Download Festival –LIVE REVIEW by Carina Lawrence / Dark Art Conspiracy
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James Bridle
Download Festival is the UK’s biggest, friendliest and most diverse rock/metal festivals and it gets bigger and better each year. This year particularly had a strong theme of environmental sustainability, with their new recycling scheme for beer glasses, using plastic reusable cups which you could keep and reuse or give back and made for a nice memento along with the introduction of Greenpeace’s Eco Campsite. Viewing platforms for wheelchair-users were available across all stages and British Sign Language interpreters on two, again highlighting the festivals diversity and how it accommodates for everyone which is great to see.
Having been to the festival four times now, it certainly does have a special atmosphere and is dubbed as the spiritual home of rock for this. Thousands gather together to witness rock and metals finest and up and coming acts from all over. There is something for everyone here, beyond music as the festival hosts a variety of other events such as WWE wrestling, comedy acts and an endless supply of great food vendors and more. This year felt like the biggest and most varied yet in terms of all of this along with musical depth and of course historic appearances from Guns N’ Roses and Ozzy Osbourne…
Friday 8th June
To open the Dog Tooth stage was new wave folk-rock act Cellar Darling from Switzerland, who formed following their departure from popular folk metal band Eluveitie. They were captivating throughout and had a great turnout early on, with the crowd happily interacting and cheering, as they were equally impressed by their beautiful yet dark sound. As they had a short set, they made sure to pack in fan favourites ‘Avalanche’ and ended with ‘Challenge’. Anna Murphy’s vocals were simply stunning, flawless and very distinctive, setting them apart, along with their use of folk instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy, so they definitely offered something very different and refreshing. The band were clearly humbled to be there and the crowd were very appreciative of their Download debut. This was one of my favourite performances of the festival and therefore couldn’t have asked for a better start to the weekend.
Miss May I on the Zippo Encore (second stage) smashed it, which was especially impressive given their early set time but that didn’t stop them from causing chaos and carnage, as they conjured up some insane mosh pits with their high impact set which included their most popular fan favourites such as ‘Hey Mister’, ‘I.H.E’, ‘Lost In The Grey’ before ending triumphantly on ‘Shadows Inside’.
Matt Eachus
Sarah Koury
Kyle Mcloughlin
Sarah Koury
Matt Eachus
Matt Eachus
The first band for me on Saturday and to open the day was Death Blooms from Liverpool, UK on the Dog Tooth (rising blood) stage – it was an early one but definitely was worth getting up for and they impressively managed to create an energetic and mental crowd for an early hour. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand and everyone was headbanging and grooving along to the heavy melodic sounds with songs like ‘Sick’ and they managed some great pits, making you forget just how early it was. They certainly proved that they are ones to watch after a fun, dynamic, crazy engaging set before midday nonetheless!
Paulo Gonçalves
American grunge rockers from LA L7 announced that their drummer Demetra Plakas had broken her arm 48 hours before but that didn’t stop her from turning up and rocking out on stage with them while Adam Ant drummer, Jola filled in for them. The band had a good turnout and offered something a bit different. They ended their enjoyable set with their most popular hit ‘Pretend We’re Dead’.
I managed to catch some of Southern rockers Black Stone Cherry and caught enough to know that they were killing it and they drew in a massive crowd and churned out all their best hits, including ‘Blind Man’, ‘Blame It On The Boom Boom’ and ‘Lonely Train’, winning the crowds with their charm and swagger. This band seem to get bigger and better as they go.
Kyle Mcloughlin
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Sarah Koury
Everyone in the world has heard of Saturday headliners, the legendary Guns N’ Roses who are considered rock royalty since forming in 1985. It had been an incredible 12 years since they last headlined Download festival so this was a very special occasion, more so given that it to marked their first UK Festival appearance of the classic line up featuring the imitable Axl Rose, guitar legend Slash and original bassist Duff McKagan, plus Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer and Melissa Reese. Never has a headline band played so early at a festival, starting at just after 7pm, with the sun shining and anticipation was running high with a massive congregation of rock fans which could be seen far and wide. They played an incredible three and a half hour set, which prior to starting had people worried but the end result was a massive success and amazingly seemed to fly by and flow nicely. This was a big highlight for me personally, having never seen them before live and they didn’t disappoint, with their long set managing to get in all their classics like ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, ‘November Rain’ and the spectacular firework frenzy ending with ‘Paradise City’ which was an impressive and fitting way to end their momentous set. As well as their original songs, they are known for their cover of ‘Knockin On Heaven’s Door’ which we were thankfully treated to but there was also some brilliant surprise covers that pleased the masses with Velvet Revolver’s popular hit ‘Slither’, a skilled instrumental version from guitar legend Slash of ‘Wish You Were Here’ and a touching and emotional cover of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’. Guns N’ Roses exceeded expectations, playing on time and with precision, boasting lots of energy and sounding on point, whilst playing the songs everyone wanted and more. This was a set that no one will forget and will go down in the history of the ever-expanding festival.
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Sarah Koury Guns N’ Roses
Sunday 10th June
It was a surprisingly early start on the Sunday of the festival and I was up and ready to see rising Welsh alt-rockers Dream State and what a start to the day! There was an impressive amount of energy from the fans and the band, with vocalist CJ getting in the crowd and fans crowd surfing and jumping and rocking out throughout, something you don’t expect at 11am on the last day of the festival. The band were clearly humbled by the reaction and how many came out so early and posed for a stage photo at the end to mark their triumphant Download debut. Although a short set, they made a huge impact and ended with their most popular song ‘White Lies’, along with a heartfelt and inspiring speech about mental health and additions. This band are only going to get bigger and better especially if this set is anything to go by, they were a standout act for me.
It was unusual to see extreme UK metallers Cradle Of Filth so early in the day with their black-clad gothic gear and crazy mannerisms (especially from guitarist Richard Shaw) in the beaming sunshine but that didn’t stop them from delivering a harsh and brutal set, with many fans coming out early to witness them. They opened with ‘Gilded Cunt’ and later played the hauntingly beautiful ‘Nymphétamine’ with Lindsay Schoolcraft getting to show her impressive vocals to accompany Dani Filth’s contrasting growls and characteristic shrieks. Dani Filth, although he looks menacing, is a rather humorous and charming fellow, attempting to tell jokes and a highlight of the set was when Dani referred to someone in the crowd dressed as Jesus, saying “Good to see old friend Jesus out there”.
Matt Eachus
Matt Eachus
Canadian post-hardcore act Alexisonfire were a band I was very hyped for as I had never seen them and feared I never would, but fortunately for us all, they reformed. Known for the heavy yet melodic sounds which make for good anthemic singalongs, they didn’t disappoint one bit, many singalongs were had and they were short, sharp and to the point, firing off all the songs we expected and wanted, such as opener ‘Young Cardinals’, ‘Boiled Frogs’, ‘Accidents’ and their biggest hit ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’ which sparked big crowd engagement. They were one of my favourite acts of the whole festival for their energy, engagement and delivering only their best tracks with no distractions.
Matt Eachus
I was lucky enough to attend Download 2016 too and caught Black Sabbath’s farewell headline set and now two years later, Ozzy Osbourne was back but doing his own solo set this time and for the first time. Sadly I didn’t get to see Ozzy’s closing set but from what I heard Ozzy done everyone proud and lived up to his legendary status. Having Ozzy close the festival was fitting giving his rock stature and along with other headliners Guns N’ Roses amongst other acts, secured Download 2018 as a historic and highly memorable event as always, and fortunately enough we were graced with decent weather yet again. Bring on Download 2019! I for one can’t wait to see who will be on the line-up for next year.
Caitlin Mogridge
To find out more about Download Festival UK:
https://downloadfestival.co.uk