2007 Download Festival (Main Stage) Day 3

Picking up from where we left off last week with Day 2, Linkin Park seemed to tolerate the minority‘s unwelcome reception, where flying bottles and words of ridicule were abundant. However, classic renditions of ‘Papercut’ , ‘Crawling’ and ‘One Step Closer’ had an overwhelming majority of fans mouthing every single word and wanting more, as the band showed off their talent and professionalism.

 

They were the Main Stage headliners tonight, with a fully choreographed light show that spiced up those dragging moments in-between verses. Although not a bad performance, we took the option of hot footing it over to the 2nd stage, hoping to catch the end of legendary, old school Motley Crue. Not half as packed as Korn’s performance, it was amusing to see the younger generation singing the lyrics to their classic ‘Girls Girls Girls’ and final track ‘Kickstart My Heart’. We later heard Tommy Lee offered shots to the front row fans and chanted ‘When I say Motley, You say Crue’, which was repeated by plenty of satisfied Crue fans on our way back to the Main Stage. Linkin Park were still entertaining the crowd as we hop-scotched over hundreds of exhausted onlookers that were relaxing on the slopes leading back to The Village and VIP lounge. It had been a long day, and we wisely opted to head back to our dew-covered tent instead of sticking around for any encores. Tomorrow would prove to be an extremely exhaustive and extraordinary day - We planned to ‘camp out‘ by the main stage in time for the opening slot, taking advantage of the early morning spaces and ‘reserving’ a prime and daring frontline spot for the entire line-up...
 

Rated! Straight From The Pit!

 
This was to be THE DAY of the festival, the grand finale - MAIN STAGE DAY!!!

After the previous two day’s blistering heat, a cloudy overcast sky was a welcome surprise for Rated. We were going to need all the energy we could muster for this day as the main stage line-up, dubbed as Download’s heaviest on a single day, featured Reuben, Chimaira, Mastodon, Lamb of God, Stonesour, Killswitch Engage, legends Iron Maiden, Papa Roach and Evanescence. Yes, you read the last two correctly. Sundays plan was a simple one. Rise early, prepare all the necessities, re-fuel our tanks with a coffee and not-so-full English breakfast and then camp out in front of the main stage all day long.
 
First up was Parikrama, all the way from India with their strange blend of metal and native Indian music, some tracks inspired by The Lord of the Rings trilogy. We decided to give them a miss and take stroll through Downloads Village before descending upon the main stage, but from what we heard they impressed. Ending our stroll we began the journey down the hill, targets firmly locked on to the very front of the main stage. It was 11:30am so there was no fuss whatsoever in reaching our destination, the giant main stage increasing in size, loomed down upon us as we approached. With plenty of space we settled approximately 5m from the barriers, comfortable, eager and very excited.
 
UK rockers Reuben, a relatively unknown and underrated band, came out kicking the door down and laying siege to the crowd. The sound they produced was so powerful it had us wondering whether they really were a three-piece. They impressed us so much we couldn’t help but think they deserved a better slot later on in the day, maybe next year as Reuben are certainly ones to watch. With 3 rocking albums already under their belt, their latest “In Nothing We Trust” (Recently released), they are sure to blow your mind. “Blamethrower” and “Every Time A Kid Listens To Drum’n’Bass A Rock Star Dies” proved to be crowd favourites.
 
During the break between bands we took our chance to press forward alittle, somewhat unprepared for what was next. Why? Because Chimaira dropped a bomb on us! Their thundering heaviness pounding us into submission, mosh pits began forming and crowd surfers were tossed towards the front... And directly over us. It was scary to say the least but damn right insane. As fun as it was though, we decided to make our way back to a slightly ‘safer’ area, shall we say.
 
Nu-metallers, Papa Roach were to follow. Considering the class and pedigree of the heavyweights that were on offer, Papa Roach were under pressure to justify their main stage slot. We still don’t agree about their slot but that doesn’t mean they were bad. In fact their performance was good, more so for hyperactive front man Jacoby Shaddix’s antics on stage. He covered the whole stage several times over and was the first that we witnessed to leap off the stage and come down to the crowd. Numerous crazed fans clutching at his clothes while 3 stewards held onto him so he wasn’t pulled into the sea of people.
 
To be continued