Download Pilot
Donington Park, Castle Donington
The return of festivals, and a homecoming celebration for 10,000 lucky fans.
On May 26, just when we thought festivals would be cancelled for the second year in a row, Download announced a reduced-capacity pilot edition, as part of the government’s Events Research Programme. After providing proof of a negative lateral flow test and sending off a PCR test, its 10,000 lucky ticket holders would be free to embark on a three-day bacchanalian extravaganza of maskless camping, drinking and moshing, to gauge whether large gatherings could be held safely in a post-Covid-19 world.
But even at a tenth of its usual capacity the festival site looks reassuringly normal. There are the burger stands, waltzers and bumper cars, bars promising pints of warm lager, and the looming Main Stage – not to mention the familiar, intermittent drizzle.
It’s the sheer freedom that stands out most, though; people hugging each other without a mask, screen or inhibition in sight. If lockdown life has been about adapting to the ‘new normal’, this weekend is about returning to the ‘old normal’ – truly the stuff of dreams by this point.
With an all-British line-up booked to bypass travel bans and risk of transmission, Download Pilot is skewed in favour of up-and-coming hard rock and metal talent. Friday headliners Frank Carter & The
Rattlesnakes set the tone with a rollicking rock’n’roll performance. Held aloft by the crowd, Frank snarls, spits and croons his way through a hit-loaded set, every bit the punkrock-hero-done-good, while a late addition of Motörhead’s Ace Of Spades pays tribute to those who rocked before.
With the sun finally out for Saturday, it’s a party atmosphere ripe for British rockers
A. They might not have released an album since 2005 (Teen Dance Ordinance), but a sizable chunk of the crowd still hold them in high, nostalgic regard. In a nod to their ageing demographic, they incite a brilliant ‘walking circle pit’ during Here We Go Again (I Love Lake Tahoe).
The same nostalgia that empowers A renders Those Damn Crows overly musty. Still, the crowd don’t mind one bit as they get swept up in the band’s enthusiasm for classic, southern-flavoured rock. Meanwhile, Glaswegians Twin Atlantic contend with interminable sound issues, but all is forgiven when they close on the enormous crowdpleasing one-two of No Sleep and Heart And Soul.
Sheffield metalcore quintet While She Sleeps released fifth album Sleeps Society in April, and are bursting to play new material. They receive a heroes’ welcome and reward their fans with a high-intensity set – frontman Loz Taylor even scaling a sound tower, like he did in 2014. The chants of “Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire!” from the crowd are heartwarming and well-deserved. The day concludes with heavy Enter Shikari, a burst of streamers signalling the arrival of a headline set 15 years in the making. Dedicating the song Anaesthetist to NHS and key workers, and pausing mid-set to take it all in, Rou Reynolds projects a joy and gratitude that’s reflected back at him.
Sunday morning is always a difficult festival slot, but rock’n’rollers Saint Agnes wake people up with their “Sunday sermon”. It’s not very Christian, but Kitty A. Austen smashes her guitar, kicks her amp, and smears fake blood all over herself. By contrast, Lonely The Brave seem positively milquetoast, unable to inspire the crowds as subsequent acts Jamie Lenman and even Elvis-themed Nirvana tribute band Elvana manage today.
Few can hold a candle to Massive Wagons singer Baz Mills, though, his performance somehow simultaneously championing and parodying the very concept of a rock icon. The brilliantly daft The Curry Song might be a novelty singalong, but their Kiss-meets-Wildhearts sound is the real deal.
The actual Wildhearts have made a career of surviving in the face of adversity, but today they buckle. God-awful sound on the main stage renders their harmonies non-existent, and an abortive attempt at Sick Of Drugs sees Ginger cut his losses and walk off early, much to everyone’s disappointment.
Ultimately, the day – perhaps even the weekend – belongs to Skindred.
The field is full as they launch through a non-stop sing-along hits set, complete with Warning’s 10,000-person ‘Newport Helicopter’ – where everyone waves their shirts above their heads. Benji Webbe whips the crowd into a frenzy as if he’d never been away, resurrected as the ringleader behind the UK’s most reliably brilliant live force.
It’s been a triumph of a weekend, and Welsh metallers Bullet For My Valentine are here to end it with a big, arena-style performance. As with Enter Shikari, Bullet have spent years in the wings and now finally get their shot. New song Knives makes an early, welcome appearance, but it’s the classics that hit hardest – 4 Words (To Choke Upon), Tears Don’t Fall, Hand Of Blood. It’s a thoroughly celebratory end to a weekend we didn’t think would happen, in an extraordinary era of music history. For 10,000 people, it feels like coming home.