FRIDAY
Leading Main Stage proceedings this year are Australia’s
latest metalcore success, Northlane. They pull a good crowd,
they sound good and they look good. No complaints there
then, but there’s more exciting rumblings elsewhere in
Download.
Over on the tiny Firestone stage, Four Year Strong are racing
through Rise Or Die Trying to a modest crowd of people
fuelling up on food. They start strong but are soon drowned
out by the overwhelming cheers and screams of Motionless
in White over on the Main Stage; this is a set worth talking
about. Not only is the crowd huge, but they sound polished
and exciting, making their risky billing an absolute triumph.
Astroid Boys are South Wales’ finest grime collective. A bit
of a curve ball from Download, but every year they seem
to put a few of these in the lineup. Hailing from the UK
Hardcore scene anyway, Astroid Boys play a suitably heavy
set of grime, mixed with metal and a whole lot of hype. An
excellent way to get people pumped for the day ahead.
Next up is a new band. Holding Absence have been around
for about a year or so, but with the monumental success of
their first two singles, they have been picked up by a solid
label and management. There’s a lot of hype for their set
and they live up to every single bit of it. A fruitful mix of
haunting ambience, and crushing heaviness, filled with
emotion from end to end.
Following on from their critically acclaimed album ‘Forever’,
Code Orange have something to prove live with the
enormity of that record. And boy do they deliver. A vicious
three pronged vocal attack, and solid songwriting brought
the Avalanche stage to the ground. The new songs sound
coherent amongst the old material, and the confidence and
bravado of the band knows no bounds on a stage of this size.
Over on The Avalanche Stage, Four Year Strong make a
second appearance for an all too crazy set. They play hit
after hit to one of the happiest crowds of the weekend, as a
huge party pit opens up without any encouragement. This
set has to be one to go down in history… Following them
are Issues and the party only continues. The crowd eat up
every second of Never Lose Your Flamesand The Realest,
and it all culminates in both Michael and Skye getting in the
crowd to join the fun.
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There are four things you can usually assume about
Download Festival; Great music, great community vibes, a
week long recovery, and a torrential downpour. We got all of
these bar one from this year’s event.