Gotta be, gotta be a superstar
With acts from as far afield as the United States and Australia taking to the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage on the middle day of the festival, it was encouraging to see that home-grown British talent was still being nurtured. Appearing at the Donington event for the second time (having undertaken a third stage slot in 2009), Manchester-based rockers Dear Superstar managed to draw a decent crowd to the intimate tent; one of the few able to do so without the aid of the bad weather.
Beginning with 'Damned Religion,' the band set their energetic performance into motion. Both bassist Ben Grimsley and singer Micky Satiar have managed to perfect the rockstar image, with the latter not only having the look, but possessing a superb on-stage charisma. Even if those in attendance did not find Dear Superstar to be of personal musical appeal, the Mancunian five-piece were at least one of the most visually exciting acts to appear on the fourth stage. However, the group have still to develop their aural style from what remains quite an ordinary sound, splicing rock and metal together with fairly uninspiring results. Despite this, the liveliness being exhibited by Satiar and co. did help the quintet to gain appreciation from the crowd, many of whom may have just been killing time until System of a Down's main stage headline set.
Dear Superstar have been in action for a number of years now, but have struggled to gain a strong breakthrough despite tours supporting the likes of Papa Roach. There are a plethora of promising aspects to their image, but until they discover a musical niche that allows them to distinguish themselves from similar artists, the group may never reach superstardom.