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Download Blog 2009
18 June 2009
With some savagely, superb headliners ready to land at Donington, Download 2009 looked forward to capacity crowds and sunny skies. Faith No More, Slipknot and Def Leppard stepped forward as the main antagonists for the title of ‘Best Act’ with a headline slot each but they were backed up with polished performers such as Limp Bizkit, Trivium and The Prodigy.
The organisers had had a major rethink this year, with the layout of the stages and stalls having little in common with last year, the Second Stage especially benefiting from being moved. Instead of last years flat, hard surface, in 09 it was blessed with a gentle slope and would easily out do many a rival festival’s best efforts.
The Tuborg Stage was in its own area this year, overlooked by a bright green bus providing chilled lager, cider and an excellent viewpoint into the tent itself. Neighboured as it was by the Guinness bar and numerous food outlets, the Tuborg arena had its own laidback vibe going on and somehow seemed a festival within a festival. A stage needs performers and Tuborg didn’t disappoint, in fact I saw more bands here than anywhere else, something I hadn’t envisaged when I first perused the line-up. Enter Shikari, St. Albans’ trance edged cyber punks, were a supposed ‘secret’ band - tell that to the punters who flocked in through the open sided tent. Fresh from the Radio 1 Live Lounge the day before, they blasted through songs from both Common Dreads and Take To The Skies. 5.30pm? Neighbours on the TV… give it a rest, Download 09 was off the runway and airborne. Middle Class Rut and Lauren Harris stuck in my mind as ones to watch, whilst Loaded and Thunder were enjoyed from the Tuborg Bar.
There’s always one act that claims a festival for its own and this year it had to be Steel Panther! A certain slogan splashed across numerous posters had the crowds flocking to the Tuborg stage and the USA’s answer to Spinal Tap had people stacked ten deep outside the tent just for a glimpse of their grand entrance. It truly was something else - parody rock at its finest!
There was every flavour of rock and metal on display and your choice of sight and sound wouldn’t have necessarily been mine, so I won’t bore you with long tales of set lists and costume. Suffice to say - Friday was suitably sealed by Faith No More, who somehow released upon the crowd a cover of Lady Gaga’s ‘Pokerface’… strange looks all around where I was stood but then the band are famous for their fusion of sounds, what did we expect? ’Epic’ they were and I’ll certainly pay big money to see them again. Others acts came and went but Sunday slowly strolled in and an expectant 80,000 crowd gathered to bare witness to some of rock music’s Grand Masters. Journey, complete with their YouTube discovered lead singer Arnel Pineda, nailed a great afternoon set and as ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ escaped the sound rig, I looked up at the blue skies and sang for all I was worth. At that moment it was easy to see why the said song is iTunes top selling track ever. Mr David Coverdale of Whitesnake certainly earnt his keep, strolling around the stage as if he was still back in the seventies and working the audience perfectly during ‘Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City’. Special mention to Doug Aldridge for some classic guitar solos… now that’s what I call rock!
Then, the last band of 2009, Def Leppard. Hard to imagine that I’d bought their first album back in 1980, yet there was nothing OAP about this performance as the lads from Sheffield strutted their stuff. Through ‘Let’s Get Rocked’ to the earlier ‘Photograph’, some involving video of the crowd with arms aloft, Joe Elliot’s moving tribute to Ric Allen which left the drummer in tears… this was what the Download Main Stage deserved. It really did feel like the ending of a very special weekend, as a mate said on Sunday afternoon “Donington seems to have its old vibe back”.
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