All things must end and we reach the fourth and final day. Whilst it is still hot enough to boil a monkey’s bum, there are thunderstorm warnings a plenty with not one but four potential typhons heading towards Castle Donington. With all the shenanigans with sackings and members not travelling, there is a real question mark about how many members Slipknot will have when they grace us with their presence at the culmination of the festivities. But we have a whole heap of bands to sample before we get there.
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When they say “Sold Out” they really do mean “Sold Out”. This is the busiest we’ve ever ever seen Download and all four stages start crowded and just accelerate from there. Our journey today begins with a four-band salvo on the second stage. Static Dress are quite simply a different band to the one that opened the third day of Download pilot two years ago. At the time they brimmed with potential but came across as incoherent and rather scattergun. Twenty-four months of tireless touring has resulted in an immaculately focused and really rather slick post-hardcore outfit.
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Sunday is another bright and sunny morning, but as I already have a nose that’s bright red enough to see from space, the first thing I do today is make sure I’m wearing A Hat. And sunscreen. That was a crap song but a great message! Anyhow, over in the arena……..
The day starts with LaVire who are good, loud and powerful thrashy rock with a female vocalist. I find them quite similar to Ukrainian outfit Jinjer so if that's your thing check them out, I think you'll be impressed.
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Refreshed by a good night’s sleep and bacon, I return to the fray of the arena wondering what surprises today may have in store for me. The sun is shining and so is my nose (dear reader, wear sunscreen!) so armed with factor 50 and a hat I sally forth into battle.
The day starts with Shadow Smile who are a good wake up band there's nothing like a bit of metalcore in the morning to blow away the cobwebs! They are competent and fast, and although the music is slightly out of my comfort zone it's ok.
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Night of Salvation provides Damnation festival with an intimate opportunity to road-test its new home at the Bec Arena in deepest and darkest Trafford. Tonight, manages to be simultaneously low-key and auspicious. Low-key in the fact that there are only around 300 of us on site, but auspicious in terms of the quality and the prestige of the bill that they have managed to pull together. The closing two sets (Celeste’s performance of “Assassin(s)” and We Lost the Sea doing “Departure Songs” as their UK debut) are both world exclusives and according to both sets of artists unlikely to be repeated anytime soon.
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It’s Saturday morning, the last day, excitement, and mixed feeling that it’s almost over fill me, but no time to ponder because it’s band time. My first band is the heavy metal band Defects and just wow… it’s 11am and they are on full form, with energy, brutality and a few songs in they open up a circle pit. It’s rude not to, so I join in, nothing like a good pit to start your day off as you mean to go on; Defects and the crowd deliver.
Read MoreAfter almost three years, many rounds of crowdfunding and a few community grants that kept it all going behind the scenes, it is great to finally be back at 2000trees. This medium-sized festival has five main stages, plus more pop up and busking stages than you can shake a stick at. After all this time you would think I would be out the door waiting at the gates, but in typical fashion I am running late. First impressions is that the security is very relaxed. You are no more than 3-5 minutes’ walk from camping where you can set up without getting your wristbands, but I dutifully collect my wristband and the included merch bundle before setting up.
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Not only have we given you our Stewart's thoroughly subjective view of the weekend (iron maiden fans for £20 you can happily have his home address), we can now give you a bonus additional sunday retrospective. You see our Alex was there too and this is what he thought:
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Well, that's went blooming quick. No sooner has it all started than the final day is upon us. But it is all good. The sun is still shining, there are still some alcoholic beverages available to purchase (it's cider but any port in a storm) and we have a brace of bands to watch. The first port of call is Bristolian symphonic metallers Control The Storm. Given the price of fuel these days they must have blown their appearance fee in the first track as there is an awful lot of pyro present.
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It's Saturday morning, the sun is shining and the shuttle buses are shuttling. In fact, I have got very little to moan about, so let's go straight into the bands. Our day starts with Californian natives Dirty Honey who are playing their first show on the shores. Their retro-fuelled sound brings to mind The Black Crowes’ electrifying opening set on these very grounds thirty-one years ago. They share the ability to feel simultaneously authentic but also thoroughly modern. They have taken a much-trodden route and made it very much their own.
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A bit scant on detail but better late than never…
Last month over 1000 people descended on the Lincolnshire Showground for Primordial Radio’s General Mayhem. It didn’t feel like five minutes since the last one in September, when camping was far more pleasant… brrrrrrrrrrr.
Anyway, I won’t go on too much about the venue, camping etc. as sadly this is probably the last time Primordial will be hosting an event at the showground but a special shout-out to Sean Ayling aka Sean The Brewer from Tom’s Tap and Brewhouse in Crewe who provided the alcohol. Always a delight and if you haven’t sampled his wares yet, or indeed visited his establishment, I heartily recommend.
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Sunday starts not with a bang, but more of a splat. There is an Issue with the toilets, namely that the company that was supposed to come and clear them out on a regular basis over the weekend hasn’t turned up. This has led to a bit of a crisis, as those of us camping are faced with (literally) brimming cubicles, and the arena can’t open for health and safety reasons. Thankfully after frantic ringing around a replacement pumping company is found, and the situation is relieved. As are the campers!
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It’s an early start after a late night as we trundle along the M62 in the campervan. The weather is looking promising, and we arrive in plenty of time to get settled in before the bands start. This event has expanded from one day to 3 this year, to make up for having to roll over from 2020, and the campsite is busy but well-organised. You can pitch your tent next to your car (which is handy) and those of us in vans just park them up in an available space. Everything is compact, it’s a very short walk to the arena, in fact there are several places where you can sit outside your tent, car or van and both see and hear the main stage pretty well.
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Saturday dawned bright and…… nah. This is Wales. The wind got up a bit overnight, the rain came in and Saturday morning was wet and blustery. Much re-pegging and such was done on the various campsites as people woke and surveyed the havoc wreaked by the unforecast gales. Thankfully casualties seemed to be minor, and it was soon time to head into the arena to see what the second day would bring.
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It’s been a long 18 months, hasn’t it? Since Covid kicked us all in the face in March 2020 our lives have changed so much, possibly forever. For those of us who love our live music our hearts have been torn out as we have watched gig after gig, festival after festival fall to the dreaded “Covid Rules”. There have been glimmers of hope here and there with a smattering of socially-distanced and sanitised events and some online streams, but they have been few and far between and, while better than nothing, they haven’t really been able to replace what we have lost.
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In some parallel universe I am currently taking my tent out of storage. I am pensively looking at the weather forecast and I am getting stressed out about the number of senseless crossovers there are on Clashfinder. You see somewhere in the vast multiverse Download 2020 is actually happening. Somewhere out there in the quantum world they have just released the timetable and we all, with cries …
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Day 3 starts with a stonking set from Atlas. I reviewed them at some length fairly recently so I won’t bore on about them too much. Suffice to say they were just as good as last time, Craig still has a fabulous voice, I still think they would be improved with more backing vocals and I enjoyed them very much. My friend said that although their songs are good they have not yet written their That Song, and I kind of agree.
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This year sees the 12th edition of Manchester’s SOS (School’s Out for Summer) Festival, and it will be the 5th one I have attended. The festival was originally envisioned by Lynne Hampson from Rocksector Records to be a family-friendly indoor gig. It continues on that basis to the present day, providing a platform for local bands whilst also adding some national and international acts into the mix.
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And we awake to blazing sunshine and blue skies. It’s like Wednesday and Thursday never happened and the only sign of the atrocious conditions earlier in the week is the liquid mud all over the campsites. Today is the day that Download brings the heavy as we get the most Metal main stage bill for many years.
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