Live Review

Download Review 2 – Donnington Park

• 20th Jun 2010

Reviewer Dan Beadle fills us in on his perspective of this year’s Download in our second mamoth review oft he three days!

Day 1

Bombing down the M1 at half 6 in the morning, a little yellow ‘check engine’ light appears on my dashboard giving me that sense of dread that I’ve driven my poor little old car into the ground over the past couple of weeks and that the trip to Donington Park from London was maybe one rock n’ roll odyssey too far. I was thinking that I would have to make my long suffering wife and rock amiga get out and push us the rest of the way there. Luckily, the car made it and said spouse was let off the hook.

We arrived in the car park, based about a lightyear away from the campsite, and began our long, heavily laden walk to the other side of the world where we would eventually set up HQ. After a beer to reward ourselves of our hard work up to now, we eagerly set foot for the last leg of our epic journey to the Download arena, stopping to take in the atmosphere in the Village along the way.

Spending a few moments to set out the agenda for the day, we split up to cover as much ground as possible. I get to the main stage, dubbed the ‘Maurice Jones’ stage (after one of the original Donington Monsters of Rock organisers) and rub my eyes in case I was seeing double as it appeared that two main stages seemed to be there. Yes, AC/DC had brought their OWN stage with them! Unearth, one of the better Metalcore bands to grace Download 2010, get down to proceedings in an apt and heavy way as many a weary eyed metaller gets instantly pummelled into the ground with an attack of crushing verses mixed with shouty choruses – technical flair aplenty. Even though the band were presented with the unenviable task of opening a festival with an untested stage, they managed to distract a good section of the punters long enough from their missions to buy as many beer tokens as possible without getting ID’d. Unfortunately, whilst I appreciated what Unearth had to offer, I was a little too far back and experienced a wishy washy, blown around sound. I suspect that down the front, the band were delivering what they planned.

A short hop to the second stage, honourably named the ‘Ronnie James Dio’ stage, Anathema appear from stage left and immediately quieten the tone with their rich melancholy and melodic, harmonising tones. Download need bands like Anathema playing to dilute the deluge of faddy metal bands that frequent the festival and give it some pedigree with the musos and goths in the crowd. There’s usually one or two in the line-up, but this year it seems the masses were happier waiting at the main stage for 36 Crazyfists, rather than experiencing the haunting melodies of a well established and under-appreciated band. Still, one of the quotes of the festival from frontman Vincent Cavanagh, during one of the band’s quieter numbers, sank in: ‘You know we USED to be a metal band, right?’ Well, in my opinion, they still are, but a large section of the passing crowd probably thought that because there was no grunting and aggressive posturing coming from the stage, then that didn’t qualify as ‘metal’.

Making a swift and hasty retreat for my first visit to the ‘Pepsi Max’ stage, trying not to listen to the drivel that was 36 Crazyfists, I overhear their frontman berating both the crowd and security at the same time – bound to make him many friends. Actually, the ploy seemed to work. Crazyfists seemed to have built themselves quite the fanbase. I can’t think why myself. Everything about them seems juvenile and indicatory of the mainstream metal scene right now and how easily pleased kids are these days. Not my idea of a proper metal band but the kids seem to love it. Who am I to argue? I’m just old I guess.

Running for my life to the ‘Pepsi Max’ stage, I get there in time to see thrash/comedy genius stalwarts Lawnmower Deth restore my faith in metal. Singer, Qualcast Mutilator and company belt out classics like, ‘Oooh Crikey’ and ‘Icky Ficky’ whilst entertaining the crowd immensely with their stage banter and crowd participation. These guys don’t have to try to posture to be metal, they just are and you can tell that they loved being up there for every minute of their set. It just goes to show that old school will always prevail.

We walked past an average Killswitch Engage on our way to the Dio stage to see a band that have always been a curiosity to me: Coheed and Cambria. I could never tell whether Cambria are either emo, or prog – they definitely have class in the way they play and structure their songs and seem to combine both elements. Unfortunately, Coheed and Cambria suffered from an absolutely dreadful sound so the jury’s still out for me but it is irrefutable that they are masters of their genre, whatever it is, and have some incredibly well written songs.

Leaving my compadre to review Them Crooked Vultures, I went in search of beer and got caught up in a not very fast-track queue. I catch the end of a set of what is clearly a bluesy/rock super group who will take over the world. I mean, who could stop Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones? Maybe a band formed of Myles Kennedy, Lemmy and Slash? Oh wait, already done. I get the impression that rock and metal super groups are gonna start becoming THE thing soon.

Something to eat for dinner was definitely on the cards and just as luck would have it, we came across a Hobgoblin ale stand AND a pie stand which gets the prize for best food at Download 2010, hands down. This sets us up for getting a half decent spot for AC/DC, the sun beginning to set, pie being gorged like there’s no tomorrow. The crowd goes silent as the video screens show an animation of a train going out of control, the rhythm of the engine gaining in tempo before AC/DC explode onto the stage with ‘Runaway Train’ to rapturous applause – Brian Johnson’s voice still giving all of us a master class in how to be a true rock frontman. The next hour and a half witnesses all the greats being played. Rousing renditions of ‘Back in Black’, ‘Hells Bells’, ‘Highway to Hell’ and ‘Whole lot o’ Rosie’ appeased me as well as the vast majority of the crowd, but whilst Angus Young doing his strip tease made the crowd chuckle, it all felt a little rehearsed. AC/DC, being one of rock’s longest serving bands, definitely know the stage and how to put on a good show, to the point where I get the impression they’ve maybe done this scale of gig too often and that maybe the novelty for them has worn off. Nevermind that though, that’s fucking AC/DC on the stage! Bow down, your dream has come true!

Fireworks signal the end of the night and 100,000 people slope off zombie-like into the darkness, back to the Village. The walk made slightly less tedious by spontaneous crowd chanting and merriment. We really wanted to make use of after-show activities and drinking time so we bought beer (in the village they would only serve cans), yet security in the tents that provided the comedy and other entertainment would not allow anyone carrying cans inside. A major faux pas as it proved that very few people made use of these facilities, choosing to dance around outside to the tunes being played from the VK booth instead. Still, maybe it was a godsend. Both the wife and I were more than our share of drunk and we decided the best thing to do was retire back to the tent.

Day 2

…Starts a little late as hangovers have kicked in but we force ourselves to the arena to catch Rolo Tomassi mid-set. Mathcore played really well with a few nods to bands like Meshuggah and the like. I was really impressed with the vocals from Eva Spence, showing that girls can indeed grunt and scream in a male dominated field.

After the hugely enjoyable cheese and hair that was Reckless Love (reviewed by Liz), I stick around the Pepsi Max stage for the Genitorturers. I was curious to see what all the fuss was about after hearing tonnes about them via lead singer Gen’s husband, David Vincent (Morbid Angel), banging on about them in interviews, even leaving Morbid Angel and setting up camp with the Genitorturers for a time. Genitorturers are basically a hard rock band with industrial elements and comprise of members that look like members of Marilyn Manson or Murderdolls – all dark make-up and hairspray, wearing fetish get-up. I found Genitorturers to be all style and little substance and aside from their image and scantily clad dancers writhing around the stage, there was very little on offer here.

Rock Sugar were instantly satisfying to see. Pepsi Max tent packed to the gills, what you get is basically a covers band but with a difference. They take one classic rock song and mix it up with another and change it around a bit, the result being a hugely enjoyable and humourous concoction. Sounds stupid, I hear you cry and it is, but for the vocal talents of lead singer Jess Harnell and his ability to mimic all the great vocal performers (plus a South Park character or two too). My gods that man can sing!

I meander to the main stage in time to catch the last couple of tunes from Lamb of God and wait patiently for Megadeth to take to the stage. This I was excited about as until now I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing this band live and this was a big box ticked. I wasn’t disappointed either. Despite a shaky start sound wise, Megadeth dispense with playing much of their newer catalogue and play virtually the entirety of ‘Rust in Peace’. Great, because that’s my favourite album! By the third or fourth song the sound is well and truly sorted and from then, Dave Mustaine and his cohorts enjoyed one of the best mixed sounds of the weekend for me. ‘Holy Wars – the Punishment Due’ and ‘Hangar 18’ ring out amid furious guitar solo interchanges between Mustaine and fellow lead guitarist, Chris Broderick. Megadeth’s set concluded with ‘Sweating Bullets’ and the inevitable ‘Symphony of Destruction’, signalling a wry smile to appear from even Dave Mustaine in appreciation of the noise the crowd were making.

We welcomed the second stage, for only the second time today, after dodging a lacklustre and tired sounding Deftones just as HIM were kicking things off. Ville Valo was making the girls swoon as usual and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of guys in the crowd. It used to be that if you were a male fan of HIM, you couldn’t ever raise this in public. I guess times have changed. HIM played a really solid set of crowd pleasers with only a couple of songs from their newest album: ‘Screamworks – Love in Theory and Practice’. ‘Funeral of Hearts’ and ‘Rebel Yell’ were particular highlights.

With just enough time to eat and supply ourselves with more Hobgoblin (sadly, no pies tonight…), we make our way into the heart of the crowd for a good spot to witness what we knew was going to be an unforgettable experience in the form of Rage Against the Machine. From the very first chord, the shockwave mesmerised me. Never have I been to an open air gig before and heard such perfect sound. Everything rolled out just as it should’ve, save for an interruption to a song so that Zac de la Rocha could sort out some over-boisterous crowd action down the front. Things got back on track quickly and hit after hit came out. I shan’t name them all because from what I can remember virtually everything was played. Besides, I was going too mad in the moshpit to really take too much notice. I was also in awe of the 10 year old with us who was kicking my arse and who later on obtained hero status among fellow pitters. During breaks from songs, Zac fed us banter in the form of politicised attacks on things ranging from the recent events involving Israel, to Simon Cowell – all that he said carrying the same punch in the message as his lyrics. I’ve always admired how Zac de la Rocha chooses his words so wisely and how he can motivate the crowd. It all seemed over far too early when the climax to ‘Killing in the Name’ breathed its last, but I kinda knew I would be suffering from my bumps and bruises way after Download 2010 was over.

Recovery from Rage came in the form of some rather filthy comedy in the village before it was decided that maybe an earlier night was in order.

Day 3

We meander down the long road to the arena for the final day of Download 2010, listening to an American take on the new wave of British heavy metal genre according to White Wizzard, which turns out to be not that much different to the British way of doing it. The wife and I go through the Nazi style bag searches and give each other wry looks as we have again got away with smuggling Jack/rum and Coke inside.

After a brief pause for thought, we head down to the Jagermeister stage area for a Hobgoblin and to take in a couple of the lesser known acts to grace the festival. Taking Dawn provide us with a nice, chilled out, acoustic rock set; the singer linking each song with humour and warming up the probably bigger than expected crowd well.

A short hop to the Red Bull stage later, we find The Virgin Marys belting out a great beefed up, British style rock sound. (See Liz’s review for more details). We definitely feel that this band should win the award for ‘Best Little Gem of the Weekend’.

Another Hobgoblin was in order and we sit and drink listening to Ricky Warwick of ‘The Almighty’ fame, on the acoustic stage, gracing us with his gravely voice with covers of classic Almighty tracks including ‘Free and Easy’ and ‘Jesus Loves You (But I don’t)’. I was never expecting an acoustic Ricky Warwick to have much of an effect but was pleasantly surprised with what he had to offer. Ricky looks good for his long tenure in the music business and still seems to get the groupies, as they lined up to meet him after the show.

We spend a while looking around various stalls and build up a good deal of anticipation on our walk to the main stage and get a good spot for Slash (Liz especially was looking forward to a good old letch at one of her heroes). Slash came out in typical rock god style to a crescendo of crowd noise and, in the blazing sun, gave all of us an all too brief tour of his tunes, both new and old. The band throw in some classic Guns N’ Roses into the mix too. Singer, Myles Kennedy, seems totally comfortable with his vocals. All in all, Slash was a totally satisfying experience.

After all that sun, there was bound to be a weather calamity and we were not let down when a dirty great dark cloud settled over Download and proceeded to dump its unholy content over 100,000 people just in time for Billy Idol, who does his best, bless him, in the pouring rain. Despite his best intentions to get the crowd in a party atmosphere and for all his gusto, unfortunately not even the great Mr Idol can stop droves of people retreating to their tents or sanctuary in either the Pepsi Max or Red Bull stages.

At least waiting for the end of Billy Idol before we decided to join the masses in the Red Bull tent, we wait for the rain to lessen, unfortunately missing Motorhead in the process. Fortunately for us, however, due to the downpour and subsequent exodus, we managed to get a great spot very near the front to set us up for Stone Temple Pilots. Scott Weiland and the rest of the band managed to warm the crowd back up with their set with many crowd pleasers from ‘Core’ and ‘Purple’. It was widely thought, however, that Scot Weiland did not appear to be all there, sparking rumours that his turbulent and well documented struggle with illicit substances may still be ongoing.

The weather seemed to be improving and all eyes were on the stage for the mighty Aerosmith. As soon as their opener of ‘Love in an Elevator’ kicked things off, the whole crowd turned into one big party; Steven Tyler’s vocals being drowned out by the multitudes who all seemed to know the song word for word. Just looking at the setlist Aerosmith played, I am really surprised actually at how many songs they played; 17 in total, including encores. I remember highlights being ‘Livin’ on the Edge’, ‘Mama Kin’, ‘Sweet Emotion’ and even the cheesy ‘Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing’. I can’t remember ever going to a festival and being amongst a crowd with such a party atmosphere, everybody singing along and hugging each other, but I guess that is the pull of an Aerosmith gig. Magical.

All too quickly Aerosmith signed off and we were left with the last long walk back to the Village. Exhausted, muddy, but completely uncaring of our smelliness, we trudge to the shisha tent to unwind and get in some last minute drinkies. Our tiredness quickly setting in, there was about one last chance for me to conquer a ride in the fairground that I had earmarked earlier in the weekend before it all got a bit too much and our tent beckoned.

Overall, Download 2010 was a very positive experience. There are some in the metal world who see it as a cheesy festival for the masses and to a certain extent they are right. It is obvious when you see a line-up forming that it is driven mainly by what’s big in Kerrang or Metal Hammer and that is a disappointment, especially when it comes to the more extreme side of rock/metal. It is particularly difficult to find much in the way of real, quality, up and coming acts unless you are ready to sacrifice seeing somebody more famous. Then again, there’s the Bloodstock festival for all of that and my opinion is that when it comes to the crunch, just about everyone should find something of interest to them at Download and they should still be able to have a good time, IF you’re willing to forgive the ridiculous over-policing of bringing alcohol into the arena. I dare say there’s a corporate reason for that though. I had a great time and met lots of cool people who were also having a good time, so this says to me that there’s going to be no decline in Download’s popularity just yet. Download has made a big rival in Sonisphere, however, and the line-up for that is looking pretty incredible. It’ll be interesting, given Sonisphere’s remarkably swift rise to monster festival status, how it compares with Download this year and in years to come.