Oversize rock icon tributes unveiled at Download

Statue of Lemmy
Statue of Lemmy

Oversize statues of Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper and Lemmy have been unveiled as a tribute to the most iconic acts to have played Download over the years.

Also joining the rock star trio are caricatures of Marilyn Manson, Slash and The Prodigy’s Keith Flint.

The eight-foot replicas, made of polystyrene and fibreglass, have been erected in the VIP area. They were created by second year design students at Birmingham City University.

Module leader Hollie Wright says: “We’ve developed a strong relationship over the last eight years between our Design for Theatre, Performance and Events course and the Download Festival. It is such a fantastic opportunity both for our students – producing sculptures for such a high profile live event – and for a local, yet mammoth, festival to be engaging with such a unique course.

“The nature of the work varies each year but the project is always both challenging and exciting.”

The headlining acts at this year’s Download include Rammstein, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.

TeamRock is at Download all weekend. Visit teamrock.com to keep up with all the news, reviews and interviews from the festival as they happen.

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.