Saturday:
After finishing the previous day on such a high note, Saturday kicked off with a strong start. As we know, Download have many surprises each year and this year was no different. Not only was there one secret band on the Sunday, there was a mystery act under the name of Iceman Thesis who were billed to play not one, but two stages ... at the same time. Yes, it is confusing but it did work, however we are none the wiser as to who Iceman Thesis actually are. They played just one song with the band members concealing their identities wearing bandanas and hoodies. Even live in the flesh it was still near impossible to work out who they actually were. There were two lots of band members playing both stages at the same time which explained how they could have been in two places at once. The song was good and sounded like a mixture between Cancer Bats and System of a Down. It was an enigmatic start to the day, which left everyone bewildered and excited to continue proceedings elsewhere (7).
Next, I took a trip to the main stage where I would spend the rest of the day. Fozzy were up and as you would expect, the crowd was fairly big for such an early time of day. Purely to see WWE wrestler Chris Jericho. It was a fun set but if it weren't for Jericho, it wouldn't have been as exciting. The music was what I would consider to be "American Radio Rock", in a similar vein to Shinedown, but not quite as good. Plenty of energy, but just lacked the finesse (6).
Saturday was a great day for showcasing British talent. Bury Tomorrow managed to bag themselves a place on the main stage after such a successful show at last year's Download in the tent. They were hungry for it and delivered a crushing display of excellent musicianship. They definitely made the most of the space on the stage with their constant crowd interaction. After seeing them in a tiny venue in Stoke just a few weeks previous, it was refreshing to see them on the main stage and it was well deserved. Although I preferred the atmosphere of a dingy gig, they really didn't disappoint on Saturday. Also, Man on Fire is the best UK metal song this year and it will be a hard one to top (8).
Up after Bury Tomorrow were another British band looking to break into the mainstream. While She Sleeps burst onto the stage and looked into the crowd holding up numerous "WSS" flags, all in support of the band. The band gave a great performance but it seemed to drift off slightly towards the end. If you're a cult fan of the band and you were there, it would have been the best show ever, but for those who have a casual fondness for them, it would have been a solid show, and that's how it felt for me (7).
I caught about half of Bowling For Soup's set and it was very funny. Their banter was hilarious and the audience had a lot of fun. You have to applaud a band who stop abruptly during their songs just so the crowd can take pictures of them, and also so they can bring a knight onto the stage to pop a giant inflatable. The music was decent and ideal for a festival but the length of the songs meant that it was hard to keep up with the pace of the show (6).
As with most bands this year at Download, Killswitch Engage were one that I have been waiting to see for a long time. I managed to clamber my way through to the front just to soak in the atmosphere for what was about to come. Killswitch came out with all guns blazing and powered through the overbearing heat of the day to deliver an exquisite performance. Current lead singer Jesse Leach was on top form and even performed ex-singer Howard Jones's songs perfectly. Lots of great sing-along moments throughout and the new material such as "In Due Time" held up just as well against the classics such as "My Last Serenade" (8).
One of the highly anticipated bands of the weekend were next to play. There has always been a lot of criticism surrounding Bring Me The Horizon and most of it was justified. However, the second they released "Sempiternal" the Sheffield act shot down all negativity and began to cement themselves as the best upcoming British metal band. Opening with "Shadow Moses" was the greatest move they could have made as it immediately send the crowd wild. They had circle pits to every song and were one of the very few bands that weekend to do so. Their set had a slight dip with "And The Snakes Start To Sing." It is a great song but it doesn't fit into a festival. However they soon made up for that when they played anthem after anthem (Ironic as they didn't actually play "Anthem"). "Chelsea Smile" was one of my highlights from the weekend as it was so raw and with Oli Sykes' refined voice, it sounded so much better than the original version. If Bring Me release another album to the same standard as "Sempiternal" then they will be ready to headline Download (9).
Fall Out Boy graced the stage, and my God they were great. I had no idea how well they play live and also how heavy they could be. Most of the set was taken up with songs from "Save Rock and Roll" which made for good moments in their performance, but it was evident that the classics were most well received by the crowd. Their cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" sounded incredible live and "Sugar, We're Going Down" received massive chants from the audience. Fall Out Boy have every right to play at Download, despite maybe not being considered "heavy" enough to be there. People seem to forget that Status Quo were there that day too.... (8).
The biggest selling point of this year's Download was easily Linkin Park playing Hybrid Theory in its entirety for the first time in their career. Every casual rock or metal fan knows at least one song from that album and they are guaranteed to have it in their record collection. Never have I seen an intro tape get a crowd so pumped than LP's one this year. The band came on in full force opening with "Papercut." Mike Shinoda donned a red wig, reminiscent of his hair in the early 2000's. The audience were moving non-stop for the entirety of the Hybrid set, screaming their lungs out to every song. The atmosphere was like no other. "A Place For My Head" sounded amazing with Chester Bennington's voice in 2014, as he sounds the best he has done in years.
I was quite upset to see a large number of people leave once the iconic album set had finished. However in hindsight I could see why people drifted off from the main stage. The second part of the show was weaker in comparison but it was still a spectacle to witness. "Given Up" is by far LP's best post-Hybrid Theory song and will always sound brilliant live. The new songs also held up well live, especially the powerful "Guilty All The Same." On the downside, I feel as if LP could have done without playing softer songs such as "Until It's Gone" as it killed the flow of the set slightly. LP definitely bounced back with bangers like "What I've Done" and "New Divide" proving they are worthy of their headlining position. If it weren't for Avenged Sevenfold playing the best they ever had on the previous night, Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory set would have been the best performance this year at Download (9).
The final instalment coming soon!
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