thing to see them at a festival like Download and I’m so pumped for them.”

Download festival takes place at Donington Park on June 9-11, you can find tickets and line-up info here.

Steel Panther: why we love Download Festival

“The first time I actually saw Aerosmith was at Download Festival in 2014,” says Steel Panther drummer Stix Zadinia. “I don’t get to go to a lot of shows because I’m always out playing and gigging, and getting a chance to watch them was really amazing.

“They’re legends for a reason,” he continues. “They sound great, they all play great. They’re just a great fucking rock’n’roll band. There’s no two ways about it”.

This year both bands will reprise their 2014 appearances at Donington Park, when Steel Panther managed to pull one of the weekend’s biggest crowds for their mid-afternoon slot, and Aerosmith rounded off the weekend with an ecstatic set that eventually made its way onto film as the Aerosmith Rocks Donington DVD. For Stix, it’ll be another opportunity to watch Steven Tyler in action.

“There’s a lot of fans of rock’n’roll who think that you can just grab a microphone and start singing,” he says, “and it’s not like that. There’s only a handful of people who can do what Steven Tyler does — or can do what my singer does — and to command audiences like that is a very special talent.”

Below are Stix’s 10 Favourite Aerosmith songs.

Draw The Line
“A great song. It’s heavy duty, and it just rocks you. Straight up. There’s no two ways about it”

Kings And Queens
“That intro sounds like medieval times. It was really something different for Aerosmith”

Last Child
“It’s all about the groove. That song is the song you want to have sex to.”

Same Old Song And Dance
“It’s a straight blues, but it’s hard to describe. It’s just a classic!”

Sweet Emotion
“Obviously. The bass riff. The harmonies. Just another great song”

Train Kept A Rollin’
“It’s like Led Zeppelin with Dazed And Confused. They made it theirs”

Walk This Way
“Obviously”

Dream On
“You can’t have an Aerosmith list without Dream On”

Dude Looks Like A Lady
“It’s just a great hook”

Lord Of The Thighs
“I’m in Steel Panther. I have to choose this”

Aerosmith and Steel Panther play Download Festival on Sunday June 11. Tickets are on sale now.

Aerosmith announce 2017 European farewell tour

As soon as Iron Maiden left the stage at this year’s Download Festival, the words on everyone’s lips were ‘I’m exhausted after having such a lovely time at Donington, the spiritual home of rock and metal’. But more often than not, attentions would turn to who would appear on next year’s bill.

Obviously, there’s been plenty of Download Festival 2017 rumours, but people need facts. Hard facts. Sure enough, the first Download Festival 2017 line-up announcement was made at 7pm yesterday, with System Of A Down, Biffy Clyro and Aerosmith confirmed as the headliners. Another 11 bands, including Rob Zombie, Prophets Of Rage, AFI, Slayer and Of Mice & Men were announced too.

Here’s how you reacted…

Some people reacted with glee to the annoucement. Some even used the word ‘sick’ to describe the bill. If you’re not down with yoof lexicon, they’re quite excited. Nothing to do with vomit.

One person even turned into a typing amphibian, such was their excitement.

Not everyone was punching the air like a Hollywood boxing character. Some people hurt their backs by shrugging violently upon learning the news.

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• The A-Z guide to Biffy Clyro
• The top 10 best System Of A Down Songs
• The Top 10 Best Aerosmith Videos

Others, meanwhile, were not happy at the list of bands confirmed so far.

Biffy Clyro touring guitarist Mike Vennart seemed a little stunned by the news. He might even dig out his well-worn Monsters Of Rock 1988 t-shirt in celebration.

We think Craig is holding out for a while longer before making a decision.

Either the person below is a massive Aerosmith fan or they suffer from terrible nightmares.

Some people were expecting entirely different headline bands and even hinted at heartbreak.

Jess wasn’t sure how to react to the first wave of confirmed bands. In this instance, she did what anyone would do in those circumstances: attach a GIF of the curiously-named actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

Chris (below) has suggested that festival boss Andy Copping should read out angry tweets instead of having a headline act. There’s two reasons why that’s silly. Firstly, what would the light show look like? And secondly, we only have three days to work with.

We’re not sure if Rob Zombie is excited about leaving his sunny American home next summer.

Some metal purists seemed to be puzzled by the decision to name Scottish arena monsters Biffy Clyro as the Saturday headliners. It’s all good, as someone has the previous Sonisphere, Reading and Leeds headliners’ backs. Thanks ScalyTugBoat.

Meanwhile, this person just posted a gif of Justin Timberlake’s face. We can’t tell if Verna is nonplussed by the announcement or simply overwhelmed with the quality of the bill thus far. Let’s go for the latter.

System of a Down Quiz

You may’ve heard that a gang of rain clouds gatecrashed Download festival. But that didn’t stop 90,000 people descending upon Donington Park for three glorious days of rock and metal.

Here’s how the three-day bash unfolded…

Download 2016: Day One Review

Download 2016: Day Two Review

Download 2016: Day Three Review

Download 2016: Patchwatch Photo Gallery

Download 2016 could have been the wettest ever

Who will headline Download Festival 2017?