LISTENER REVIEW: Download Festival

Managed to get Friday off at short notice, took a train up there around Friday lunchtime and set up camp in time to catch the first band I wanted to see (Anathema), although it seems I was not well enough acquainted with their back catalogue to know most of their set. Then went to the main stage via the bar because Killswitch Engage were on and I just knew they’d play their famous cover of Holy Diver as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio. They did indeed, as their final song. I stayed back away from the crazy pit that kicked off as a result and was therefore able to raise a pint of cider to the memory of the great man as they played.

Stayed put for a couple of songs by Them Crooked Vultures, but whenever I’ve heard them on the radio, they’ve always sounded like the lowest common denominator of the three famous components (Queens of the Stone Age, Led Zeppelin and Nirvana) and so it proved live, so I quickly got bored and went to find some dinner. After another trip to the bar (wine this time: with AC/DC up next, I had to have a whole lotta rosé!), I found a suitable position in which to watch the headliners.

Good old Acca Dacca delivered in spades.  I doubt most of the blokes in the crowd were actually paying the band as much attention as they deserved, because of the sheer numbers of girls getting lifted on peoples shoulders and flashing their tits when the cameras for the big screens were on them, but from where I was standing (not on anybodys shoulders, and I kept my kit on: tartiness has never been my style) they put on one hell of a show.  They brought the huge steam engine, the inflatable Rosie, the huge Hells Bell (on which Brian Johnson swung), and a formidable battery of cannons but more importantly, they brought the killer riffs of all the anthems I’d been waiting years to hear and the energy of guys half their age.

Got in at opening time on Saturday and headed directly for the second stage, where Rise to Remain opened proceedings. Austin Dickinson (son of Bruce) tries very hard not to sound like his father, taking Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage as a role model instead, so there was a risk that with both on the festival bill, this would be a case of deja entendu, but he is sufficiently dissimilar for it to work and although he sometimes growls the patter with audience too, a lot of what he says sounds reassuringly familiar. The band specialise in fast, heavy, melodic riffs and slower, soaring choruses, and have already made quite a name for themselves: the crowd the length of the second stage barrier must have been at least 8 or 10 deep at 11am.  Listening to them, I could tell why.  Found myself wishing Bruce’s Rock Show email was still active so I could fire off an email to him in the States and let him know the lad had done well.

No use moping about that, of course, because Hellyeah were about to start a cracking set on the main stage so I headed over to hear their blend of thrash metal and classic Southern rock (via the bar  - because it would’ve been sacrilegious to hear them play Alcohaulin Ass without a drink in my hand). There was a long break to take in the general atmosphere of the place before Megadeth came on. I am not that enamoured by some of the tracks on their latest album for lyrical reasons, and of course they started with those, Mustaine’s diction painfully clear. But once they got onto the classics, including a sizeable chunk of Rust in Peace to celebrate David Ellefsons return to the band, and an emotionally-charged rendition of Trust everyone got caught up in it and just let the hell loose.

Made a detour to the Bedroom Jam tent for Breed 77.  Thought I’d be able to get to the front, but only made the third row and therefore got inadvertently caught up in a pit, when I’d never imagined there would be one. Breed really went for it, to the point where it felt like there was electricity sparking off them. If you went to see them instead of the football, you got rocked senseless.

Wish I could’ve said the same for RATM.  Stayed well back for that one, because only a fool goes anywhere near a pit when Rage hit the stage, and got completely ratted beforehand to help myself get into the spirit, but it was no use. Zack de la Rocha went off on one of his rants and I just switched off.

Got up early on Sunday and ran to the barrier of the main stage as two of the acts to which I was most looking forward were due to play there. Before all that, however, came Dommin, a rather classy gothic rock act with all sorts of unexpected twists and turns and a following of screaming goth girls.

All that was forgotten as soon as Saxon took to the stage.  Clearly delighted to be back on the main stage, they made every corner of it their own as they took us all on a trip through the whole of Wheels of Steel. Biff did the usual audience sing-off for the title track, and despite my side being the smaller side and somebody on the other side having a banner that said "I only came here for Biffs hair,” we won.  They finished up with ‘And The Band Played On’, Denim and Leather, which they dedicated to the memory of Dio, and a turbocharged version of ‘Princess of the Night’.

I do not know why Cinderella were billed above Saxon.  They were all right, but nobody told them which songs of theirs get played on Planet Rock, so their set had what seemed to me to be some startling omissions (how could they play all those obscurities and not play ‘Bad Seamstress Blues/Falling Apart at the Seams’?).  Furthermore, their singer’s vocal style and even his appearance, with a similar messy hairstyle and a long scarf that kept twisting around his mic stand, suggested a poor mans Steven Tyler; an unfortunate coincidence given that the real Tyler was due to walk that very stage later the same evening.

The crush at the front grew ever tighter as the time for Slash’s set approached.  Nobody could have been disappointed with his performance.  His set included material from GnR, Velvet Revolver (sung by Myles Kennedy, even though Scott Weiland somewhere backstage) and various tracks from his new solo project, including a guest spot from Lemmy on ‘Doctor Alibi’.  Kennedy, who supplied all the other vocals, was a man on a mission, putting his heart and soul into everything he did to prove he could compete with any of the talented and renowned vocalists with whom Slash has worked.  As for Slash himself, well, it seems odd to use the term on fire when he was delivering the epic solos while strolling coolly about the stage making it look so effortless, but his improvisation, especially on ‘Paradise City’ when he was playing behind his back, made tens of thousands of jaws drop simultaneously. 

And then it seemed as though the world really was coming to an end.  After three days of glorious sunshine, several years’ rainfall landed on Castle Donington all at once.  It went right through my leather jacket and my Doc Martens, which I had thought would withstand anything short of a tsunami and had brought them for that reason.  A crowd already bewildered at Billy Idols inclusion so high on the main bill at Download had even less enthusiasm for him in the bucketing rain.  It’s true that a lot of the songs in his setlist were too poppy for the audience in question, but he did make sure to include the rockier numbers as well (King Rocker was a particular stand-out track), and moreover, I have to hand it to him in terms of showmanship. I wouldn’t think of myself as a wimp in terms of withstanding the weather, but even I was wondering if I’d get pneumonia or get back to the campsite to find my tent flooded. And there Idol was, running all over the place, out to the uncovered bits at either side and even a couple of times around the gap between barrier and stage, which had turned into a Glastonbury-esque swamp.  Serious respect.

Finally, it was time for the band I’d been waiting through the rain to see. I was starting with an insane temperature and my legs were twisted into a seriously uncomfortable position by the crowd pressure, but once Motörhead let rip, I knew I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.  They were loud, they were fast, they were heavy, they had guest spots from Slash and two scantily-clad female fire-eaters and they sent us all delirious.  Lemmy ordered the roadies to turn the sound up louder because he wanted to dry people out.  He didn’t quite manage that, but he did get me headbanging in spite of the fact that my hair was dripping wet and therefore much heavier than normal.

It was always my plan to stay at the front until the end of the Motörhead set, then drop back, because I didn’t care so much about being at the front for Aerosmith and I had an early train to catch in the morning, so I got myself hauled out at that point.  Nonetheless, I had an uneasy feeling about the state my tent might be in, so before the next act came on, I scrambled back up the quagmire of a hill and went for a quick check back at the campsite.  Sure enough, I found a flood.  Having no more clean dry clothes and nowhere to sleep, I figured Id better cut my losses and get the last train back to London. Although I wouldn’t have minded seeing Aerosmith (I’ve been dreading hearing a reviewer on here saying how great they were), they’re not one of the few bands for whom I’d risk making myself seriously ill. Got back with sunburn and flu simultaneously, but also with a whole host of memories to remind me how splendid the weekend was and a tremendous amount of gratitude to Planet Rock for my free ticket!

Beth Charlesworth

_Were you at the festival over the weekend? What did you make of the bands / weather / beer etc?

Let us know below:_