In the past fortnight there have been a few significant releases of non headliner bands in this years Download festival line up, with many being quite big names and others being curious surprises.
Returning to the festival are bands like Down and Killswitch Engage, Killswitch having played Download a number of times before with Down also aving the special pleasure of being the so called secret band of the 2006 line up.

In black and white, the new additions to the line up are:
DOWN, CHRIS CORNELL, PAPA ROACH, LACUNA COIL, JOURNEY, BLACKSTONE CHERRY, SKIN, TESLA, CLUTCH, KARMA TO BURN, PARKWAY DRIVE, OPETH, MESHUGGAH, DIR EN GREY, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, YOU ME AT SIX, STEADLÜR, LAWNMOWER DETH

2009’s Download Festival will also see a very special appearance from ex-Guns ‘N’ Roses bassist DUFF MCKAGAN, who brings his latest incarnation LOADED to Download for the very first time.

Most amusing of these announcements is the inclusion of America’s 5th greatest rock act, Journey. Best known for their song, Midnight Train (“Don’t stop Believin’!”) have reformed after a 12 year lul in gigging with a newly auditioned singer plucked from youtube for his dulcet tones.

This years lineup also features yet another UK festival appearance from already wel establised Japanese metal band Dir En Grey. This performance seems set to cause a stir with a number of UK J-rock fans and will be a trial by fire in one of the best UK out dopor festivals in recent years.
We’ll continue to keep you posted and look forward to covering the festival as it happens.