Return to Donington: The mammoth rock event saw 80,000 metalheads hit the fields for this years’ iteration of Download Festival.
Many people ask what sets apart Download Festival from other festivals in the UK. It’s not the vendor choices, or its location, or its great music. It’s the people. Any festival can come along and book big acts and put on a show but it’s the audience what makes it. Always. A “Come As You Are” attitude, Download Festival has always been a safe place where you can just be yourself. Rock music isn’t just music – it’s a platform of expression. A way to voice pain, exhume relief and channel good energy. For me, Download Festival is the one festival that wears its heart on its sleeve – and asks its attendees to leave their snobbery at the door. And now after 100 days since the last, this ever-accepting community are reunited at Donington Park. Raise those horns!
With Glastonbury taking a fallow year, Donington hosts the biggest festival party in the UK this Summer. Fronted by three titan headliners of Limp Bizkit, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Linkin Park, this year saw an almost total sell-out as this unquenched monster of rock sees a twenty-third year of mighty loud celebration. What will this year have in store for us this time?
Along with a brazen display of every stalwart sub-genre going in the world of rock, the UK Premier Rock Festival this time, saw a year of firsts. The main Apex stage was its largest its ever been in its assembly, as was District X – an exclusive dimension of late night escapades and interactive excursions just for the campers. District X also saw its biggest merch megastore, a flagship spot for all the exclusives – including that highly-sought Mary Wyatt partnered merch. We were also met with new pop-ups including a Final Fantasy playthrough showcase and a video game bar.
The festival also saw a first in a curse being broken. Marked as ‘Download’s most cursed band’ , Japanese Kawaii metal band Babymetal have never had much luck performing at Download. For every iteration they’ve been performing, torrential downfalls have incurred resulting in the main arena area being a muddy bath. But amongst the startling sunshine and emphatic bops, the flamboyant four-piece broke the curse, giving fans an experience they’ve waited for years. You just knew that it was a year unlike any other.
Sticking with music, this years’ festival also saw Final Fantasy XIV’s official band The Primals head to Download for their very first show outside of Asia. Which for video game enthusiasts alike – and bucket list types – is an absolute must-see. The firsts continue with Linkin Park’s Emily Armstrong making history as the first female headliner since the festivals’ inception.
With traditions, comes opportunity. And for this year, the tradition is food. This year, we saw a brand-new stage taking place in the form of Hellfire Stage. A fast-paced stage played host to hot-dog eating competitions, trivia games and Lou’s Brews sauces offered for your smoked meats. Nestled amongst its largest variance of vendors and stalls this year, it sees the festival taking huge strides forward, eager to always present something slightly different to their beloved attendees.
Considered as the “zero days”, Wednesday and Thursday were for many, the drive-in days, the slow swooning into the festival grounds and adapting to our surrounding environments. But with the likes of Electric Six, Five, Bat Sabbath and Nic-Cage Against the Machine having sets at the main Doghouse tent on-site, the idea of “settling in” was never on the cards. Not to mention late-night DJ sets keeping the energy going till the early morning hours, District X has never looked bigger – and better- this year for the fields’ temporary residents.
Friday (Day 1) saw the first look-in of this years’ first ‘official’ day as the Arena opens up to the 80,000 expected. Scorching sun weaned in the first artists with the likes of Caskets and Scene Queen opening up stages for the weekend. Most prolific sets of the Friday were certainly Paleface Swiss’ charged performance on the Opus Stage, Electric Callboy’s Eurovision-esque electronic party and FEEDER closing out Avalanche Stage with a surprise cover of Nirvana’s Breed. The night was rounded out by Limp Bizkit – arguably the band that the 30-odd thousand red-capped concert-goers were waiting for all day. The field was completely full to the brim with Nu-metal fanatics; not a single blade of grass could be seen.
A stacked setlist of fanatic hits like My Generation, Hot Dog and Nookie filled the open air as traditionally, four female fans were invited on stage to sing Full Nelson shortly after. Mosh pits of every variation emerged amongst the crowd, as waves of fans surged in dazzling delirium. Their captivating covers of George Michael’s Faith and The Who’s Behind Blue Eyes made an appearance before the blistering My Way was cut short due to an incident in the crowd. An extended break was taken as a stretcher was brought in to care for the injured mosher. We didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the sign of things to come over this weekend.
Saturday saw a sub-genre collection from all walks of life. Leicester local lads Mouth Culture brought their alt-rock to the indoor Avalanche stage. As previously mentioned, Babymetal set a new tradition by playing their fun metal musings on the Apex Stage in the searing sun. Black metal troops Behemoth blasted to pyro while firm favourites Architects brought down Opus Stage in emphatic style. This performance wasn’t without its own troubles, however. Axl Rose’s questionable vocal delivery warranted a higher crowd number to Architects’ show than anticipated. This undoubtedly warranted trouble for security with vocalist Sam Carter forced to stop the show after dangerous push-pulling in the crowds. Despite this, an unfettered metal outfit rounded out a stalwart set with Seeing Red and Animals which will always just bring the house down. Elsewhere, Guns N Roses marked their legendary status once more with a blinding 2 and a half hour set of classic covers and household numbers like Paradise City and Sweet Child O’ Mine.
Another rockin’ day encapsulated by prolific shows amidst safety concerns, it capped off another day to remember.
Featuring a whirling array of hyped headliners including alt-metal outfit Creeper and electronic main man Scooter, Sunday saw more fantastic music in the sparkling sun – which, bar the Wednesday and Thursday has remained beautifully consistent throughout. Showcasing a few bands to watch out for in the coming months, Unpeople and Mould delivered sprawling sets of new, high-octane music. Along with must-see sights from Letlive, its a much-needed revigoration into the world of metal. A highlight for many, Tom Morello attuned the festival to the political turmoil as the former Rage Against the Machine member is outrightly expected to do. Featuring a stoic medley and a cover of Ozzy’s Mr Crowley, Morello embarked on his iconic guitar killswitch style before sending a message to far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Dinosaur Pile-Up produced a blistering set in the dustbowl of the Avalanche Stage celebrating their latest record, while Dogstar saw Keanu Reeves on bass. Download is always full of surprises – and this year was no different. While Friday saw Professor Green emerge on the fields, Sunday saw the surprise slot of Skindred, a short-and-sweet show of of reggae-metal’s finest. Elite energy, good atmosphere topped with the iconic Newport Helicopter which threatened to lift the Dogtooth marquee, it emphasised just what this festival is all about. Amongst it all, metal grafters Bad Omens delivered truly mesmerising shots while Ice Nine Kills took their theatrics to the main stage, while Art the Clown got in a kerfuffle with the Download Dog.
This years’ festival ended in style with ironically, a new beginning to some. Linkin Park – fronted by vocal powerhouse Emily Armstrong – strode out and delivered one of the most blinding sets of the weekend, undoubtedly infatuated with the love received from the UK. Beginning with the hit from their newest project,The Emptiness Machine before ending it with Faint – arguably Chester’s most visceral – it is a triumph of a band who have been at the top of their game for the most part of thirty years. Chester would undoubtedly be proud.
Despite speculative rumours of overselling with security concerns highlighting the importance of educating gig-goers, Download Festival have quite possibly put on their most important year to date. And while this year saw a surge in first-timers, it’ll only be a matter of time before they are too waded into the collective community of Download.
For a festival now in its twenty-third iteration, this year was a year of firsts. (Let’s not forget the big wheel shenanigan too!) Topping off making history with its first female headliner (g’won Emily!), this year was certainly one for the record books. Same again next year?
mvm 
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