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If you like your festivals heavy there is really only one festival that delivers
such a mandate, year after year.
Download Festival in Donnington Park is in its seventh year and featured many
big names from the world of metal music, as well as some of the older ones. In
contrast to most festivals, Download only has four stages, two of which are
quite ludicrously larger than the other two (Main and Other Stage, as opposed to Tuborg and Red Bull Bedroom Jam).
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Still with attendance of all hard rockers expected, this is hardly an issue, is
it? Well, there was a notable drop in congestion and rowdiness this year – areas were very rarely full or so full that you couldn’t choose which way to walk and there is a pleasant and friendly atmosphere
around, which is always nice to see.
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Held - 12-14th June 2009
Venue - Donnington Park, East Midlands
7th consecutive metal/hard rock music festival
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This year’s Download was really all about sun, sweat and rock and Friday heralded its
beginning.
Friday
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Aaron Lewis’s band’s brand of soulful and angst-ridden rock was one of many blasts from the pasts
seen at Download this year. Having enjoyed their biggest spell of success after
their stint with Limp Bizkit front man, Fred Durst in 2003, Staind have continued down a similar direction
and debuted many tracks from new record ‘The Illusion of Progress’. This was met to quite a good general reaction as the crowd sipped their Tuborgs
in the warm summer sunshine atmosphere. Still Staind didn’t forget their roots and played many of their most crowd-pleasing numbers,
including ‘Outside’ (thankfully without Durst), ‘It’s Been Awhile’ and ‘Devil’. Though perhaps not featuring quite as much metal as this crowd is used to,
there was a notable appreciation for their chilled-out style and Lewis’s amazing vocals were one of the early highlights of the day. 8/10
Limp Bizkit (Main Stage 17:50 – 18:50)
The reformed Bizkit have had quite a fall from grace. From being one of the
biggest bands on the planet when Download first started, they were set to
headline, but rather unexpectedly pulled out. Seven Downloads later and now
with their
original line-up (Rivers, Otto, Lethal, Borland and Durst), Bizkit rolled back the years as a fascinated crowd looked on. Durst in
particular wasn’t the loud-mouthed rude-man he perhaps once was. Sporting an all-black ensemble
alongside a correctly-worn red cap, there was a noticeable extra line of age
adorning his face since their last appearance. Guitarist Wes Borland had his
full array of wacky attire in a black-themed all-in-oner as Durst launched into
past favourites like ‘Break Stuff’, ‘Faith’, ‘My Way’, ‘Rollin’, ‘Behind Blue Eyes’, ‘Eat You Alive’ and ‘Full Nelson’ – which was performed with a ‘look-a-like’ dragged (rather willingly) from the audience. This should of course come as no surprise to Bizkit fans,
though the duetted song did used to be one that required help, such as ‘N 2Gether Now’. Bizkit have lost none of their bite, though perhaps a fair deal of
credibility, still it was a decent set and performance. 6.5/10
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Jonathan Davies’ highly-charged metallers have quite a history at Download. In fact, there was
only last year (when Jonathan had a solo set) and 2005 that they haven’t been on the bill. The band have somewhat of a love affair with this weekend
and gave us one of the most memorable Download moments in 2006, when Davies’ ill-health invited guest vocalists like Corey Taylor (Slipknot) and Benji Webbe (Skindred). This year, there was no such unplanned atrocity and Davies and the rest of his
band took to the stage promptly, in still warm and bright weather. This in
particular, is one notable criticism of the festival; such early billing leaves
even the headliner, playing to a sea of light. A summer festival organized at
this time of year (in the middle of nowhere), should have later headliners,
simple as. As for Korn, they played strong renditions of past classics
including,
‘Right Now’, ‘Did My Time’, ‘Blind’, ‘Thoughtless’, ‘Freak on a Leash’, alongside classic covers like ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ (Pink Floyd) and ‘We Will Rock You’ (Queen). If you go to Download, you’re most likely to have seen Korn and they certainly didn’t disappoint, Davies with his trademark eclectic mic charger and kilt. 9/10
Faith No More (Main Stage 21:00 – 22:45)
Another reformed band, Mike Patton’s rather legendary group, Faith No More had the enviable task of closing the
first day
of proceedings in Download. This wouldn’t be a particularly hard job as the event had been crying out for something
revolutionary and shocking. Well, Patton’s suit certainly fit the bill, parading on stage all in red, sporting a cane and
a rather dodgy moustache. Still, this was one moment of Download history, the
band having called it a day eleven years ago were suddenly elevated right back
to their rightful position. A stellar set included past hits, ‘From Out of Nowhere’, ‘Epic’, ‘Reunited’, ‘Be Aggressive’ and ‘Land of Sunshine’. There was a particularly memorable moment when Patton announced the classic
Lionel Richie cover, ‘Easy’ as lighters were hoisted high into the air to mark the occasion. The band
closed their stunning and well-received comeback with a rendition of ‘We Care a Lot’ and also threw in a rather unexpected and welcome cover of Lady GaGa’s ‘Poker Face’. If there was one reason to say you were here this year, it could only be to
applaud the return of alternative music’s prodigal sons. 10/10
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(c) ChrisOnline.biz 2009
