Live Review: Download Festival

Entering via the entrance close to Flemington train station gives us Big Day Out flashback vibes. It’s pleasing to see “Patron Safety Hotline” signs with the accompanying mobile number clearly displayed all around the festival site. 

“Melbourne, how the fuck are ya?” Will King of Windwaker, who play on the Ascension Stage, closest to the entrance, inquires. They do their darndest to get some circle-pit action happening just shy of 1pm and for that this Wagga Wagga metalcore band must be commended. 

Meanwhile, on the Black Stage, Luca Brasi play Anything Near Conviction but we’re heading inside the big top toward the Avalanche Stage for Slaves. Their simple, cocktail drum kit looks lonely up there on the stage but before too long we’re hollering to welcome Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman; Vincent is dressed like a member of Beastie Boys in white bucket hat and red New York Yankees baseball shirt and Holman is shirtless, wearing shorts. The UK duo open with The Lives They Wish They Had, as energetic up there as naughty, rambunctious toddlers. Vincent turns his back on us before arching into a full backbend a la Iggy Pop. He sometimes jogs on the spot while playing and points the neck of his axe our way as if taking aim to mow us all down, grimacing to reveal a set of gold grillz.

One half of the front section breaks into a mosh and some tosser behind us repeatedly hollers, “Get your dick out!” Holman then requests that we all turn to a neighbour in the crowd and give them a hug before demanding the same of security guards in the photography pit. He then leads us in a, “Fuck the hi-hat!” chant before the pair launch into their song of the same name. Many sticks are broken while the drummer/singer bashes his kit - he must go through a lot of those per show. Then after labelling Download “the black T-shirt festival of 2019”, Holman jumps into the crowd as Vincent crowdsurfs. It’s all over too soon and Slaves totally win us over. 


We race across to the Dogtooth Stage to catch the tail end of Baltimore band War On Women’s set. Yep, they’re feminist AF alright, and singer Shawna Potter is delivering a “time’s up” speech when we arrive. The band’s closer High School Reunion contains some pithy lyrical truth bombs about not feeling heard. This hardcore punk band impart important messages while they thrash around on stage and Potter encourages us to continue supporting “people of colour and gender non-conforming folks”.


Back over on the Black Stage, Joel O’Keeffe races across the stage like a bull at a gate and the Black Dog Barking cover art featuring a snarling dog’s muzzle that graces the stage’s back wall, is very on-brand for Download since it calls to mind the festival logo. Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast floods our ears and Airbourne’s unison guitar moves and helicopter hair-ography never fail to excite the masses (although we do worry their hair will be singed once fireballs detonate across the front of the stage, blown back at band members by the wind to a somewhat dangerous degree). Airbourne are always in top form, with riffs so in sync you’d swear the multiple guitars were played by the same phalanges. “Anybody at the Duke Of Windsor about 12 fucking years ago?” O’Keeffe screeches before dedicating Girls In Black to those who raise their hands. Airbourne never disappoint, but we do miss those early days, especially when O’Keeffe used to scale festival stage scaffolding, bottle of red in one hand, before pausing up top to scull from a great height (bloody OH&S is the enemy of rock’n’roll!). 

Returning to the Dogtooth Stage, we prepare for High Tension and the demonic incantations of Karina Utomo. While she performs, Utomo’s hands grab invisible orbs as if channelling intensity. Drummer Lauren Hammel (also of Tropical Fuck Storm) is a pummelling beast. Utomo jumps into the crowd to scream directly in the faces of punters. Potter is clocked watching from side of stage with a Cheshire Cat smile on her dial. This extreme metal band from Melbourne sound so sludgy and dense, and Utomo is an absolute weapon who performs as if possessed. Leading into their last song Rise, Utomo wishes us “a wonderful goth Christmas” before adding she’ll see us at Slayer. This closer boasts additional clean vocals by Mike Deslandes, which add a pleasing melodic layer to make it High Tension’s most accessible tune. 




We race over to the Red Stage to catch a glimpse of Behemoth and note they have personal Beyonce fans to prevent their ghoulish black-and-white make-up from melting in the afternoon sun. Zbigniew Robert Promiński aka Inferno’s impossibly fast double-kick drumming sounds like a jackhammer to the skull and this Polish band certainly is aptly named. The strong wind dismantles half of the centre section of their backdrop. Adam "Nergal" Darski coaxes an overhead clapping commitment from the crowd, but then the band’s tempo shifts immediately and is impossible to follow. 


The bloody wind plays havoc with sound bleed between stages throughout the day and one side of the circus tent that houses the Avalanche Stage is released to better contain the noise. Inside, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes are all dressed in matching ensembles - black ties, gold shirts and white pants - except for lead vocalist Spike Slawson who sports a gold suit, white shirt and black shades. The punters lap up their selection of covers including Blondie’s Heart Of Glass, Paul Simon’s Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard and Dolly Parton’s Jolene, all presented in trademark thrashing fashion. “You can’t spell country without cunts,” Slawson humorously observes and this supergroup cover band rounded out by Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters), Joey Cape and Dave Raun (Lagwagon) are a hoot.

Anthrax own the Black Stage and standout track I Am The Law wonderfully showcases the accelerating axe wizardry of Scott Ian and Jon Donais plus Joey Belladonna's vocal chops. Punters roar along with the “OH! OH! OH!” parts of songs as a pair of crutches are held aloft in the front stalls, punctuating the beat. We’re in awe of the Anthrax brutality. It’s been noted throughout the day that the Melbourne Download massive can’t clap in time to save themselves and we also wish they handed out deodorant as well as sunscreen at the info desk since some crowd-member armpits are honking even at this early stage when they raise devil horns.


Download Festival’s fashion look of the day goes to the bald dude who has somehow affixed horns to his head bald head that actually look real. We also spy a few of the old controversial “Jesus Is A Cunt” Cradle Of Filth T-shirts on bods scattered around the place. 

Over on the Red Stage, The Amity Affliction kick off proceedings in front of a backdrop bearing the name of their chart-topping album of last year, Misery, as a row of smoke canons detonate across the front of the stage. Not too long into their set, frontman Joel Birch stops the action. “Hang on, we’ve got someone down here,” he points deep into the crowd. “Can everyone make a pathway for security, please?” He then remarks that since someone’s gone down the wall of death should be renamed “the wall of dumb”. There’s a long period of silence during which various members of The Amity Affliction tell jokes that fall flat before they’re convinced said fan is ok and launch into This Could Be Heartbreak where Ahren Stringer’s clean vocals shine incandescent. Birch then encourages a circle pit to open up during the faster-paced Shine On, but the band don't demand our full attention so we consult schedules and rack off elsewhere. 

Frenzal Rhomb on Dogtooth Stage it is, then! Their short stabs of punky goodness are awesome and Frenzal Rhomb’s song titles alone bring the LOLs. “This song’s about being attacked by birds,” frontman Jason Whalley explains, deadpan, “it’s called Bird Attack,” and his long dreads are as feral as ever. After this song, Lindsay McDougall jokes, “I told you everyone would pay $200 to come see us!” Whalley intros the band’s next number: “This song’s called Russell Crowe’s Band’s A Fucking Pile Of Shit” (even though its official title is Russell Crowe’s Band) and the crowd sure love singing along with these choruses. “Is anyone missing The Amity Affliction?” Whalley teases, since we have all obviously sacrificed the end of this Gympie band’s set to prioritise Frenzal Rhomb. More hilarious song titles include Storage Unit Pill Press, I’m Shelving Stacks (As I’m Stacking Shelves) and When My Baby Smiles At Me I Go To Rehab. The banter between Whalley and McDougall is priceless and it’s refreshing to have a laugh and break up the heaviness of Download’s line-up much like Slaves, Airbourne and Me First & The Gimme Gimmes also succeed in doing.


On Ascension Stage, Outright impress with Jelena Goluza out front giving it her all with those in-your-face, screamo vocals. “Give us a yell if you caught War On Women!” she instructs and it seems there are a few admiration societies forming through Download Australia. Outright have a massive sound with tempos so fast we feel like balls ricocheting off pucks in a pinball machine.


The powerful voice of Alice In Chains’ current vocalist William DuVall (who replaced Layne Staley after he passed away in 2002) stays true to the tone Staley set, vocals appropriately remaining front and centre as a feature of the band. DuVall dedicates their classic, strutting song Man In The Box to Judas Priest, whose epic production is being set up on the neighbouring Black Stage. The chugging riffs are fat, the harmonies lush (“Je-yee-yee-yee-sus Chriiiiiiiist!”) and it feels like 1991 all over again. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s fancy axe has the word “rock” written on it at least three times over an all-over checked pattern that also features a pin-up girl on her knees with her tits out as an unexpected touch. The density of Mike Inez’s bass line during set highlight Would? is a sinister undercurrent that stops us in our tracks. Inez has worked with Ozzy Osbourne in the past so his presence up there sadly reminds us that Download’s original headliner was forced to cancel less than a month ago due to a series of ongoing health issues flaring up. 

We move in closer to admire Judas Priest’s stage set, which covers every available inch of space, is an absolute masterpiece and features many pitchforks. The eyes of the creatures in the totem poles that border the stage illuminate red to match the props. If we were trying to forget about Osbourne's absence, Black Sabbath's War Pigs blaring over the venue sound system ushers in yet another sulky moment. As soon as the band materialise, lead singer Rob Halford wins outfit of the day with that silver leather jacket trimmed with red and black detail that includes fringing under each sleeve for maximum colour and movement. Halford hits some killer high notes that rival those in the chorus of Boston’s More Than A Feeling (actually, we’re pretty sure some of the highest notes are pre-recorded). All are waiting for Turbo Lover and we’re overwhelmed by this song’s punchy drumming and effortless riffs. There’s a motorbike up there on stage and Halford changes costumes into a spectacular denim sleeveless vest that almost reaches down to the stage and has cool patches sewn all over it. The Download massive then all seem pretty chuffed to sing along gruffly with Breaking The Law's simple chorus. At set’s close, all members of Judas Priest assemble in a straight line across the front of the stage to take a final bow and are greeted by rapturous applause.

On the adjacent Red Stage, Slayer are totally in the zone from the first note of super-fast, relentless opener Repentless; every sound produced so effortlessly that, for these musicians, muscle memory must totally take over. The technical virtuosity on display during Slayer’s set is astounding and we marvel at guitarist Kerry King’s thick, plaited beard as he busts out the debilitating riffs. Under the cloak of night, flamethrowers thrillingly lick the sky and Tom Araya's irate-sounding vocals rile up the masses. Slayer perform this run of Australian shows as part of their final world tour and their prowess reflects years of gig-fitness. A quick pitstop to the RIP toilets (yes, RIP) reveals the unpleasant noise of an overindulger projectile barfing while queuers roll their eyes, annoyed. 

Catching Ghost’s opening over on Avalanche Stage, we hear their Ashes intro, which features children singing Ring A Ring O’ Roses - the nursery rhyme about the plague - as hooded, masked Nameless Ghouls glide onto the stage. (We're not scared, you're scared!) Only frontman Cardinal Copia is without glistening, silver, full head mask. The atmosphere inside this tent is almost icy with fear and the Nameless Ghouls that back Copia absolutely crush it - even though their vision is seriously restricted - while creating a sinister vibe thanks to their costuming. The Swedish band’s pyros sparkle like magical glitter in lieu of flames. This band is captivating, their music bordering on stadium rock compared to the heavier acts we've witnessed today. 


Ozzy’s cancellation definitely left a headliner-sized hole in this evening’s programming, although the talent on display all day across all stages is astounding.


Walking toward the exit we notice that some genius has customised a Flemington sign by sticking a piece of paper with “Donn” written on it over the top of “Flem” to reflect Download’s UK home of Donnington. It’s sketchily done, but we definitely appreciate the sentiment.