This coming weekend, rock and metal fans should have been gathering at Castle Donington for three days of live music.
However, with the festival cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers recently announced they’d be holding Download TV between June 12-14 – a one-time only event packed with performances, interviews, interactive content and more.
It’s now been revealed that Biffy Clyro and Chester Bennington’s pre-Linkin Park band Grey Daze will also feature over the weekend.
Biffy Clyro headlined Download in 2017 and a special set will be shown, while Grey Daze will premiere a new song on Friday.
Download organisers have also given further details about what fans can expect to watch when they tune in on the festival’s YouTube, Twitter and Instagram feeds, with each day split into day and evening sessions.
Friday’s day activities will get under way at 12noon with activities including Doom Yoga, trivia, a Kiss make-up tutorial with Gemma Stafford and cooking classes with Bosh, while there will also be footage of Dinosaur Pile-up, Black Futures, Theory and Of Mice & Men – and the Grey Daze premiere.
From 7pm, fans will be able to watch four hours of performances, interviews and more on YouTube, with the night coming to a close with Kiss and a best of their 2015 Download headline set.
Saturday will kick off at 12noon with RockFit fitness classes, cooking with Nat’s What I Reckon and cocktail making classes with Simon Wood. The music will be provided by artists including Killswitch Engage, Stonebroken, Employed To Serve, Holding Absence, Higher Power, Amaranthe and Bury Tomorrow.
The evening session will include more exclusive content and culminate with more than an hour of music from Iron Maiden.
Sunday’s table of events will begin at 11.30am with a mindfulness session, which will be followed by trivia and a Nandi Bushell jam session. There will also be an insight into Download France, the Circus Of Horrors, a guide to festival fashion with Amy Valentine, cooking classes with Simon Wood, and cocktail fun with Rocktail Cocktail.
The music on the day will be provided by artists including Wage War, Milk Teeth, Twin Temple and Cemetery Sun, while the evening session – kicking off at 4.25pm – will be headlined by System Of A Down.
Radio 1’s Rock Show with Dan P Carter will be broadcast at 9pm and will be a Download special, featuring interviews and music.
Over the weekend, there will be also music from artists including Korn, Deftones, Babymetal, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Creeper, The Offspring, Blues Pills, Alter Bridge, The Pretty Reckless, Funeral For A Friend, Volbeat, The Darkness and Bowling For Soup, with organisers also hinting there will be some “very special guests.”
Money will also be raised for NHS charities throughout the weekend. To find out more, visit the official Download website.
And speaking of Download, we want to hear who you think delivered the greatest ever Download set. Vote now in out Download poll.
