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home » festivals » Download » Download Festival 2011
System of a Down greatest hits package leaves Download mesmerised on day twoDownload 2011 reviewThursday 16th June 2011 Hopes are high for this year's Saturday, with the return of System of a Down casting a rosy glow over the rest of the line-up. Continuing yesterday's trend for nu-metal survivors, first up is Brit reggae rock fusion types Skindred, who take to the stage to an ambitious 20th Century Fox fanfare. Frontman Benji Webbe arrives clad in Union Jacket and shades, and has the crowd eating out of his palm from the word 'go'. Equipped with an arsenal of vocal screams and an easygoing flow, his performance today is a joy to witness, and is backed up by some born showman banter. 'Trouble' gets the crowd bouncing along in the afternoon sun, before an unlikely Tinie Tempah mash up lightens the tone. Elsewhere, 'Cutback' sees a wholesome UK dance beat morph into a no-nonsense rocker. Throughout, it's original, fresh and compelling, even introducing a new dance move into our vocabulary in the form of the hilarious Newport Helicopter (instructions: remove an item of clothing, raise above your head and spin in unison). "Not yet, bitches!" Benji cries when the crowd inevitably gets it wrong. Finishing with the brilliant 'Nobody', Skindred are simply magnificent today, one part stand-up routine and 100 per cent heart pounding, life-affirming heavy rock magic.
Pitched somewhere between The Beastie Boys, Slipknot and the latest focus-group boy band, these masked jokers start well enough with call to arms 'Undead' before rapidly descending into irritating punk pop drivel. Featuring two drummers and more vocalists than you can shake a stick at, their show is initially fun and high energy, but soon pales with cheesy ballads like 'Coming Back Down' and a heartfelt singalong about one of their members. Oh dear. Anxious to escape, eFestivals sojourns to the second stage for disheveled bar room rockers Clutch, who are serving up a big spoonful of scuzzy garage blues on the rocks. They're clearly a niche concern, with the die-hards among the audience hanging on every note of axeman Tim Sult’s imperious fretwork while Neil Fallon bellows away like his life (or next meal) depends on it. At moments Clutch's dogged devotion to no-frills guitar jams feels a tad mid-life crisis, but it's all delivered with undeniable conviction, and is a welcome deviation from this afternoon's nu-metal flavour. Their set lags slightly in the middle, but fiery end number 'Electric Worry' gets the crowd in a particularly sweaty headlock that forces everyone with a pulse to boogie. One thing for certain, it's better than those pillocks in masks back on the main stage. As someone pointed out upon seeing the Download bill this year, Trash Talk seem a bit out of place, especially considering they're sandwiched between Evile, and Your Demise on the third stage this afternoon. But the band's blink-and-you-miss-it hardcore, harking back to Black Flag and the original Washington DC scene, is undeniably entertaining live. By the time I arrive lead bawler Lee Spielman has already bloodied his face, and some raucous moshing is in full effect down the front. Trash Talk's focus on whiplash, DIY stabs of noise and persistent crowd interaction is pleasingly in line with the ethics of the scene that spawned them, and while they’re hardly impressive on a technical level, they certainly get the blood pumping and the crowd surfers tumbling. Towards the end of their set we’re even invited to take part in some inspired moshpit heroics, as the sweaty masses peg it to the rear of the tent and back again as fast as possible, resulting in an immensely satisfying punter pile-up. Not that eFestivals took part in such behaviour, of course. "We're Trash Talk; we probably won't be invited back," concludes Spielman with knowing wit. Never mind guys, your work here is done for now.
While leading lady Skin hasn't aged in the slightest and still sports a piercing, powerhouse set of lungs, the band gives a distinctly average performance today. A defiant 'Weak As I Am' sugars the gruel somewhat, but it's still a let down by anyone’s standards. Now then, what should we be expecting from throwback horror metallers Avenged Sevenfold? An all-round ironclad set, with added pyrotechnics, it seems. Opening with the brilliantly cheesy 'Nightmare', the Californian five piece give a brutally assured performance, even if their 80s-tinged Motley Crue-meets-Misfits schtick isn’t quite your cup of Jagermeister. Frontman M. Shadows is on especially good form today, his baritone reverberating with dark force and his screams sending a shudder down our collective spine. A fair portion of today's set is dedicated to the memory of late drummer Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan, who died from drug overdose in 2009. In particular, a rousing 'Little Piece of Heaven' transcends its ropey recorded form to leverage some real emotional clout, its chorus refrain of "Everybody's got to die sometime" striking a poignant nerve. Hot on its heels comes teeth-baring thrasher 'God Hates Us', while Metallica-aping 'Welcome To The Family' gets fists in the air as far as the eye can see. Throughout, improbably monikered guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance mirror guitar licks with exceptional precision. Like them or hate them, Avenged Sevenfold clearly deserve the respect and massive fanbase they've garnered over the past few years. Tacky they may be, but their showmanship today amply demonstrates their world class calibre. Really, though, the whole of today has been leading up to one moment, and it's with our hearts in our slightly sunburnt mouths that we await back-from-the-dead heroes System of a Down.
By all accounts, the return of System could have felt like a hollow cash cow, but if there's really no fire left in the bellies of the four men on stage right now they're Oscar-worthy actors. Through the course of the band's hour and a quarter they cover just about every point in their five album history you could wish for, excluding their sublime cover of Berlin's 'Metro' (check it out if you haven't heard it). Highlights are numerous, but a few peaks deserve special consideration. 'Cigaro' provides an absolutely hilarious intro courtesy of guitarist Daron Malakian's slowed-down balladeering, before that barnstorming chorus sends all assembled into an absolute frenzy. Likewise, 'Chop Suey' is predictably epic, prompting impassioned karaoke and the sealing of numerous gig friendships instantaneously with the melancholy howl of "Why have you forsaken us?" An immense 'Lost In Hollywood' provides perhaps the greatest moment of the evening and entire weekend for that matter, with Malakian and singer Serj Tankian harmonising to rapturous effect. Tankian is nothing less than a surgeon tonight, pulling off each and every bizarre vocal flourish to gut-wrenching perfection. Even the boozed-up, woefully inaccurate rendition of 'BYOB' delivered by the crowd can't sully his wonderfully flexible, chameleonic voicebox. There's little interaction between band members on stage tonight, but even if this reunion is just a payday, when the quality of performance is this excellent it really feels irrelevant. The neurotic 'Sugar' rounds off the set with one final chance for some headbanging, leaving tens of thousands in a state of utter ecstasy, brains reeling and pulses racing. While expectations for System were always high, their show tonight more than exceeds them, providing an earth-shaking reminder of why we need this band in our lives. For the sake of those that haven't yet had the complete privilege of seeing them, let's hope they stick around a little longer. review by Nick Hagan photos by Luke Seagrave 
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