Damnation Festival Announce New Venue for 2022 and First Bands!
In a surprise announcement Damnation Festival have confirmed they will move away from the Leeds University venue they have occupied for fourteen years.
"This is a bittersweet announcement as we cannot praise Leeds University Union or the venue's management team highly enough. We built our reputation there, enjoying many, many highlights along the way and look forward to a leaving party to remember this winter.
"However, we perhaps allowed ourselves to get a little too comfortable with the series of sell outs and accepted the unaviodable limitations on the event in terms of curfews, capacity and production we could offer artists, and in turn, fans. Damnation was never supposed to be an event we could organise in our slippers.
"So, it's time to get uncomfortable. We've booked an amazing arena, where the smallest stage is comparable to our current main stage. We've booked a line-up that blows away anything we've managed before and we have the freedom to organise an event our loyal fanbase deserves."
"With Damnation 2021 selling out nine months in advance, more than 1,000 fans on the waiting list for tickets and so many toured-starved artists available to play in 2022, it really was a 'now or never' moment for the festival to take the plunge.
"If we can rely on the same support that has got us to this point, we're confident we can host Europe's biggest indoor metal festival, a stone's throw from where it all started in Jilly's Rockworld all those years ago."
US industrial metal pioneers MINISTRY and hardcore legends CONVERGE will co-headline Damnation 2022 on the festival's return to Manchester.
German thrash titans DESTRUCTION, grind masters PIG DESTROYER and doom outfit PALLBEARER will revisit the event in its new 6,000 capacity venue, BEC Arena, on Saturday, November 5, next year.
While there will be Damnation debuts for Canadian deathcore giants DESPISED ICON, American thrashers TOXIC HOLOCAUST and the long-awaited appearance of progressive stoner rockers ELDER.
Ministry's legendary frontman, Al Jourgensen, said:
"After not being able to perform for so long I am excited to say that Ministry will be playing Damnation 2022.
"We cannot wait to share some old tunes and new tunes and rock live again with all of you."
Damnation organiser, Gavin McInally, said:
"We left Manchester 15 years ago after we'd outgrown the venue, so it's quite surreal to be returning, in an arena, armed with no less than Ministry and Converge co-headlining and a bill already stacked with some very special performances.
"Pig Destroyer agreeing to come back after they had to scrap their headline set this year was a huge coup, while Destruction and Pallbearer were also hugely popular when they played previously.
"Toxic Holocaust, Despised Icon and Elder offer a fresh and diverse mix of styles to the day and we have so much more in store for 2022."
