Xfm At Download - Day One
Kiss, the Priest, Motorhead, it were gumby heaven at Download on day one. We caught the sights, the sounds and smells of Donington Park. Okay, so we didn't catch the smells, but it's for the best...
You'd be forgiven for feeling deceived on the roads approaching Download. Take the A42 and you're surrounded by rolling green hills, fields of corn and barely a vehicle passing in the opposite direction. Not remotely the stuff to make you summon the devil, throw the horns and throttle air guitars to 250bpm black metal.
On site, and it's a different story. Forget moving the location of the festival (No Dunlop tyre? No sprawling arena? WTF?), punters in black t-shirts are in plentiful supply and the PA blasts some classic metal. Download is go and we are ready to rock.
1pm Black Tide kick things off ably at 1pm. Slimmed to a three piece after guitarist Alex Nunez's recent departure, the criminally young metal tykes make an unholy racket fit for Donington's main stage. The fifteen year old, mercurially talented singer/guitarist Gabriel Garcia is a star in the making if he'd only communicate with the crowd. Flawless playing sees grown men weep over their air guitars, but the decision to play two covers in a twenty five minutes set belies the fact that the Tide still have a little room in their boots to fill. We spot Garcia backstage a little later clutching cans of beer. We supress the desire to whip them off him and threaten to call his mum.
Listen to Black Tide's Steven Spence describe his Download experience
2.45 pm We venture to see South African rock goliaths Seether but, just as we turn the corner to the arena, they launch into a diabolical cover of Nirvana's 'In Bloom'. We quickly turn around and get a beer backstage. Shocking.
3pm Absolutely dumbfounded to learn that Kid Rock's pulled out. He's in a hospital in Nottingham, apparently. Where the hell are we going to get our fill of American largesse, showmanship and 'Cowboy'? Not with 'Mad' Davey Draiman and Disturbed, that's for certain. We go for another beer and head to see Black Dahlia Murder. The second stage this year was an open air affair in a giant concrete car park – with the stage structure itself towering over the gathered crowds. With so much room to play with, it seemed unlikely any band could make the space look full – or even half packed – but The Black Dahlia Murder ended up being the unlikely masters of this area of the site on Friday lunchtime. With dark and deadly riffing and high speed delivery, their set was met by horns held high and headbangers aplenty – people even raising the odd pint of beer in the early festival sunshine.
17.25 Feeling great now, so go to see The Subways on the second stage. There to keep the indie flag flying, the band turn in a surprisingly rocking set. Arcing bottles of piss are conspicuous by their absence and a good crowd on the second stage sees the band turn in a minor stormer. Is it anything to do with bassist Charlotte wearing Kiss make-up? Quite possibly.
18:00 Head over to see a bit of Motorhead and get there as they crank out 'Killed By Death'. Yes, yes, YES!!! Not loud enough by half, but Motorhead still wheel through the 100mph scuzz rock that's made them a fixture in right-thinking rock kids' hearts. Lemmy, fair play, looks terrible. Where once he could possibly have been an advert for the joys of the rock'n'toll lifestyle, now he's doing a better job than the kids from Grange Hill and 'Just Say No' ever could.
Motorhead gave a typically rude press conference before their performance. Listen to it here
18:40 Rush back to see Rival Schools on the second stage. Walter Schreiffels and co sound MASSIVE. Hits from 'United By Fate' come thick and fast. It's great to have you back, fellas.
19:15 Head over and see Judas Priest on the main stage. Singer Rob Halford walks out in a silver sequinned cape and blasts forth about 'Nostradamus'. We wouldn't expect anything else.
20:45 We wanted the best and we got... Kiss. Seriously though, the show's amazing, most of the songs are bobbins (is Kiss's success at creating the illusion they're massive in the UK the greatest feat of smoke and mirrors ever?), but it's pure, unbridled entertainment. Camp, over the top and utterly dazzling, they are - begrudgingly - worthy headliners of day one.
Kiss don't do interviews. They do press conferences. Listen to it in full here
9.45 pm We obviously had to check out Dillinger Escape Plan on the third stage, too. Since the success of their latest album Ire Works – the band have gone from noisy underground monsters (most remember for pooping on stage at Reading festival) – to some of the most celebrated technical metal geniuses around today. Their set headlining the Gibson stage was well deserved – and the blue tent was packed to pop with metal fans – mouths agape at the complexity and precision delivery on stage. From headbanging to shredding to hanging off the stage scaffolding by their feet – DEP proved why they're one of the most exciting bands around!
Listen to DEP's Gil Sharone's pre-show ritual right here