The Download FestivalMusic 

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spunwicked

spunwicked

7th Day Advent Hoppist
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spunwicked
Hey guys,

I just learned that 80's rock band Def Leppard :cool: are headlining this years Download Festival at Donnington Park in the UK. Well, when I was a teenager I was into Def Leppard, so I thought I would see how much tickets are and take my girlfriend along for the weekend. Imagine my surprise at reading the ticket prices!

From £145!!??!!?? WTF!!??!!?? :grumpy: Since when did going to a music festival mean getting ripped off? I'm disgusted. £300 to stand in a field? Are they serious? Isn't it about time people just stopped paying? :dunce:

What are your thoughts on this fellow GTP'ers?
 
Typically.

Def Leppard is old-school. (sadly... yes, we are getting oooold, man.)

Which means older concert goers.

Which means more disposable income.

Which means $$$.
 
Ah gone are the days of lax security and holes in the fences. I never once paid to get in to Glastonbury. Haven't been back since the new superfence.
 
It's not the kind of venue where you can sit outside the fence and hear everything? Shame.
 
I suppose it's a sign of the times, and the ever greedy music industry capitalising on the good will of fans.

I was just shocked at the £300 price. My girl really wants to go so I guess I will end up stumping up the cash. I think my biggest gripe is that you have to buy a weekend pass, and can't just buy tickets for the one night. Mental!

EDIT : Looks like they can charge what they like. My girl thinks £50 a day each to sit in a field is okay.
 
Last edited:
I'm most likely going to be there. The £145 seems pretty steep, but there's an absolute boatload of big name bands there, and if you're going to get the most of the weekend, it's absolutely worth it. To me.

:cheers:
 
spunwicked
I suppose it's a sign of the times, and the ever greedy music industry capitalising on the good will of fans.

I was just shocked at the £300 price. My girl really wants to go so I guess I will end up stumping up the cash. I think my biggest gripe is that you have to buy a weekend pass, and can't just buy tickets for the one night. Mental!

EDIT : Looks like they can charge what they like. My girl thinks £50 a day each to sit in a field is okay.
Click to expand...

Depends, if you go just to see Def Leopard then yeah it's expensive. But there are so many other acts which would be expensive to see in their own right. Download is THE metal and rock festival.


Also I just read the lineup, holy crap that's alot of big bands.
 
G.T.Ace
It's still way too expensive.
Click to expand...

So is Rock Am Ring and Wacken, but still thousands of people go to these festivals?!

Problem is, it's their own fault it's getting more and more expensive over the years. Festivals grow, and so does that does increase the amount of trash on these festivals (I'm not talking about fake fans nor bands). All that costs money, and this will be put onto the ticket (and camping price) of the next years festival.

I call this a butterfly effect! 👎

And the same people, who are complaining about the higher prices are the ones who left their couch on the camping site last year!


Because of that, I promised myself never to visit such a big festival anymore.

Plus, since the new youth is all about drugs, it's not even fun anymore.

The old festivals are gone, the festivals were you go to listen to your favorite music, have a beer and have a good time while banging your head of. Today you have them kids sitting in the corner, smoking their pot and almost ****ing around in public.
Sure, I'm only 18, I'm not really grown.. but that is just sad and will bring every festival down!
 
Last time I went was in 2008 and it was £125.


Gotta tell you though, totally worth it. The atmosphere when I last went was staggeringly great and a lot of fun. Can't fault it except for the toilets.
 
The atmosphere is always great. The music sounds better as on CD (in exception of Megadeth xD), but it just totally isn't great @ all to pain for some bands more and more every time I want to go to a festival.

As an example. As Rock Am Ring was just a new festival Bryan Adams got boh'd of the stage! Today Hip Hop and Electro - Acts are on the stage, and the people are enjoing it.

Not, that I'm not open - minded, cuz I am. But that you cannot call this festival "ROCK am Ring" anymore.
 
It's not just paying to stand in a field. You have to factor in the money the promoter pays to the bands. I went the year Kiss headlined and a girl who knew the promoter told me that the company had to pay 1 million gbp for kiss. (Sorry, using a computer I bought in Canada so no Pound sign). You also have to factor in money that the landowner will charge and money for constructing stages etc. It's actually quite a good deal. Rush charged 70gbp for tickets on their last uk tour and it still sold out. I think 150 for three days of partying and great music is still a good deal. Plus the campsite opens days earlier so you can go for the duration.

It's not just "standing in a field". You want to stand in a field, go and do so for free, but I can guarantee that you won't have anywhere near as much fun.
 
Sorry to revive such an old thread, but I didn't think another one was necessary.

Is there anyone going to the festival in 2014? I'll be there. I'm not going to miss Aerosmith and The Offspring playing here again, missed out last time and regretted it ever since.
 
Well if it weren't for a maths exam I would've gone last year, to one of the best looking lineups I have ever seen in my opinion. This year however, looks far less appealing. And besides with Sonisphere's lineup it's a no-brainer for me to which festival I'll be going to as I can only really afford one.
 
spunwicked
I suppose it's a sign of the times, and the ever greedy music industry capitalising on the good will of fans.
Click to expand...

Thought this was amusing, in a couple of ways.

The story many people give when justifying music piracy is that the artist can still make money on live appearances. Well, that's what they're trying to do, and maybe they're charging more to make up for the impact of piracy.

Secondly, kind of ironic then that it was called the Download Festival.
 
There's some things earlier about prices being ridiculous, and I have a theory on why. Might be a little wrong, well probably will be. But the reason is that because no one buys music and downloads it for free on the internet, bands have to charge more for shows to make up for it.
 
Definitely going to Sonisphere this year! Download cannot win my heart now! What a shame when the last two years I missed were so good too. :')
 
Sonisphere looks a decent line up but I'd only really be interested in seeing Airbourne. Went to see them in Leeds last month and they were incredible.
 
It's a lot like Soundwave Festival here in Australia. It's about $180 a ticket this year if I remember correctly, and if you're only going to see like 4 bands it sounds steep, but there's close to 90 different bands of varying popularity and "legendary-ness" that go each year so there's an absolute shedload of variety.
 

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