Live Review: Download Festival 2019 (Pt.1 - Friday)

I arrived at Donington on the Thursday of Download Festival 2019 to find a swamp populated by shitfaced metalheads, and it felt like home. After a day which involved pitching my tent, getting drunk watching An American Werewolf In London, and catching Ed Gamble’s great set in the comedy tent, Friday saw the start of a weekend of (mostly) incredible music… and lots and lots more cider.

The first band of the day, Pengshui (7/10) kick off proceedings, and they put on an impressively energised show for such an early slot. I’d not heard their music before and checked out the London rap-rock trio based on some positive reviews I’d heard of their live show, and so I was generally pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. With a three-piece dynamic which suits them well, they’re a perfect “hype” band in that each song offers up big riffs, a head-nodding rhythm, and catchy bars. It’s true that some of their tracks are stronger than others, and at their weakest they do come across as a poor man’s Astroid Boys, but the sheer amount of energy each member puts into their performance is more than enough to carry them through their allocated 25 minutes.

The second band of the day, for me, are Skid Row (5.5/10). The 80s glam-metal relics are unsurprisingly well past their prime at this point, but their midday set on the Zippo Encore stage sees a fairly decent crowd response. The band spend half an hour going through their back-catalogue and pulling out the big-hitters, From ’18 and Life’ to ‘Youth Gone Wild’, and the musicianship is serviceable enough. The primary source of entertainment, though, comes from the rambling of frontman ZP Theart. The ex-Dragonforce singer (and fifth vocalist in the history of Skid Row) doesn’t seem all that "with it" for the majority of the set; at one point, he remarks at how lucky they are to not see a single drop of rain during their time on stage… and receives a muted response from the crowd, who are currently getting soaked. Either way, for diehard fans, I’m sure it’s all a pretty fun nostalgia trip, but to me, Skid Row fail to make an impression.

The next act on the Zippo Encore stage at Download are the legendary Kvelertak (7/10), who unfortunately struggle through dodgy sound and technical difficulties throughout their set. In combination with a less-than-ideal reaction from the audience, it’s a difficult half-hour for the Norwegians – but you wouldn’t know it by their performance. This is a band who are effortlessly entertaining, putting every ounce of passion and wild abandon into their show that they can muster despite the circumstances. Fan favourites like ‘Blodtørst’ and ‘Mjød’ are infectiously raucous, and recently-instilled frontman Ivar Nikolaisen manages to break into the upper echelons of “coolest vocalists I’ve ever seen” when he lights up a cigarette during the bridge of a song and subsequently stubs it out on the back of his hand. It’s a near-perfect setlist for Kvelertak (if only they’d stop with the endless “chug-chug-chug” of ‘1985’), and would’ve likely been one of the best shows of the day if not for a myriad of issues outside of their control.

Next up, it’s potentially the band I’m most excited to see all day – Conjurer (9/10). After witnessing them lay waste to 2000 Trees and ArcTanGent last year, it comes as no surprise whatsoever when they do the exact same on a bigger scale at Download. They might well be taking to the smallest stage at the festival, but it feels like the impact of tracks such as ‘Retch’ and ‘Choke’ are felt all across Donington. The musicianship, as always, is crushingly heavy (even more so than on record) and the dual vocal attack from Brady and Dan is frighteningly good - the moment when the latter comes forward to scream the bridge in 'Hollow' without the assistance of a microphone is still fucking outstanding. There’s madness in the crowd to mirror the windmilling antics on stage, and by the end of ‘Hadal’, Conor (Britain’s best bassist) joins in the carnage with glee. As he crowdsurfs back beyond the safety of the barrier, and the final notes of feedback die down, it’s even harder than before not to be madly excited for the future of Conjurer. What a band.

Clutch (8/10) are a Download staple at this point, and their triumphant performance on the main stage proves why. With frontman Neil Fallon acting like the southern rock n' roll ringmaster he is, this band seem custom-made for a main stage festival slot like this, and they've got the crowd to prove it. It's true that Clutch might be getting a bit long in the tooth at this point in their career, but new songs 'Gimme The Keys' and 'In Walks Barbarella' still stand up amongst their more well-known material. There's not a face without a smile to be seen as the brilliantly simple guitar lines of songs like 'Electric Worry' and 'X-Ray Visions' ring out over the field to close the set, and, at the end of the day, that's what it's all about, innit?

After Clutch, I must admit that I slightly ignored my purpose as a music journalist by binning off bands like Whitesnake to go and see two hours of wrestling in the NXT UK tent. I’m happy to report that I had a bloody lovely time, and the women’s battle royal was a highlight – big shouts to Xia Brookside. Anyway…

There’s likely not a band who were dealt a rougher hand at Download than Twelve Foot Ninja (6/10), who were forced to take to the Dogtooth stage 20 minutes late due to technical difficulties. The problems result in a three-song-long set from the Aussie experimentalists, which clearly (and rightfully) ticks them off a bit, but those three songs are tight nonetheless. With fascinating influences from world music melded with metalcore and all manner of other genres, 12FN give everything they have to their short set (perhaps fueled a little by annoyance), and it's a respectable showing given the circumstances. 

The Friday headliners this year are a band whose music I grew up on, and are very close to my heart: 80s rock legends Def Leppard (9/10). This being the third time the group have taken the final slot of the day at Donington (and exactly ten years since their debut), the audience are treated to a performance of their most popular album – Hysteria – in full… and I might be drunk, but it fucking rules.

The introductory montage of snippets from every song on the record sets the scene, and as the band launch into ‘Women’, it’s clear that they’re still as passionate about their music as they were back in the day. Each member gives it their absolute all, and it’s a beautiful thing to watch. Of course, it goes without saying that Joe Elliot may not be able to hit the notes he used to with the same amount of power, and the band can’t run about the stage the way they once did, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t still radiate stage presence and sound impossibly good at the same time. How can you not be convinced by a six-song run like ‘Rocket’, ‘Animal’, ‘Love Bites’, ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, ‘Armageddon It’, and ‘Gods Of War’? There's no Guns N’ Roses shit, either – not a single unnecessary guitar solo in sight for the whole set, as the band just blast through hits and look good doing it.

After the final track on the album, ‘Love and Affection’, there’s a short intermission before Def Leppard return to the stage to pump out a few more classics (like ‘Let’s Get Rocked’ - a set highlight for me) before finishing with ‘Photograph’ (the iconic riff of which is enough to bring a tear to the eye). Throughout the set, there are plenty of emotional moments - from a tribute to the late, great Steve Clark to a moment taken to praise drummer Rick Allen – but Elliot’s speech once their headlining slot is over for good is poignant and engaging, as he simply asks that the crowd do their best not to forget about them. I know that Def Lep aren't gonna be the talking point of the weekend, and it's even pretty out-of-character for me to be going on about them like this, but after a set as good as they put on, I wouldn't be able to forget them if I tried. Consider me rocked.

Photo by Paul Harries (Kerrang!)