Download Festival Photo Special
Come inside for some choice images from this past weekend’s Download festival.
Well, Classic Rock’s festival stragglers finally made it back into the office this morning.
Scott Rowley, Sian Llewellyn, Paul Henderson and Brad Merrett all returned intact from Download, while Geoff Barton traipsed back from Sweden Rock huddled in his John Motson-style sheepskin, regaling one and all with tales of frostbite, plummeting temperatures and torrential rain.
Barton’s quickfire Sweden Rock verdict? Bachman-Turner might’ve been ‘entertainingly decrepit’ but it was W.A.S.P. who once again stole the show (as they did at last year’s Hard Rock Hell). As for Guns N’ Roses… hoo-boy! You’ll have to wait for Barton’s Sweden Rock report in a forthcoming issue of Classic Rock for his verdict on that little doozie.
As for Download, AC/DC were predictably superb as Friday’s headliners, while you can read a first-hand, side-of-stage report of Rage Against The Machine’s bill-topping set on Saturday here.
Sunday’s main talking point was Stone Temple Pilots. As Caren Gibson of Classic Rock’s sister mag Metal Hammer reports:
‘At first it sounds like his [Scott Weiland's] voice is a little rough in places, then you think perhaps he just can’t sing anymore. Then as the first attempt at crowd interaction passes you realise Scott Weiland is off his tits! Look into his eyes on the big screen and he’s barely even there. And for a while it’s hilarious! As he slurs his way through Wicked Garden, drawls through Crackerman and stumbles through Interstate Love Song it’s actually funny – like watching the many booze casualties over the weekend who have lost the ability to stand up try to stand up and pretend they’re coherent. But as Scott fluffs the beginning of Plush it starts to get embarrassing. Cringeworthy, even.’
Read Caren’s full report of Weiland’s reeling display here. You can also check out reviews of many of the other Download bands at the same location.
Watch this pace for more Download stories. In the meantime, check out some photos from the festival below.
Sparkly jacket required: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
Best buddies again? Joe Perry and Tyler snuggle up.
Smokin’: Airbourne.
The ageless Mr Idol.
Michael Monroe? Nope, it’s H. Oliver Twisted from Reckless Love!
Simply the crest: Lemmy.
Download Slash-a-like: cheers you lot!
Ain’t he sweet: Rock Sugar’s Jess Harnell.
Crusader: Biff Byford of Saxon.
The real Mr Hudson.
Squeeze me, please me: Urban Voodoo Machine.
er, thats not Michael Monroe… can’t you see the Reckless Love banner behing him ??
See you changed the caption under “Michael Monroe” then…
AC/DC were going through the motions – OK, so their motions are lightyears ahead of anyone elses – but let’s not kid ourselves that they were even close to their best. Before the hate mail starts, I am not having a go at all, but they looked like a group of 60 year olds that have been on tour for 2 years. The pauses between songs got longer and longer as they were sucking in air. They were of course still excellent, but when compared to how they were at the beginning of this tour they looked a different band – still the best thing about the weekend (OK, second as Michael Monroe ruled above all others – literally as he went on his usual mountain goat wander)
Gotta agree about ACDC!! Michael Monroe was great, and The Urban Voodoo Machine were a great surprise!
Agree ACDC were not on their best. Michael Monroe and the Urban Voodoo Machine were my favourites of the weekend, Aerosmith were pretty rocking to!
saxon……nuff said!
agreed with acdc. still sounded great though, angus’ hair has got long again too! THERE was a rumour around the site that they got paid 3.2million to play.. wonder why nothing was about them in the programmes or on the 30years of donington t shirts… had they fallen out with the promoters?
aerosmith impressed, wasnt expecting much but the performance seemed refreshed, 124132432 times better than the dabble they had at hyde park
Sadly AC/DC played it as just another date on the Black Ice tour. There was no acknowledgement of the 30 year Donington anniversary or the fact they were headlining for a record 4th time. They were great as always but there’s no doubt it was an opportunity missed. I noticed Brian missed they extended high sing-a-long during High Voltage – which was a stand-out at Donington 1991. An opportunity missed. Having said that tho, it was the ‘DC & Angus has his hair back so they were still pretty damn awesome and everyone I spoke to loved it! lol
That’s nonsense about STP. They didn’t play the best set but believe me, ‘Dead and Bloated’ was one of the most enjoyable – and definitely the soggiest – rock-outs I had all weekend. Considering I was stuck watching them as my trainers wouldn’t have got me over the acoustic stage to watch Ginger, they were pretty damn good – must just be that Scott Weiland’s an easy target.
AC/DC and Aerosmith were both immense. Will never forget those performances.
And Lawnmower Deth actually topped the previous year’s set! Congas, ‘Sumo Rabbit’, a crowdsurf race – brilliant!
cmon did anyone really expect em to acknowledge 30 years of donninigton!you dont know ac/dc if you expected that.they were brilliant like they have been all the black ice tour.im just glad they are still capable of putting on such a superb show.everyone i spoke to thought they were great.special mention for brian,if he stops they wont be ac/dc for me,hes all ive known for 30 years!
Loved DC,Motorhead,Slash,Airbourne&Aerosmith But faves were Jim Jones Revue & Urban Voodoo Machine.Also Virgin Marys were great,really enjoyed them,nice to see a new band & be blownaway by them.That’s what fests are all about for me.
Whoever it was who had the bright idea of putting the camping three light years from the arena wants his nads kicking off,the twat
Euan – this version of High Voltage is the same as it was in Australia this year. I saw them for 6 shows in Oz and they used it as a backdrop for a tribute to Bon, with the ’sing a long’ gone. It’s back to the original format.
Aerosmith are back on top! Great performance – far better than the Hyde Park gig! The set was cut short because of the rain (it was nothing like last weekend) and Tyler didn’t seem that interested plus too many recent hits in the set list! I ‘m surprised Slash did not come out to play a number with them though?