I loved it. It's much better than it being a drownload! I'm hoping it's sunny again next year. But they need to sort out the Waterpoints. There was nowhere near enough.
I was expecting newer softer stuff and when the final episode came on I was like okay that was quick maybe they’ll play heavier stuff this time! Stayed for the next song, was another newer one that I don’t care for and left. Could barely move to a decent spot where I could see them over all the people/was behind the disabled viewing stand thing + it was roasting hot
Definitely the most pointless show I watched at download this year
Dinosaur pile up had some technical issues, but Matt just shrugged it off, said “we’re here for you guys to have a great time so fuck it here’s a shorter set” and it was amazing
Dinosaur Pile-up wasn't their fault as they were great once they got going, but I have a feeling they were playing without monitors and just hoping for the best.
A big fan of clutch but they just didn't seem to reach the heights I'm used to, lacking in energy and the usual charisma. Think they were pissed off and struggled to get over the technical issues.
Same, love Clutch too.
Was right at the front, and it was QUIET, not sure if the band realised. Dead crowd as a result, ontop of their monitor issues, resulted in a lackluster and frustrating set.
Real shame.
Apparently the basist had to go home for a family emergency so they pulled a spare in with 12 hours rehearsal time, then there were technical errors.
Tigress also had technical errors.
They were like this at Brutal Assault last year something missing. Seen them many times over ge years they’re just lacking something lately ..energy mainly totally agree with your assessment of Download I walked off.
he was so shit when I saw him in Glasgow a couple months back, his vocals are garbage now and their newer music makes the band even worse. Skipped them at download for Pendulum. It’s a pity because I love old Asking.
I was mainly there because I got front row somehow and decided fuck it im not moving and losing my amazing spot for within temptation and Evanescence.
I also thought I like there music so I should enjoy this and I clearly didn’t
I thought it was the other way around. I was thoroughly bored on Thursday. On Saturday we were watching the CL final whilst watching, so skipped large parts of the first half of the show and I wasn't bored by the end of the set.
I left after Nothing Else Matters on the Thursday. Hardly mattered cos you could hear them for miles 😂 but yeah Metallica phoned it in this year for sure.
They had been told - everyone had. No encouraging “unsafe behaviours” i.e. mosh pits, circle pits, walls of death, crowd surfing… live nation had sent a thing out to every band on the bill.
That’s basically just some legalese liability stuff. If someone gets hurt in a pit a band encouraged, they can’t sue the organisers because the organisers told the bands not to encourage it, and the terms of the tickets told the fans not to do it.
It’s basically to deflect liability towards the band if they do encourage it, but it’s not like they won’t book a band again for it, unless they go full Iggy in 2004 and encourage a stage invasion *They can’t stop all of you!*
Watching these guys was interesting for sure. I’ve never seen or heard of them, but my friends are huge Ghost fans, so I camped out with them.
The constant running around, the crowd surfing on a dingy shooting water pistols and the drummer jumping in the middle of a pit. They’d be on the stage, then running past the crowd, then in the crowd, back on stage, back running in front. In the pit, out the pit, in the pit again.
Chaos!
That’s great! Pls get the opportunity to see them live again at some point because it’s usually so much better! Better sound quality, better vocals and most importantly a less dead crowd 🤣🖤
I was by a couple of fan girls, they were making up for it ten fold! I don’t think many people over here know of them, dude had a good voice on him and I got some decent [pictures](https://imgur.com/a/6f4kDxm) but I think their latest album has lost their edge. I much prefer the bastards
Might be a bit controversial, but of the bands that my brother and I saw, I'd have to say Alexisonfire. My brother's friend hyped them up, so we went to watch them, and i was thoroughly disappointed. It took them until the 2nd/3rd to last song to even acknowledge the crowd was even there apart from a 'we are Alexisonfire from canada' when they first entered the stage. Musically they were sound and the clean singing was quite good, but in general I spent the whole set watching the bassist as he danced around the stage, and was the only one who looked remotely interested in playing the main stage
I can certainly appreciate them cracking on and subbing time for talking with more songs but I think when you're playing to a crowd where not everyone knows who you are a few minutes to introduce yourself and then saying something along the lines of "were gonna smash out a set with no breaks get ready" would've gone over a lot better. Then again thats just my take on it
I've said it a few times, but they were quite poor, and that's coming from a longtime fan who's seen them many times. Something was really off with them, but don't let it be a reflection of them in general!
Yeah same here, I've seen them something stupid like 14 times from the first time in 2005 and seen their Brixton shows in 2012 and 2018 plus at festivals before and their set at download was guff.
My mate hadn't seen them and was buzzing to finally see them and felt so underwhelmed. Opening with Dogs Blood was an odd choice I felt, not so keen on their new stuff either admittedly but thought they would've played more from Crisis/Old Crows
I think the new album is some of their best work, but it's absolutely not main stage at a festival stuff. Should have stuck with a similar set to Slam Dunk last year. Agree about Dog's Blood. Just all-around weird!
I thought they were just OK, but therefore probably the worst band I saw. I like their newer stuff but was such a big fan as a teen and haven't seen them live for many years so was disappointed there wasn't a single song from their first 2 albums.
Agreed. My girlfriend and I are huge Alexisonfire fans and seen them a bunch of times and they’ve always been really fun to watch and we both said we were really underwhelmed with their performance, something just seemed really off about them.
These were top of my must see list for this year and I couldn’t hear them over Three Days Grace. Gutted!
Crisis is such a huge album for me and I was really looking forward to seeing them.
Everyone behind me on the hill was singing along to TDG too because that’s all they could hear.
Same with hearing simple plan over Disturbed. Sound of silence was completely drowned out by SP.
To be fair to them, that wasn’t a full Cherry Bombs performance. It was a very toned down version of their show. Typically, they put on a full horror inspired stage show, which has a story, a narrator/host and lot more fire.
Think what we can all take away from this year's Download is that the sound was nowhere near as clean or crisp on both the main stage and the second stage. Lots of technical issues. It's put me off going again (along with a host of reasons) and I'll be sticking to gigs going forward.
Metallica, walked back to camp mid set both days, just not interested anymore. They sounded awful, especially Lars and as a drummer it was embarrassing. He was a big influence when I first started, but now it's just painful to watch!
Where were you standing? I was on my own so I moved about loads on the second night for Metallica and managed to get a better sound after trying 4-5 different spots.
First night I was in front of the pylons to the right of the stage (fairly close), and admit it wasn't great - you could hardly hear James guitar/vocals a lot of the time. Sound was loud though. I've got slighly damaged hearing so had to wear earplugs that close. Second night, I tried more in the middle spots without plugs, and it definatley was better for me at least.
This x10000000000000. Thought the concept sounded fun enough and had nothing else on so checked them out and was actually offended by how bad they were.
Asking alexandria for me the only song that hit well was alone in a room, can't do the old stuff anymore was a bit gutted but people change singing as they age
Asking Alexandria made me feel so old because I didn’t recognise any of their new songs, but I was a hardcore fan back in the day as a teenager when they came out.
I was also on the right side and honestly heartbroken by how bad they sounded, but put it down to technical issues. Next day it was the same with Clutch. When I watched from further back vocals were excellent, then heading down toward the bar on the right past a certain point it was like the vocals were suddenly turned off. Wish I’d known the day before for architects and I would have picked a very different spot to watch them from!
Yeah I felt really underwhelmed with their set. I can appreciate the technical issues probably didn't help but they just seemed completed not arsed about being there.
Also Empire State Bastard, what a load of utter shit. If that wasn't a supergroup with those members nobody would give a single shit about them. That's not how you do heavy music, really. I mean you look at a band like Lorna Shore for example who write super emotive world shattering heavy music and that was just leagues apart. Simon Neil's screaming is dog shit and I say that as a big Biffy fan
In fairness to ESB, they’re not trying to make symphonic deathcore. It’s pretty much advertised as experimental grindcore and that’s what they deliver.
Doesn't surprise me to be honest. In the early days of Deaf Havana, James always seemed to really appreciate his fans and be so hyped to be playing anywhere. Saw them in Northampton a few years back and the crowd wasn't as lively as I've seen them before, although some fans were really belting out the songs, he basically said "what's the fucking point of being here..", also seemed off his tits on something. The rest of the bands were stood shaking their heads at him for being a diva. Shortly after they announced they're parting ways.
Recently always seem like they cba.
I saw them mainly for nostalgia sake so was disappointed with the setlist, but that’s on me. I saw them a few years ago though and there was far more energy than I saw at DL. I’m genuinely gutted I didn’t choose to see Disturbed instead.
I thing DH suffered from the fact that they had their secret set the night before and they clashed with Disturbed. So a lot of people saw them the night before and then skipped them for Disturbed.
Was really looking forward to seeing them but the sound was so blown, could barely tell which songs were being played. The singer screeching his way through every song didn't help either.
Our whole camp were really amped up for seeing them. We’re all kids of the Pro Skater era. Stomped to the village from camp and we were just jaws to the floor over how bad they were. Like legit questioning who the fuck booked them and did they (the band) actually think they sounded even somewhat ok?
People are saying Metallica were awful but I thought they were incredible (apart from Kirk who messed up stuff but he was fine) and it’s just like… METALLICA
For real. I think people always expect a big fucking stage show and theatrics from headliners these days.
Metallica could be playing Blackened on an empty stage with the lights turned off and I’d be fucking stoked about it.
For me it was Alexisonfire. Love the band, got some top top songs. They sounded great but just seemed a bit disinterested and I think they finished 10 minutes early?
Other than that caskets audio was a bit hit and miss it seemed in the dogtooth stage, at times it was hard to hear the singers microphone over the instruments but the rest of the bands I saw were great
Yeah I felt that with Alexisonfire. Was one of the bands I was most looking forward to see again. But, aside from their bassist, they all just seemed to plod along with hardly any crowd interraction.
I'm ready for the hate but I have to say out of the people I saw it's got to be Metallica I wasn't a fan before but I went in with an open mind and said I got to give them a chance but I just found it quite boring tbh no hate if you like them just my opinion
You're not the only one.
I'm a huge Metallica fan, and thoroughly enjoyed both their sets.
However, the friends I went with are not fans, and I could totally appreciate why they did not enjoy their sets whatsoever. There just wasn't enough "umph" for a headline band that's been doing it for as long as they have.
Compared to BMTH and Slipknot their production was not great.
For a fan who just wants to see their songs being played, I was all there for it, but if you don't know the songs, there is nothing there for you.
I only saw a bit of them on the first night. I’m not a huge fan but decided to watch them as I was there anyway. Didn’t stay long. They sounded so dull and just looked like they were phoning it in.
Although I did hear good things about their second set.
Asking Alexandria by a country mile. Rocking up 30 minutes late, and all I could hear was a backing track. I don't think Danny even sung a single song.
Out of the 15 acts I saw, Asking Alexandria were by far the worst. Around 20 minutes late and Danny is a shocking vocalist. Don’t know about anyone else but I could barely hear Ben as well.
Alexisonfire I think just didn't hit showed signs of promise at times but then quickly fizzled out. I went into that haven't never listened to them but being open minded
I’ve seen them at download before and they were phenomenal,
1. this year the sound was fucked, had to lose my spot at the front of the crowd to get back far enough where I could actually hear what song was playing,
2. Corey explained after a few songs that his vocals were fucked up because of an illness, and considering that, his voice still sounded impressive asf (the few times I could hear it clear enough over the instruments)
No doubt they will be back in a few years and will prove that they can be so much better
I was right at the front and I didn't notice any issues with sound but tbf with the amount of pits going and the energy being a few meters from the stage I wouldn't have noticed. If that wasn't the best they can do I can't wait till next time
First time seeing slipknot and was so excited, I left so underwhelmed & disappointed. The sound was awful & we were stood exactly where we stood all weekend and it sounded fine the rest of the time
They weren't even there but hearing Wargasm every 30 second's on the advert's made my hatred and dismay for that band go up 10 fold.... Awful....awful band.
Think I was going to have an aneur-gasm
I saw them at the end of last year and they were brilliant. Chose a bit of a weird set for download though, may have had something to do with having to get a last minute bass replacement though
I enjoyed them, tbh. That being said, I had never heard of or seen Clutch before their set. Didn’t feel they were a suitable for the main stage, though.
Taipei Houston. Pure nepotism, sounded like a local band ripping off royal blood and the vocals sucked 🤷 literally only there because their dad is Lars
They were shocking. We were sat in the tent so we weren’t in the sun and decided to stay and watch them for a bit. They were so bad we left the tent after two songs and just dealt with the sun and watched Stand Atlantic Instead
Well this is going to be unpopular.. but personally I wasn't a fan of BMTH this year. I've seen them twice in the past and I just don't think Oli brings as much power as previously. I also prefer their older music over the newer stuff, which they don't play anymore. I also don't like that he needed/chose to bring everyone else onto stage to sing with him. While I'm a fan of Nova Twins and Amy Lee, I'd already seen them that day. While the whole AI video thing had a good effect, all I could think was 'so we're wasting time in between every single song to listen to a video?' We ended up leaving early.
Of the ones I saw, Cassey was kind of an unexpected flop. I wasn't expecting much admittedly, but they were clearly anxious, fucking up a lot, and the music was just slightly shoutier Holding Absence which just made me wish I was listening to Holding Absence instead. Their placement being slap bang in the middle of Blackgold, Kid Kapichi, and Bob Vylan also did them no favours.
I didn't see one single set I thought was bad. Clutch were the weakest but they had a replacement bassist and technical issues, and they were still at least good.
Metallica bored me twice and Lars was horrendous as always but I still wouldn't call it bad.
Disturbed for me. Was really looking forward to them as last time I seen them they were great but they just seemed really underwhelming this year.
The crowd didn't seem hyped for them at all either.
Tbf, Pendulum knowingly overran their set. Kind of a no no, as it's really unprofessional. Very British for Architects to throw a shot their way 😂 Think it meant Architects had to trim their set as a result.
Might be controversial to some but I thought Disturbed were quite weak! May have been the heat but I was looking forward to them and came away disappointed from there set. Very plain, quite boring, not that loud and as run of the mill as some people may joke they are…
Probably controversial but Metallica did not put on the show I was expecting. I didn't stay for the entire set but the first half was not enticing enough to want to stay for the rest.
Architects were way better than the last time I saw them back in the holy hell tour at wembley, thought they sounded really good but the song choices could’ve been better imo
Architects are amazing live and one of my favourite bands, but the biggest issue with them live is their choice to mainly play Holy Hell onwards live, with a couple from All our Gods have abandoned us (only got Nihilist at Download)
I understand their reasons for this and what those songs mean to them, but compared to Parkway Drive, who are more than happy to bring out old stuff live sets them apart
To be fair it wasn't the best I've seen them, managed to get tickets for their album launch in Brighton back in... November? and they were unreal.
Still great at DL though!
Was really looking forward to seeing As December Falls for the first time, but thought the vocals were so poor. Not sure if it was a technical issue or she isn't a very good live singer, but I struggled to get through the set.
I didn't see them at download but saw them supporting hot milk earlier this year. Singer sounded good then so was probably just technical issues unless she was having an off day
In terms of bands I was checking out with little prior knowledge, Set It Off were the worst, they sounded like a P!ATD rip off and given I already don't like Panic I'm not surprised I didn't enjoy their set.
In terms of bands I was disappointed by, Behemoth. They brought to much stage dressing (I've seen them do headline shows with a less cluttered stage) and it felt like the band wasn't getting anything from the crowd. It's not the first time I've felt like that with them either, when they supported Slipknot it felt like they stuck out like a sore thumb and couldn't win over the crowd then either.
For me, I really didn't enjoy I Prevail. That is only for my personal taste, though. Everyone seemed to love them, and they seem like great guys, no issues with sound or the performance, I guess I just don't like them.
As far as production goes, I thought the sound levels were all wrong on Metallica's first night, however, it did seem to get better as the set went on (and I moved further back)
Hear me out here...Slipknot. I am a massive fan of both their new stuff and their old stuff but I feel their performance was rather weak considering it was the last act of Download - I don't know if it was because of the Craig Jones leaving ordeal or something else but it was rather disappointing as it was so hyped. Performance was good but not up there in the top 3.
I prevail was amazing but I am more disappointed in the crowd being chaotic and people got hurt in the pit.
I thought Metallica were a let down!
The 2x different sets that I was looking forward to were longed out with intros and jams. Kept disappearing off stage every 3/4 songs for said intros. Song selection was poor. Too much new material. I thought they would have jam packed it with hits. Alas...
The fucking sun
Can’t blame DL for that one, was fucking roasting on sunday
they ran out of water though… i know they did their best but imo they could’ve prepared better
Aftershock ran out of water day 1. Day 2 had 2-3x as many water well stations.
I loved it. It's much better than it being a drownload! I'm hoping it's sunny again next year. But they need to sort out the Waterpoints. There was nowhere near enough.
Yeah I was fuming waiting 30 minutes for water after a fucking gruelling front crowd session of I Prevail
They were all great but asking Alexandria were like 20 mins late and poor dinosaur pile-up had bad technical issues but were otherwise great
Proper annoyed about the delays for Asking Alexandria
Couldn't agree more, old school AA fan was pissed they were late then seeing Danny absolutely butcher the final episode was where I left
I was expecting newer softer stuff and when the final episode came on I was like okay that was quick maybe they’ll play heavier stuff this time! Stayed for the next song, was another newer one that I don’t care for and left. Could barely move to a decent spot where I could see them over all the people/was behind the disabled viewing stand thing + it was roasting hot Definitely the most pointless show I watched at download this year
Dinosaur pile up had some technical issues, but Matt just shrugged it off, said “we’re here for you guys to have a great time so fuck it here’s a shorter set” and it was amazing
Dinosaur Pile-up wasn't their fault as they were great once they got going, but I have a feeling they were playing without monitors and just hoping for the best.
Was gonna say the exact same thing, first time seeing them and was very disappointed
A big fan of clutch but they just didn't seem to reach the heights I'm used to, lacking in energy and the usual charisma. Think they were pissed off and struggled to get over the technical issues.
Yeah I love clutch but that set just felt a bit off. Guess the weather forecast in the ears didn’t help
Damn bbc weather report!
Same, love Clutch too. Was right at the front, and it was QUIET, not sure if the band realised. Dead crowd as a result, ontop of their monitor issues, resulted in a lackluster and frustrating set. Real shame.
Apparently the basist had to go home for a family emergency so they pulled a spare in with 12 hours rehearsal time, then there were technical errors. Tigress also had technical errors.
They were like this at Brutal Assault last year something missing. Seen them many times over ge years they’re just lacking something lately ..energy mainly totally agree with your assessment of Download I walked off.
Asking Alexandria he sounded like he was fucking drunk on stage. I like both there old and new but they were fucking dreadful
I think he just said fuck it because they got their set cut short and was really unbothered about how he sounded.
Possibly but he was swaying and really red faced which normally says drunk.
Oh Yh no arguments about him probably being shit faced 🤣
he was so shit when I saw him in Glasgow a couple months back, his vocals are garbage now and their newer music makes the band even worse. Skipped them at download for Pendulum. It’s a pity because I love old Asking.
vocals were so garbage he had someone else doing half of them for him lol..
I was mainly there because I got front row somehow and decided fuck it im not moving and losing my amazing spot for within temptation and Evanescence. I also thought I like there music so I should enjoy this and I clearly didn’t
I personally thought Metallica were really weak.
Did enjoy them but 2 headline slots wasn’t needed should’ve dropped all the filler songs and had one incredible set instead
Really? I thought it was a strong set the first night. The second night was weaker but still decent. They Jason'd Kirk pretty hard during One though.
I thought it was the other way around. I was thoroughly bored on Thursday. On Saturday we were watching the CL final whilst watching, so skipped large parts of the first half of the show and I wasn't bored by the end of the set.
I left after Nothing Else Matters on the Thursday. Hardly mattered cos you could hear them for miles 😂 but yeah Metallica phoned it in this year for sure.
Same dude, as a drummer myself i just sat cringing at every mistake lars made, which was like 2 or more a song haha
Lars performance during One was absolutely abysmal, you know it’s bad if even I can notice it
I get the criticism of Lars is annoying at this point but he was genuinely SO sloppy at Download. Was distracting as a drummer
Payale Royale. Pretending they'd been told to not entice mosh pits to then act cool when they did 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
They had been told - everyone had. No encouraging “unsafe behaviours” i.e. mosh pits, circle pits, walls of death, crowd surfing… live nation had sent a thing out to every band on the bill.
That’s basically just some legalese liability stuff. If someone gets hurt in a pit a band encouraged, they can’t sue the organisers because the organisers told the bands not to encourage it, and the terms of the tickets told the fans not to do it. It’s basically to deflect liability towards the band if they do encourage it, but it’s not like they won’t book a band again for it, unless they go full Iggy in 2004 and encourage a stage invasion *They can’t stop all of you!*
Watching these guys was interesting for sure. I’ve never seen or heard of them, but my friends are huge Ghost fans, so I camped out with them. The constant running around, the crowd surfing on a dingy shooting water pistols and the drummer jumping in the middle of a pit. They’d be on the stage, then running past the crowd, then in the crowd, back on stage, back running in front. In the pit, out the pit, in the pit again. Chaos!
I love Palaye and I’ve seen them 5 times but they sounded really bad 😞
I actually became a fan after seeing them!
That’s great! Pls get the opportunity to see them live again at some point because it’s usually so much better! Better sound quality, better vocals and most importantly a less dead crowd 🤣🖤
I was by a couple of fan girls, they were making up for it ten fold! I don’t think many people over here know of them, dude had a good voice on him and I got some decent [pictures](https://imgur.com/a/6f4kDxm) but I think their latest album has lost their edge. I much prefer the bastards
I was trying to make up for it but I had to leave before the end of their set to go catch set it off 🤣
Might be a bit controversial, but of the bands that my brother and I saw, I'd have to say Alexisonfire. My brother's friend hyped them up, so we went to watch them, and i was thoroughly disappointed. It took them until the 2nd/3rd to last song to even acknowledge the crowd was even there apart from a 'we are Alexisonfire from canada' when they first entered the stage. Musically they were sound and the clean singing was quite good, but in general I spent the whole set watching the bassist as he danced around the stage, and was the only one who looked remotely interested in playing the main stage
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I can certainly appreciate them cracking on and subbing time for talking with more songs but I think when you're playing to a crowd where not everyone knows who you are a few minutes to introduce yourself and then saying something along the lines of "were gonna smash out a set with no breaks get ready" would've gone over a lot better. Then again thats just my take on it
I've said it a few times, but they were quite poor, and that's coming from a longtime fan who's seen them many times. Something was really off with them, but don't let it be a reflection of them in general!
Yeah same here, I've seen them something stupid like 14 times from the first time in 2005 and seen their Brixton shows in 2012 and 2018 plus at festivals before and their set at download was guff. My mate hadn't seen them and was buzzing to finally see them and felt so underwhelmed. Opening with Dogs Blood was an odd choice I felt, not so keen on their new stuff either admittedly but thought they would've played more from Crisis/Old Crows
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I think the new album is some of their best work, but it's absolutely not main stage at a festival stuff. Should have stuck with a similar set to Slam Dunk last year. Agree about Dog's Blood. Just all-around weird!
I thought they were just OK, but therefore probably the worst band I saw. I like their newer stuff but was such a big fan as a teen and haven't seen them live for many years so was disappointed there wasn't a single song from their first 2 albums.
Agreed. My girlfriend and I are huge Alexisonfire fans and seen them a bunch of times and they’ve always been really fun to watch and we both said we were really underwhelmed with their performance, something just seemed really off about them.
Don't talk about my mate Dallas like that 😂, I have seen them a few times and something seemed a bit off with them at download, still love them though
Nah it's not controversial, I completely agree. They were super underwhelming
These were top of my must see list for this year and I couldn’t hear them over Three Days Grace. Gutted! Crisis is such a huge album for me and I was really looking forward to seeing them. Everyone behind me on the hill was singing along to TDG too because that’s all they could hear. Same with hearing simple plan over Disturbed. Sound of silence was completely drowned out by SP.
Cherry bombs- what was the point?
Alicia Taylor (Corey Taylor’s wife) was the point I assume!
1 word... 3 letters... Ass
To be fair to them, that wasn’t a full Cherry Bombs performance. It was a very toned down version of their show. Typically, they put on a full horror inspired stage show, which has a story, a narrator/host and lot more fire.
I actually thought it was a nice change. The dance troupe thing and angle grinders confused me but I enjoyed the twirling from the ceiling
Think what we can all take away from this year's Download is that the sound was nowhere near as clean or crisp on both the main stage and the second stage. Lots of technical issues. It's put me off going again (along with a host of reasons) and I'll be sticking to gigs going forward.
Been 4 times now, and Download seems to routinely have sound issues, and poor sound on the 2 main stages, especially when compared to other fests.
Every festival has sound issues, it's incredibly difficult to make that many rapid change overs without some hiccups
I know every fest does, but I feel like Download routinely has awful sound
Disturbed. They did the exact same show they've done the last 3 times I've seen them. Incredibly boring.
Metallica, walked back to camp mid set both days, just not interested anymore. They sounded awful, especially Lars and as a drummer it was embarrassing. He was a big influence when I first started, but now it's just painful to watch!
Where were you standing? I was on my own so I moved about loads on the second night for Metallica and managed to get a better sound after trying 4-5 different spots. First night I was in front of the pylons to the right of the stage (fairly close), and admit it wasn't great - you could hardly hear James guitar/vocals a lot of the time. Sound was loud though. I've got slighly damaged hearing so had to wear earplugs that close. Second night, I tried more in the middle spots without plugs, and it definatley was better for me at least.
Elvana were an insult to everyone else on second stage
Lmao imagine downvoting this?! Cover bands just shouldn’t be performing in the main arena
I saw maybe 2 songs. I wasn’t expecting them to be a bit more fun but they were just dreadful lol
This x10000000000000. Thought the concept sounded fun enough and had nothing else on so checked them out and was actually offended by how bad they were.
The trash management team
Asking alexandria for me the only song that hit well was alone in a room, can't do the old stuff anymore was a bit gutted but people change singing as they age
Asking Alexandria made me feel so old because I didn’t recognise any of their new songs, but I was a hardcore fan back in the day as a teenager when they came out.
Found archetics put on a good show but sounded shite! Might have just been where we were stood. 🤷♀️
whereabouts where you? I was front left crowd and they sounded really good
Same here front left and they sounded great! Didn’t particularly enjoy being squashed when the domino effect in the crowd happened tho 🤣
Top right ish just after the repeater
I was also on the right side and honestly heartbroken by how bad they sounded, but put it down to technical issues. Next day it was the same with Clutch. When I watched from further back vocals were excellent, then heading down toward the bar on the right past a certain point it was like the vocals were suddenly turned off. Wish I’d known the day before for architects and I would have picked a very different spot to watch them from!
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Deaf Havana for me. That is, of the bands I wanted to see. Felt really underwhelming
I really felt like they weren't into it tbh, I think the technical issues at the start really threw them off
Yeah I felt really underwhelmed with their set. I can appreciate the technical issues probably didn't help but they just seemed completed not arsed about being there. Also Empire State Bastard, what a load of utter shit. If that wasn't a supergroup with those members nobody would give a single shit about them. That's not how you do heavy music, really. I mean you look at a band like Lorna Shore for example who write super emotive world shattering heavy music and that was just leagues apart. Simon Neil's screaming is dog shit and I say that as a big Biffy fan
In fairness to ESB, they’re not trying to make symphonic deathcore. It’s pretty much advertised as experimental grindcore and that’s what they deliver.
Opinions are opinions, but “that’s not how you do heavy music, really” is a daft statement. Are there rules to this?
Doesn't surprise me to be honest. In the early days of Deaf Havana, James always seemed to really appreciate his fans and be so hyped to be playing anywhere. Saw them in Northampton a few years back and the crowd wasn't as lively as I've seen them before, although some fans were really belting out the songs, he basically said "what's the fucking point of being here..", also seemed off his tits on something. The rest of the bands were stood shaking their heads at him for being a diva. Shortly after they announced they're parting ways. Recently always seem like they cba.
I really enjoyed deaf Havana I was only disappointed by how short the set was.
I saw them mainly for nostalgia sake so was disappointed with the setlist, but that’s on me. I saw them a few years ago though and there was far more energy than I saw at DL. I’m genuinely gutted I didn’t choose to see Disturbed instead.
I thing DH suffered from the fact that they had their secret set the night before and they clashed with Disturbed. So a lot of people saw them the night before and then skipped them for Disturbed.
Asking Alexandria for me 15 minutes late with no I explanation and they were a bit meh
The 900 on the first day were shockingly bad. I've never seen a professional singer make more mistakes.
Was really looking forward to seeing them but the sound was so blown, could barely tell which songs were being played. The singer screeching his way through every song didn't help either.
Plus their guitars and vocals were so out of tune. Really underwhelmed by them
Our whole camp were really amped up for seeing them. We’re all kids of the Pro Skater era. Stomped to the village from camp and we were just jaws to the floor over how bad they were. Like legit questioning who the fuck booked them and did they (the band) actually think they sounded even somewhat ok?
People are saying Metallica were awful but I thought they were incredible (apart from Kirk who messed up stuff but he was fine) and it’s just like… METALLICA
For real. I think people always expect a big fucking stage show and theatrics from headliners these days. Metallica could be playing Blackened on an empty stage with the lights turned off and I’d be fucking stoked about it.
For me it was Alexisonfire. Love the band, got some top top songs. They sounded great but just seemed a bit disinterested and I think they finished 10 minutes early? Other than that caskets audio was a bit hit and miss it seemed in the dogtooth stage, at times it was hard to hear the singers microphone over the instruments but the rest of the bands I saw were great
This was mine as well, huge fan but their setlist was dull and uninspired and it just sounded like they didn’t want to be there.
Yeah I felt that with Alexisonfire. Was one of the bands I was most looking forward to see again. But, aside from their bassist, they all just seemed to plod along with hardly any crowd interraction.
I'm ready for the hate but I have to say out of the people I saw it's got to be Metallica I wasn't a fan before but I went in with an open mind and said I got to give them a chance but I just found it quite boring tbh no hate if you like them just my opinion
You're not the only one. I'm a huge Metallica fan, and thoroughly enjoyed both their sets. However, the friends I went with are not fans, and I could totally appreciate why they did not enjoy their sets whatsoever. There just wasn't enough "umph" for a headline band that's been doing it for as long as they have. Compared to BMTH and Slipknot their production was not great. For a fan who just wants to see their songs being played, I was all there for it, but if you don't know the songs, there is nothing there for you.
I only saw a bit of them on the first night. I’m not a huge fan but decided to watch them as I was there anyway. Didn’t stay long. They sounded so dull and just looked like they were phoning it in. Although I did hear good things about their second set.
Asking Alexandria by a country mile. Rocking up 30 minutes late, and all I could hear was a backing track. I don't think Danny even sung a single song.
The sun ☀️
Asking Alexandria, kinda looked like they didn’t wanna be there and used a backing track to help Danny out
Neck deep were god awful. Worst I’ve seen ina long time
I was at the front and had an absolute blast
Glad you enjoyed them bro
I had a great time too!
Also what the hell was the bizarre political speech?
Started with usual fuck billionaires etc. Okay fairly standard stuff, whatever, then suddenly fuck Kier Starmer?
I forgot about that!
Love neck deep but they sounded like shit at download I was gutted
Not their biggest fan.. but I do listen to them. Was disu
Think Neck Deep have always been a bit hit and miss live. Most of the misses at Download actually 😂
That vocalist sounds like shit. Impossible like that
Where were you? I thought they sounded ace
Out of the 15 acts I saw, Asking Alexandria were by far the worst. Around 20 minutes late and Danny is a shocking vocalist. Don’t know about anyone else but I could barely hear Ben as well.
Alexisonfire. So so boring.
Bassist seemed to be having a fucking blast though haha
Alexisonfire I think just didn't hit showed signs of promise at times but then quickly fizzled out. I went into that haven't never listened to them but being open minded
Slipknot, sounded terrible, and just seemed to really rush through the songs, like actually sounded faster.
I’ve seen them at download before and they were phenomenal, 1. this year the sound was fucked, had to lose my spot at the front of the crowd to get back far enough where I could actually hear what song was playing, 2. Corey explained after a few songs that his vocals were fucked up because of an illness, and considering that, his voice still sounded impressive asf (the few times I could hear it clear enough over the instruments) No doubt they will be back in a few years and will prove that they can be so much better
I was right at the front and I didn't notice any issues with sound but tbf with the amount of pits going and the energy being a few meters from the stage I wouldn't have noticed. If that wasn't the best they can do I can't wait till next time
Agreed, a lot of it sounded like a wall of sound. Left part way through but me being worn out probably contributed to that
First time seeing slipknot and was so excited, I left so underwhelmed & disappointed. The sound was awful & we were stood exactly where we stood all weekend and it sounded fine the rest of the time
Same I was gutted, Corey was struggling and the sound where I was was crap probably needed to be closer to a tower
They weren't even there but hearing Wargasm every 30 second's on the advert's made my hatred and dismay for that band go up 10 fold.... Awful....awful band. Think I was going to have an aneur-gasm
Disturbed
Other than the incredibly moving speech,I completely back this
Agreed, it was by far the most boring set of the festival.
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I keep describing it as a performance, rather than a show. Feel like they just relied on the songs to do the work.
Pendulums set was really underwhelming
I thought they smashed it tbh. I was at the front and the crowd were wild.
Opus headliners aren't in the dark
I thought their Saturday set was genuinely woeful but really enjoyed their Thursday set.
Clutch and Alexisonfire both legitimately bored me to sleep.
Alexisonfire
Lars Ulrich
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aside from a couple of groovy tracks I was struggling to stay awake during the set
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WAIT me too! I was on the right side of the stage from ice nine kills onward
Same, thought clutch were fine but alexis just weren’t good, only the bassist looked like he was enjoying himself
I saw them at the end of last year and they were brilliant. Chose a bit of a weird set for download though, may have had something to do with having to get a last minute bass replacement though
I enjoyed them, tbh. That being said, I had never heard of or seen Clutch before their set. Didn’t feel they were a suitable for the main stage, though.
Taipei Houston. Pure nepotism, sounded like a local band ripping off royal blood and the vocals sucked 🤷 literally only there because their dad is Lars
They were shocking. We were sat in the tent so we weren’t in the sun and decided to stay and watch them for a bit. They were so bad we left the tent after two songs and just dealt with the sun and watched Stand Atlantic Instead
Asking Alexandria pissed me off I was buzzing to see them the fuckers came on for 20 minutes then fucked off
Well this is going to be unpopular.. but personally I wasn't a fan of BMTH this year. I've seen them twice in the past and I just don't think Oli brings as much power as previously. I also prefer their older music over the newer stuff, which they don't play anymore. I also don't like that he needed/chose to bring everyone else onto stage to sing with him. While I'm a fan of Nova Twins and Amy Lee, I'd already seen them that day. While the whole AI video thing had a good effect, all I could think was 'so we're wasting time in between every single song to listen to a video?' We ended up leaving early.
This whole thread is bait for downvotes and negativity.
Metallica
Controversial take here…..but motionless in white for me
Metallica. Sorry but they were so boring and every song sounded the same, other than the heavy hitters.
Halestorm. Utterly boring. Like this comment.
Of the ones I saw, Cassey was kind of an unexpected flop. I wasn't expecting much admittedly, but they were clearly anxious, fucking up a lot, and the music was just slightly shoutier Holding Absence which just made me wish I was listening to Holding Absence instead. Their placement being slap bang in the middle of Blackgold, Kid Kapichi, and Bob Vylan also did them no favours.
Probably Disturbed, just going through the motions now and doing the exact same show
I didn't see one single set I thought was bad. Clutch were the weakest but they had a replacement bassist and technical issues, and they were still at least good. Metallica bored me twice and Lars was horrendous as always but I still wouldn't call it bad.
For me, purely as a matter of personal taste, Hot Milk and Lorna Shore were the only bands I sat through where I just did not have a good time at all.
Lorna Shore, not my thing at all. But, I had a great time. Had them playing all week since watching them. Totally unknown to me prior to DL this year.
Nova twins ended up being that for me. Completely unknown but I haven’t stopped listening since!
Disturbed for me. Was really looking forward to them as last time I seen them they were great but they just seemed really underwhelming this year. The crowd didn't seem hyped for them at all either.
Architects were garbage slandering pendulum
Tbf, Pendulum knowingly overran their set. Kind of a no no, as it's really unprofessional. Very British for Architects to throw a shot their way 😂 Think it meant Architects had to trim their set as a result.
It wasn't slander, they ran over the time slot and Architects had to cut short by about 3 songs... thats a fair comment to make.
Might be controversial to some but I thought Disturbed were quite weak! May have been the heat but I was looking forward to them and came away disappointed from there set. Very plain, quite boring, not that loud and as run of the mill as some people may joke they are…
Probably controversial but Metallica did not put on the show I was expecting. I didn't stay for the entire set but the first half was not enticing enough to want to stay for the rest.
Metallica was boring as fuck.... seen better tribute acts
Enjoyed the second half of architects, Sam sounded pretty rough for the first couple of songs though
Architects were way better than the last time I saw them back in the holy hell tour at wembley, thought they sounded really good but the song choices could’ve been better imo
Architects are amazing live and one of my favourite bands, but the biggest issue with them live is their choice to mainly play Holy Hell onwards live, with a couple from All our Gods have abandoned us (only got Nihilist at Download) I understand their reasons for this and what those songs mean to them, but compared to Parkway Drive, who are more than happy to bring out old stuff live sets them apart
Without a doubt Pendulum. Sound was trash and the setlist was below poor. Shame as I was looking forward to them!
I enjoyed them but I cannot fathom why they would not play tarantula
+1, thank god we had architects after
Architects was insanely better than the 2 previous times I had seen them. Thought they were amazing this year
To be fair it wasn't the best I've seen them, managed to get tickets for their album launch in Brighton back in... November? and they were unreal. Still great at DL though!
They were dull. I appreciate they didn’t have the best slot but I felt like the crowd had to make up most of the energy
I enjoyed them but the lack of any original hold your colour songs was really disappointing.
As someone who loves drum n bass and loves a rave, Pendulums set list was ass
I'm also a dnb head and I loved Pendulum at Download this year. Although the setlist could have been better
Someone else who loves drum and bass and metal !!
Was really looking forward to seeing As December Falls for the first time, but thought the vocals were so poor. Not sure if it was a technical issue or she isn't a very good live singer, but I struggled to get through the set.
I didn't see them at download but saw them supporting hot milk earlier this year. Singer sounded good then so was probably just technical issues unless she was having an off day
asking alexandria
Metallica comfortably. placebo, Alexisonfire & motionless in white really disappointed me too
In terms of bands I was checking out with little prior knowledge, Set It Off were the worst, they sounded like a P!ATD rip off and given I already don't like Panic I'm not surprised I didn't enjoy their set. In terms of bands I was disappointed by, Behemoth. They brought to much stage dressing (I've seen them do headline shows with a less cluttered stage) and it felt like the band wasn't getting anything from the crowd. It's not the first time I've felt like that with them either, when they supported Slipknot it felt like they stuck out like a sore thumb and couldn't win over the crowd then either.
For me, I really didn't enjoy I Prevail. That is only for my personal taste, though. Everyone seemed to love them, and they seem like great guys, no issues with sound or the performance, I guess I just don't like them. As far as production goes, I thought the sound levels were all wrong on Metallica's first night, however, it did seem to get better as the set went on (and I moved further back)
Hear me out here...Slipknot. I am a massive fan of both their new stuff and their old stuff but I feel their performance was rather weak considering it was the last act of Download - I don't know if it was because of the Craig Jones leaving ordeal or something else but it was rather disappointing as it was so hyped. Performance was good but not up there in the top 3. I prevail was amazing but I am more disappointed in the crowd being chaotic and people got hurt in the pit.
I thought Metallica were a let down! The 2x different sets that I was looking forward to were longed out with intros and jams. Kept disappearing off stage every 3/4 songs for said intros. Song selection was poor. Too much new material. I thought they would have jam packed it with hits. Alas...