Clouds threaten, but the only inclement weather on Saturday is ‘November Rain’. Download Day Two sees us fighting for the Fox God with Babymetal, taking in the local Lvndmvrks and an evening with one of the most iconic rock acts of all time. Weâve brought our dogs for a cameo and weâre staying well away from the Ferris Wheel – letâs go!
Words: Kate Allvey // Photos: Emma Stone and Download Festival
The Wildhearts
âWakey wakey,â Ginger Wildheart yells across the stage, signalling an appropriately loud classic rock kick-off to the day. âWeâre here to celebrate life!â The frontmanâs zen optimism on âFailure Is The Mother Of Successâ and thundering Motorhead energy on âSuckerpunchâ beams through the cloud to brighten the morning for the Wildhearts fans who are out in force already. The surprise appearance of Maggie the Border collie is sweet, but âDiagnosisâ is the rousing and, in light of the vocalistâs recent cancer diagnosis, emotional highlight of the set.
South Arcade
The fizzy viral band are proving that they really do have some serious Y2K chops as âSupermodelsâ draws the midday mosher crowd with its pep and pyro. South Arcade are rough, ready and eager to start a shoutalong on âDangerâ, their freshness and passion a bright spot in the early part of the day. âSupermanâs relentless shred and gleaming positivity sends surfers flipping over the barriers in force, much to South Arcadeâs confusion and delight.
Landmvrks
Weâre practically running to the Apex stage to catch the burst of energy that is Landmvrks and their snappy French metalcore, equal parts graceful and grating. Itâs their Download debut, and theyâre practically skipping with genuine glee at dropping âBlisteringâ. Their new song, âA Line In The Dustâ, is evocative and destructive, with layers of melancholy beauty in the chorus, and âSulfurâs delicacy amid all the distortion is what keeps us hypnotised.Â
Die Spitz
Die Spitz are instantly intriguing, whether theyâre thrashing or creating waterfalls of layered elongated sentiment. âMy Hot Pissâ is so raw and so complex that weâre looking on in wonder as theyâre constantly dipping between dark grunge tuning and a healthy dose of female rage. Itâs when the punk-ish elements are pushed to the foreground that weâre treated to the full breadth of what these searing outsiders can offer.Â
Black Veil Brides
The sun might be shining, but Black Veil Brides exist in a plane of perpetual midnight. From the confident and captivating âKnives and Pensâ to the masterfully vampiric corrupting howls of âBleedersâ, weâre enthralled, screaming along from the front to the far reaches of the field. Theyâre focusing on their latest record today, and âHallelujahâs all sacrilegious drum-driven fury that hits hard. The rolling thunder of âVindicateâ gives as renewed energy from a band always bettering themselves with every show.
Mouth Culture
Open and expansive, Mouth Culture are the kind of beautiful soundclash which keeps you on your toes every Download. âEverydayâ ushers us into an evening vibe with its âlighters upâ moment and provocative attitude. The crowd spills out from beyond the Avalanche tent by the time they drop âDonât Pull Upâ, drawn to the lighter end of the musical spectrum on display from Mouth Culture. While Download might not exactly be their home turf, Mouth Culture know how to win fans and influence people with a set that feels far too short.
Melrose Avenue
Melrose Avenue sound like the future, and we didnât even realise it until halfway through their set. âTasteâ rushes and chimes, but itâs on âInside Your Mindâ that the Aussies really start to hit their flow with one eye on the stadium rock . By the time theyâve reached âCemetery Friendâ, all blunt drum solos and raving metalcore, the Avalanche tent is packed and weâre convinced theyâre going to be the next Parkway Drive. The newest song, âBad Guyâ, is a huge shredder of a track, but theyâre more than capable of keeping it soulful on tracks like âThrough Hellâ in case we need even more convincing.Â
Babymetal
Last time they tried to play Download, Babymetal were rained offstage. This time, weâve sacrificed an emo kid to the Fox God and the weather is just as glorious as their set. The energy on ‘PA PA YA!!’ is perfect; absolute festival gold and the culmination of a journey towards being taken seriously. The entire crowd have completely bought in to the Babymetal phenomenon and weâre whirling our shirts over our head for every second of âMETALI!!â Playful, unapologetically different and here to hype us up, the living anime goddesses donât disappoint for a second.
Marmozets
The metal offspring of X-Ray Spex enter with a theatrical wail and the promise that if you donât like their style, another genre of music will burst into their next song. âMes DĂ©sirsâ is delightfully unpolished and after the gloss of a lot of the bands today, weâre relishing Becca Bottomleyâs vocal whirlwind. She pirouettes above us as the determined pit grows to encompass the whole tent as âMove, Shake, Hideâ provokes a riotous party that kicks us into the evening.
Hot Milk
And the award for âSet Where You Have No Chance Of Getting Close To The Stageâ goes to the Mancunian duo embracing their dark side once again. âWeâre gonna make this tent look like the best place to be in the whole festival,â Han Mee declares and she achieves it and more during the Nightmare Version of âCandy Coated Liesâ. Our hands are raised and our sense of community is through the metaphorical roof as she lays her past bare on âBreathing Underwaterâ, a song which never loses its emotional impact no matter how many times weâve heard it. Hot Milkâs set will be a massive highlight of the weekend for their growing fans, and we can expect to see them on a much bigger stage next time.Â
Architects
The biggest clash of the weekend divides the crowd between those camping in the main field and the vast swathe of those jammed in for the sophisticated sound of Architects. It’s a set with unfortunate pauses and emotional confessions, but the memory of âElegyâ blooming against the sunset to create an emotive and desolate scene is what will stick with us. âWhiplashâ is the sound of possibility, made to be played against open skies before âDoomsdayâ feels like a sonic exorcism. Itâs âBlack Lungsâ with proves to be circle pit nitro and by the time they play âBlackholeâ, weâre going absolute nuts, screaming our release to the stage. Raw yet considered, Architects present an all-consuming vision of their sound which magnetically attracts their half of the festival.Â
Guns n Roses
Letâs be real for a second; Guns n Roses, a band in their sixties, were never going to put on the kind of show they did in the eighties, and planning a three hour career-spanning retrospective would be an ambitious move for any band of a certain ago. What we got instead of nostalgic cringe was professionalism, gorgeous vibes on the big hits, about a million shirt changes from Axel, a lot of filler that only the hardcore fans would delight in⊠and, most surprisingly, a moment of pure honesty.Â
As an opening salvo, a blistering rendition of âWelcome To The Jungleâ canât be bettered, and anyone who doesnât get a few goosebumps during their cover of âKnocking On Heavenâs Doorâ has to be slightly dead inside. Just hearing âSweet Child O Mineâ live feels like a personal accomplishment and getting to see Slash do his thing is a bucket list item for all the guitar worshippers in the crowd. âNovember Rainâ will always pack one hell of a massive punch, and social media reveals at least three couples got engaged during that song. However, it was a quiet little cover of Jimmy Webbâs âWichita Linemanâ that knocked us though. For five minutes, there was no posturing or image; they were just a really good band playing an old country song about loneliness, and it felt like they had revealed more about the men behind the icon label in those short seconds than weâd seen in years. While their set might have disappointed some who were hoping to see their heroes turn it up to eleven, there was a lot to love and a lot more to respect about Guns n Rosesâ set.
KATE ALLVEY