Download Festival 2009

[Nerf]

Aye, I fancy seeing Thunder, but they're clashing with Chris Cornell. I only really like about two of their songs, but they're pretty good. I've wanted to see Cornell for a while though.

Enter Shikari can suck a cock.

[Cactus Drags]

Limp Bizkit destroyed Friday. So, so good. Faith No More were ace as well, but I think they suffered from the audience generally being too young to know anything more than Epic. Shame really, because they clearly enjoyed playing, but got frustrated at the tepid reaction. Korn were shite, it all just blended in to one drop-tuned drone. Billy Talent were tight as fuck, squawky as ever, and they kept the new stuff to a minimum, wonderful. Hollywood Undead did a really good job of opening as well.

[mikevandam]

Fridays thoughts (from what i saw streamed)

Blackout is and are horrible. Really.

Staind is what you expect them to be. Boring

Billy Talent were acceptable. Nothing more, nothing less

Killswitch got the crowd going nuts which was awesome

Bizkit destroyed as written above

Korn were awful at least in the beginning

Faith No More were first class. the fact that they played Be Aggressive made it for me.

Honorable mentions goes to Five Finger Death Punch, Devil Driver and Hatebreed (who were the only performances i saw saturday) DD got the biggest circle pit going that i have ever seen.

[GA!]

Limp Bizkit destroyed Friday. So, so good. Faith No More were ace as well, but I think they suffered from the audience generally being too young to know anything more than Epic. Shame really, because they clearly enjoyed playing, but got frustrated at the tepid reaction. Korn were shite, it all just blended in to one drop-tuned drone. Billy Talent were tight as fuck, squawky as ever, and they kept the new stuff to a minimum, wonderful. Hollywood Undead did a really good job of opening as well.

My friend thought Billy Talent were annoying, but I loved how the lead singer was giving it his all. A big contrast to Staind, who sleepwalked through their set (shock! horror!). And failed to play 'Price to Play'. Or 'It's Been A While'. Or 'Believe'. Arseholes.

Korn's setlist was better than when I saw them in Manchester as they played 'Coming Undone' and 'Y'All Want A Single'. They didn't seem into it though as the drummer was the one trying to maintain excitement with about six million mini-solos. Their 'Another Brick in the Wall' cover is still fucking terrible. I think they only play it so Jonathan Davis can act all "woe is me" by repeating "goodbye cruel world" at the end.

Limp Bizkit were fucking awesome though. I really wish their set was twice as long. They stole the show from Faith No More, who were also amazing.

Killswitch were good. Motley Crue were crap from what I saw of them. Blackout were terrible, and one of their guitarists looks like Alex Kapranos on heroin. Hollywood Undead were decent, but they shouldn't have unmasked. They all look like tattooed children, apart from the one in the sailor hat, who looked like a pervy uncle.

[Cactus Drags]

KsE weren't as good as I've seen them before, although I think it was made worse by some of their fans being dickheads where we were stood. They seemed angry that people who weren't in the pits at the front didn't actually want to throw hands or anything. Imagine!

[mikevandam]

Why are Pendulum so damn popular ? They dont do anything at all for me

[Dan]

Pendulum are quality, live especially.

It didn't look too much fun on the stream from Download, they where fucking quality in the tent at Leeds last year though, the whole tent was bouncing.

[Summers]

I saw 5 bands.

Money well spent.

[Cactus Drags]

The fuck? How come?

[GA!]

Great birthday, I'm guessing.

[Cactus Drags]

I saw 5 bands in one bloody day though.

[Summers]

I saw no one Sunday.

Fightstar Saturday.

HU, ADTR, In This Moment & Limp on Fri.

[Gazz]

See, lost without me.

[Nerf]

I just woke up after sleeping since 3pm. That sums up my weekend.

[Summers]

See, lost without me.

Nah mate.

Wicked camping holiday, bands got in the way.

[DFF]

I thought this year's Download was every bit as good as the last two years. I watched loads of bands and got plenty drunk. Here's who I caught:

Friday

Sleepercurve - Sound didn't translate as well live as it did on their myspace. They seemed to lack a bit of depth to the music - a bassist may have helped.

In This Moment - Decent to good throughout including a very good cover of Blondie's 'Call Me'.

Staind - Heavier than I expected them to be. Decent background music but I don't think they are interesting enough to see them as otherwise.

Parkway Drive - Caught the end of their set. Not impressed.

Dir En Grey - I can see why people like them, but they are not really my kind of thing.

Killswitch Engage - Shit hot performance. 'Nuff said.

Limp Bizkit - only watched the first two songs as I was leaving to see Lacuna Coil. Wasn't impressed.

Lacuna Coil - Fucking immense. They are a really, really good live act. They also did an immense cover of 'Enjoy The Silence'.

Opeth - One of the bands of the weekend for me. Brilliant performance that was tight as hell.

Motley Crue - I wanted to give them a chance as I'd recently got into a few of their songs. But they were utter crap, dropping notes left, right and centre and the vocalist struggling to keep up with the verses in places. One of the biggest let downs of the weekend.

Faith No More - After Motley Poo played 4 or 5 songs we switched to watch Faith. I've never been a massive fan, but like the big songs. Thought the set was decent, if a tad long.

Saturday

Tim 'Ripper' Owens - Solid enough start to the day without being anywhere near the realms of special.

Symphony Cult - The lead guitarist is very good. The band is simply average. Lead singer thinks she's the star when she's one of the weakest links.

Five Finger Death Punch - Caught last couple of songs on the way to the third stage. I don't see what the fuss is all about.

Black Spiders - A cool, if generic straight up old school rock band.

Devildriver - Saw the end of their set. Not my kind of thing , I think, but the uber circle pit was very impressive.

In Case of Fire - Not very good. Their sound just didn't translate well at all. Might be better at an indoor venue.

Fightstar - Watched first few songs before leaving to see Down. I wasn't really in the mood for them, but they seemed pretty decent.

Down - I think people over rated these a bit whilst there. Still, they were decent enough without being special.

Static-X - Only went to watch them as some friends liked them back in the day. Heavier than I expected them to be. I didn't really get into them but my mates liked them.

DragonForce - Had sound problems (the sound guy kept turning the guitars up and down throughout the first few songs, and they seemed to get the levels, in general, a bit off). Still, they sounded good up front.

Lawnmower Deth - Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.

Thunder - A very, very good set. Managed to get a couple of rows from the front, though some little emo shit kept elbowing me and barge past I'm so glad I got to see them, though, before they retire later this year.

Marilyn Manson - Fucking dire. He was bland 2 years ago and he seems to care even less this year. Along with Crue he was the biggest disappointment. A huge waste of a semi-main slot.

Anvil - Fucking immense and more than made up for MM. You can feel the era they are from and blatantly take influences fro Sabbath, Metallica and Priest. A shit hot set. Oh, and they seem really cool guys too. Highlights have to include the lead singer singing through the pickups in his guitar and him strumming with a bottle of water.

Slipknot - Managed to see the last 4 or 5 songs. I'm not a huge fan, but they seemed to nail it. The amount of people 'sitting down' for Spit It Out was insane, with the line going right up to the top of the hill.

Sunday

Stone Gods - solid opener, though they could do with writing some new material as it was very similar to last year' set.

Tesla - Slow to get going, but had a good second half to their set.

Skin - Was impressed more and more as they went along. Their uber ballad finale (Tower of Strength?) was really, really good.

Black Stone Cherry - Played a tight set and had strong support. I could see them moving up the bill in future years.

Journey - I've not actually heard much Journey outside of their big two songs. Still, I quite liked them and got into them a fair bit.

Dream Theater - Fucking immense - even though they only managed to fit 5 songs into their 50 minute set. Top quality musicianship.

ZZ Top - Again, a really, really good set.

Steel Panther - Couldn't get in the tent due to their popularity. Sounded good/entertaining from where we were perched.

Whitesnake - Not bad. Problem was I get the impression that, whilst they are popular, they don't have loads of big songs and so the crowd tired a little of them. Still, we got Here I Go Again.

Def Leppard - An awesome choice to finish of the festival. Drummer was given three ovations as Donington marked 23 years since they last played their (and last time was just after he'd lost his arm in a car crash). A great feel-good band.

Overall, I think Dream Theater, Opeth, Lacuna Coil, Def Leppard, Killswitch, Anvil and Thunder were the bands of the weekend.

Edited June 16, 2009 by DFF/WFS

[Summers]

in this moment blew. hard. she was terrible.

[Nerf]

Okay, I'll go into a little more detail now that I've had a sleep and a shower.

We arrived around 3pm on Thursday. Met Summers on the way into the campsite, though didn't manage to catch him for the rest of the weekend which was a bit shit, but I did meet up with some mates there and spent most nights with them, so. There's always next year mate. Thursday was pretty much just a huge piss up with mates.

Started Friday off seeing Hollywood Undead, who were fucking awesome. I was a little disappointed that they only played their new stuff, but it was all good. Would have liked to see 'A Knife Called Lust.'

I caught The Blackout's set from the hill and they were fucking dire, but my friends wanted to see them.

A Day To Remember was pretty awesome.

Caught half of Staind's set and was well impressed. They were much heavier than I thought they would be, as their singles seem proper fucking boring. They're not my cup of tea, but were alright to chill out to.

Billy Talent were fucking shite, and they're one of my guilty pleasures. Absolutely awful.

Killswitch Engage was awesome, but when did El Generico start playing guitar for them?

Limp Bizkit were without a doubt one of the highlights of the weekend and fucking destroyed Download. I actually had to physically drag my girlfriend out of the crowd because she was getting KILLED. Atmosphere was immense, even if I did have to punch two fuckers for being dickheads.

Caught the start of Korn, but had to leave early for Motley Crue. That said, Crue were one of the biggest let downs of the weekend. They just weren't on the fucking ball and made shit loads of mistakes. Much better in 2007. I haven't got a fucking clue why they left Home Sweet Home til last. Even so, I managed to get right to the front and the atmosphere was incredible which more than made up for their shoddiness. They're my favourite band, so I had a good time regardless. Crowd were insane though, couldn't move my arms at all. Loads of people were fucking fainting and shit around me. Without a doubt the craziest crowd of the weekend.

Caught the end of Faith No More, and they were fucking shite.

Had a lie in on Saturday, as I was FUCKED from the previous two days. Got to the arena on time for Hardcore Superstar, who were on the fucking ball. They weren't as good as when I saw them in January 2008, but were good. Their set was short, but that was expected. Really glad they played 'Bag On Your Head.'

Caught the end of Devildriver, then saw Hatebreed and Down. They all sound the same and play that shitty drowny metal that I can't fucking stand. Just chilled out and had a few beers with them as backing music.

Dragonforce were awesome. Suprised they opened with 'Valley of the Damned' and fit 'Starfire' into their set. Much better than when they played in 2007, though there were a few technical faults.

Pendulum were another huge disappointment. The environment is what makes or breaks a band like Pendulum, and the huge crowd just spoiled the intimate atmosphere from last year.

Chris Cornell was shit, and it fucking devostated me. Caught the end of Marilyn Manson, and my girlfriend filled me in on what I'd missed. Just him being a prima donna by the sounds of things. He played like, NONE of his good songs, so fuck that shit. Made a right fucking tit of himself.

I caught like four songs of The Prodigy, and they were awesome. The crowd was fucking massive, and I ended up miles away. I could barely even hear their set, so left early for the start of Slipknot, who were fucking awesome. Really solid set, and were a real feel good band. Plus I can now say I had a shit at Slipknot.

Started things on Sunday with Stone Gods, who were better last year. Tesla and Skin were fucking awesome too.

Black Stone Cherry were fucking DIRE. Made loads of mistakes and sounded like shit.

Skipped Journey and Dream Theater to go have a drink and a piss.

Came back for ZZ Top which was awesome, but left during 'La Grange' to get a good spot for Steel Panther. This method did not prove effective as I only just managed to get into the tent. The crowd was MASSIVE. Honestly though, one of the best sets of the fucking weekend. Awesome band.

I caught the end of Buckcherry, but only saw 'Sorry' and 'Crazy Bitch.' They sounded good though.

Whitesnake just weren't as good as I thought they'd be, and I was mega disappointed by Def Leppard.

I didn't sleep on Saturday night or Sunday night. Like, at all. I didn't actually go to bed, so I was fucked for that. Just a mega, mega piss up that lasted from the last band of one day to the first of the next. Sunday night was absolutely awesome though, and it's always the best part of the weekend.

Good shit all round (Y)

[Liam]

Can anyone remember that forum where a lot of the download sets (video and audio) get uploaded? It always seems to surface, but I can never remember it off the top of my head.

[Liam]

Double post, but having found a bootleg copy of FNM's set, gotta have a laugh at them choosing Peaches and Herb's 'Reunited' as the opening song to play.

EDIT: I'm a fan, but they sound pretty good. Having gone to the Download forum, thier performance seemed to split people as much as the choice for them to headline in the first place. If you were a fan, its all good, otherwise, not so good.

The Download forums made me laugh though, as aside from a few bands everyone agreed on, the amount of split opinions on bands was weird.

Edited June 16, 2009 by Jushin 'Thunder' Liam