Words by Dave Martin
As I left the hallowed Castle Donnington turf on a chilly Sunday evening, I reflected on the weekend’s events as another festival came to an end. This, the twenty third event in Download history brought together many an old friend and many new ones. The event brings together people from all ages and backgrounds through the wide variety of rock and metal played on the four stages. This eclectic event was no more emphasized than on the Sunday as I moved from the main Apex stage, watching New Dehli metallers Bloodywood, to the Dogtooth stage for Skindred’s reggae infused secret set. The festival has a long history to bringing new music and launching the careers of many a band. None are more appreciative of this than Saturdays main support act Trivium who have played the festival since 2005 and at every UK gig I have ever seen have paid homage to the festival that launched them onto the world stage.
I have been attending the festival for fifteen years and have seen it grow over that time to it’s magnitude today. There were many firsts this year, whether it was Emily Armstrong being the first female artist to front a headliner, Limp Bizkit leading the largest karaoke event that I have ever seen or hip-hop legends Cypress Hill taking the main stage. The event dealt with its scheduling issues too having to move nu-metallers Drowning Pool from their early slot on the Opus Stage to a later slot on the Dogtooth stage due to transport issues.
On Friday the rain that is often a mainstay of the weekend stayed away and was instead replaced by unexpected sunshine leading to many a red punter walking around. It was clear who the headliners were with a large number of fans donning red caps and some going even further being donned in typical clothing from Limp Bizkit’s Rollin’ video. The day brought several bands I have listened to for decades but have never had chance to see live such as Cypress Hill and others like Halestorm that I have seen more than most. The highlight of the day for me was hearing the old classics from Cypress Hill and hearing them play Rage Against the Machine’s Bomb Track and House of Pain’s Jump around (which was produced by later headliner DJ Lethal). To any like me that grew up with 90s metal and hip hop this was a once in a lifetime experience. Headlining over at the Opus stage was Halestorm. Lzzy Hale was the first ever woman to front a headliner on the stage when they played back in 2019 and Lzzy has lost none of the raw power in her live vocals. Arejay Hale was as animated as every delivering his now traditional stick tricks and solo section featuring oversized drumsticks. Surely a future main stage headliner, the band lifted the crowd before they moved on for Limp Bizkit who returned for their fourth appearance at the event. Simply put I have never seen as big a crowd as I did for Jacksonville based group. The group turned the event into a large karaoke by displaying the words to all their songs so the crowd as in full voice and the sound was palpable.
As the weekend moved into day two so many great bands were before us. One of the highlights of the day for me was the rearranged slot for Drowning Pool. The group that were supposed to be delivering on the Opus stage instead being swapped to the Dogtooth stage. This meant the tent was absolutely rammed with the crowd spilling out the sides. The cut down set finishing with the band’s most famous hit “Bodies”. Those crammed it went crazy with circle pit, crowd surfers and every jumping as if their lives depended on it. One of my absolute favourite bands, Trivium, took to the Apex stage as main support for Guns N Roses whilst Architects headlined the Opus stage. Both these two metal heavy weights had the crowd in rapture delivering their high octane performances with huge levels of crowd animation. As the day was coming to a close it was time for rock royalty Guns N Roses. The field in front of the main stage was noticeably less crammed than it had been for Limp Bizkit. Kicking off with “Welcome to the Jungle” I was taken back to my youth and was singing every word. There proceeded to deliver hit after hit and included a few covers from Black Sabbath, The Sex Pistols and usual stalwart, Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”. The group brought Saturdays main stage events to a close with “Paradise City” to huge cheers.
Day three brought with it a huge anticipation. Linkin Park were returning with their new line up and there seemed to be a significant increase in the number of festival goers in the arena many of them wearing Linkin Park merchandise. The day was made more interesting as a single brief flash notification of the Download app stating that there would be a secret set by none other than Newport’s own Skindred. For me the third day was the most exciting day of the weekend. Whether it was seeing the crowd surfers surfing on other crowd surfers at the A Day To Remember set or the Newport helicopter going during Skindred’s final track, the energy in the arena was off the charts. There was also a strong gathering for bands such as The Pretty Reckless and Bad Omens. Aside from Headliners Linkin Park, the highlight for me was New Delhi’s own Bloodywood. When I first encountered the bad I did not believe that mixing traditional Indian music with metal would work but it really does. The crowd went wild during the set as the Red Arrows flew overhead. The band has really found a home at Download and I am sure I will be seeing them there for years to come. So the weekend had built up to the final main stage act, Linkin Park. The band’s first time back since their reformation and for many it was their first chance to see the new lineup, mine included. The group performed many of their greatest hits along with new offerings from their “From Zero” album. Mike Shinoda embarassed Emily Armstrong drawing the crowd’s attention to the fact that she was the first headlining front woman and she intern had there be an all-female mosh pit at the front of the crowd. Mike Shinoda threw in a links to his Fort Minor side project which were well received. The band finished the set to fan favourites “In The End” and “Faint” before many of the crowd made for their cars to exit the weekends events. Another Download weekend come and gone and another bunch of memories to cherish. An early bird ticket already purchased for next year, I excited await the first band announcements, ready for my return to Donnington.
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