Black Sabbath Return to Download
In what was probably the worst kept secret since, well, yesterday, when Metallica were announced to be headlining the Saturday at next year’s Download Festival, the legendary Black Sabbath have confirmed they will reform to headline the Sunday at Donington. As we mentioned yesterday, Download organisers really did have to pull out all the stops this year to impress the pockets of fans who headed to Knebworth for Sonisphere instead of Download, and with the announcement of Metallica, heads were certainly turned. With tonight’s announcement that Black Sabbath will be reforming (the original line up) to headline Download Festival 2012 on the Sunday (effectively closing the festival), excitement has no doubt hit fever pitch.
Following yesterdays announcement, their were plenty of neysayers who were apprehensive about the single addition, believing that the remaining two headliners would be underwhelming. Such a notion was banished come 7pm, however, when Ozzy Osbourne and his band announced in Los Angeles that they would be reforming to record their first album together in 33 years, as well as headline Download Festival 2012.
There are some reservations however despite all of the excitement around these two announcements. Over the years, the festival has worked very hard at attracting and pleasing a younger audience with the likes of Lostprophets and My Chemical Romance headlining in recent years. This may have upset the die hard Donington faithful at first, but over the years the face of the festival has changed. For every Black Sabbath tee spotted in the campsite, there’s another gracing a Paramore logo, and it has taken the festival a few years to properly cater to both crowds and strike that balance. Whilst the vast majority of the younger audience will have heard of Black Sabbath, they are a band who are most recognised by a select few hits amongst the younger fans, and you have to question if this is a headliner which will please old and young alike. Metallica, on the other hand, have massive appeal to both. If you make the wise decision of ignoring their abortion of an album with Lou Reed, Death Magnetic was a fine return to form which managed to capture the attention and adulation of both fans old and new. Even The Black Album, which the band will play in it’s entirety on the Saturday at Download, is held in high regards amongst many fans who weren’t even born before it was released.
Don’t get me wrong, to mark ten years of Download, it was absolutely essential that the organisers pulled together a headline bill that was worthy of this milestone. To have Black Sabbath, who arguably gave birth to the metal genre, and Metallica, who arguably redefined the genre so many years ago, you would be a mug to argue that these two announcements were anything short of incredible. If Download were to secure a modern day, mammoth headliner for the Friday, then 2012 will be one of the biggest in it’s already well decorated history. All eyes are firmly on Donington right now.
