FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Download Pilot
When we look back through the annals of history in the years to come, the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic were absolutely catastrophic for the live music industry. As every tour under the sun and a stacked summer of festivals became casualties to the pandemic, for music fans, the situation has been utterly bleak. Fast forward 15 months and the situation, whilst slightly better, is still far from perfect. With festivals hanging in the balance, the UK focused pilot events to measure the safety of mass gatherings remain critical in ensuring a return to the world in which we all crave. From a cancelled festival to a movement back to normality, there’s a lot riding on the success of the Download Pilot test event, and for those lucky 10,000 people who enjoy a weekend full of live music and no social restrictions, it’s a taste of the freedom we took for granted. Ahead of this weekend’s test event, we here at Distorted Sound are breaking down the line-up, giving you the lowdown on the best acts to discover as we don our wellies and enter the hallowed turf of Donington Park once more.
With a curated line-up of the best of British, the Download Pilot is very much a celebration of our booming scene as it is a test event to return to normality. Friday’s billing is an incredibly strong opening foray with a headlining set from FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES intending to end the first day of the festival fun on an almighty high. Prior to THE RATTLESNAKES‘ adrenaline-inducing antics though, comes a billing of some of the UK’s most exciting talents.
The mysterious SLEEP TOKEN will surely conjure a striking and intoxicating ritual, HOT MILK intend to capitalise on their surging momentum, Sheffield riff merchants MALEVOLENCE will take advantage of no social distancing with their brand of NOLA-esque metal-meets-hardcore chaos inciting pits aplenty and UK pop-punk stalwarts NECK DEEP land a slot that has is deserving for their stature. And then there’s HOLDING ABSENCE. This year’s The Greatest Mistake Of My Life has been one of the strongest releases of 2021 and as Lucas Woodland will sing “I’m Alive!” of the anthemic Celebration Song, the impact is going to emphatic.
After a solid start, Saturday’s billing for the Download Pilot hits even harder. A varied and diverse billing, A double-whammy of LOTUS EATER and UK juggernauts CONJURER will shake off those heavy heads from the night before as the first band of the day before sets from the equally excellent AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS and BLEED FROM WITHIN will further bolster the claim that UK heavy music is the best is has ever been.
As the day rolls on, diversity is key as performances from the likes of VUKOVI, YONAKA, A, STONE BROKEN and THOSE DAMN CROWS will keep the surely keep the crowd satisfied with a wide palette of sounds and styles. But it’s the evening’s billing that carries huge anticipation as CREEPER will surely justify why they are tipped as the next big thing in rock, WHILE SHE SLEEPS will receive a heroes welcome as the people’s champion and then there’s ENTER SHIKARI. A mainstay of Download over the year, with the band headlining the Saturday of the Download Pilot, it just feels right and the expected performance will be one for the history books.
If you expected the last day of the Download Pilot to be a much more lull and tame affair, we’d forgive you, but this is the heralded return of festival after all and it has gone out all guns blazing. The last day of the test event is unbelievably stacked, showcasing a line-up that is truly representative of just how diverse the UK scene is in 2021. From the genre-bending and charismatic chap that is JAMIE LENMAN, to the hard rocking sensibilities of MASSIVE WAGONS or the riff-heavy combo of EMPLOYED TO SERVE and LOATHE; this is but a glimpse into the diverse eco-system of UK heavy music today.
SKINDRED will keep the party roaring into the evening, LONELY THE BRAVE will capitalise on the momentum set from their stunning new album The Hope List and TRASH BOAT will surely provide some lovely pop-punk tunes to accompany the summer sun (fingers crossed as it is Download at all so expect a washout!). BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE headline the final day of Download Pilot. Flash back a decade and it seemed that the Welsh metallers would surely have headlined Download Festival by this point, but with their trajectory turbulent, the test event proves to be an ample opportunity of the band to remind people that they still have enough fight and hunger to compete at the top of the food chain. With teenage angsty anthems aplenty, a nostalgic and triumphant end to the festival surely awaits.
It’s been a long 15 months and the threat of COVID-19 remains, especially given the surge of the Delta variant, but as we’ve come to expect in these trying times; celebrate every moment you can. The Download Pilot is the closest our scene has been to normality and we must embrace this with every headbang, every roar and every beer-fuelled hug with friends in the fields of Donington Park. We’ll see you down the front.
More information on the Download Pilot event can be found here.
For more information on Download Festival like their official page on Facebook.
