Live Review: Download Festival 2010

An army of rock fans of all ages descended on Donington Park on the 11^th – 13^th June, here are some of the highlights of a truly incredible line-up…

Friday

Them Crooked Vultures

As AC/DC had bought their own stage to Donington, the official main stage headline slot is left to Them Crooked Vultures. A supergroup consisting of Nirvana and Foo Fighters legend Dave Grohl, Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age and John Paul Jones of the mighty Led Zeppelin is highly unlikely to be anything but … erm … well super really, and these gods of rock certainly don’t disappoint. It feels like a privilege to watch all three of these men play on stage together with a set that builds and builds to an incredible climax. The tracks taken from the band’s debut self-titled album are instant classics that manage to incorporate the magic from all of the member’s main projects. Alain Johannes has the daunting task of being the band’s guitarist for live shows but with an impressive CV that includes working with Queens Of The Stone Age, Chris Cornell and Spinerette, he has no problem entertaining the masses with an incredible guitar solo whilst the other three take a break. Despite being four years over the free bus pass age, John Paul Jones proves that he can still rock the keyboard as well as the bass, and unsurprisingly seems right at home playing to a huge crowd that spans generations.

AC/DC

For their fourth performance at Donington, it’s clear to see why Aussie rockers AC/DC brought their own stage. With their very own steam train and a huge walk way the band are ready to finish up the Friday of Download in style. After a short video of a speeding train (and lots of girls) the band launch straight into ‘Runaway Train’ and then the massive ‘Back In Black’. The band fire out all of the fan favourites to a crowd of varying ages – and breast sizes as made clear on the big screen during ‘The Jack’. As the show continues it becomes all about Angus as the band’s co-founder struts up and down the walkway and launches into a strip tease, removing his trademark school uniform to reveal some AC/DC boxers. Although it feels so very, very wrong watching a 55 year old strip, it’s hard to look away, even if it does almost kick-start the gag reflex. But it’s clear that the crowd love him as his guitar solo is cheered on for a slightly overdone 20 minutes during which he emerges from the crowd on a raised platform and is showered in confetti. After more hits including ‘Thunderstruck’ and ‘T.N.T’ plus another video of tanks, boats, planes and, yep you’ve guessed it, girls, the band welcome Rosie - a giant inflatable woman with breasts big enough to make Katie Price jealous – on stage for ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’. An incredible encore of ‘Highway To Hell’ and ‘Let There Be Rock’ that continues to get every single member of the crowd clapping and singing is rounded off with cannons and fireworks proving just why AC/DC are one the biggest selling bands in the world.

Saturday

Cancer Bats

Canadian metalcore band Cancer Bats bring energy by the bucket load to the second stage on Saturday afternoon. Their raw power pleases the crowd but it’s clear that many of them are only there to hear their fierce cover of Beastie Boys hit ‘Sabotage’. Let’s hope this doesn’t become their downfall.

The Blackout

The six lads from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales have become seven for their return to Download this year. Joined by Phillip Jenkins from fellow Welsh band Kids In Glass Houses, the band now has two drummers as well as two lead singers, and this only serves to make them stronger than ever. Tracks from their latest album Best In Town are definite crowd pleasers, with mass sing-a-longs to ‘The Consequence’, but it’s the material from debut release We Are The Dynamite that really bring their set to life. Experts at entertaining a crowd, Sean Smith and Gavin Butler provide plenty of banter and bounce around the stage performing provocative acts with microphones. With giant inflatable hands with middle finger raised on stage, mass swearing from the crowd and a snippet of ‘Killing In The Name’, The Blackout serve as the perfect warm up to tonight’s headliners Rage Against The Machine.

Rage Against The Machine

The sheer popularity of Rage Against The Machine is proved when only minutes into their set they are forced to stop be security due to crushing at the barrier. But once lead man Zack De La Rocha has made sure everyone is safe, the band continue with a truly incredible show. Not many bands perform shows at which the crowd sing along to the instrumental intros of their songs but tonight’s massive crowd do just that when Rage launch into ‘Bombtrack’ and ‘Bulls On Parade’. Guitar magician Tom Morello’s performance is as mind blowing as ever and Zack is also on form with his usual political speeches and a big thank you for their Christmas number one success. The set feels a little disjointed at times but it all ties together with the mighty ‘Sleep Now In The Fire’, and an encore of the classic ‘Killing In The Name’ brings the evening to an explosive end.

Sunday

Switchfoot

It’s rare to hear of an American band trying to make it in the UK, but Switchfoot are trying to do just that. The rockers have been around since 1996 but only achieved success in their home country after appearing on the soundtrack of cheesy tear jerker A Walk To Remember. Signature track ‘Dare You To Move’ sparks mass swaying, but it’s not just the power ballads that these guys do well. Although the cover of Sabotage is not a patch on the Cancer Bats version, their anthemic rock is impressive and front man Jon Foreman certainly doesn’t lack charisma, choosing to spend most of the set in the crowd. There could be big things to come for these guys.

Napalm Death

A slightly odd choice to follow Switchfoot, grindcore gods Napalm Death crank things up with a furious whirlwind of guitars and death growls. After 30 years in the business, these Brummies, who hold the Guinness World Record for the shortest song, are showing no sign of slowing down.

The Damned Things

Mix a tablespoon of Fall Out Boy, a dash of Anthrax and a sprinkling of Every Time I Die and simmer for a few months. What do you get? Why, the latest super group to emerge from the US, The Damned Things of course! These guys manage to combine elements of all three of their original bands to create some classic heavy rock. If their Download performance is anything to go by, their debut album set to be released later this year has the potential to be huge.

The Dillinger Escape Plan

Mathcore legends The Dillinger Escape Plan bring the rain and the madness to Donington. Their brutal precision playing kicks starts an epic mosh pit and the guys from New Jersey treat the stage like one big climbing frame. A truly ferocious live performance.

Live Review: Rage Against The Machine Victory

The image of X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s face on a dart board held aloft by a fan in queue perfectly sums up just why he should stay as far away from Finsbury Park as possible on June 6^th 2010. Any mention of Simon Cowell’s latest puppet’s name is met with mass booing and plenty of profanities as 40,000 Rage Against The Machine fans swamp the park in north London. This is RATM’s free victory gig to say thank you to the Great British public for getting their 1992 hit Killing In The Name to number one just in time for Christmas last year, after a campaign which showed just how powerful Facebook can be.

The support bands perfectly reflect RATMs genre busting back catalogue. London five-piece Gallows prove they can smash huge outdoor shows just as well as smaller venues. They power through their set of brutal punk rock sparking huge circle pits and an impressive wall of death, especially considering that they are the first of three support acts. Always good at motivating the crowd, lead man Frank Carter gets amongst the masses for a bit of Bieber banter and a mass ‘F*** You’ in true Rage style. An excellent cover of I Fought The Law once sung by The Clash continues the momentum and the band seem genuinely proud to be part of the occasion, with Carter regularly taking pictures of the gigantic crowd on his phone.

Roots Manuva and an impressive entourage switch the mood from mosh to dance with his fusion of hip-hop, dub and electronica. With an excellent bass player and DJ for company the South London rapper gets a good reaction from a crowd of rock fans, showing just why he has been in this business for 16 years.

Like something straight out of Eurovision, Gogol Bordello bring their gypsy punk to the stage and instantly install a party atmosphere. The group from New York complete with an accordion, violin and lots of impressive facial hair, certainly aren’t lacking in enthusiasm and, if the dancing throughout Finsbury Park is anything to go by, it seem to be infectious. When they leave the stage after an incredible set they appear to take the sunshine with them.

However, the clouds part again just in time for Simon Cowell himself (well, a cartoon version) to introduce ‘the world’s greatest rock and roll band’ – his words, not mine - and Zack De La Rocha and co crash straight into Testify. The fans’ reaction to the instantly recognisable intros of classics Bulls On Parade and Guerrilla Radio is immense and their chanting to Know Your Enemy and Township Rebellion show the dedication of Rage’s loyal followers. Tom Morello demonstrates his mind-blowing skill on guitar with several close-ups on the big screen but manages not to overdo it on the solos like many accomplished musicians. The huge power of Bullet In The Head sees enough jumping from Zack - as well as the crowd - to spark an earthquake and leave many fans without feeling in their toes.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a RATM gig without a political speech but Zack also take a moment to show his appreciation for the British music scene, before the band launch into White Riot by The Clash. Their years of touring mean that RATM know how to put a set list together, winding down the show with Sleep Now In The Fire and Freedom before applauding the crowd as they leave the stage. The encore is announced with quotes and newspaper headlines documenting The Rage Factor campaign and the band return with the knock out winning song Killing In The Name.

As the show ends, everyone leaves with the feeling that they have been part of rock music history, and although Simon was probably not bothered by the army of people wearing ‘Rage 1, Cowell 0’ t-shirts – as he was off winning a BAFTA that very evening – it certainly proved that rock can defeat manufactured pop, as well as scissors.

Interview: Rocking In The Name Of Rage Against The Machine

Tribute acts have become so much more than the classic Elvis impersonator. These days many have a fan base of their own with the likes of The Bootleg Beatles and ABBA tribute Bjorn Again proving hugely popular. If you can overlook the cheesy names – Fred Zeppelin, AC/DShe and No Way Sis are just a few that spring to mind – then the tribute act fulfils a purpose for those who are not fortunate enough to be able to see their favourite performers live.

Know Your Enemy, Bournemouth’s local Rage Against The Machine tribute act, do just that. With the increasingly popular RATM’s gigs becoming few and far between, the band - made up of Jim Larcombe on vocals, Grant Stevens on bass, Steve Mowbray on guitar and Ian Shuff on drums – were simply responding to demand when they formed three years ago. ‘We used to be a general covers band but we played a lot of Rage tracks. Everyone used to tell to us we should start a Rage tribute act so we went for it,’ explains Steve.

The guys haven’t always played the music of other artists. Starting out in ‘a crappy little band’ when they were kids, the guys began writing songs for fun but decided covering other people’s music was the way forward. ‘Obviously the main advantage of being in a tribute band is that you don’t have to sit down and right a load of material because it’s already written for you,’ says Steve.

Another benefit for this group of mates is that the band allows them to leave their day-jobs of construction worker, garage owner, full-time dad and mature student for a night and become their idols. It is very much a case of ‘builder by day, rock star by night’. Nevertheless, this advanced production of Stars In Their Eyes also comes with some added pressure, as Steve adds, ‘Obviously people expect you to be exactly like that band, so if you’re not then they leave disappointed.’

Needless to say, the guys are pleased about Rage Against The Machine’s Christmas Number 1. Jim remembers hearing Rage for the first time when he was 12 years old ‘I’d never heard anything like it, but when I played it to other people they didn’t like it. Now, 20 years on it’s taken off. It’s brilliant.’ Before adding, somewhat sarcastically, ‘But I do think Simon Cowell is really cool. Everything he touches turns to gold. If I could dance in front of him I would’. The chart success of ‘Killing In The Name’ has also had other benefits for the band ‘I’d say most of our shows coming up are a result of it. People are definitely more interested,’ adds Ian.

Being huge Rage fans, the guys have seen their idols perform live on several occasions. But, unless you count Grant’s insistence that Rage front man Zack de la Rocha rode past them on a push bike in Portugal, they have never had the chance to meet them face to face. ‘We’re probably not allowed to meet them, it would cause some sort of quantum flux disruption or something - a little black hole would open up,’ jokes Steve. When asked if there is any other band they would like to be a tribute act for Jim grins ‘Probably Kylie Minogue, the Wombles or Rick Astley’ before launching into an impressive rendition of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’.

Before beginning their pre-show ritual of beer and Jack Daniels, the band, who list ‘No Shelter’ and ‘Bullet In The Head’ amongst their favourite Rage tracks to play, remember the last time they rocked The Old Fire Station. ‘It was exactly one year ago to the day,’ says Ian ‘But tonight’s sound is much better. I seem to remember the sound check went on for nearly an hour and a half last year’.

When the band take to the stage it’s evident that the audience don’t quite know how to react to a tribute act and many look a little embarrassed to be there. But a few songs in, the music starts to take over and the band bring The Old Fire Station to life with energy by the bucket load. Front man Jim, a fan of audience participation, regularly hands the microphone over to the front row giving Rage fans the rare chance to scream their favourite bands politically opinionated lyrics through the speakers. An experience which would be near impossible at a RATM gig these days.

By the end of the show the mosh pit is in full swing and a supercharged version of Killing In The Name leaves the crowd cheering for an encore. In true rock star style Jim ends the set by crowd surfing to the bar and the audience are left with no doubt that Know Your Enemy are the next best thing to their Californian heroes.