Download

June 2012

THE job of booking the 100 plus bands for the Download festival year after year is a full-time job for Andy Copping. The former Rock City promoter, who attended the very first Monsters of Rock Festival at Donington Park as a fan in 1980, is now vice-president of promotions for Live Nation, the company behind the annual rock festival which next weekend marks its tenth anniversary.

“I’m working up to the last minute on it, in case anyone drops out and there’s a hole to fill,” he says.

“And I’m already working on next year’s festival. I’ve already put offers in for acts. You have to be ahead of the game.”

He adds: “I think we’ve got another strong and varied line-up this year. When you’ve got bands like Soundgarden and Biffy Clyro, who are headliners in their own right, playing second on the bill... it’s a festival with five headliners, really.

“Metallica will be doing The Black Album, it’s Black Sabbath’s only show in Europe this year and it’s the Prodigy’s only show in 2012.

“A lot of people will go to Download anyway, regardless of who is playing, but competition is so fierce these days that you have to keep on top of your game and give your punters value for money.

“With Metallica I was aware that they’d played a lot already so needed to do something a bit different. I realised it was the 21st anniversary of the release of The Black Album, the album that broke them worldwide and is now one of the biggest rock albums of all time.

“I met with their manager who said they weren’t going to be touring in 2012 but I delivered him my pitch. He took it to the band and they absolutely loved the idea. So much so that they decided to do some other shows around the world playing The Black Album.”

In terms of the bands he wants to see at this year’s Download, aside from the headliners, are Soundgarden (“it’s great they are back together”), Slash, Chase & Status (“I think will be amazing), Refused (“that will be something special”) and Steel Panther “that will be one of those performances that people won’t ever forget.”

But what of the past nine Downloads? Here are his ten highlights...

2003 Metallica

When Metallica did the secret appearance on the second stage. Nobody knew about it. When they started setting up in the middle of the afternoon, people still didn’t get it - not until they actually came out on stage and started playing. That was amazing for our first year.

2004 Metallica

When they played without the drummer. I got a call on the radio telling me to come backstage and was told that Lars Ulrich wasn’t going to be playing because he was too ill. He’d suffered a panic attack on the plane over, the plane had to be diverted and he was taken to hospital. They decided to go on with guest drummers and I didn’t think they’d pull it off because it was such a big ask. But they did and people will never see a show like that again. Joey from Slipknot played for most of the set in his Slipknot mask, with Dave Lombardo from Slayer doing a few.

2005 Trivium

Trivium were a new act that no-one had really heard of. I’d given them the opening slot on the main stage on the OzzFest day, which had Black Sabbath closing. It was unbelievable. They had six circle pits going. It was a young band grabbing the audience by the scruff of the neck and really taking it to them.

2006 Prodigy

I’d taken a lot of stick for booking them, people saying they were the wrong band for Download and I’d lost my mind. And they ended up being one of the bands of the weekend. This was when the second stage was in a tent and people were climbing the poles. It was bordering on dangerous in there. The Prodigy now say Download is one of their favourite festivals because they’d gone from being a dance band to appealing to a wider audience. It totally increased their fanbase. I’ve done the same with Pendulum and, this year, Chase & Status.

2006 Korn

They ended up doing a Metallica because their singer was ill and they played on the main stage with the singer from Skindred, the singer from Stone Sour, the singer from Avenged Sevenfold.

2008 Kid Rock

He decided that he didn’t want to play that day. Various complaints included that the grass was too long backstage... all of that kind of stuff. It was quite a soap opera. We ended up making friends in the end but that was quite a funny one with him storming off. He wasn’t in a particularly good mood.

2009 Def Leppard

The first time their drummer Rick Allen had played with Def Leppard after losing his arm was at Donington in 1986. 2009 was their first show since then and it was a big emotional moment. He got quite tearful about it.

2009 Steel Panther

It was their first time at Download and they were in the tent, which was the third stage. And we couldn’t get everyone in there. It was mental. They ended up being one of the bands of the festival.

2009 Slipknot

I’d taken a punt and given them the headline slot on the main stage. And they really stepped up and delivered a phenomenal show. They released it on DVD and it’s one of the best selling live DVDs ever. And it was one of the last shows they did with Paul Gray, the bass player, before he sadly passed away.

2010 AC/DC

They just don’t play festivals so getting them at Download was amazing, especially with them bringing their own stage. A lot of it was down to timing. I’d called the agent and he wasn’t there, so I sent him an email. He just happened to be sat with the band’s manager in Argentina, and the idea just seemed to resonate with the band.

Download 2012 is at Donington Park June 8-10. for the full line-up and tickets details go towww.downloadfestival.co.uk.

Download Festival 2009

February 2009


TENS of thousands of people heard it.
"Kid Rock is not very well – we've had to rush him to hospital. He apologises to his fans."
It was day one of last year's Download Festival at Donington Park and in the late afternoon it was announced that the day's headliner would not be performing.
The following week the story would change.
He wasn't ill but had turned up at the site and, unhappy with the facilities, decided he was leaving.
The goatee'd rocker said: "They treated me like ****. There was just one trailer for my whole band. We had no water, no bathroom, no rider. The final straw was when they wouldn't give my crew any food or drinks vouchers. I called the promoter and told him he had two hours to get it sorted or I was out. They did nothing."
Not so, says Andy Copping, the former Rock City promoter who is now promotions vice president for Live Nation and the man responsible for booking all 100 or so bands that appear at the Download Festival each year.
"It just wasn't for him that day. He got a little bitter and twisted and said some pretty outrageous things in the press.
We did go through a bit of tug-of-war through the press which was interesting."
So, what happened exactly? He turned up and then...?
"He said he didn't like the facilities, he said the grass was too long in the backstage area. Which I thought was quite funny for someone who sings about smoking pot."
He has a theory about what prompted Kid's mood.
"That night I got a call from my girlfriend who said 'have you seen Teletext?' The main story was 'Pamela Anderson swears undying love for Tommy Lee. I've never loved anyone else, Tommy is the father of my kids and I hope we get back together'.
"I mean, Kid Rock was married to Pamela Anderson. Even though they were divorced, reading that on the day that you were supposed to be playing in front of 60,000 people is going to p*ss you off.
"Is he going to admit that to you or to me? Of course he isn't – he's going to moan about the grass and that the water isn't the right temperature in the dressing room."
He adds: "I got to meet up with him at the end of November and we got to thrash it out. We talked about the whole Donington experience. And I said to him, regardless of whatever he thought or I thought, 'you made an error of judgement'.
"And we're now friends again. It's water under the bridge. It's big hugs when we see each other now."
And he'll play Download at some point?
"Absolutely. I said to him 'I'd love you to come and play'. Unfortunately this year he can't because of the scheduling. But he is a phenomenal live act."
That was last year's story.
This year, Download, which runs over the weekend of June 12-14, will include Slipknot, The Prodigy, Korn, Motley Crue, Dragonforce, Pendulum and Devildriver.
That's the first wave of confirmations for the seventh Download.
Two more headliners are to be announced soon to join Slipknot as top billing, he says.
"I think we're going to have a really strong Download this year.
"I think people do go anyway, almost religiously if you like, regardless of who is playing. Like it's their holiday. The last few years we've had 20,000 people on the campsite on the Wednesday, a good 48 hours before the first act is on. All the facilities are there, the security is in place.
"But I think you've got to have a strong bill to make it good value for money. Particularly with the financial situation as it is."
How much of an effect will the recession have on sales this year?
"I don't think any of the festivals will know until we're actually right in the eye of it. But just over the last few weeks, looking at how well bands are doing in the marketplace – Take That, The Killers, Oasis, Pussycat Dolls, Girls Aloud, Kings Of Leon, AC/DC, Neil Diamond, Stevie Wonder... all these artists have done phenomenal business, playing to huge audiences. So, if you are a must-see act people will go.
"These acts are almost defying the credit crunch. And that's not being flippant because it is tough for people out there but if you give value for money then I believe they'll go.
"You'll pay £45 for a gig and people will say that's expensive but you can pay £45, £50, £60 to go and see a Premiership match and they might lose, you leave and you feel miserable. For the most part after a concert you feel euphoric.
"With Download it's close on 100 bands, you're there with your friends, the atmosphere is really good."
Andy, 48, is solely responsible for booking those bands for the festival, which now has a capacity of 80,000. But he's had a little help.
"Once every few months we get together with the key players on the fans' forum on the website and bring them down to London. We have a night out, do a question-and-answer session and find out what they think we've got wrong. It can be about the location of the camping, the food that's on offer or what bands they wants to see.
"Because I want people to come back year after year. And it's made a huge difference to the way we do things. No other festival in the world was doing it but now they're starting to."
He admits there have been grumblings about the line-up in the past with the addition of some non-rock acts.
"There's no mistaking that Donington is the home of rock and Download goes across the whole spectrum of rock. But it's not a metal festival. Slipknot are one of the most popular metal bands at the minute. Motley Crue are classic rock from the old school and Korn are nu-metal.
"The Prodigy and Pendulum come from a dance side. There was some criticism when we had Pendulum on last year but they were one of the bands of the festival. Their tunes are really full on. And The Prodigy transcend the dance act pigeonhole. They're really intense live and can deliver just as much intensity as Slipknot."
He adds: "Would we put a Neil Diamond on? No. Would I put on something that would shock people but would still fit in with what we're doing? Yes, every time."
The side events such as the stalls and stunt riders, club nights, film screenings, fairground rides will once again be part of the event.
It's a different set-up to Monsters Of Rock, which ran for 16 years at the site.
"I was at the very first Monsters of Rock in 1980. And went to many more after. So I used to go as a fan, watching all those bands, but I couldn't have dreamed that years later I'd be booking all the bands for it. That's where I'm coming from – I'm a fan. If I wasn't working Download I'd buy a ticket and all the people involved in it are the same. That's why it's easy to relate to the fans.
"I've a real emotional history with Donington."

Weekend tickets are now on sale at £135 (car park £10/£20, camping £25, campervans £40, lockers £11). Visit download.co.uk. Day ticket details yet to be confimed.