Download may have marked its twentieth birthday at the weekend, but it seems that not everyone involved saw cause for celebration. Bobby Vylan - not someone known for pulling his punches, in fairness - delivered a fairly damning assessment to BBC Newsbeat's Mitch Mansfield.
Not only was he blunt in his verdict on the current stature of rock ("not as culturally relevant as it used to be"), he was also certain where the blame for that irrelevance lies: "The scene, the genre, the subculture and the people within it have done a great job at killing it." What's more, he had a pop at the festival organisers for handing Metallica not one but two headline sets. Talk about rage against the machine...
Mansfield's other interviewees justifiably spoke of progress made within metal in terms of female representation and concern for musicians' mental well-being - but Bobby's point does ring true. "We've kind of forced our way through", he said. "In order for Download to be here for another 20 years, it will have to change [and] diversify." The same goes for other festivals too, of course - but Download does perhaps look to be behind the curve.
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