Tenacious D prove the highlight of day two of Download

Download Festival 2012 review

By Phil Davies | Published: Wed 13th Jun 2012

Download Festival 2012 - Tenacious D
Photo credit: Luke Seagrave

Download Festival 2012

Friday 8th to Sunday 10th June 2012
Donington Park, Leics, England MAP
weekend and camping options sold out, £75 a day ticket for Friday or Sunday only
Daily capacity: 111,000

There really was only one way to start Saturday. With truly flat acts prancing around on the bigger stages, anyone who was seeing Turbowolf was right on the money. 30 minutes of pure, unrelenting madness. It made for nothing but smiles and giggles from a purely satisfied crowd. These guys are one to watch, since we'll be seeing plenty more of Turbowolf. And that's a good thing.

Over on the Zippo stage, the 'turboness' continued with Turbonegro rising to the challenge of big stage entertainment. Yes their look is gimmicky and yeah they have an unhealthy obsession with everything sailor – but it just seems to work. An initially hesitant audience is soon swept up in chants involving erections. Putting your mind off the shit weather for two minutes and just letting your hair down seems to be the winning combination of the weekend.

Lower Than Atlantis continued to move things forward however tricky their set was proving to be. Marred with technical issues and hang-ups, but (lead singer) Mike Duce maintained a level of professionalism which really does separate the men from the boys. Breaking a string and maintaining momentum throughout the band do a fantastic job to keep things moving by invoking a crowd surf race to the front. "Let's make those security guards work for their money! I want to see a crowd surfing race." Laughed Duce. "By the way- this is Carl Lewis our guitar tech. Today is his last day...." It's moments of hilarity such as these which just show how a truly decent band can pull it all together. "Does anyone know the Foo Fighters?" Declared Duce before launching into a fantastic 'Everlong/ Pretender' Foo mash up before concluding the set with the ever fantastic 'Deadliest Catch'.

Back on the main stage though – Tenacious D did exactly what we needed them to do- they rocked our fucking socks off. As a the hilariously giant phallic phoenix rose from the stage, Jack Black and Kyle Gass maintain their untouchable demeanour as they sauntered onto stage wearing robes of kings.

The set takes a little time to warm up, with the first few songs all from their recently released 'Rize Of The Fenix' not really sinking teeth into the audience. But Black and Gass' banter between tracks make for constant laugh out loud moments, and it's when classic Tenacious D tracks such as 'Tribute' and 'Fuck Her Gently' air that things really ascend. The loudest sing along of the weekend to the comedy cabaret which is the D's foundation makes it easily one of the weekend's highlights. The front men do a fantastic job to include the rest of the band in the shenanigans too, introducing each and every member with their own solos; it was a nice touch to share the spotlight over an array of talent which really helps pad out the D's sound. As they conclude with 'Double Team' the entire audience of Download festival are putty in their hands. They sound fantastic, have the best sense of humour a band could ever have, and are a genuinely fantastic delight to watch. Certainly one off the bucket list.

The Saturday night headliners however, couldn't afford so much grace. Metallica exploded onto the main stage to a sea of cheer. But once the Black album had set in, one couldn't help but feel it just lacked the magic of a classic 'greatest hits' set. Songs came and went and most were left with a disappointing lack of spark. It was only during 'Battery' and 'One' where fireworks were a plenty, were we back with the Metallica we know and love. A slightly pretentious second encore including the final track of the evening – 'Seek & Destroy' was met with glorious applause. It was a solid evening from the thrash legends. But one couldn't help but feel less promise, more surprise next time.
review by: Phil Davies

photos by: Luke Seagrave


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