Text Box: Text Box: Text Box: Download Festival 8/6/07-10/6/07 It's that time of year again, Britain's biggest metal festival and one of the first of the yearly circuit- Download, formerly Monsters of Rock and full of the usual crowd of burly metal guys and gals with a distinct sprinkling of youth, more on that later... Friday 8/6  Friday's line-up sees Nu-metal pioneers Korn going head-to-head on the Dimebag Darrell (named after the late Damageplan and Pantera guitarist, infamously murdered whilst performing) Stage with goth-metallers My Chemical Romance on the Main Stage. As predicted there really was no competition here and it provided one of the famous organizer cock-ups as a mass surge of metal fans rushed to get to see the legendary act. A storming 2 hour set featuring all the classics and Slipknot's Joey Jordison on drums and a conquering army of fans desperate to show their disdain to Gerard Way's outfit with chants of "You are Evil", unfortunately they had long since departed to complete a disappointing display.  Other acts of note, Guns 'N' Roses filled Velvet Revolver rocked the crowd and showed MCR how it's done with a stellar Main-Stage performance, little-known rockers Buckcherry won a lot of new fans and Megadeath were also on their usual rousing form, though the same cannot be said of Wolfmother who put out a disappointing set which failed to capture the imagination of the assembled. Saturday 9/6  In what could have been another organizational disaster, legendary hell-raisers MÖTLEY CRÜE were pitted against Nu-metal godsLinkin Park. Though as it turned out a trivial plastic bottle war between crowds of teenage LP fans- those on the hill overlooking the stage and those at the feet of it diverted the crowd's attention. And to be fair the bottle battle was a lot more interesting than any developments on stage. Whereas the Crue were bringing the house down, LP merely tapped on the front door, it was an uninspiring performance at the best of times, which was disappointing as Marilyn Manson's appearance before was most invigorating.  Manson's love affair with the microphone stand was increasingly graphic and highly entertaining, although there were none of his usual party-tricks onstage, but it was still a rousing performance. Aiden, Machine Head and Biffy Clyro were other acts that managed to impress, particularly MH's provoking set, and these are the acts which draw the crowds year after year at Download and on this evidence it is easy to see why. Saturday's line-up was clearly their trump card and in most parts it showed. Sunday 10/6  If Saturday was the trump card, then Sunday's line-up was the joker of the pack. So much so that many festival-goers had already jumped ship by the start of the day, the attendance was clearly down from Saturday. Those that did stay were treated to Main Stage headline roster of metal legends Iron Maiden and relatively unknown punks, Billy Talent, though it was the under card that really stole the show.  Killswitch Engine will probably win the award for the largest mosh-pit created, an enticing stage presence combined with their heavy, but catchy riffs and the place was literally jumping, and it was a euphoric display and one of the best of the weekend.  Next up Evanescence and in particular, a rather vitriol-rich Amy Lee. I'm all for bands not letting success go to their heads but Lee's addresses to the crowd in between songs were just needless. She constantly talked down the band's talent and insisted that the band would play "despite people throwing their shit up here". One can only assume she must have been being pelted with anthrax or some other form of chemical warfare as there was no visible evidence present. It wasn't their best performance, and although Iron Maiden's did brighten up an otherwise disappointing day, Download will need to do better next year to maintain their loyal following. 5/10 CM Text Box: Links and affiliates Contact Me