Festival season: Download

Having been lucky enough to be going to festivals ever since I was 13, I decided this year it was time to expand my experience further and tackle two very different events, with most of the years being taken up by V Festival before it completely went to shit. In the red corner, we have Download Festival, the spiritual home of rock, and a festival I have spent countless hours watching videos of on YouTube and reading about over the years, and is living proof once more that rock will never die; I will be reviewing it in this post. In the blue corner, we have Glastonbury, the juggernaut of the music calendar with artists spanning just about every genre and a place to just cut loose and be chill, which I will review in a later post, otherwise this post will be even more dreary.

"The home of heavy fucking metal" - Rob Halford

After sampling the delights of Sonisphere last year, I knew I wanted to try a bigger scale festival that was committed to pleasing those who hold a candle for rock and metal music. Then I heard who was headlining and I knew it must be done; I had to see Slipknot again after losing my shit to them back in January at the NIA. I was quite keen on experiencing the infamous Kiss live show, and as for Muse, headlining Download is something I've wanted them to do for a long time, so I knew I couldn't pass up a trip to Castle Donington.

Wednesday and Thursday were as good as they could get. Apart from the almost four hours of queueing to enter the village, there wasn't much to complain about; good weather, brilliant company, but wait a minute, what's this? OH YEAH. The cashless system won't work for you and you can't eat or drink anything of ours for one day, because Sam, or Captain Beige as I had been affectionately referred to, you should fuck off back to V. After getting this fixed, safe to say I binged hard on liquids and burgers.

Rising and shining, excited for what was to come, Friday began with a group of excitable, tipsy young adults feeling as giddy as children on Christmas Day. The weather was a little more accommodating to those of us who would rather not be cooked alive, and the first band to receive my full attention were Lacuna Coil, who always have a strong following, but have never really been the most exciting prospect when it comes to the stage. However, they delivered a confident performance, with vocalist Cristina Scabbia (who I still can't believe is over 40) whipping the crowd into chant after chant, and their cover of Enjoy The Silence soared like a raven.
Staying on the Main Stage, blues rockers Clutch, unlike Lacuna Coil, have a sterling reputation for their live shows, and they definitely backed up these claims with a note-perfect set, with closer One Eye Dollar receiving one of the biggest crowd reactions the festival would see that day.
Five Finger Death Punch are not afraid of anything, whether it's getting three youngsters from the crowd onstage to bang their heads along to Burn MF, or even daring trying to upstage Clutch. They just about pull it off, which was no easy feat. They're on an upward trajectory, and we could be seeing future headliners in the making. One thing they don't do is manage to stop the almighty downpour that follows, which is more evidence that God is not a Judas Priest fan... who'd have thunk it?!
With the rain dampening camp spirits, we headed for the sanctuary of the third stage to witness the return of Fightstar. Unsure of their live prowess, but confident in their ability to write stellar rock songs, I went with an open mind. Opening with Paint Your Target was a brilliant move, and from thereon the crowd were on their side. The aforementioned song and an almighty Deathcar were the highlights of what was the set of the day. The tent may have been heaving because of the flood in progress outside, or everyone was actually there for Fightstar; whatever the reason, Charlie and co. left a big impression on everyone that day.

Not to be outdone, Slipknot were back after having a year off headlining Download. The stage setup was different, the masks were different, the line up was different... it felt like a new experience, and not the same stage shows, or even members they brought to Download in 2009 and 2013. Clearly a little miffed by the rain, Corey Taylor did his best to keep everyone warm, reminding everyone that the UK is the reason they are a band, and how nothing means more to them than Download, and it really did sound genuine. The set was very well chosen, with new single Killpop sitting nicely alongside oldies such as The Heretic Anthem and Eyeless (which was killer). The rain wasn't the only heavy thing at the main stage that night, and the 'knot left their mark once more to remind everyone that whatever the barrier, there is still plenty of fire in this monster's belly yet.

Not to be outdone, the weather insisted on remaining as wet as my pants after that Fightstar show. Making an effort to get into the arena a bit earlier today, I caught a bit of Welsh emo stalwarts Funeral For A Friend. They've had a fall from grace it seems, and even though the opportunity to play the Main Stage is one that should not be taken lightly, they just didn't seem fussed. Nine years ago they would've tore Download a new arsehole when they sub-headlined just beneath Guns N'Roses, but like their good songs, those days seem to have sadly passed by.
Radio 1 poster boys Mallory Knox were next to grace the Main Stage, and it was certainly a step in the right direction. Determined to keep a hold of the impatient, wet crowd, vocalist Mikey Chapman keeps them engaged with some surprisingly political comments, and closer Lighthouse provides a ray of sunshine on an otherwise gloomy afternoon.
Cello metal? Those two words alone were enough to convince me to check out Apocalyptica on the Zippo Encore Stage, who claimed they were suffering from technical difficulties, which did not matter due to the fact that three cellists were playing heavy metal on orchestral instruments! As impressive a skill as it is, the show felt flat and rather average. For a band who started out playing Metallica covers, one of those songs might not have gone amiss.
The only time Parkway Drive managed to make me stand to attention was with their delightful cover of RATM's Bulls On Parade. It takes balls to cover Rage, but these guys just about nailed it. The rest of their set was your run of the day metalcore, and got the crowd moving on a very wet and cold afternoon.
Tim McGrath led his band Rise Against through a strong back catalogue with plenty of back and forth with the crowd, but their aggressive take on political punk lacked that little bit of oomph their live shows are usually credited with. Maybe they were suffering from the pathetic fallacy? By no means a bad set, but definitely not a great one.
Two years on since their last performance on the Zippo Encore Stage, A Day To Remember have been the band everyone thinks will next make the step up to headliner status soon; this is a fact that frontman Jeremy McKinnon even acknowledged between songs. A very random cover of Champagne Supernova both confused and delighted the crowd, and closer The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle left us yearning for more, but a nicely brewed setlist left many punters thrilled, even if McKinnon was running out of breath towards the end. But then again, who can blame him?
Then it was party time. Time to party. Party hard. It was Andrew W.K. time. Every song was introduced with "this song is about partying", and just when you think he'll drop Party Hard, he'll play another banger. Even a totally absurd rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful didn't stop the packed tent from having the time of their lives, but unfortunately we had to vacate the tent in order to pick up a decent spot for the next headliner.

A lot was said from both camps about Muse taking the top spot at Download. Many said that they were nothing more than a pop rock band who belonged at Glastonbury and Reading, some being far too ignorant to even give them a chance, whereas others who were perhaps more reliably informed insisted that they'd blow everyone away when they mix their heavy material with their hits. For casual listeners it was a questionable booking, but for the superfans it had been a long time coming. Did Muse pull it off? Of course they did. Right from the get go the capacity crowd was bouncing off the proverbial walls, and with a few rarities dropped in such as Micro Cuts and Citizen Erased mixed in with rockier songs from seventh album Drones, you get the feeling that there have been a lot of doubters eating their words after this gig. You only have to look at the reviews and the forums to see how well they went down. When Muse go heavy, they go hard, and they once again showed that they aren't a band who rely on a pretty stage show.

Sunday was the day I was least looking forward to, not just because it was the last day of the festival, but also because the line up is a classic rock fan's dream. Whilst I enjoy classic rock, I'm not sure a day of it on the Main Stage would gauge my interest. Nonetheless, I had a quick watch of both Cavalera Conspiracy and We Are Harlot. Both of these bands were shining examples of why most of the time, when you're the frontman and you're forming a new band, it won't cut the mustard when compared to your back catalogue. The former were abrasive and heavy, but not remotely interesting, whereas the latter were just plain boring.
There was a lot of excitement in the camp for the "secret" set from returning heroes of rock The Darkness. It took me two songs to make my mind up that Justin Hawkins was losing his infamous falsetto voice, and with a dragged out introduction, it just wasn't worth the hype.
The final trio of acts that would be witnessed at Download would all be on the Main Stage, kicking off with Slash. A set that mixed Guns N'Roses, Velvet Revolver and Slash's solo project with Myles Kennedy made for a very well received performance. Slash hasn't lost his magic at all, and Kennedy is easily one of the best rock vocalists out there. Ending on a triumphant Paradise City left everyone in buoyant mood whilst the dark clouds overhead decided we'd suffered enough this weekend.
Bearing down on us for their final performance at Donington were Mötley Crüe, the granddaddies of glam metal. It was awfully nice to see their backing dancers, and even though guitarist Mick Mars looks like he's about to disintegrate at any second, the man can still shred. Their gratitude to Donington was clear, and with a show laden with special effects, they were definitely out to steal Kiss' thunder. Their final UK tour is later this year, and this was the best possible advertising campaign for it.

To close the weekend, Kiss went out looking for new recruits for the Kiss Army. With lights and fireworks that would be more accustomed to a celebration of the millennium, Paul Stanley seemed to be feasting on the 80,000 smiling faces in front of him. They had all the old tricks, from Gene Simmons' bloody mouth, to Paul taking some sort of zipwire to a stage in the middle of the crowd, and it felt like the 1980's were back. Of course there were the songs too. Kicking off with Detroit Rock City, and encoring with the terrific trio of Shout It Out Loud, I Was Made For Lovin' You and Rock And Roll All Nite ensured that Sergeant Stanley would be welcoming thousands of new applicants to put their life on the line for rock n'roll. This is a band that will live forever. I also would like to know if Gene Simmons still really believes if rock is dead?

And so it comes to an end. Well done if you got this far... I started to get bored reading it back to myself. Download may just well be my favourite festival, even after going to Glastonbury a week prior to writing this. The music is solid, and the people are real music fans who may also be some of the friendliest people I've ever met. There's still plenty to do when there is no live music to enjoy; even if you want to get married to the burger you just bought, they'll do it in the inflatable chapel which turns into a rave cave after hours. Weather and initial cashless issues aside, Download 2015 was a killer experience, and I'm already packing for 2016.