Download XXI, followup to last year’s anniversary spectacular, aims high. With Pantera’s return and Sum 41’s graceful exit on the cards, there’s plenty of huge names to make this a weekend for the history books, but the real action’s on the smaller stages. Download always manages to cram in some of the freshest and most vibrant acts out there, so let’s see how they measure up.
Words: Kate Allvey. Images: Penny Bennett and Download Festival
Halocene
Vocalist Addie Nicole Amick strides across the stage like an evil angel as we nervously put our plastic ponchos on for Halocene, second on the bill on the Opus stage. Theyâre gliding beyond their reputation as âEvanescence with trap beatsâ to create songs far more powerful than youâd expect to hear at lunchtime on day one of Download. âRepentâ, dedicated to Amickâs mother, is designed to be screamed and âWhen Demons Come To Lifeâ, “about my declining mental heath” according to the vocalist, embraces the darkness within, but itâs their cover of Thirty Seconds To Marsâ âThe Killâ that shines brightest.
Scene Queen
âOne thing about me is that I hate men in bands, and I wish theyâd just shut up,â snaps bimbocore sensation Scene Queen while she sips a cup of tea in a bikini. Veering between heavy layers of innuendo on tracks like opener âFingerâ, itâs her blistering clap backs against pop punk misogyny on â18+â that lead us to start taking her seriously. Sheâs the exploiterâs nightmare, using her Barbie sound as a switchblade against those whoâve wronged her. âWhips and Chainsâ, her song about âbeating the shit out of guys who spike drinks at the barâ is a vicious aggro pop revenge tale, and when she drops her pasted-on smile to reveal a scowl, itâs beyond relatable.Â
Soft Play
Compelling and compulsively laddish, the “two man boyband from the garden of England” bring the chaos, ironically declaring that âPunkâs Deadâ on one of the most punk tracks to be heard across Download this weekend. âAct Violentlyâ and âEverything and Nothingâ get their live debuts, as does a pink stetson from stomping drummer Isaac Holman and whole fieldâs worth of gloriously distorted sound. Holman takes the lead on the very Stooges âFuck the Hi-Hatâ screeching at the end of each line as Laurie Vincent takes to the distance to stomp out his feelings, spider tattooed fingers slashing at his guitar. We endlessly punch the air and make soggy stamps into the sodden earth to each irresistible beat.
Black Stone Cherry
Southern rock is a huge draw for the Download crowd, and suddenly the realisation that weâre really here dawns on us. Black Stone Cherry revel in their cliches, an evening breeze blowing back their long hair. âAgainâ maintains a huge presence with its gorgeous acoustic guitar intervals slotted between drums solos like a boulders tumbling from a cliff face. Songs from their last album get their moment in the sun too; âWhen The Pain Comesâ has so much more bass power than hinted at on studio recordings, and âOut Of Pocketâ seems to expand out in every direction simultaneously. Thereâs a distinct Tom Petty influence on âLike I Rollâ, but they donât fall back on merely replicating their heroes. Thereâs a reason that their distinctive sound has seen them notch up eight Download invites and, with a voice quite that majestic, Chris Robertson and pals will undoubtedly be back again.Â
Royal Blood
Playing to an oddly empty arena doesnât put Royal Blood off in the slightest, with many folk heading up to the top of the hill for Bustedâs set rather than remaining at the Apex stage. Royal Bloodâs fans, many of whom carry signs and banners for the duo and who persevere through technical difficulties that halt two songs, are rewarded with a set that sounds like the outcome of shaking up a bottle of sour lemonade. The splintering sound of the bass-as-guitar rolls like a storm front on the spiralling âBoilermakerâ, and placing that song next to the dirty, Muse-ish âOut Of The Blackâ is setlist gold.Â
Heilung
Rumour has it that the pan-European experimental folk collective requested as late as slot as possible to take advantage of the darkness for maximum effect, but the sunâs position in the sky doesnât diminish their drama in the least. A figure masked with an animal skull spreads incense smoke to the sound of birdsong to signal the start of their set, and in procession they walk on as shamans to receive a blessing. After a full five minutes of silent theatre they gravely begin to howl, and we wonder if this is a show or theyâre opening a hellmouth, our cheers confused and nervous. Tribal chanting builds like a call from the dawn of time, and heads begin to bob as we clap politely between songs, if there even can be said to be discreet songs. Are they even a band or are they better described as a cult? Many of the static crowd are rapt but those who wander past do so giggling. You canât deny the primordial power of what Heilung are doing, or the majesty of the booming throat singing rolling across the hills of Donington, but their place on the bill is perplexing. Theyâre definitely at least tangentially related to rock and metal, but with Busted playing around the corner, the sounds of pre-Christian Europe feel asynchronous. You canât shake the feeling that, by the end of their set, Heilung now possibly own our immortal souls.Â
Funeral For A Friend
It seems like the most popular move among the crowd is to switch stages midway through Queens Of The Stone Age and head around the increasingly treacherous hill for Funeral For A Friend, eager to catch Holding Absenceâs Lucas Woodland in his role as Matthew Davies-Kreyeâs temporary replacement. A huge light and a roar, signals the start of âThis Yearâs Most Open Heartbreakâs slapping full powered aggression, with Funeral For A Friend as hardcore in their emo sound as theyâve always been, the screamed vocals waking our weary souls. Seamlessly, they slide into âJuneauâ, with Woodland offering a tactfully understated performance focused on the power of the music as a whole rather than individual members. He stands poised for the longest time, mic stand over his shoulders, guiding a deeply intentioned singalong
âWe need more, wake it up!â Itâs impossible to ignore the twisting, winding melody of âAll The Rageâ held together with grunge tuning. Without fanfare, Charlie Simpson pops up to lend his vocals, proving his range is far greater than Fightstar or Busted have showcased so far. In the distance, we hear snatches of Queens Of The Stone Age, who feel positively cost in comparison to the welshmen on the Opus Stage. Funeral For A Friend create unease in the most positive way possible, and lesser band would have crumbled after losing their frontman, and most of the original lineup, along the way. As last yearâs tour proved, the Funeral For A Friend sound is greater than the sum of its parts and capable of moving the dampened crowds of Download to fine voice.
Queens Of The Stone Age
Dark Americana is whatâs fuelling the Download masses today, so the opening chords of âLittle Sisterâ which open Queens Of The Stone Ageâs set are treated like rays of midnight sunshine. Frontman Josh Homme, black shirted and bearded like a cowboy prophet, imbues each chord with enough force to split the clouds. âBurn The Witchâ must win the prize for most brutal use of lap steel to date as it squeals like it needs oiling for its pain, while Homme jerks behind like a de-stringed puppet, demonic against a scarlet backdrop. Yes, the big hitters from âSongs For The Deafâ suffer a little without the nastiness of their original incarnation in the hands of Mondo Generatorâs Nick Oliveri, but no one could deny the potency of âGo With The Flowâ, which wails and booms as the perfect main stage tune, simultaneously still challenging and rewarding. âNo One Knowsâ still resoundingly hits, with just a hint of sadness on downturn of each line, a quiet lull to nothing with a whispered bassline before a triumphal return.
