Download 2019

[pryce]

Think Tool have gone to the best headliner I have seen... What a set, what an experience! That new song was unbelievable 

[SOAD]

Oh god I so wish I had been there for Tool. That setlist looks unbelievable. The Pot into Parabola especially would be very special. Screw Bipolar. Miss so much cool stuff. Glad to hear the people there seemed to enjoy it.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

The Pot was the best live performance I think I've ever seen, perfect set. 

The sound on the mainstage for Tool was the best I've ever heard at a festival, which begs the question why it was so ropey for the rest of the weekend. 

Pumpkins were good, the setlist could have been better but Billy actually sounded great again.  

Edited June 17, 2019 by Frankly Mr Shankly

[VCK]

Tool were fucking immense. Up there with The Stone Roses at Heaton Park. Only flaw I can find is that they didn't play Lateralus, but otherwise, out of this world.

Pumpkins were very flat and I thought they were a lot better when I saw them headline Leeds in 2007. Things looked promising when they opened with Zero and the crowd got into it but it was downhill from there.

Anthrax were great fun too.

Edited June 17, 2019 by VCK

[VCK]

2 hours ago, SOAD said:

Oh god I so wish I had been there for Tool. That setlist looks unbelievable. The Pot into Parabola especially would be very special. Screw Bipolar. Miss so much cool stuff. Glad to hear the people there seemed to enjoy it.

I'm amazed at myself for being able to handle Jambi followed by Forty Six & Two.

[AMBEV]

Just got back from IoW festival. 

I was there the year the island came to a halt due to weather. We stayed that year for pearl jam. The site was a mess. 

They learnt and learnt well. It was wet this weekend and the car park couldn’t have been in a better condition. 

On the main paths they dumped about 300T of hard core and the same of wood chip. No issues what so ever. 

[JayBalls]

Tool were incredible, I waited a long time to see them play and they didn't disappoint.

[Chinaski_]

15 hours ago, SOAD said:

I don't get what is wrong with the Pumpkins setlist. It's not ideal and I wasn't there (wish I was) but looking at the setlist it looks like a decent balance of new music and their earlier hits. Including a reasonable amount of heavy stuff such as Everlasting Gaze, Zero, Bullet, Superchrist etc. Personally I would want more stuff like 1979, Stand Inside Your Love (No Idea how they didn't play that) etc. in there and I think ending on XYU would have been great for Download but ah well. It seems to be pretty consistent with the sets they have been playing lately.

I've never believed the Pumpkins were a Download band, would songs like Tonight, Tonight, Thirty Three or 1979 go do well with a crowd wanting heavier songs? I guess if Reading was a still a rock festival, they'd have been there instead. 

That said, I'd be disappointed by that setlist at NOS Alive, so hopefully we get a different set. 

[WFD]

46 minutes ago, Chinaski_ said:

I've never believed the Pumpkins were a Download band, would songs like Tonight, Tonight, Thirty Three or 1979 go do well with a crowd wanting heavier songs? I guess if Reading was a still a rock festival, they'd have been there instead. 

That said, I'd be disappointed by that setlist at NOS Alive, so hopefully we get a different set. 

They've been playing both 1979 and Tonight Tonight on this tour (seems to be when they get longer sets), plus covers of Wish You Were Here and/or Friday I'm in Love, so would expect NOS Alive to be more like the standard set for this tour.

[VCK]

2 hours ago, Chinaski_ said:

I've never believed the Pumpkins were a Download band, would songs like Tonight, Tonight, Thirty Three or 1979 go do well with a crowd wanting heavier songs? I guess if Reading was a still a rock festival, they'd have been there instead. 

That said, I'd be disappointed by that setlist at NOS Alive, so hopefully we get a different set. 

They played Disarm and Ava Adore, neither of which are exactly balls out rawk songs. But they have enough heavy songs from their heyday which would have been much better received.

They could have at least thrown in Siva which they've been playing a lot on this tour. End of the day, people go to see the Pumpkins, they want to see the classic songs which got most of their fans into their music in the first place. Not average stuff from the last few albums that barely anyone knows.

[JSmurphy]

Had an amazing time at this. Exhausting at times but there seemed to be a great atmosphere around the place even on the soaking wet Wednesday. 

Had a blast at Slipknot. Parting Gift and Black Peaks were some of the real standouts lower down the bill.

I think that Tool is probably my 3rd favourite gig ever. Let's not have another 12 year wait until the next UK show eh? 

[Andre91]

3 hours ago, Chinaski_ said:

I've never believed the Pumpkins were a Download band, would songs like Tonight, Tonight, Thirty Three or 1979 go do well with a crowd wanting heavier songs? I guess if Reading was a still a rock festival, they'd have been there instead. 

That said, I'd be disappointed by that setlist at NOS Alive, so hopefully we get a different set. 

Yes, of course those songs would have gone down extremely well. I was about 5 people from the barrier and everyone absolutely lost it to songs like Zero, Cherub Rock and Disarm. Playing any of Tonight, Tonight, 1979 and Today would have done down a storm. Not everybody at Download is an extreme metal merchant who wants the heaviest of everything all the time. 

The Pumpkins put on a good show but I certainly wasn’t the only one who felt disappointed at the setlist. Everlasting Gaze was banging though. 

[Odessa]

Went here for the first time this week. Absolute shitshow at times, mostly due to the weather so not really anyone to blame for that. Don't think the place is very well run though and won't be going back. The lack of toilets outside the arena was an annoyance for me, but surely a genuine health and safety issue for people with certain conditions. You shouldn't be able to walk 15 or 20 minutes without passing a toilet. And there were about 2 members of staff in the carpark this morning meaning it took us hours to get away even though the ground was fine in there. Once they got someone to actually direct traffic properly everyone was getting out 10x quicker.

What are the positives of holding it at that site? The distance between the campsite and the carpark wasn't ideal, but the walk when you wanna go to the arena is a ridiculous waste of time. Add the noise of the planes all night long into consideration as well and surely there has to be a better place to host it.

These weekend festivals that are funny about you drinking yr own drinks are frustrating at the best of times, but when the bar queues look about an hour long like they did on Friday, for the privilege to buy a 6 quid pint, they're really taking the piss. Thankfully that got sorted over the weekend though at least.

Got a ticket last week for 160 odd quid, and felt there was value for me seeing the top two acts on Sat and Sun and not really caring about what else I saw. Saw some good sets. EODM I wasn't sure I was gonna see cos of Jesse's comments over the last few years, but I was dying for a band I actually liked by that point on Friday. Had a really great time watching them. Saw bits and pieces of other things that day but nothing really of note for me personally. Love Bites and Pour Some Sugar On Me were a laugh but I'd had enough of Def Leppard after about half an hour. 

Die Antwoord into Slipknot was an amazing night, as it was always gonna be for me having seen both before and knowing what to expect. Power Trip wasn't really my cuppa tea but was alright I suppose. Behemoth were bizarre, I quite enjoyed them. Black Peaks were really good and had an amazing crowd, but their newer stuff really, really does not compare to the Statues songs in the slightest.  

Pumpkins setlist made that set a letdown for a casual fan like myself, would have liked a few more hits but never mind. I always hear about Billy Corgan being a bellend, but he didn't come across like that to me. Seemed genuinely grateful for people being there to see his band etc. Just an odd bloke.

Tool was pretty incredible. I knew less than half the songs but they had the entire crowd (round where I was at least) totally compelled for the entire set. They were one of the main reasons I bought a ticket, even though I wasn't massively confident I'd enjoy it, but wanted to see what the fuss was about with them. Defo 100% see them if you have the chance. Forty Six And 2 and Stinkfist were mindblowingly good.

Got Glasto next week now which I can't face the thought of rn but I'll be buzzing this time next week. Unless the forecast is cold and rainy all week again.

[Chinaski_]

3 hours ago, VCK said:

They played Disarm and Ava Adore, neither of which are exactly balls out rawk songs. But they have enough heavy songs from their heyday which would have been much better received.

They could have at least thrown in Siva which they've been playing a lot on this tour. End of the day, people go to see the Pumpkins, they want to see the classic songs which got most of their fans into their music in the first place. Not average stuff from the last few albums that barely anyone knows.

You can never bet on what they're going to do tbh. I agree it'd be good to hear songs like Siva and Rhinoceros more rather than Zero and BWBW constantly, but then everyone would moan if they didn't play them either so you can't please everyone. 1979 is quite rare on their setlists over here, at least the times I've seen them, so not really a song you can expect to hear when you see them. Even at their own shows, everyone moans if they play b sides, so not sure what crowds want from them really. Pumpkins for me are a band where the b sides are better than the singles. I agree they should play singles at festivals though, but I guess they were going for a heavier set. 

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Not everybody at Download is an extreme metal merchant who wants the heaviest of everything all the time. 

The line up didn't reflect that though. The Pumpkins were an anomaly booking. If there was more stuff that appealed to fans of them, I'd have gone. 

[Xeph1995]

Tool were unbelievable, I was absoultely in awe, everyone round me was belting the words. Maynard voice was really on point and the others were so tight, definitely worth the wait to see them, will see them at every chance I get.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Xeph1995

[VCK]

First time I'd ever been to Download yesterday and I was quite taken aback by how peaceful the crowd is. Didn't see one person who I thought was a dickhead or an idiot. Compare that to the amount of times I've been to Leeds.

[rivalschools.price]

2 hours ago, VCK said:

First time I'd ever been to Download yesterday and I was quite taken aback by how peaceful the crowd is. Didn't see one person who I thought was a dickhead or an idiot. Compare that to the amount of times I've been to Leeds.

Yeah, the atmos in Download is always good and there is a lower percentage of idiots than some other festivals I could mention.

I loved the fact that everyone didn’t let the weather stop themselves having a good time.

[maelzoid]

Despite the best efforts of the weather and bad organization, I had a superb weekend.

I don't want to get into it too much but the queues for the bars were stupidly long and the reason seems to be the lack of organization in the bar, and many of the bar staff seemed totally untrained. The 5% Barclaycard saving just slowed things down, and at least 4 times I didn't get it because the bar tender didn't have a clue how to deal with it, despite wearing a lanyard advertising the discount. Things improved over the weekend, but of all the festivals I've been to, this was the worst for beer queues.

Anyway... On the plus side,

The metal community remains absolutely brilliant. It's always such a chilled environment and the dickhead quota is lower than any other audience - totally in contrast to the image as perceived in mainstream culture. I suppose because all aggression is vented in the moshpit, people are so relaxed otherwise.

The quality of music was also superb. I caught a bunch of sets from acts I never thought I'd see and enjoyed pretty much all of them. eg. Carcass, Amon Amarth, Power trip, Animals as Leaders, Cult Classics were all well worth my time.

Def Leppard, Whitesnake, STP, Opeth, Blackberry Smoke, Tesla, Anthrax were all great.

The pumpkins were a disappointment, though I can't say they were actually bad. But the setlist was a bit of a bore. It picked up with Bullet and Cherub Rock, but I wish they had leant on the earlier material more, and also they could totally have skewered the set towards heavier stuff. Siva, I am One, Geek USA, Fuck You and especially XYU would have gone down great.

Tool were brilliant, and as has been mentioned the sound quality was pristine.

I also enjoyed the NXT - A great alternative to bands at midday on Saturday.

I don't think I'd go to Download again for the festival itself, but if the line-up meets my tastes, I'd be all over it.

 

[Radi0Head]

I've been to Download the past three years and after being disappointed last year this year has boosted my confidence in the festival. That is musically at least. Obviously Slipknot killed it the new songs they played have got me hyped for the next album, in particular their new song all out life is well on it way to earning its place as classic slipknot. Tool were visually amazing, due to having watched half of slayer before heading off to Tool I stood near the back and being able to see all three screens was quite the sight. Other highlights included Rob Zombie, Die Antwoord, The Interrupters, EODM, Whitesnake and Lamb of God. Whilst The Smashing Pumpkins were mediocre I still enjoyed them due to being a big fan. 

On the downside this new toilet system was not only backwards politically but  practically backwards too. The ques for the male toilets was horrendous in the campsites. But that'd be my only moan. Other than the rain but that can't be helped which I think the festival deal externally well with considering that much rain normally fucks everything up at festivals. Plus the usual moans which apply for all the big Live Nation festivals blah blah blah.

If anyone has any decent pictures from Tool that they wouldn't mind sharing I'd love to see them?

[Steve1000]

Apparently Halestorm had the highest ever attendance for the second stage. I think that they’re rubbish, but fair fucks.

[rivalschools.price]

11 minutes ago, Steve1000 said:

Apparently Halestorm had the highest ever attendance for the second stage. I think that they’re rubbish, but fair fucks.

Halestorm were absolutely awesome but there’s no way that was the biggest ever attendance.

Slayer had loads more on the Sunday and Limp Bizkit had a massive crowd in the past.

Halestorm were nowhere near those numbers. 

[maelzoid]

13 hours ago, Radi0Head said:

If anyone has any decent pictures from Tool that they wouldn't mind sharing I'd love to see them?

I don't overdo the pic taking during a set - I like to enjoy it with my eyes! But this will give you an idea of what it was like form where I was.

[Steve1000]

13 hours ago, rivalschools.price said:

Halestorm were absolutely awesome but there’s no way that was the biggest ever attendance.

Slayer had loads more on the Sunday and Limp Bizkit had a massive crowd in the past.

Halestorm were nowhere near those numbers. 

Yeah fair, did seem unlikely but I thought that Slayer and Bizkit were against huge headliners so it’s possible. Why the fuck would clash Rammstein and Bizkit, 6 years ago Andy, you bastard.

I can totally imagine them being amazing live, I bet she’s got a hell of a voice. I just think that their songs suck but I wouldn’t rule them out as a future headliner.

[pryce]

cant imagine a bigger crowd than i saw for Korn vs Darkness in 2011 on that stage

[rivalschools.price]

1 hour ago, pryce said:

cant imagine a bigger crowd than i saw for Korn vs Darkness in 2011 on that stage

That seemed way bigger than Halestorm too but I didn’t mention that in my quote earlier as I was near the front so couldn’t say for certain.

I was nearer the back for Slayer, Bizkit and Halestorm and have no doubt Halestorm did not have biggest crowd.