Festival organisers met up with a selection of over 20 boardies at a room above a pub in Soho on Friday 27th April... and we've got the recordings to prove it!
Festival Director, Stuart Galbraith; Production Director, John Probyn; Lead Promoter, Andy Copping and Campsite Manager, Mick Roberts were all on hand to answer searching questions about the choice of bands, line-up issues, security in the campsites, health and safety for festival goers, the cost of food and drinks on site, the quality of the toilets and much, much more...
Scan through the questions below and click on the relevant audio to listen to an MP3 of the question and the answer! It was a great nightm, with lots of full and frank communication, and more than a few beers.
When asked about the value of having the Fan Forum, Festival Director Stuart Galbraith said "… The fact is I think, and I think you feel, it's as much your festival as it is ours... You told us what you want and we will try and deliver on it".
GENERAL FESTIVAL QUESTIONS
(Files 1-8)
FanForum_Part1.mp3
• What are you planning to do to make yourselves more competitive against mainland European festivals which are lower cost yet offer similar lineups?
FanForum_Part2.mp3
• You appear to be pushing the limits of the venue. Are you considering moving it elsewhere? If so, what do you think the impact will be on the festival?
FanForum_Part3.mp3
• Are LiveNation planning anything to combat the increasing problem of touts and eBay ticket re-selling which is artificially pushing up the prices of tickets for popular gigs and festivals?
FanForum_Part4.mp3
• The number of people who get to the end of the weekend, have run out of money, and food (and often left with only beer). But a Salvation Army tent free toast and soup or something similar would at least help to combat the number of people who are utterly wasted due to lack of food and a surplus of beer. (And would perhaps help prevent the behaviour that goes with it.
FanForum_Part5.mp3
• As festival organisers in general, how do you feel about the widely thought opinion that music festivals have become too corporate and have lost touch with the fans?
• Furthermore, what do you think of festivals like Beautiful Days and Bestival which, are albeit smaller, have a far less corporate feel and pilot innovative ideas and using smaller suppliers and retailers? Do you ever gain inspiration or ideas from these so-called "grass-roots" festivals?
FanForum_Part6.mp3
• Are you making preparations with the Police, in order to be better prepared for any problems on the Sun night?
FanForum_Part7.mp3
• The age old problem of Toilets - what are you doing to increase them and make them more accessible and clean during the festival?
FanForum_Part8.mp3
• On the whole, how effective have you found alternative and new media (particularly your website, your forums and your myspace) in promoting, providing feedback and improving the festival?
BAND QUESTIONS
(Files 9-13)
FanForum_Part9.mp3
• Do you think there will soon be a problem with repeat headliners?
FanForum_Part10.mp3
• How much do you actually decide on where or when a band plays at Download? Do you ever feel that there is too much "red-tape" and politics such as record labels and management which restrain your ability to create and structure a lineup of your choice? - Including:
o Rumours about Rammstein bookings (or lack of) and why?
o Why are Megadeth low down on the line up?
o Why are Korn only headlining the 2nd stage?
FanForum_Part11.mp3
• Did you expect such a negative reaction to booking My Chemical Romance? Do you have any thoughts on why there was such a backlash? (Note – The band polls section certainly would have given a heads up on this, so expressing surprise about the reaction would give ammunition to those who accuse LN of not paying attention to the boards.)
FanForum_Part12.mp3
• Is Download moving towards being a more mainstream accessible festival with its band bookings? Or does it still wish to cater to the underground portion of the UK? And if so why do they feel the need to be booking bands that only reflect the current scene, and not ones that have huge underground backing and have still sold many records (Cannibal Corpse, Nile et al.)?
• How much of the "band request " polls are considered when booking acts and how often does Andy Copping look at the results for these polls?
FanForum_Part13.mp3
• What about “buy ons” - do some bands play to pay Download?
• Is there going to be a 4th stage this year?
• Download is a broad-ranging rock festival, but a certain segment of the board cry out for a metal festival on the scale of the European festivals. Independent Festivals (Bloodstock, Damnation) manage 1-2000 capacity events (this years Bloodstock may see larger numbers, and recent events there may have answered part of this question). While the UK market may not support a Donington sized event that is purely about metal music, how big of an event could the UK (in Live Nations eyes) support (with a decent budget for the big metal bands that are out of the independents reach). And if the answer is anywhere over 2,000 the next question is – why isn’t anyone doing this?
• Did Motley Crue pull out of last year?
CAMPING / CAMPSITE SECURITY /VILLAGE/MARKET/VENDORS
(Files 14 – 19)
FanForum_Part14.mp3
• Will the amount of fire breaks and security in the campsite be increased? - Will the camping fields be a little more organised this year? Last year there were hardly any paths making it near impossible to get to your tent in one piece. The fields seemed to be a little TOO overcrowded in 2006…
• What have you considered for the safety of the festival goers in the camping fields? There really needs to be more security in the camping fields? People bragged about getting in there last year with no wrist bands? More searches especially on the way into the camping fields, better security control at night with patrols of teams of 3? Places to report incidents, problems and concerns.
FanForum_Part15.mp3
• Litter - Have you considered charging people an extra £5 or £10 for a bag – fill it up and get the deposit back?
FanForum_Part16.mp3
• What can be done to stop the danger of gas canisters exploding and fire in the campsite and will there be more fire wardens patrolling the camping areas?
FanForum_Part17.mp3
• It has long been Donington "tradition" to show your disfavour for a band by throwing projectiles, typically bottles, at them. Frequently these bottles are filled with objects or liquid (sometimes urine) to give them more weight to throw. More often than not, an unsuspecting member of the crowd gets caught in the crossfire and can sometimes end up injured, sometimes seriously. Furthermore, security and crew, and the band themselves are at risk from these projectiles. With this considered, would it be salutary for there to be a more stringent, hard-line approach to prevention of this activity? I understand security cannot get to everyone but at least making an example out of a culprit would possibly stop others from doing it for fear of the same punishment. Or something friendlier like an "empty bottle amnesty" perhaps. EG. Ten empty bottles - 1 free beer.
• Possibly turf/mesh over the hill rather than just have gravel there? There are too many idiots at Download who fill bottles with stones and launch them at the crowd. Not good…
FanForum_Part18.mp3
• Is there one security company or more this year? Because the communication seemed to be pretty awful between them all last year…In previous years there has been a distinct lack of communication between the security in the campsite and arena in regard what is allowed and not allowed into the arena, getting information to one area or about the campsite/arena openings times etc? Maybe using one company or have them linked with walkie talkies and all being controlled out of one central location or maybe use one Security Company throughout the festival so you have continuity? Is this viable?
FanForum_Part19.mp3
• It has been mentioned about pitch costs going up for catering vans, which can only increase already high prices, and/or reduce variety. What's the situation with that?
• Costs of beer, water, food discussed and analysed!
ECO ISSUES
(File 20)
FanForum_Part20.mp3
• Download goes green? - Although promoting rail and bus travel in an attempt to keep down emissions is a great idea I would hate to see the opportunity lost in taking this a step further. There was a lack of bins/recycling areas last year throughout the whole site which is something that is easily rectified. Can we have more facilities provided this year to let us clean up after ourselves rather than you facing such a large bill again for the cleaning the site after the festival.
• More incentives are needed to keep Download clean? More exchange programs for rubbish in exchange for beer/food tokens. Exchange old gas canisters or unused ones for similar.
HEALTH AND SAFTEY
(Files 21-22)
FanForum_Part21.mp3
• Specific staff and/or areas to target drug/alcohol use. You will never prevent drug/alcohol use at a festival, but you can minimize the negative affects - plenty of information, and opportunities to chill out.
• More water points in the arena and more water needs to be handed out at the front of the stages – what are your thoughts on this ?
• After the blistering heat of last year and the torrential rain in previous years? Is there a possibility that there can be an area for shade/protection from the elements? A place to be able to chill out and get recharged? Not a bar but a chill out zone.
FanForum_Part22.mp3
• 2nd Stage due to the possibility of overcrowding, has there been a consideration to putting big screens outside, also what thought has been given to the the danger of people climbed the support poles like last year preventing bands playing and fans being in danger under the supports. What preparations have you made or considered.
COMMUNITY
(Files 23-25)
FanForum_Part23.mp3
• The initial promise of a festival called Download was one of interactivity – however this seemed at the time to be nothing more than jumping on the digital bandwagon with a few Downloads offered on the website. As the community has grown, this promise seems to have delivered, culminating (for now) in this fan forum and an opportunity for regular festival goers to get involved, have a say and get direct feedback from individuals rather than anonymous missives from corporate suits. Is this part of a grand plan, or has it happened by accident?
FanForum_Part24.mp3
• How important is the Download Forums Community to Live Nation? There is obviously a cost involved with running message boards; does Live Nation feel that this is a valuable investment?
FanForum_Part25.mp3
• Fan Forum, Boardie BBQ - Meeting festival fans – is this an ongoing thing for all of us?
