56 bands played over the two days, with IRON MAIDEN and LIMP BIZKIT booked to headline the event in a way to appeal to both the Monsters Of Rock veterans and the new generation of heavy music lovers. The first edition, taking place at the end of May and beginning of June 2003, went hard. Well, rock had always been seen as the rebellious child of said industry, and thus the new upstart festival was christened Download. The name of the festival was chosen for two reasons: one, the internet was exploding and would provide connectivity between festival and fans two – and much more prevalent at the time – receiving music digitally and file sharing was considered an underhanded tactic within the industry. Alongside chief booker Andy Copping, he proposed and birthed a brand-new, two-day festival in 2003 to be held at Donington and become the natural successor to Monsters Of Rock. Step forward Live Nation promoter Stuart Gailbraith. The success of the event was undeniable and showed that Donington was crying out for a regular rock festival to be back on its hallowed turf. The following year, rock and metal returned to the site when Ozzfest came to the UK, suitably under the tagline “Rock Comes Home”. However, 2001 saw the location used for the Rock And Blues Festival and a widely acclaimed STEREOPHONICS concert as part of their A Day At The Races tour. Monsters Of Rock was dead for the rest of the decade – and indeed, into the new millennium – there would be no major music gatherings at Donington. Struggling to find suitable headliners, the 1997 edition was cancelled subsequently, so was the event itself. What started as a one-off mega show to complete RAINBOW’s Down To Earth tour in 1980 had developed into a British institution the location of Donington Park in Derbyshire became a mecca for rock and metal fans in the UK and, for the best part of sixteen years, those with a penchant for heavy music had an annual getaway to enjoy…not for much longer. As Rock and Roll All Nite ended KISS’ explosive set at Monsters Of Rock in 1996, nobody could have foreseen it would mark the end of an era.
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