School's... out... for... Download!
Having just paid a visit to the Red Bull recording studio in London, the winners of the Australian Red Bull Bedroom Jam competition Welcome Wednesday headed north to perform at the Midlands' largest rock festival. Although the young Melbourne-based quartet did look as though they had come straight from school, Download Festival is no place for boys; Donington is a sacred place graced by the spiritual forefathers of rock. The pressure was on for the Australian rockers to deliver.
Originality is a difficult nut to crack and so far it seems that the band has yet to penetrate the protective exterior to feast on the secrets of sublime songwriting. Despite exercising a very familiar sound of power-chord-heavy music, their performance was rhythmically tight with a first-class vocal performance given by frontman Max Roberts. The complications caused by new material unfortunately presented themselves, with the band at one point failing to collectively begin one of their songs together, instead having to wait for drummer Ben Ryding to circle around again to allow his bandmates to join him.
In a few years time, Welcome Wednesday could have something quite special to offer, but at the moment, they still remain an undeveloped product. Finishing their set ten minutes earlier than scheduled, it seemed Welcome Wednesday have still got quite a way to go before they can be accused of being rebellious rockers. Or maybe they just had a plane to catch...