Download Festival Preview – 10 Bands To See On Friday
Who’s excited about this year’s Download Festival then? We certainly are! So much so that we’re going to go through all three days of live music and pick out 10 bands we think will be worth checking out. To start with, let’s have a look at getting the weekend off to bang with our choices for a fantastic Friday.
Band: Beartooth
Stage: Third stage
Time: 4.45pm
Why bother?: If you saw their set at the recent Slam Dunk festival, or when they opened the Kerrang tour earlier this year , you already know the answer. Beartooth are a stupendously good live band, full of hunger, passion and big fat riffs. They are also clearly going places, so don’t expect to be able to see them on such a small stage after this summer — catch them up close while you can.
Band: EofE
Stage: Fourth stage
Time: 1pm
Why bother?: It’s always good to see local bands coming good and EofE are one of a trio of West Midlands acts on the first day of Download. It’s been quite a year or so for the Dudley five piece, from playing arenas with McBusted in 2014 to playing small clubs with Glamour of the Kill earlier this year . They’re tight, they have catchy songs and, as a band to open your weekend of live music, they’re not a bad shout at all.
Band: God Damn
Stage: Fourth stage
Time: 1.50pm
Why bother?: If you’re already at the fourth stage to watch local lads EofE, why not stick around for another proud West Midlands act straight after? Duo God Damn have been on a hell of a run of late, signing to a decent label, having plenty of column inches written about them and then supporting the Foo Fighters, as you do. Go and see what all the fuss is about!
Band: Judas Priest
Stage: Main stage
Time: 7.20pm
Why bother?: Rounding off our trio of West Midlands bands at Download’s first day, you probably don’t need as much background about Judas Priest. Quite simply, they are legends. They are made for stages such as the big one at Donington, they will have almost certainly influenced everyone else on the bill this weekend in some way and they are an amazing live band. Check them out and see how it should be done.
Band: Defeater
Stage: Third stage
Time: 3.45pm
Why bother?: Defeater are an amazing band — heartfelt lyrics, crushing guitars and catchy melodies make them really stand out. They are hardly regular visitors to the UK either, so any chance to see them should be snapped up. With that in mind, once you’ve watched them at Download make sure you also head to the Oobleck on 8 July to do it all over again.
Band: Thunder
Stage: Encore Zippo stage
Time: 7pm
Why bother?: It’s not too much of a stretch to say that Thunder owe a lot of their success to Donington. A legendary set in 1990 when they were just starting out, followed by an equally block-busting one two years later forever engraved them in Donington history and now, with a stomping new album and the return of guitarist Ben Matthews after his fight with cancer, Thunder look set pull off another corking set on this hallowed ground. We saw them at the Barclaycard Arena in March and they were terrific — expect the same again at Download.
Band: Hell Yeah
Stage: Main stage
Time: 1.45pm
Why bother?: Any band with Pantera sticksman Vinnie Paul on drums is going to be worth watching, especially one called Hell Yeah. Expect riffs, grooves, big hooks and plenty of shouting. What will they shout you ask? Why, ‘HELL YEAH!’ of course!
Band: A
Stage: Fourth stage
Time: 10.15pm
Why bother?: Those of you in your late twenties/early thirties will probably remember A’s big single, ‘Nothing’, which was a mega tune back in the early noughties when Kerrang TV launched. Why not relive your misspent youth by popping over to the fourth stage to see what A sound like today? Granted, there’s every chance it’ll be rubbish, but you won’t know for sure unless you go and see, will you?
Band: Black Stone Cherry
Stage: Encore Zippo stage
Time: 8.25pm
Why bother?: The Kentucky foursome love playing this festival and, if their last second stage headline slot is anything to go by, this festival loves them. Black Stone Cherry will give you huge sing-alongs, southern-infused riffage and probably a cracking drum solo too — in short, they will put on a show and will absolutely be worth some of your time.
Band: Slipknot
Stage: Main stage
Time: 9.20pm
Why bother?: It takes a truly special band to be able to follow Judas Priest without risk of failure…and Slipknot is that special band. They’ve headlined here before — both with and without their fallen brother Paul Gray — and it’s always a spectacular show when the Iowa nine pieces lands at Donington. Their headline run across the UK this January underlined how much they still have to offer in a live environment and they are a quite perfect way to round off day one of this year’s Download Festival. See you at the front!
Words – Dave Musson
Photos – Dave Musson, Steve Gerrard and Katja Ogrin