2023’s Download Festival Lineup Looks To Address Rock’s Biggest Problem

‘Who are rock and heavy metal’s next festival headliners?’ With the lineup for 2023’s Download festival now announced, it appears that festival organizers are finally getting around to answering this longstanding question, at least partially. Despite the festival booking Metallica and Slipknot for 3 of their 4 headlining slots, which is only fitting given 2023 is the festival’s 20th anniversary, the famed rock festival is finally warming up to a new era of festival headliners.

Performing their first ever headlining night at Download 2023, the U.K.’s own Bring Me The Horizon will be the festival’s Friday night attraction. With the exponential growth the band has seen over the last decade it’s clear they’ve been more than ready for a headlining slot for some time now. The band has already been headlining arena’s across the globe and their Spotify monthly listener count has risen astronomically thanks to their exceptional last record, their recent features with Machine Gun Kelly and Ed Sheeran, and not to mention their viral success on Tiktok among other things.

With the exception of Biffy Clyro and now BMTH, Download has routinely booked legacy bands for their headlining slots, or veteran headliners like Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold who are on the verge of being considered legacy acts. While it’d be nice to see more young rock and metal artists given the opportunity to headline at Download, BMTH is certainly a step in the right direction for the festival and industry all together.

However, supporting headliners Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon, and Slipknot, next year’s Download festival has a number of incredible rock/metal acts booked from Parkway Drive, Architects, Simple Plan, I Prevail, Evanescence, and Disturbed among several others. As far as metal goes, Parkway Drive and Architects are notable standouts, provided that both their new sonic directions have taken them to headlining arena size stages across Europe, and rightfully so. In fact, now that Download is open to the idea of booking a band like BMTH as a headliner, I’d wager Architects and Parkway Drive are worthy future contenders for a headlining slot as well.

Parkway Drive for one were the main headliner at 2019’s Wacken festival, which is considered to be one of the most renown metal festivals in the world. Architects’ Monthly listener count has also skyrocketed with the release of their latest record, The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit. Interestingly, while the band is currently on tour supporting Biffy Clyro, Architects’ monthly listener count has actually doubled that of Clyro’s with over 2 million listeners.

Overall, it’s a great step in the right direction for Download to begin booking new and younger headliners for its annual festivities. Routine headliners like Slipknot, Metallica, and Iron Maiden are of course exceptional acts, however, there’s no doubt each of these bands are nearing the final stages of their careers.