Wednesday 10th
It’s thirty-five years since I first stepped onto Donington’s hallowed turf (Monsters Of Rock, 1991) and a good example of how Download has evolved from its origins is District X. Set amongst various traders and fairground rides, it’s full of all sorts of eye (and ear) popping delights and is the perfect gateway into the festival for those who arrive early and provides plenty to keep us amused until the main arena opens on Friday. Set in the heart of District X, The Doghouse stage has been taken over by RXPTRS, a young band who are at the forefront of British rock, and they’re kicking up a storm with a raucous sound that pulls the crowd towards them like files to a magnet. With a charismatic vocalist leading the charge and a band delivering a bunch of bombastic tunes, I’ll wager the next time we see RXPTRS they’ll be rocking the main stage. Headlining this year’s Community Takeover of the Doghouse are Black Water County, a high energy folk ensemble who put a modern twist on the genre by fusing it with a healthy dose of punk. Two explosive genres in one package makes for a potent mix, and when performed by an excitable bunch of musicians, it can’t help but hit the bullseye. BWC spread the good vibes and leave the world a better place than when they found it. Evidencing just how far Download has moved forwards is Tasmin Taylor; in the Monsters Of Rock age (and even the early days of Download) a DJ would have been burnt at the stake as a heretic. Yet, musical barriers are tumbling and Tasmin’s set is indicative of this, delivering a multi-genre experience that blends rock, pop, and emo ragers with drum n bass and techno bangers and the result is a mix of songs that race along at an insane rate of beats per minute and gets pulses pumping. This is not my first time seeing musician/author/comedian Andrew O’Neill performing a spoken word event, having caught Andrew in Milton Keynes when promoting the History Of Heavy Metal book, and tonight show does a similar thing with Andrew’s punk tome. Due to the fairground sounds surrounding the Doghouse, the spoken word element doesn’t transfer that well to a larger stage, but the musical element does, Andrew interspersing his monologues with the classic punk riffs that pour from his guitar. In true punk style, this is a cut and paste type of show; it doesn’t run chronologically and bounces around from the proto-punk of MC5 and The Stooges to the anarcho variant of Crass and Subhumans via the hardcore of Sick Of It All and Stampin’ Ground. Exploring all of punk’s various nooks and crannies makes this the most entertaining lesson you’ll ever have. Punk is as punk does.
Thursday 11th
It seems that if Download isn’t boiling beneath a sunny skies, then it is overcast and rainy, and unfortunately today is very much the latter. There’s no shelter to be found under the canvas of the Doghouse tent because Electric Six are here to brighten up even the darkest day and such is the size of the crowd they’ve attracted that the tent is bursting at the seams and it’s standing room only as the band ramp up the party atmosphere exponentially. They’ve a discography that’s rammed full of oven ready anthems and many of them are on show today with the likes of ‘Gay Bar’ and ‘She’s White’ chasing away the clouds. The Doghouse feels too small for Electric Six and in truth they should have been rocking the main stage, but that makes their appearance today all the more precious and leaves us with the feeling that we’ve witnessed something very special. District X is about so much more than music, and a prime example is Famous First Words; a game show with a difference, FFW is all about lyrics and timing, and if you’ve got the rhythm you can win some serious prizes (and lots of kudos). Imagine if the cast of The Young Ones and Bottom presented a prime time TV quiz show, then you’d have the anarchic quirkiness of FFW. It’s fun, feisty and frolicsome and never fails to sweep the crowd up in its effervescence. A side product of hardcore punk band Cancer Bats, Bat Sabbath pay tribute to the propagators of heavy metal (as their name suggests) and the dirty, scuzzy aesthetic they bring is in perfect sync with that sludgy Sabbath sound. Of course, with such an array of heavy tunes to pick from they really can’t go wrong and treat us to a smorgasbord of all that’s good and heavy. The missing link between Black Sabbath and Eyehategod, the whisky-soaked sound that Cancer Bats bring is bolstered by a true affection for Black Sabbath and that immediately adheres them to the crowd, making one of those rare moments in music where crowd and band are unified as one. A fitting tribute not only to Sabbath, but Ozzy too, and you get the feeling that the baton has been passed on, and it’s in safe hands.
Review and photos from Friday 12th June
Review and photos from Saturday 13th June
Review and photos from Sunday 14th June
