As far as bits of festival news go, this is among the very best. It all started as a trolling comment about Avenged Sevenfold being picked to headline the 2014 Download Festival. The nice people over at Metal Hammer compiled a list of the most hilarious and idiotic responses to Avenged’s announcement as Download headliners and pick of the bunch was a reference to Dying Fetus. Thus, the #WhyNotDyingFetus hashtag was born on Twitter.
The response was like anything anyone could have ever expected, and within a day led Download Festival head honcho Andy Copping to remark on Twitter that he “needed to find the agent for Dying Fetus”. Yesterday, in the ultimate triumph of both the power of the Internet and social media and the good taste and humour of the powers that be for Download, it was confirmed that Dying Fetus would indeed appear at Download 2014.
Singer and guitarist from Dying Fetus John Gallagher had this to say about the events of the last few days:
“The people have spoken and now it’s time to piss in the mainstream! This started as a joke but has turned into something truly incredible! Never under estimate the power of the internet. Big thanks to all our undying fans for making this happen and for the promoters of Download for having the courage to invite us on the fest! Cheers!”
Meanwhile, Mr Copping himself had this to say:
“When #whynotdyingfetus started circulating on Monday, it gained too much momentum to ignore, so calling the band and asking them to play at next year’s Download was a no brainer. I’m thrilled to say that they seem as excited about it as we are. ‘Why not Dying Fetus?’ you asked. We say ‘Why the hell not?”
Dying Fetus join Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park, Aerosmith, Rob Zombie, Fall Out Boy and Alter Bridge as acts currently on the Download Festival 2014 bill. Early bird tickets for Download 2014 are only available until tomorrow morning (Friday 8th of November) with a £10 saving on the 2013 event price. Head over to www.downloadfestival.co.uk if you want to snap up one or more early bird tickets. Further announcements regarding Download 2014 will follow in due course.
