Written by Tom Donno, Editor, and Marta Tavares, Writer.
Kicking and swinging our way in to the Saturday, we got down to the arena early to catch the dominant Stray From The Path (10/13) blast through a very early and short set on the second stage. Given the time in the day, and the unbelievable heat, it was awesome to see so many people turn out for one of heavy music's angriest bands. The set was very tight, hampered by slightly wonky sound at times, but all in a very solid start to the Saturday. Biggest highlight probably came about midway through with the brilliant Goodnight Alt-Right.
In truly relentless fashion given the heat was beginning to absolutely pummel everybody, Municipal Waste (10/13) flew on to the stage with characteristic pomp. Despite the short set, the Thrash legends squeezed in fifteen tracks at blistering pace under a moniker they dubbed as heatstroke metal. Thrashing is indeed their business and business is good.
Heading back round to the Main Stage for Clutch (11/13) the crowd size on main had swelled with everyone seemingly thinking the same thing - sunshine, beers and Clutch? Perfection. The set itself was severely hampered at points due to Neil Fallon's earpiece picking up BBC radio rather than himself and his comrades. The band themselves were also as tight as they could be given Brad Davies from Fu Manchu was parachuted in as emergency cover for Dan Maines who had to return to the US for family reasons. It was hit-heavy, X-Ray Visions, Crucial Velocity, The Mob Goes Wild, Electric Worry forming the spine of the setlist for a singalong in the sun.
Up next for us was Bob Vylan (12/13) who comfortably put in one of the performances of the weekend. In-your-face, smash mouth attitude and style paired with an enthusiastic crowd makes for a damn good time. Starting off his set with his trademark aggressive piece of yoga to get everyone in the mood - it was genuinely glorious to look across the tent at the third stage and watching more than half in attendance playing along. As that reached its conclusion, there was already limbs in the air before they launched in to opened Northern Line. Cue, explosion. And it didn't stop.
40 minutes flew by in the blink of an eye, but the lasting impression Bob Vylan had on everyone in attendance will last much, much, longer.
Moving across to check out Saturday's second stage headliners we're very glad to report that Placebo (12/13) absolutely did not disappoint. If you caught our preview coverage, we'd highlighted that up to now the band had largely abandoned some of their classics in recent sets but at Download, they knew what the crowd wanted and needed and the mix between old and new led to one of the performances of the weekend. Or, most likely, they read our little note on Twitter and came to please and take us on the sonic acid trip we requested. There's a chance that both options came into play, but the former is possibly the most likely.
The concert was a true ode to the human species. They made the crowd go wild and sing along at the top of their lungs. We know we did. If there was any doubt whether Molko and Olsdal are still our favourite aliens, they maintained that accolade here. Tracks from their latest album Never Let Me Go truly come alive on stage. The gloominess is amplified by the haunting pedal delays, creating an experimental journey reminiscent of Placebo's style. And what an incredible voyage it was! To those who doubted them for performing just before the grand closing act, their outstanding show silenced any criticism and proved their worth. A lot of silly mouths were shushed on the Donington fields. Finishing with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), a Kate Bush cover, was one of the most poetic moments at Download this year.
Dear Placebo,
Thanks a lot for making our request come true.
You beautiful Twin Demons, gave us more than we requested and gave us a Bionic show. For What It's Worth, we love you to The Bitter End. We have to say that Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), was one of the most poetic moments this year.
We look forward to seeing you very soon on another field. Until then, we will leave you with a Song to Say Goodbye.
Yours truly,
Burger Queen and Nancy Boy
To check out the review of Saturday night main stage headliners, METALLICA, click here. Also check out their performance of Whiskey In The Jar from that night below: