Download Festival 2011 review by www.metalgigs.co.uk

//Download Festival 2011 review by www.metalgigs.co.uk

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Download 2011 review from metal gigs.

Words: Nage
Photos: Antony Roberts unless credited otherwise

A day before, and it was not looking good – the weather reports were rank, the nme were laughing in their updates, stating that those with Isle of Wight tickets had chosen the right festival tickets, with Download 2011 becoming Downpour 2011 if the weathermen were to be believed.

Arriving on site and it was dry. Overcast, yes, but the lack of rain came as a welcome sign. Tent pitched, crate and chair purchased, it was time to settle in for the first night amongst the night-long cries of ‘buttscratcher’, ‘boobs’ and ‘Timmy!’

Due to the three-day camping passes being available, Download always starts slightly later on the first day to help with the swarm of punters still arriving – great for those that have already overdone it the night before the festival officially starts.

metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download doningtonEven coppers are in a good mood at Download


Weather on the Friday morning was looking a tad sketchy, but hopes were high as it was not raining upon waking. Venturing to the loos in the morning and things were suddenly not looking good – despite the price going up this year, the organisers had decided to cut corners, and toilets in the black (all the camping areas are colour-coded) camping field were half the number of the previous year.  Queues spiralled down and round corners – not a good start. The price increase was not welcome in the current British economy, and the lack of basic facilities just added insult to injury.

If you haven’t been to Download for a while you’ll perhaps not be aware that the festival site has been moved. No longer is the festival in the main racetrack like the classic Monsters Of Rock days, but on the opposite side to the camping site. This changed two years ago if my memory serves me correctly. It makes sense – the festival was growing and the larger area means more stages, but it makes the trek from the campsite to the arena a bit of a bitch. You’ve either got to plan for the whole day, taking supplies and a coat or jumper for the later cold evening headliners, or go light and have to trek back during the day. It’s easily a 40-minute round trip (more if you are in the back campsites) so bands are missed if you pack light and the weather changes. You make your choices, you take your chances…

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collect cups at download and get £££’s

 

DAY ONE – FRIDAY

First band up for me was Sweet Savage, and a fairly small number were gathered to see this classic and often overlooked Irish heavy metal band take to the Pepsi Max Stage. MTV and Margera darlings CKY were hitting the main stage so numbers were thin, which was a shame as Sweet Savage put on a sterling performance to start the weekend. Stand-out tracks were Regenerator and Eye of the Storm, along with the infamous Killing Time which Metallica covered on the B-side of Unforgiven (and later on Garage Inc). ‘Belfast Rocks’, according to singer Ray Haller’s T-shirt, and these guys did indeed rock. A seriously good start to the festival.

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sweet savage

 

D.R.U.G.S. were up next. I figured putting my thoughts down would get me banned from writing on the site again, but screw it, I get paid to write honest reviews, so I shall. The trolls will come, and the teenagers will rise in protest, shouting support for their new-found heroes, but I simply like real music too much. If you were to ask me what is wrong with the state of modern rock music, then this kind of stuff is everything that epitomises that problem – harmonies sung out of tune by a group of guys who look like they have been dragged backwards through a cheap Vegas tattoo studio via H&M. We watched in sheer bewilderment.

After catching the start of Young Guns, it was time to head over to the main stage as Duff McKagan’s Loaded were punking it up with Attitude, and the obligatory GnR cover in the form of It’s So Easy. 

Heading back to the second stage to catch Anti-Flag, I saw that their antidisestablishmentarian ideals were reflected by a GIANT backdrop of a guy throwing a petrol bomb. Opening with The Press Corpse, Anti-Flag won the crowd over quickly, and their catchy punk anthems soon had everyone bouncing away, fists in the air.  Between songs, the banter concentrated on preaching that songs themselves can’t make a difference but the actions of the people can – great sentiments indeed, but lost somewhat on an inebriated festival crowd.  Their most anthemic and catchy little ditty, Die For Your Government, drew the biggest response from the crowd, proving that simple songs with simple repeated lyrics can sometimes be the best.  Their set also included a decent cover of the Clash classic Should I Stay Or Should I Go, further highlighting that not only do these guys have a great ethos, but also great taste in music.

Food grabbed, I just managed to catch the end of Black Stone Cherry and secure a decent spot for Thin Lizzy. All the classics you could have asked for were torn through with a vigorousness shaming some of the younger bands playing throughout the day. To name but a few, these included Black Rose, Jailbreak, Whiskey In The Jar, and the Boys are Back in Town, with Vivian Campbell joining them. The spirit of Lynott and Moore lives on, and I’m sure they would be proud – today their masterpieces were done justice by a band on top form.

We’d already missed a fair amount of Children of Bodom’s set watching Thin Lizzy, and In Your Face was blaring away as we headed over. The first real metal pit(s) of the day were visible as we came over the hill to see fans flailing around like madmen. Hitting up the pit, Metalgigs stickers in hand, we started handing them out and planting them on anyone that ran past – T-shirts were labelled, bags were branded and drunken people were covered. It wasn’t until later in the day we realised the power of the Bodom crowd. Everywhere we seemed to head in the festival our stickers had managed to be planted – toilets, urinals, passed-out people, fat asses, naked chests and so on. Thanks to all the people that grabbed stickers off us and helped spread the word.

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Children Of Bodom

metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington

metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington

Heading off to get much-needed jumpers and trousers meant missing most of Alter Bridge (what was I warning you about before?), but I managed to catch the last few songs and get a decent spot for The Darkness. They’ve always seemed like a bit of a one-hit wonder, and it seems that disappearing off the radar for a while has not peaked interest in them as the crowd was severely lacking for a main stage act this late in the day. Maybe Korn are a bigger draw than I realise. It had seemed throughout the day that this was one of the quietest Downloads I’ve ever been to, numbers-wise. Perhaps the pull of the Big Four at Sonisphere, or the lure of amazing line-ups at European festivals like Hellfest are finally catching up …

I can’t really comment on their set, as Justin’s amazing moustache pretty much overshadowed the music they played.

It was left for Danzig to redeem the mood and put some real metal into a pretty weak day. The only problem was the sound guy hadn’t got the memo that we were expecting a belter – classic tracks like Twist Of Cain and Hammer Of The Gods were butchered with a constant screeching from Glen’s mic every time he neared the front of the stage. Several songs in, and Danzig had enough – kicking the monitors over and stopping the set to offer the engineer a fight, you could taste his frustration. The sound was somewhat sorted for classics Thirteen, Bringer of Death and set-closer Mother, but the damage had already been done.

We left to catch the end of Def Leppard and managed to catch a lot more than expected. I’m unsure how the first hour of their set was, but the last 50 minutes were blinding. We got there mid-Rocket, and if I remember correctly we then witnessed Armageddon It, Animal, Photograph, Pour Some Sugar On Me, and finally the sublime Rock of Ages. The night would have been perfectly finished with an encore of Hello America or Satellite but they came back on to When Love and Hate Collide, so I headed off for some much-needed sleep.

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Def Leppard – Courtesy of Thrash Hits – Gary Wolstenholme

 

DAY TWO – SATURDAY
Lack of sleep from the calls of “Spartacus” and “buttscratcher” meant a late start, and missing The Rods. This sucked, but we managed to make it to the main arena in time for Chthonic. When asking a fellow camper if the band were more “necro” or “Dimmu”, the answer came back as “kinda Cradle-esque”, making me chuckle. They put in a decent set, and the bad mix drowned out the keyboards meaning a far more ferocious-sounding band than they are on the album. Their releases are very clean and polished, but live they were a lot more hectic and raw – or maybe it was just the outside PA…

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Chthonic

 

Heading over to catch Skin on the acoustic stage I did wonder why on earth these stalwarts of British rock festivals had not been allowed a proper set on one of the main stages. Classics such as Perfect Day and Look But Don’t Touch worked out perfectly, but what was needed was a proper electric stage version of Tower Of Strength.

Following this we headed to the outskirts of the Pepsi Max tent to enjoy the most of the sun and prepare for the mass of crowds heading to see current media favourites Ghost. Even up to just before Ghost were due on the tent remained pretty empty, so we made the most of the few rays of sunshine the weekend had to offer. Venturing into the tent, it was pretty obvious the media onslaught hailing Ghost as the next big thing had been largely ignored. Having witnessed Ghost at Roadburn and supporting Paradise Lost, I knew it was not just hype, but was grateful at the lack of acknowledgement from the festival-goers as I could get a great view right down the front very easily. This got me thinking … is the print media now getting too old for the audience it’s aimed at? Ghost have been revered in most of the mainstream publications, but the tiny tent was barely three quarters full when the band came on stage. Maybe rap metal is still bigger than realised (Skindred were playing the main stage at this point), or maybe the older and more mature music tastes of weathered journos is lost on the youngsters who just want something angry to jump about to. The members of Down were visible at the side of the stage before the first song even started, Pepper and Phil rocking out as soon as proceedings commenced. Initially, the vocals were not right in the mix, but were soon sorted. Prime Mover, Ritual, Elizabeth and Con Clavi Con Dio were all unbelievable. It was a crying shame they were on so early and playing for such a short set, but the most was made of it, with barely any banter and great songs going straight into another.

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Ghost

Next up we headed over and caught Dan Reed. This was a big mistake. This once fairly large Eighties phenomenen decided to unleash an acoustic set upon us, and really butchered Dio’s Holy Diver, turning it into some kind of Britain’s got Talent spectacle.

Clutch took to the second stage and started with The Mob Goes Wild, instantly turning the second stage field into the biggest party Download had seen so far this year. It was easy to see how this band have started selling out venues as large as London’s Koko – their riffs just get in and infect you. I challenge anyone to see this band live and not get caught up in the spirit and groove of pure unadulterated rock. Finishing The Mob Goes Wild they tore straight into Profits of Doom, and then 50,000 Unstoppable Watts – classic after classic, but it was the harmonica-led railroad tones of Electric Worry that drew the biggest crowd singalong. Amazing, as always.

metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington Clutch

Clutch – check out the crowd size on the big screen!

Heading to the main stage, the late running of the second stage meant Down were already on stage before a seriously huge crowd. Walk was briefly started and pits suddenly grew open as the crowd chanted “Re-Spect-Walk!” in astonishment at the treat of hearing it live, but it was short-lived before Down tore into Lifer. Phil Anselmo is always a bit of a liability at festivals, more often than not getting a little too festive on the free drink, and today was no different. This wasn’t a patch on their more sober performance at last year’s High Voltage Festival, but even when they aren’t firing on all cylinders Down still stand head and shoulders above most bands. Even the awesome sludgy tones of New Orleans is a Dying Whore couldn’t slow the pits down. Finishing with Stone the Crow followed by Bury Me in Smoke, one by one the band were replaced by the members of Ghost. Phil kept yelling “Bury Me In Ghost”, much to the bewilderment of a vastly confused crowd wondering who all these cloaked characters were taking over the instruments. 

Down metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington

Down – Download – Jessica Gilbert

Following two amazing sets was going to be hard, and Mr Big failed to catch my heart so I headed over to see one of the UK’s current finest, Evile. This band can do nothing wrong at the moment, riding high on the resurgent interest in thrash, and every time they play they look like they’ve just won the lottery. Evile’s joy and enthusiasm rubbed off on the audience as fists pumped the air and two new songs were unleashed, one of which I believe was called Join Our Cult. I think Scott Ian may well be calling them to ask for his riffs back. Seriously catchy foot-stomping, early Anthrax-style pure mosh – if the rest of the new album sounds this good it will sell bucketloads. Infected Nations concluded a set that was way too short.

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Packed tent for Evile

 

Twisted Sister played to a pretty large crowd mainly made up of older folks, as the younger majority of the crowd were over at the main stage watching Avenged Sevenfold. Favourites I Wanna Rock and We’re Not Gonna Take It closed their set, leaving the punters happy and ready for more classic rock in the form of Alice Cooper. Alice came on and I managed to catch the first few songs as he sung from atop some crazy staircase-come-temporary pulpit.

System Of A Down’s return to the UK for the first time in six years meant leaving Alice early. A white sheet covered the front of the stage and silhouttes of the drums flickered from behind lights as the opening riff kicked in, followed by the familiar whisper of “we’ve got to build a prison”. Putting it in as simple terms as possible, System’s set justified the price of this year’s ticket. For my own musical tastes there wasn’t a great deal to draw me to Download this year, but this performance made everything worthwhile. Everything you could have asked for and more was belted out with very little time to pause between each song – there was not a single filler in the whole set.
 
Check the full list here.

The band’s hiatus seems to have turned them into a truly well-oiled machine – not that they were sloppy on any of the previous times I’ve seen them, but the performance was masterful in every sense. Let’s hope they come back to the UK again soon.

system of a down SOAD metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington

SOAD – Thrash Hits – Gary Wolstenholme

 

DAY THREE – SUNDAY

Sunday … well, what can i say? It rained, and it rained, and then it rained some more. From the time we woke until around 9.30pm, it did not stop. Waiting in hope for a break in the morning ended up with us getting into the arena far too late. It seemed we were not the only ones who’d stayed in our tents staring at the open heavens in hope, as the main arena was completely dead, with barely a thousand or so watching Biohazard on the main stage. 

Biohazard review metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington

Seriously empty main arena for Biohazard

 

Heading to catch Belligerence the rain had won, and we got there too late, arriving just as they were packing up. Karma To Burn, one of the ‘must see’ bands on this year’s line-up, had a cancelled flight and were no longer playing, so we headed to catch Hell in one of the smaller tents, happy to be out of the rain. With their debut album having been released just a few weeks before Donington – despite originally starting in 1982 – I was interested to see how they would fare in the live environment. Starting with Let Battle Commence then going straight into On Earth As It Is In Hell, the set started off great, but soon began to go downhill. All the ingredients are there, with some really great riffs and killer solos, but David’s vocals grated after a while, and each song seemed like it was a bridge and verse too long, making the experience drag.

Heading back out into the still-pouring rain, it was Kvelertak time. I’m still not totally behind this band’s reaction from the press, who seemed to have been hailing them with praise from all corners. Blackened hardcore does seem to be flavour of the month at the moment, but I think there’s better out there in the form of bands like Black Breath, Trap Them and Rise Above Dead. Bands like this are best seen in small sweaty clubs, with no security and the singer screaming in your face whilst showering you in sweat, headbanging away, avoiding the continual pit of youngsters flying from every direction. As if to prove my point wrong, they did however deliver a very solid set – the stand-out songs being Fossegrim and Ulvetid, which were delivered with some serious conviction and much-needed gusto, making you almost forget you were soaked and miserable in a cold, wet, muddy field.

Kvelertak metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington

Kvelertak

Next up on the same stage was Gwar, and to hell with the rain – it didn’t matter any more. Coming on with Horror Of Yig, Gwar proceeded to bring Osama Bin Laden onstage then rip his face off, showering the audience in blood. With a criminally short set they tried to fit most of what they do in a full live show into just 30 minutes. It was the best half hour of the day – character after character came on and had heads, boobs, limbs etc ripped off for a continual stream of blood on the crowd and the poor security guards. If they come back to a UK festival they need a longer set – you can’t bring a band with such a great live show and expect them to fit it into such a short time. Oderus was just about to try to cover the audience in jizz but was pulled off the stage before the show was able to finish properly. A crying shame.

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GWAR – Thrash Hits – Gary Wolstenholme

Dry clothes beckoned, and I only managed to catch the last half of Battle Metal, the final song from Turisas. The rain had finally taken its toll, and, cold and shivering, I sought solitude in the dry arms of the Redbull Bedroom Jam tent. What an absolutely horrific mistake this was – The Dead Lay Waiting came on and proceeding to rape my ears with their inane generic take on metalcore. I seriously do not get how on earth this band have gotten so big – they sound exactly like every other bad Maybelline-wearing mallcore boy band posing as “brootal deth yeah”. I would have cited this very band as the inspiration behind Brian Posehn’s Metal By Numbers if it wasn’t for the fact that  said song came out a year before the band formed. Searching for them on the internet, I found that they have everything – the black and white arty studio shots, the professional logo, the shirts, and every myspace/reverb nation/facebook page under the sun. They’re like a project gone out of control, and as fake and non-metal as the marketing suit that’s writing the drivel promoting them. I think they need to take some time out from trying to hone their image and actually learn how to write a song – that or join a cult and commit mass suicide.

Talking of cults, Ian Astbury’s finest were hitting up the second stage, and damn did they play a blinder. The rain even slowed down.  I’m not sure if it stopped raining during or after the end of the set by The Cult, as I didn’t notice because I was enjoying what was coming from the stage so much. This was the surprise band of the weekend for me. Sure, they have some classic tunes to draw from, but Ian Astbury is a seriously funny guy, making quips at the expense of the rain, the crowd and his own band between songs and bringing some much-needed humour to an otherwise very sombre day. Sweet Soul Sister and Fire stood out in an amazing set, but it was the sublime combo of She Sells Sanctuary followed by Love Removal Machine that finished a brilliant show, with John Tempesta getting all rock and roll and trashing the drum kit before they exited the stage.

From one ex-White Zombie member to another, this time in the form of singer and rock icon-turned-movie director Rob Zombie. I’ve always felt that his solo material never lived up to the greatness of Zombie’s finest hour, La Sexorcisto, but damn does he know how to put on a live show. The stage looked like something from a U2 tour with video screens everywhere showing montages of classic horror films, silhouettes of dancing Seventies rock chicks and lyrics loudly urging the crowd to shout HELL YEAH! After playing an hour’s worth of his own hooks Mr Zombie told the kiddies to ask their parents about White Zombie, and tore into a rare airing of Super Charger Heaven and then Black Sunshine, before drawing back to his own solo material for encore Dragula.  Despite Linkin Park still playing the main stage I was cold, wet and hungry, and for me that was Download done and dusted for another year.
?

Rob Zombie metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk download donington

Rob Zombie

We must credit where photos have been poached from:

For more reviews and photos check out www.thrashhits.com

For more of Gary’s photos www.inventory-photo.co.uk/?

For more of Jessica’s photos www.jessicagilbert.co.uk/?

By |2011-06-19T19:56:59+00:00June 19th, 2011|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

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