Download Festival 2024: A “big band” will play a surprise set, boss reveals

nme.com:

Download Festival booker Andy Copping has revealed that a “big band” will perform a surprise set at this year’s edition of the fest.Copping recently hosted an hour-long show on Planet Rock called Andy Copping’s Secrets of Download during the bank holiday (May 27).

While on air, he opened up about the most iconic moments of Download Festival and reflected on Metallica’s surprise set at the first edition of the festival in 2003.“In some years we’ve had some secret sets from different bands – Enter Shikari, Black Stone Cherry, Bullet For My Valentine.

But one of the very special secret sets, which kind of, I guess, sets it all off, was Metallica back at the very first Download (in) 2003,” he said (per Planet Radio).Copping then went on to share that the legendary metal band told him they wanted to play a secret set which left the festival booker “completely over the moon.”“Anyway, the band played.

It was completely and utterly immense as you can imagine, and just great memories of that,” he saod. “Obviously, Metallica have been back at Download a number of times over the years but that was particularly special that year when they did a secret set for us.”He then went on to play Metallica’s ‘St.