FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Download Festival 2019
Download Festival. The titan festival of the UK rock and metal scene. Year in, year out, thousands upon thousands of rock-loving people descend upon the hallowed grounds of Donington Park for three days of the best music rock, metal and everything in between has to offer. 2019’s edition of Download is no different. Across four stages, countless bands will perform across the festival weekend and deciding on who to watch can be a mammoth of a task. But fear not. We here at Distorted Sound have dissected this year’s staggering bill to give you the lowdown on who we think you should watch!
Main Stage
Hosting some of the biggest names in rock and metal, Download Festival‘s Main Stage is set to offer some of the most diverse bands we’ve seen in recent years. Headlining the weekend we see rock icons DEF LEPPARD performing Hysteria in full, a treat not to be missed, metal titans SLIPKNOT return once again to hopefully bring some sunshine to kill us all instead of the rain, and the band everyone has been begging to see headline, TOOL. On the Friday we see LAST IN LINE kick off the festival, followed by American rockers TESLA. The outstanding CLUTCH will take to the stage after good vibes have been set from Atlanta-based rock band BLACKBERRY SMOKE. WHITESNAKE will be delivering their finest lonely hearts songs, and yes, you’ll probably hear the DS team belting out Here I Go Again. SLASH WITH MYLES KENNEDY will be getting the evening ready with some of their finest material before we get treated to having sugar poured all over us.
Saturday will see the main stage being opened by the incredible ALIEN WEAPONRY who incorporate their Maori heritage into their sound. Following on will be rising rockers ROYAL REPUBLIC, before one of the hottest bands right now, POWER TRIP, rip up the entire Main Stage field. Extreme metal legends BEHEMOTH will shortly follow off the back of their latest album I Loved You At Your Darkest; expect fire, fire and more fire. SKINDRED will be bringing their famous Newport Helicopter to the festival once again before TRIVIUM deliver absolute chaos. The most controversial booking of the year DIE ANTWOORD will be setting the tone before we have to push our fingers into our eyes.
Louisianian metal band CANE HILL will be opening up the Main Stage for the last day, followed shortly by I PREVAIL. UNDEROATH will be taking some of us back to our emo teen days before we’re caught belting our hearts out to I Stand Alone as GODSMACK play. Best start building your longboat ready for AMON AMARTH to kick things off Viking style, and then we walk right into hell with LAMB OF GOD. The stunning SMASHING PUMPKINS will perform and remind us all why we love them, before the most anticipated band of the weekend hits the stage to close the festival.
Words: Jessica Howkins
Zippo Encore Stage
Whilst Download Festival‘s Main Stage may boast the biggest bands rock music has to offer, glance at the Zippo Encore Stage, the festival’s second biggest stage, has a whole host of diverse and quality bands to enjoy across the weekend. Sure, the Main Stage has three blockbuster headliners, but Download Festival‘s second stage are not messing about. Horror icon ROB ZOMBIE, arena rock superstars HALESTORM and thrash titans SLAYER headline the stage across the weekend. Oh, did we mention SLAYER‘s show will be their last ever in the UK? We’ll see you in the pit. Elsewhere, the Zippo Encore Stage‘s talented roster will be in full force. Friday’s billing boasts EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, progressive metal stalwarts OPETH, Dutch symphonic maestros DELAIN and Norwegian forward-thinking metallers KVELERTAK will all put on solid performances. And if you fancy a throwback to years gone by, you can’t go wrong with watching SKID ROW earlier in the day.
Saturday’s billing on the Zippo Encore Stage is equally strong. We’ve already touched upon HALESTORM in what we’re sure will be a stunning set, further solidifying that they are ready to take to the arena stage, but look further down the bill, and there’s just so much quality on offer. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS grab the sub-headlining slot on Saturday, expect anthems aplenty, whilst THREE DAYS GRACE, THE INSPECTOR CLUZO and BROTHERS OSBORNE will perform in their respective slots. Throw in a bombastic symphonic metal with EPICA, progressive metal mastery with the instrumentation of ANIMALS OF LEADERS and Elvis-fronted NIRVANA with ELVANA, and you’ve got a rather strong billing for Saturday. Sunday closes the Zippo Encore Stage in style with SLAYER, which will obviously be brilliant, but combine that with the thrashing mayhem of their Big Four comrades in ANTHRAX, the elaborate sonics that only DREAM THEATER can provide or the pulsing rhythms of modern metallers BEARTOOTH and you can ensure that your day on the Zippo Encore Stage will be exhilarating to say the least. STATE CHAMPS, BADFLOWER and DINOSAUR PILE-UP will add a splash of melody to the day’s action with their respective brand of rock whilst didgeridoo-rockers LIKE A STORM will surely open the day in quite the memorable way. So, if you’re at a loss for something to fill your time, you won’t make regret spending your time at the Zippo Encore Stage at this year’s Download Festival!
Words: James Weaver
The Avalanche Stage
Boasting one of the smaller but fun stages for the Download Festival weekend will be ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES, Mark Hoppus and Alex Gaskarth‘s new project SIMPLE CREATURES, and the ever so chaotic ENTER SHIKARI headlining on the Sunday. Hip-Hop PENGSHUI will be opening up the stage on Friday followed by SUMO CYCO and rockers ICON FOR HIRE. MAN WITH A MISSION bring their J-Rock sound to the stage just before you need to Call Your Friends for punk rockers ZEBRAHEAD. Ska-punk band THE INTERRUPTERS will get the crowd buzzing with attitude, and REEL BIG FISH will follow suit with all the skanking a person could dream of before one of those most iconic and fun supergroups, ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES, close the night in the best of spirits.
Saturday the stage will see the emerging talent from Manchester’s very own PARTING GIFT, followed swiftly after by Australian pop-punk band YOURS TRULY. Emo ‘powerpop’ group HOT MILK will bring their finest tunes, as will Canadian rockers THE BEACHES just before post-hardcore band PALISADES rip things up. ROAM will have us belting out song after song, and TRASH BOAT will have us putting on our very own Brave Face as we feel all sorts of angst. NOTHING, NOWHERE will bring his form of ’emo-rap’ before one of the most loved newer pop-punk bands THE WONDER YEARS take to the stage. Closing the night is one of the hottest and most anticipated new projects of the year, SIMPLE CREATURES, expect all of the hype and fun.
Sunday opens up with Australian rockers REDHOOK, noise punk band BLACK FUTURES will make for an explosive performance right before Yorkshire rock band ALLUSINLOVE. Hold onto everything you own and see us in the pit for the gut-wrenching HEART OF A COWARD and progressive band BLACK PEAKS. Metalcore OUR LAST NIGHT will deliver all the angst you could feel in the world with THE AMITY AFFLICTION following suit and bringing out all of our fringes we’ve spent years trying to grow out. One of last year’s hottest bands PALAYE ROYALE will take to the stage before one of the most mesmerising and chaotic performances you will catch this year from FEVER 333. Closing Sunday’s Avalanche Stage down will be one of the most iconic bands of the 00’s generation, ENTER SHIKARI, a band that ups their game every single time.
Words: Jessica Howkins
The Dogtooth Stage
The larger stages at Download Festival may boast the goliaths of our world, but The Dogtooth Stage, the festival’s smallest stage boasts a wide array of underground talent; both established and emerging. And this year’s lineup of Download is no different, putting together arguably the strongest stage for this year’s edition. Friday boasts Swedish melodic death metal legends AT THE GATES, who will bring riffs and fury to Donnington, whilst Australian progressive metal extraordinaires NE OBLIVISCARIS will perform what we expect will be one of the best sets of the weekend. Ukrainian breakout stars JINJER will captivate crowds, LOST SOCIETY will get the heads banging and TWELVE FOOT NINJA‘s original take on heavy music will surely be a standout. CONJURER arrive at Download following a hugely successful 2018 and will threaten to demolish the tent with their crushing melting pot of doom, sludge and post-metal whilst THOSE DAMN CROWS will prove that the revival of classic rock in 2019 is still going strong and GROUNDCULTURE will shake off those early morning hangovers with a fresh bout of hardcore. A solid billing to kick off the first full of music at this year’s Download Festival!
Saturday’s roster is equally strong. Masters of grindcore, and later melodic death metal, the UK’s CARCASS return to Download Festival to headline The Dogtooth Stage on Saturday evening; expect filthy riffs aplenty! Mysterious Polish black metal collective BATUSHKA have exploded in the metal underworld and making their Download debut, the band will surely give a performance that will long be remembered. Gregorian choirs, blast beats, a strong smell of incense and an eye-catching stage set-up? Count us in. Canadian prog-metallers INTERVALS join the party whilst breakout talent like Japanese metal sensations LOVEBITES and Nepal’s UNDERSIDE will prove that metal is truly a global family and THE HU, will arrive at Download to what we anticipate will be a packed tent.
For the final day at Download Festival, The Dogtooth Stage intends to blow us away with a staggeringly good billing. Party thrash maniacs MUNICIPAL WASTE close the stage with their beer-laden riffing. Expect a plethora of pits and pints, it’ll be quite the party as the band intend to fuck us up and that they will. Deathcore crew WHITECHAPEL arrive to Download Festival on the back of the excellent The Valley and we can’t wait to hear a mixture of their quality new material and crushing oldies and Japanese metallers CRYSTAL LAKE will ensure that the adrenaline surges with their high-octane sonics. The sublime TOSKA will showcase instrumentation at its finest, ALCEST will make us cry buckets of tears, WOLF JAW will bring their Download Festival adventure to a close with their third set of the festival (yep, you read that right) and emerging Glaswegian talent LOST IN STEREO will ease us into the final day in style. If you want to find your new favourite band or bask in some of the finest metal the underground has to offer, look no further than The Dogtooth Stage at this year’s Download Festival!
Words: James Weaver
And that rounds off our mega preview for this year’s Download Festival! With so many bands to choose from, we’re sure as hell convinced next week’s festival will be a weekend to remember. We’ll see you down the front!
Download Festival takes place from June 14-16th. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.
For more information on the festival like their official page on Facebook.
