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Download Festival 2012 Review: Friday

Rock Sound festival coverage, presented by Vans!

We're here, we made it and it's only a tad moist underfoot. Ok, that's a lie but you know what, who gives a fuck! There are 139 bands, five stages and three days of great music ahead. That's all that matters right? RIGHT? Good.

So things haven’t got off to the best start today, with CANCER BATS and RISE TO REMAIN struck off the schedule due to the adverse weather conditions (Have you heard? It’s raining…). So the first band to grace the Main Stage are Californian metal heroes FEAR FACTORY, who come on a little earlier than anticipated – meaning half the floor space in front of the stage is cordoned off for the first three or four songs while festival staff give the muddy ground a helpful dusting of hay. Halfway through ‘Smasher / Devourer,’ though, we’re let in, and the crowd happily undo the staff’s best intentions, with mud-soaked circle pits keeping conditions good and filthy. The wind picks up mid-set, meaning some of the pummelling drums in ‘Powershifter’ and ‘Recharger’ (from new album ‘The Industrialist’) are lost, but the singalongs in ‘Self Bias Resistor’ and closing song ‘Replica’ make up for it. It’s not necessarily the start we wanted, but it reminds everyone why we’re here: FOR THE MOSH. AB


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“So we’re the Megadeth of punk rock,” says NOFX’s Fat Mike by way of introduction to the crowd, kicking off the only punk set of a predominately heavy Main Stage line-up. Thanks to their almost thirty-year career, anyone familiar with the band knows what to expect from their live show, and anyone new to them can at least enjoy their notorious banter. The combination of songs like ‘Eat The Meek,’ ‘Dinosaurs Will Die’ and ‘Linoleum’ (“This is the ‘Exodus’ of punk rock,” Mike helpfully explains), plus their knack for entertaining any crowd they face – explaining ‘Perfect Government’ and ‘Franco Un-American’ as a tribute to our very own David Cameron – means that their set is the perfect mix of social awareness and a total lack of political correctness. AB



The thing about Canadians, right, is that they're just good people who bring good vibes. And BILLY TALENT exemplify that today: it's not enough that they bring some singalongs to Donington in the shape of 'Devil On My Shoulder', 'Try Honesty' and the closing 'Red Flag', nope. They invite one of the day's rain casualties CANCER BATS onstage for a ferocious run through 'Hail Destroyer' just because a) they can b) it's a nice thing to do and c) bromance; Download needs something to perk itself up and that's what BT do. Newie 'Viking Death March' sounds suitably war-like, and the band's ability to just... play a bunch of really good songs that everyone seems to like is just what the doctor ordered. BP


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Of all the bands on the bill over the course of the weekend, MACHINE HEAD are undoubtedly among the festival's elite when it comes to public good will. One of Download's most familiar and best loved attractions, it only takes five seconds of opening track 'I Am Hate' for no less than four circle pits to kick off. What follows is some 50 minutes of hero worship - the fist-pumping tidal wave that rises up for 'Imperium', the mass bouncing fits that greet 'The Locust' and the chants of "Machine Fucking Head" that rise up when Robb Flynn congratulates the watching masses on braving such unforgiving conditions - all of which provide a spectacle on both sides of the barrier. With the wind beginning to kick up a serious gust by the time their set comes to an end the closing thunder of 'Halo' isn't the clearest and most concise rendition you'll ever encounter, but the sheer, heroic send-off afforded to them means that, not for the first time, Machine Head leave the stage having conquered the masses. Again. RB


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MUD FACT: You now can’t stand still and watch a band at Download, for fear of literally getting stuck. But over on the Pepsi Max Stage, THE DEFILED are an unlikely surprise. While they’re one of the more ‘styled’ bands on the bill, there’s some substance to the music; their metalcore isn’t run-of-the-mill, because they have the musicianship to back it up. Singer Stitch D’s powerful voice steers them through screamed and clean vocal parts from last year’s ‘Grave Times’ – and new song ‘As I Drown’ (quite appropriate, given the mud) is matched with the same reception, thanks in part to new drummer Needles keeping the pace of their set loud and fast. Theirs is a set that shows that change can be for the better. AB


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Over on the Red Bull Bedroom Stage, (which in the current conditions, is approximately three days’ trek away from the warm comforts of the Press Area), UPON A BURNING BODY are making sure that everybody in witness is aware they’re more than just a case of style over substance. Dapper dressed as they are, their bass-heavy deathcore vibes are nothing but convincing. Frontman Danny Leal is a terrifying, vampire-like thing to watch, and along with their Flamenco interludes and perfectly-timed stage moves, today they prove a prime example of the full package, perfect as an afternoon festival pick-me-up. AR

Another perilous trip to the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage later (MUD FACT: this stage is at the bottom of a gradual incline, so the mud here has more of a pool-like quality to it) and Bingley’s MARMOZETS make the journey well worth it. With a new, shorter set time thanks to the rain, the band don’t have much time for audience interaction (besides a quick shout-out for all the Yorkshire people in the crowd), instead rushing through this year’s ‘Vexed’ EP at a relentless pace – with ‘Onemanwolfpack’ getting one of the loudest cheers of the afternoon. And with an average age of around 17, they put older bands to shame, with airtight arrangements that allow vocalist Becca MacIntyre to belt out the full extent of her range.AB


Click on the image above for a photo gallery from the set.

At festivals like this, the bands who perform in tents pray for rain; WHILE SHE SLEEPS play under dry skies but still attract a decent number of people to the Pepsi Max Stage as Machine Head's final chords ring out. What's immediately apparent is how ready for big stages they are, with all five throwing themselves about and buoying the likes of 'The North Stands For Nothing' and a titanic 'This Is The Six' with more energy than Download's seen all day. But then, at the end of the set, frontman Loz decides to go climbing up the scaffolding only for some over-sensitive soul to pull the power and leave WSS robbed of what could have been their crowning moment. That the crowd sing along even without the band being properly amplified, however, is the enduring image of their set. BP




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With CHASE & STATUS’ uhm… status as the wildcard booking of the weekend, initially it’s hard to tell whether the size of the crowd they pull is more a case of curiosity than actual genuine interest. Not more than a few tracks in though, and that barely even matters. Despite the mud, despite the controversy around their appearance this weekend – despite everything – Download utterly embraces the London duo and their super slick live band, and the reaction, the fucking bounce they receive is nothing short of euphoric. Arguably as heavy as anyone else on the bill here (you can still mosh to bash wobble, yo), today could have gone either way, but Mister Chase and Mister Status deliver. AR



Okay, it’s getting on for a year since the switch in frontmen, so let’s get one thing straight: Frank Carter might have defined what GALLOWS were, but Wade MacNeil makes them what they are. The combination of his stage presence and his command over their songs – whether it’s their newer ‘True Colours,’ the older ‘Seeing Red’ or the even older ‘Abandon Ship’ – and a clear chemistry with his bandmates mean they’re on form, with their arrangements tighter than ever and musicianship razor-sharp. And MacNeil lends real character and a sense of life to the songs; whether it’s wrapping his microphone around and around his neck into a noose, or leaning into the crowd for the chorus of ‘London Is The Reason,’ he doesn’t stand still for a moment. While it had the atmosphere of a small punk show, the band play like a Main Stage headliner – stopping short just after half an hour to accommodate last-minute headliners CANCER BATS. AB


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After a half hour delay, THE PRODIGY take to the Main Stage and as the moon begin to rises, it’s very much a case of hit, after hit, after motherfucking hit. ‘World’s On Fire’ blends straight into ‘Breathe’, and over the next hour or so, it’s a reminder for everyone just how many monstrous songs this juggernaut of a band have. Thing is though, after a while, and after so many, many repeated screams of ‘Where my people at?!’ from Maxim Reality, it’s a struggle to maintain enthusiasm for everything that’s going on. Combine that with the fact that Keith Flint’s mic is barely audible for the majority, it’s a headline set that ends up feeling far longer than it should. AR

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