It was really sad to be waking up on the last day of Download Festival 2016. I was only consoled by the still very distant prospect of my bathroom, my bedroom and my cat.
Somebody pointed out to me recently that it’s worth forking out for a hot shower on the last day of a festival so that you don’t start wishing the whole thing to be over because you know the luxury that awaits you. Unfortunately, this wasn’t pointed out to me until after Download so by this point I’m really starting to feel it.
On the plus side, those huge PVC ponchos are dynamite for covering up how little attention that you’ve paid to yourself for a week. Silver linings.
The Sunday came with early celebrations because it was the first and only day of the festival that we managed to actually see a band before 3PM. Hurrah!!
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Amon Amarth
Download Festival, Donnington
12/06/2016
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The celebration was even bigger because that band happened to be the one and only (and never has that catchphrase been more apt) Amon Amarth.
I’ve heard that Amon Amarth put on a sterling performance that’s not to be missed but when we walked down the hill towards the Lemmy Stage and caught site of the two giant dragons on it, I immediately got very excited.
Here’s an attempt to summarise this band (don’t have high hopes, this is the hardest of tasks):
Amon Amarth are a Death Metal band from Tumba, Sweden who were formed 24 years ago (coincidentally, the year I was born, just in case you were wondering).
Having taken their name from the sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J.R.R Tolkien’s Middle Earth the quartet tends to base their songs on Norse and Viking mythology.
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Amon Amarth
Download Festival, Donnington
12/06/2016
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Live, that all translates into the most incredible production you have ever seen. Those dragons weren’t just background scenery. Oh no. Those bad boys breathed smoke and doubled as platforms that the band members casually climbed up on to from time to time.
But that was just the beginning. By far the most dramatic thing I saw at Download Festival was frontman Olavi Mikkonen drag a giant hammer to centre stage before victoriously lifting it above his head and then smashing it to the floor, at which point a shit ton of fireworks went off and he looked like the hero we have all been waiting for.
Once that spectacle was over we skipped back over to the Maverick stage where we were lucky enough to catch The Dirty Youth. Not a band we had planned to see, I’m chalking it up to fate that we did because they were amazing.
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Danni Monroe - The Dirty Youth
Download Festival, Donnington
12/06/2016
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Formed in 2007 The Dirty Youth have chalked up an impressive four appearances at Download Festival, and the experience really showed. Pop punk with a metal spine and electronic embellishments they brought heaps of energy and the chance to really dance.
I have a lot of time for electronic rock music, and vocalist Dani Monroe brings everything out of the genre that could possible by brought. With dance moves on point at absolutely no detriment to her vocals, she was really inspiring. An absolute must see again.
All in all it was a deeply impressive morning and I was so pleased that my friends had suggested such amazing bands to check out. After all, that’s what festivals are all about. So we moved into the afternoon with the next suggestion. I had been assured that it was absolutely necessary for me to see Attila. So that’s what I did. We didn’t last long.
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Chris Linck - Atilla
Download Festival, Donnington
12/06/2016
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Ultimately Attila were incredibly good at what they do. With a reckless attitude they assaulted their set with all of the sass that I expected, sunglasses and all. It would have been impossible to not be impressed with the power behind every track we saw them play. It was a full force type of set.
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But for me, the crowd were the best part and it is true that for most of the set all cameras were pointed their way as opposed to the stage. There was a might mosh pit, crowd-surfing and middle fingers in the air. Not quite the carnage of Neck Deep the day before, but somewhere close, and at only midday that’s a triumph.
Next on our list was Halestorm (another Lauren Golding suggestion) but unfortunately logistics made it impossible, bringing my missed band total up to four for the weekend. We’ll have to revisit that as soon as possible.
Instead we went to collapse our tent, which, quite honestly, I had been panicking about since we got our Download tickets. After a lot of swearing, a moment of near-tears and shouts of uncontrollable abuse, that sucker was in it’s bag and we were headed back to the arena from the car park to see Don Broco.
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Most of my previous swearing had come from the idea of missing this band, and that’s because it wouldn’t have been the first time. I’ve only seen Don Broco once before (a thousand years ago) and have been dying to catch them again, but every time the opportunity arose I just couldn’t make it work. This was my chance.
Don Broco are the suavest men in British rock right now and their Download set was full of surprises. Do not let that well-dressed charisma fool you. These guys are rock through-and-through and can pull off a wall of death as good as any metal act on that bill.
The sun shined bright on the Encore stage for one of the few times that weekend, paving the way for banging dance moves and singing along as if it was summer or something. Don Broco are the ultimate festival band, it really doesn’t matter what festival it is.
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Rob Damiani - Don Broco
Download Festival, Donnington
12/06/2016
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The only thing that disappointed me that there were only two songs in the set list from the 2012 album Priorities. Having said that Fancy Dress and Priorities are incredible tracks and in a nine track set-list, which even included a snippet of Rage Against The Machine, I just can’t complain in good conscience.
The reality of the situation began to set in. We had just two bands left before Download Festival 2016 was officially over. Luckily, those two bands were the most perfect to close this legendary weekend. The first was Nightwish.
There’s no easy way to put this but, I got Nightwish completely wrong. One glance and I thought I had those guys completely figured out but I could not have been more wrong.
Nightwish pride themselves on being storytellers first and foremost. The fact that they happen to achieve that through the use of multiple instruments and in the most spectacular of ways is second to the fact.
Another band with a history of line-up changes the absurdly talented Floor Jansen now runs the show and she does an incredible job of it. Her vocals switch from being the things that lullabies are made of to the most hair-raising metal-queen yelling you have ever heard. Her hair whipping skills are also wildly impressive.
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Floor Jansen - Nightwish
Download Festival, Donnington
12/06/2016
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But by far my favourite thing about Nightwish was watching Troy Donockley on the big screen. Every time the camera panned towards him, Donockley was grasping a completely new instrument and I honestly don’t even understand where he was getting them all from.
As humorous as I found it then, ultimately it’s crazy impressive. Many of the musicians at Download Festival this weekend could only dream of being able to play half of the instruments that he can: Uileann pipes, tin whistle, guitar, keyboards, bass, pump organ, bouzouki, cittern, bodhran, mandola, harmonium… The list of the tools he uses to tell these stories is amazing.
And that brings us to the main event. After Mr Dickinson landed his Boeing 747, Ed Force One, in East Midlands Airport on Sunday afternoon the Kings of this festival were ready to headline the whole affair. Iron Maiden were ready.
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Iron Maiden
Download Festival, Donnington
12/06/2016
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It is only right that the award for most extravagant stage production goes directly to Iron Maiden. Ed took various connotations, my absolute favourite was a giant Ed head and shoulders that emerged from the back and made these musical legends look teeny tiny (pictured).
To carry on the theme that Nightwish kickstarted, Maiden did what they do best and told a narrative of stories. We learnt all about the Mayan Civilisation as well as the fundamental issues of the world. We also learnt how to dance like a monkey. All of the important lessons were delivered.
Bruce Dickinson is a performer in everything that title encompasses. Several costume changes, extravagant displays of almost dance (NB he is a British man) and a fight with a stilt-walker culminating in a heart being literally ripped out of a chest – that is how you nail a festival headline slot.
Tears of a Clown was emotionally dedicated to another legend, Robin Williams, keeping that special moment feeling at peak momentum. Hearing the 100,000 people seeing Fear of the Dark sent tingles down the spine.
The set was 2 hours long but only 15 songs were played. Another sign of a time long past but not tonight they reaffirmed what these thousands of Iron Maiden t-shirt wearing people already knew. It’s nowhere near forgotten.
After a remarkable weekend it was well and truly time to take myself off home for a well deserved nap and a much needed shower but it wasn’t without a very poignant feeling of sadness.
Download Festival will always have a place in my heart as the festival to end all festivals. It is a legendary place, the spiritual home of rock music and means so much to so many people that to have the opportunity to experience it again in all of it’s glory is incredible special to me.
As all good festival experiences should be, this was made up of seeing bands that I adore, bands that have been strongly recommended to me and bands that I have never heard of before but happily fell upon. If you can tick all three of those boxes at the end of a festival weekend then, my friend, you did a fantastic job.
Six long years had been and gone since the last time I was at Download (see picture evidence for proof of how long a period of time this actually is). So much has changed in that time, more than I could have ever imagined and I find that remarkable.
I will not leave it that long to be back at Donnington. Just try and stop me.
