Well then, butt…

WHAT’S OCCURRING, DONINGTON?! 😈🎸

We’ve got some absolutely massive news from Riff Report HQ.

The Riff Report Blog is heading to DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL!

Yep. The Welsh riff machine is packing its bags, charging every battery we can find and preparing to descend upon the hallowed grounds of Donington for one of the biggest weekends in the rock and metal calendar.

And we’re not going just to stand around drinking overpriced pints and shouting “SLAAAAAYER!” at inappropriate moments.

Well…

We might do a little bit of that. 🍺😂

But most importantly, The Riff Report will be there covering the festival and bringing as much of the Download experience as possible straight to you.

From the enormous headline moments to the bands absolutely destroying the smaller stages, we’re planning to get stuck into the lot.

So grab your battle jacket.

Find your least destroyed festival boots.

The Riff Report is going to Donington. 🏴🤘

🎸 WHAT WILL THE RIFF REPORT BE COVERING?

The simple answer?

AS MUCH AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

Download isn’t just about watching three headliners and wandering back to the tent.

It’s a gigantic rock ‘n’ roll village filled with bands, fans, food, merch, madness and enough walking to make your fitness tracker think you’ve accidentally joined the SAS.

So we’ll be getting amongst it.

🤘 BAND REVIEWS

Obviously, the music comes first.

We’ll be catching bands throughout the weekend and bringing you Riff Report live reviews from across Download Festival.

Expect riffs.

Expect pits.

Expect crowd chants.

Expect us trying to describe guitar tones while somebody dressed as a dinosaur crowdsurfs past us.

We’ll be covering the huge names, but we’re equally excited about discovering the bands further down the bill.

Because every festival has that moment.

You wander towards a stage knowing absolutely nothing about the band playing…

Twenty minutes later you’re screaming their chorus, buying a T-shirt and telling everybody:

“YOU NEED TO SEE THIS BAND, MUN!”

Those are the moments we bloody love.

🎤 INTERVIEWS

We’ll also be looking to get behind the music with interviews from Download.

Bands.

Artists.

People working behind the scenes.

And hopefully some of the characters who make the Download community what it is.

We’ll be asking about new music, touring, festivals and whatever other chaos comes up along the way.

Because sometimes the best festival conversations happen when the sensible questions have already disappeared out of the window. 😂

📸 THE SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND ABSOLUTE CHAOS OF DONINGTON

Download Festival isn’t only something you watch.

You experience it.

The roar when a massive riff kicks in.

Thousands of people walking towards the arena.

Battle jackets covered in decades of patches.

Inflatable nonsense bouncing above crowds.

People emerging from tents looking like they’ve survived an apocalypse.

And inevitably…

the weather. 🌧️☀️🌧️☀️

Possibly all four seasons before lunchtime.

We’ll be capturing the atmosphere and sharing what it’s actually like being on the ground at Download.

🔥 THE BANDS YOU NEED TO WATCH

One of our biggest missions will be finding the bands that deserve your attention.

Of course we’ll be talking about the enormous artists.

But The Riff Report has always been about supporting the wider rock and metal community too.

That means checking out upcoming bands.

Finding hidden gems.

Watching early sets.

Giving smaller artists some love.

And hopefully introducing you lot to your next favourite band.

Because today’s band playing to a few hundred people could be tomorrow’s Download headliner.

Everyone starts somewhere. 🤘

🏕️ FESTIVAL LIFE

Ah yes.

Camping.

Where thousands of metalheads temporarily build a civilisation using tents, camping chairs, warm cans and questionable decision-making.

We’ll be talking about festival life too.

The campsites.

The village.

The food.

The traders.

The merch.

The toilets.

Yes.

The toilets.

Someone has to report from the frontline. 😂

We’ll also be looking at the practical side of Download — the stuff that can genuinely help you have a better weekend.

🍔 FESTIVAL FOOD

You cannot spend an entire weekend surviving purely on riffs.

We’ve tried.

Apparently the human body requires something called food.

So expect us to investigate what’s available around Download too.

Burgers.

Pizza.

Breakfast.

Street food.

Coffee strong enough to resurrect Lemmy.

And anything sufficiently ridiculous that we simply have to try it.

If somebody is selling a burger the size of a Marshall stack, The Riff Report considers it a journalistic responsibility to investigate. 🍔😂

👕 MERCH AND TRADERS

No festival trip is complete without telling yourself:

“I’m definitely not buying any more T-shirts.”

And then returning home with six.

We’ll be having a nose around the Download traders, official merch and festival stalls to see what’s knocking about.

Battle jackets everywhere should probably start making room now.

🤘 THE DOWNLOAD COMMUNITY

This might be the bit we’re looking forward to most.

You lot.

Rock and metal festivals have always been about community.

People travel from all over the country — and all over the world — to spend a weekend surrounded by people who understand exactly why standing in a field listening to extremely loud guitars is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

We’ll be talking to festival-goers, checking out incredible battle jackets, hearing people’s Download stories and celebrating the wonderfully weird community that makes Donington special.

Because without the fans, it’s just a very loud field.

📱 LIVE UPDATES AND SOCIAL MEDIA CHAOS

We won’t just disappear into Donington and re-emerge several days later looking like we’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards.

We’ll be sharing plenty along the way.

Expect updates, videos, photos, quick reactions, festival moments and whatever ridiculousness happens to cross our path.

If something brilliant happens at Download…

we want Riff Report readers right there with us.

🏴 WALES IS GOING TO DONINGTON

For The Riff Report, this is another bloody exciting chapter.

We’re an independent Welsh rock and metal blog built around one simple idea:

Celebrate the music and the people who make this scene brilliant.

No pretending we’re too cool to enjoy ourselves.

No standing at the back with folded arms.

If a band absolutely smashes it, we’re going to tell you they smashed it.

If we discover something brilliant, we’re going to shout about it.

And if somebody falls face-first into the mud while carrying four pints…

Well…

We’ll probably check they’re alright first.

Then laugh. 😂🍺

🤘 DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL — THE RIFF REPORT IS COMING

The countdown is officially on.

Soon we’ll be heading from Wales towards one of the most famous patches of grass in rock history.

Donington.

Download Festival.

Thousands upon thousands of rock and metal fans.

Massive bands.

New discoveries.

Riffs.

Pits.

Beer.

Food.

Camping.

Mud.

Sunshine.

Probably more mud.

And somewhere amongst all that glorious chaos…

The Riff Report. 😈

We genuinely cannot wait to bring you along for the ride.

So keep checking The Riff Report Blog and our socials as we build towards Download with news, previews, guides and everything you need before the gates open.

Then once we’re there?

IT’S GAME BLOODY ON.

Download Festival…

THE RIFF REPORT IS COMING! 🤘🔥🏴

Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud.

🎸 The Riff Report Blog