And it kicks off with a bang. The Blackout blow me away. It seems people in Wales have nothing better to do than write good music. I'm actually worried that I've seen the band of the weekend already. Luckily I'm wrong.
Partly through laziness and partly for old-times sake, I stick around on the main stage to watch Staind. They're still as depressed and mundane as ever but the crowd reaction's good and it's tricky not to sing along to the singles. Following them are a band that do the whole ‘it's me against the world' thing so much better. I've seen Billy Talent a fair few times and they
always put on a good show. Today isn't their best, but they still go down well.
Feeling obliged to stick around for Killswitch Engage I stick by the main stage for twenty minutes. Killswitch are good. Probably more than good but something's going wrong with the sound and it's tricky not to be distracted when one of the guitars just suddenly drops out. It's also hard to pay attention when a band merely listed on the schedule as ????? ??????? is currently setting up. Screw it. I'm going to get a good spot...
Enter Shikari are the worst kept secret of Download. Their set mostly comprises of new material, which is a delight to the ten fans who have heard it and an annoyance to everyone else. But it's a strong set and it's a mad half an hour.
And so, back to the main stage for another blast from the past. Limpbizkit are obviously a little rusty but really are quite enjoyable. And Fred Durst manages not to be an idiot until the penultimate song when he decides to drag a bridge out for two minutes whilst he takes in the crowd. Then to make matters worse they announce their last song as one from their new album. Luckily they're lying and they finish with ‘Take a Look Around'. Following them and keeping it in the family (see what I did there? Probably not...) is Korn, who actually turn out to be quite boring which is a bit of a disappointment.
Day two brings sore limbs after an evening dancing at the Red Bull tents. It also brings a line-up that might actually be better than day one.
Devildriver to begin with. I can see why they went down so well but why are they screaming at me so much?! I've not done anything wrong! Fleeing the main stage I head for the second stage where even Charlie Simpson seems to have turned up the growl factor in his voice. But Fightstar are as enjoyable as ever and have a pretty impressive turn-out. They're sandwiched by In Case if Fire who are solid and Static-X who hurt my head with their repetitive brand of industrial dance metal that was only made more interesting by a swarm of flies descending upon second stage.
Thinking I know what to expect next seeing as I've seen Pendulum enough times before, I actually consider skipping them to see You Me at Six. Luckily I don't, because Pendulum put on what must be one of the shows of their lives. They have the biggest crowd of the entire festival, a huge pit down the front and endless pockets of people dancing their little hearts out. It's one of the best things I've seen.
Following the best band of the festival, just to keep things nice and symmetrical, the worst... Marylin Manson owes me for two reasons. Firstly he's a huge disappointment; pausing after every song to get his make-up touched up, changing outfits mid-performance, forgetting his words (he actually finishes a song with ‘etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...'), falling around the stage, failing to sing and eventually being led off stage at the end. It's a worrying omen of what Michael Jackson's summer performances could be. My second reason why he owes me is because my faith in him cost me a decent spot for the Prodigy who are obviously immense for those that could hear them. The speakers of the second stage just aren't powerful enough to cope with the huge crowd that turns out and you know there's an issue when the hundreds of people around you start chanting mid-song ‘Turn it up! Turn it up!'
So it's down to Slipknot to save the last day for me after two disappointments. And save it they do. Slipknot's performances really are what you expect from them. Huge, loud, extravagant and with lots of explosions. Occasionally Corey Taylor can talk a little too much and so ruin the flow of the set, but it's normally him saying how glad they are to be here and how grateful they are to their fans so maybe we can let him off...
Sunday is a little tricky to get excited about after the past two days antics. Fei Comodo is the first band of interest, but they don't play the Emo Rangers theme (unsurprisingly) which is a shame. The day picks up quickly however when we grab the last half hour of Journey who are just fantastic fun and get a great crowd response. Hexes on the other hand have the smallest crowd of the festival and anyone who wants to can wander straight up to the barrier which is a little worrying, yet they aren't as bad as the size of the crowd suggests.
The rest of Sunday is a bit of a wet blanket. Papa Roach go down well, but, well, it's Papa Roach and Go:Audio are the best headliner that the day can produce (I'll apologise now for not seeing Def Leppard).
Despite a bit of a non-Sunday, the first two days of this year's Download festival more than compensated with some of the best performances I've seen. It was all very impressive. As Tenacious D once said: ‘You can't kill the metal!' Except on a Sunday maybe...
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