Another year, another summer and another chapter closes at
metal's most revered festival. The Mecca of heavy music played host to another
150 bands - some new, some old and all united under the banner of downtuned
guitars and multiple bass drums.
Saturday began somewhere in 1980, and stayed there for the
majority of the day. UFO kicked off proceedings at the ungodly hour of 11am,
and played a retro set full of classics, featuring the excellent "Doctor
Doctor" and the cockney musings of lead singer Phil Mogg. (4/5)
Young Guns followed, but seemed dwarfed by the stage, the
band's pseudo-rock songs not translating well on-stage, nor to the crowd. They
sounded under-mixed, under-manned and under-prepared. Aside from hit
"Bones", Young Guns were out of their depth. (2/5)
Despite their change of name, Black Star Riders are still
essentially Thin Lizzy with a guilt trip, and despite playing a couple of tunes
from their new album, there was an air of inevitability when "Whisky In
The Jar" and "The Boys Are Back In Town" finished the set.
Still, all good fun. (3/5)
Among all the wailing guitar solos, I fond time to head to
the Red Bull tent to catch Astroid Boys on the recommendation of a friend.
Despite my original caution at the metal-dubstep hybrid that I had been warned
about, the Welsh rappers were super; mixing energy and street cred with
metalcore breakdowns. A musical epiphany that was thoroughly fun, Highly
recommended. (4/5).
Alice In Chains followed, opening with "Them
Bones" and despite Jerry Cantrell's newly short hair, AIC were no less
brutal, whizzing through a typically downtuned and dirty set culminating in the
fantastic "Man In A Box". There may have been a tribute to Layne
Staley on Sean Kinney's kick drum, but thanks William DuVall donning the
microphone, his memory hasn't been tarnished. (4/5).
Next up were Motorhead, who were exactly what you expected
from Motorhead. Classics like "Damage Case", "The Chase Is
Better Than The Catch" and "The One To Sing The Blues" all got
aired before the usual Ace Of Spades/Overkill duopoly ended proceedings in
typical style. To paraphrase from Lemmy himself, they were Motorhead, and they
played Rock N' Roll. (4/5).
Queens Of The Stone Age were the last band to hit the main
stage before Iron Maiden entered, and treated Donnington with a no-frills set,
opening with stacatto rocker "Feel Good Hit Of The Summer" and
turning Download into a party atmosphere with "No One Knows" 5th song
in. "Go With The Flow" and "A Song For The Dead" completed
a show that went a long way to explaining why QOTSA are so popular. New drummer
Jon Theodore filled the giant shoes of Dave Grohl with ease, slotting in subtly
alongside Josh Homme's abrasive guitar play. (4/5).
Iron Maiden entered what is widely regarded as their stage,
and their opening gambit suggested no different - hiring a Battle Of Britain
Spitfire to fly over the onlooking masses to opener "Moonchild".
Maiden played a tweaked version of the Maiden England set, with numerous cuts
from the Seventh Son of A Seventh Son record, reminding everyone that Maiden
knows how to treat it's fans - playing rarities like "Phantom Of The
Opera" and "The Prisoner".
That said, as far as a festival set-list went, it would
probably have been more advantageous for Maiden if they had stuck to a less
fan-specific set-list, especially in the face of so many younger fans. I
personally am a huge Iron Maiden fan, and despite appreciating the
progressive-musings, I was a bit disappointed that the novelty meant that
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" wasn't part of the set-list.
That said, Iron Maiden are Iron Maiden, and small qualms
aside they were typically excellent - Bruce Dickinson in a jovial mood as the
band reeled off song after song to a (largely) appreciative crowd. They
promised a return to England at the end of summer, revealing a date for an O2
show in August. Based on this evidence, they'll be worth a watch. (4/5).
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