Download Festival 2009 - Day 3

After entering the main arena for the first time for Download's final day, it was easy to see that the weekend's hard rocking was noticeably taking its toll on the faithful festival goers. So far it had been absolutely amazing, the weather, the people, the drink, the music and the atmosphere. All of this combined with constant walking, pushing, shoving, jumping, head banging, screaming and lack of sleep had tested everyone's stamina and I must say there were plenty of strong-willed, happy people here, ready for today's classic rock lineup. All throughout the weekend, the crowds have consisted of different age-groups, but today has seen an influx of day visitors with a slightly more classical taste in rock. The atmosphere seems to be a bit more chilled and definitely more polite - the words ‘excuse me' were seldom heard on Friday and Saturday. This was a day to relax and take it all in, whilst reflecting on the weekend that had almost passed.

During one of these reflective moments, the toilet issue (not tissue) came to mind as being one of the downsides to the festival. Unfortunately, they always have been. The situation out in the arena was so bad that men were allowed to pee against the fences to the point where it was done barefaced. There simply has to be a better solution, and as we mention in previous editions, an idea would be to charge £1 per visit - contributing to the necessary resources to help maintain these cubicles clean on a far more regular basis.

Even those at the VIP area were found to be repulsive - some of these had no working lights by Sunday, so it was pretty hard to aim in the darkness. An option was to hold the door ever so slightly ajar, enough for some daylight to sneak in, whilst you're looking ridiculous trying to squat in a very confined space, preventing the door from swinging open, and at the same time ensuring your trousers around your thighs are not in contact with anything other than your own legs....lovely! Did I mention having to hold your breath too?

One downside thought led to another - ‘Expensive'. Everything was so dear in price, food, drink, water, merchandise. In reality, it probably won't stop people from coming back, but it would certainly put a damper on your weekend if you're on a tight budget. And whatever happened to the effective ‘one-way' system? Hot-footing it between stages proved to be annoying, and almost impossible at one point because you would be faced with a ‘wall' of people heading in the opposite direction. Unless there are some logistic restrictions, we vote for this to be reinstated next year. Talking about next year, and judging by the good summer weather we've experienced so far, more shady spots should definitely be on the ‘To Do' list too.

All negative aspects aside, for a festival of this magnitude, there were plenty of plus points. The new layout, even though we felt like hitch-hiking our way to the ‘so-out-of-the-way' Village, was wisely designed, and was kept simple. The 2nd stage was a proper stage, and not a tent as past years. The choice of ‘fast food', even though pricey, was healthy and inviting, and most importantly tasted good. Having the VIP Camp site behind the main stage was such a bonus, at least for us. There was an extra stage, making it 4 in total. These were within close proximity to each another but far enough to avoid sound clashes , and provided a platform for over 125 bands to perform. The sound from the main stage was clear and deafening. Access to the festival from the main road heading onto Donington was easy, with very clear signs. Official download merchandise caught our attention more so this year, especially the ‘Suck My Rock' design with the legendary download dog. The size of the crowds was overwhelming and radiated a sense of harmony all through the weekend. And the organisers had made sure there was plenty of entertainment for all, from holding the world's greatest record for the number of people playing air-guitar, to providing an indoor cinema screen in one of the campsites. A blo*dy good idea was the facility to purchase food and drinks within your campsite, this came especially handy at 3am.

With reflecting time over, and after agreeing Download this year merited a big, bold tick, we walked over to the drinks stall to kick-start the day.

On the second stage, God Forbid weighed in, proving that even with todays lineup there's plenty of room for some seriously fast, hard heavy metal. As they made their appearance on stage the crowd began to scream and chant but you could tell there wasn't a lot of energy here with the hot midday sun beating all of us into submission. It's all good though as frontman, Byron Davies and Co whip up a real storm with their unrelenting, thrash metalcore, to create today's first real mosh pit. It's no surprise that Mr Davies, after so many years has somewhat perfected his talent of crowd control with his boundless enthusiasm and gets today's first crowd surfers flying towards the stage in no time. As they play through the likes of "War Of Attrition" and "To The Fallen Hero" they give it their all and put on an intense, heartfelt performance; kicking out heavy as hell grooves, mixed with astoundingly machine-gun-like drumming, roaring riffs, howling guitar solos and powerful vocals! Its a good show but with so many other bands putting on amazing performances, its likely to be one that you will forget.

Steel Panther were advertising themselves on huge posters leading to the mainstage with the byline ‘We f*cked your mom in the Eighties'. In simple terms, the posters provided a clear indication of what they were all about. Accomplished musicians, with a very tongue-in-cheek approach. Even though we didnt get to see them, for a relatively ‘unknown' band in the UK, the hype surrounding them before and after their performance made us regret having missed them. Apparently they bounced around on stage wearing leopard print spandex outfits, lots of hair, and developed a great rapport with the crowd. Some have compared them to be a cross between The Darkness and Tenacious D - however they have no risk of ‘imploding' as they do not take themselves as seriously as The Darkness ever did. We are confident they will become a house-hold name within the rock world if they continue to impress and satisfy crowds just like they did at Download. Currently they are the longest running metal show on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.

Following a short break we are treated to yet another band, trying to resurrect the nu metal genre. Sevendust echoes the likes of Korn, Papa Roach and Limp Bizkit with their southern, hip hop, rock grooves but have never really hit the heights of these bands. They have enjoyed much success back on home soil in the US and since it's been quite some time since they've travelled across the pond to play on our shores, it's all the more important to them. Seven albums into their career, they have just started working on their eighth, which should be out next year and would you believe it, this is only their first appearance at Download, quickly pointing out that they wish to "build a relationship" with those at the second stage. It must be said that the relationship they had hoped for will have to wait a while longer I'm afraid, as their 40 minute performance dragged on a little, feeling tired and lacking in originality. It seemed that only their own hardcore fans were the ones really enjoying themselves, as many other spectators made their excuses to leave early, us being a part of the latter group. This band didn't cut it on such a large stage, with the wide open space in front of them swallowing them up; we don't think Sevendust will be receiving an invite for Download next year, ooops.

Oh dear... it's beginning to dawn on us. Download 2009 is nearly over, with just enough time to squeeze in the last remaining bands. No real choice then, other than to head to the main stage to catch 80's favourites Whitesnake. 2009 sees them returning to Donington for their fourth time, this being their Download debut, as special guests to Def Leppard. With a career spanning three decades, lead singer David Coverdale and Co. have enjoyed an illustrious time, producing 11 studio albums and hits such as ‘Here I Go Again' and ‘This Is Love'. It was clear to see that the classic lineup of today brought in an influx of ageing rockers.

The type with tight, ripped jeans and lots of denim jackets completely covered in patches. Many of them brought their children which created a different type of crowd to what is expected at Download. A much more polite one, I must say. There was plenty of interaction with the crowd from front man, Coverdale who was more than happy to get some banter going on between songs in his posher than posh, Lord of the manor accent. Going through their gargantuan back catalogue of hits they produce many, wave-your-lighter in the air moments with the obvious classics ‘Give Me All Your Love', ‘Is This Love' and ‘Here I Go Again'. These guys were on good form, putting on a heavyweight performance tonight, which shone through midway into their set as guitarists, Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach traded off guitar riffs in a duel to the delight of the crowd, before blending into ‘Got What You Need'. Whitesnake we salute you!

The setting sun once again proved to be an excellent backdrop for the headliners of the evening. It also cast a dispirited feeling over the tens of thousands of people patiently waiting for the classic entrance of Def Leppard . It was the last sunset of the weekend and the last performance too, and even though the anticipation of the legendary rockers had us all teetering with excitement, one couldnt help but feel slightly disheartened as the end of the rock behemoth that is Download Festival was just hours away.

It's very easy to forget just how much a part of one's life Def Leppard was back in the days, and how many astoundingly good songs they have in their back catalogue. Once they kicked off, the feeling of nostalgia was over-powering. Providing us with renditions taken from their complete greatest hits setlist, Def Leppard were the perfect end to this year's festival. To the delight of the crowd, they played old favourites such as ‘Animal' and ‘Photograph' as well as newer material from their 2008's ‘Songs From The Sparkle Lounge'. It was truly phenomenal witnessing over 70,000 fans singing ‘Love Bites' word for word, and even more so, the fact that I seemed to remember the lyrics to all of their classics. At one point during the beginning of the set, frontman Joe Elliott spoke about how good it was to be able to play in daylight and asked the crowd to turn around and look back at the tens of thousands of people on the arena. "It's amazing from where I'm standing," he said. And it was an exceptional sight. The sea of heads stretched out to a point where the last ones disappeared from your line of vision. A combination of an exhaustive weekend where most of us had used up all of our energy reserves and a more composed crowd made it possible for one to enjoy the show without having to glue their feet to the ground to avoid being knocked over. The mix was perfect. From the choice of band, to the crowd, to the weather.

The last time Def Leppard played at Donington was in 1986, and after a lively ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me' Elliot explained to the crowd how they had first played Donington at the Monsters of Rock festival, and how much that gig had meant to them. Elliot brought Download to an end tonight with a stirring tribute to drummer Rick Allen - he spoke of how their 1986 gig had been his comeback after having had his arm amputated following a serious car accident and of his ‘spiritual rebirth' at that point in time. His words were so moving that the Download crowd cheered and applauded Allen who stood up behind his drums, raising his arm before wiping tears from his eyes. It was an extremely emotional and moving tribute. Elliot then went on to accuse Allen of "blubbing all over his cymbals". A touching end to an amazing set and an eventful weekend filled with all kinds of emotion. Yes, Download should certainly consider keeping this ‘Classical Sunday' as part of their trademark, because it really does work.

Download Festival truly rocked, and the crowds rolled. Donington Park is definitely the spiritual home of Rock. Spectacular !