Following the HUGE first announcement of Download Festival's 2019 lineup, the organisers threw a big party at the home of metal in Sydney, Utopia Records, and we snuck in were invited to join the festivities. Our legendary grey nomad photographer Mick Goddard flew the flag for Wall of Sound, had some chats, took some pics and found out some reallly interesting information we HAD to share with you all. Here's The Top 7 Things from Download's Media Launch...
#7 - Free Beer is Great
No matter where you go, Beer always tastes great... But when it's cold and free, it's extra special. That and the staff at Utopia were more than accommodating for the media and lucky competition winners in attendance. Go check them out when you're in Sydney next
# 6 - There'll be a Dedicated Local Stage in 2019
Featuring a plethora of Australia bands keen and eager to showcase their talents at a large scale heavy music festival. For those who found it hard to run between stages last year to catch Aussie acts, not only will you see some of the big stage, but at their own, home grown stage too.
#5 - There's 2 More Announcements Coming
With 13 more bands still yet to be revealed, Download head honcho Nigel Melder revealed they'll be split up over two more reveals, one of which will feature 5 Australian acts, leaving a further 8 Bands to either be just internationals or a mix of international and local.
#4 - Behemoth Escaped Punishment for Lineup Leaking
There was a huge scramble from organisers, promoters, PR staff and media publications who were caught out by Behemoth's Nergal leaking the tour poster on his social media accounts prior to the embargoed 8:30am reveal. But, in the end it worked well and so far (minus a few minorities that don't deserve to be mentioned), the lineup has been met with open arms and praise. There'll be no punishment for a band but from now on we'll refer to them as the Spoiler Kings.
#3 - Sydney & Melbourne Sideshows are "Extremely Unlikely"
As we witnessed this year, there was a big push for music fans to experience the festival in Melbourne only (which makes perfect sense for the first outing), but with the expansion to Sydney next year, it is "Extremely Unlikely" that there'll be sideshows in the states where Download will take place. With Slayer heading down under for their Final World Tour, you can probably assume there'll be a show in Brisbane, and maybe Adelaide and Perth (don't quote us on that though), but if you want to catch more in NSW or VIC, your best bet is to buy a ticket to the festival.
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#2 - Metallica and Iron-Maiden Won't Play Download Australia
When our grey nomad quizzed Nigel on if bands like Metallica or Iron Maiden would ever play the festival, he replied with a pretty solid "no" and added "once you go that big, where do you go from there?" Which once again makes sense. Remember when Soundwave had their HUGE 10 year anniversary with Metallica, blink-182 and LinkinPark and the years that followed were filled with complainers whinging that the new lineups weren't as good as it was in 2013 with those bands, regardless of the fact organisers stated it was a one of celebration? Yeah, we have to agree with Nigel on that decision. Plus, Metallica would be better off doing their own headline shows anyway.
and the best thing to come from the event
#1 - Download Will Grow Every Year
But only if supported. Go to these shows, support the bands and festival positively and it won't be long until you can see all the bands/acts they are bringing out in your own backyard. As for timing wise, it should also be mentioned that organisers were looking at separating the 2019 festivals by a week (having them over two weekends) to allow a stack of sideshows to take place during the week, but it just didn't work out this time. Who knows, by 2020, this may be something that is put in place, but we need to set up the foundations now.
And there you have it, big thanks to organisers for allowing our guy through the door and thanks to Mick G for waving the flag for us and taking the exceptional photos above. We're super fucking keen for DownloadFestival to grow in Australia, alongside Good Things and UNIFY too. We're finally in an era where we are being spoiled for choice with live music events, so lets keep the momentum going and support them so they can come back bigger and better every year.
Words by Browny @brownypaul
Photo Gallery courtesy of Mick Goddard (MickG Photography)
Please credit Wall of Sound and Mick Goddard if you repost.
Download Festival Sydney & Melbourne 2019
OZZY OSBOURNE
SLAYER | JUDAS PRIEST | ALICE IN CHAINS
GHOST | RISE AGAINST | THE AMITY AFFLICTION | ANTHRAX
HALESTORM | BEHEMOTH | ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES
I PREVAIL | CONVERGE | FRENZAL RHOMB | LUCA BRASI
CODE ORANGE | ANDY BLACK | THE FEVER 333
WAR ON WOMEN | HIGH TENSION | OUTRIGHT
RUINS | ALIEN WEAPONRY
PLUS LOADS MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!
March 9th @ Parramatta Park, Sydney
March 11th @ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ0nmiK39Tc&w=853&h=480]
