Download Festival 2016 Review: More Like Drownload...
Sunday
By now, the mud was shin height, the smell unbearable and the chance of falling over impossibly high but still we came, and still we watched some great bands.
Sadly for a lot of the undercard players, the crowds felt considerably thinned, thanks to a combination of departed fans, ones holed up in their tents and others stuck in once more ridiculous traffic. That meant that the likes of Buck & Evans, Grand Magus, The Temperance Movement and Amon Amarth played in front of lessened, distinctly grumpy crowds. It took until Halestorm to coax me anywhere near the abysmal conditions, but they were well worth it: theyre infectious and great to watch.
And then from their polished, enthusiastic set, I caught Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes (typically bullish and badly behaved) in front of a massive crowd (who he uncharitably made sit down) and then Tremonti in front of another massive crowd. Why either of them were in the third tent is utterly mystifying considering how great they invariably are. Both will surely end up on a proper stage in coming years.
After Tremonti came the wonderful, chest-bursting doom of Electric Wizard (the most pertinent set of the weekend) - making for a trio in the third tent that made everyone under cover thankful for the odd booking.
Next up, Disturbed played a typically excellent - and very loud - set, mixing old favourites like Down With The Sickness with covers Sound Of Silence, Killing In The Name Of and Baba OReilly. Im calling it now, this was a lot of peoples favourite set of the weekend.
On the second stage Billy Talent made their own claim with their immediately iconic brand of post-hardcore. They should be headliners, but its doubtful itll ever happen here. Second stage maybe, but not the big one, even though they absolutely deserve on it on the strength of performances like this.
Theyre followed by Janes Addiction, on surprisingly mellow form for a band accompanied by circus ladies hanging from meat hooks. Theyre as polished as youd expect, oozing exotic class and never breaking their cool to look TOO enthusiastic to be here. But then thats exactly what you want.
So what about Maiden? Regal, technically astounding, entertaining. Click here for our Iron Maiden headliner review.
In short: the music was great. Not much else was.
Were you at Download 2016? Share your reactions and reviews below in the comments thread.