Punk, Pop, and Pyro: Day One Of Download Festival XXII Ignites Donington Park

75,000 fans descend on Donington Park for Download Festival XXII, and as the sun drenches the hallowed grounds, we’re here to see what goes down. Let’s dive into it.

Dogtooth Stage

Svalbard

Having recently announced that their next tour will be their last, Bristol’s Svalbard celebrate their career in typically ferocious style. Frontwoman Serena Cherry and guitarist Liam Phelan trade harsh vocals on this stage reserved for the heavier artists on the bill.

Vola

Denmark’s Vola mix prog-metal and pop and the result is huge on tracks like Cannibal and Straight Lines. Refuge from the beaming sun may have been the draw for some of those that flocked to the Dogtooth tent, but the atmospheric nature of Vola’s output drew them in even closer.

Avalanche Stage

McFly

Ah, the purists will hate this one. If you had said twenty years ago that McFly would not only play Download, but have this tent bursting to capacity – with many stuck outside – you’d have been laughed out of town. Their friendly rivals Busted played this same spot last year, and the vibe is the same. Tom Fletcher (vocals, guitar), Danny Jones (vocals, guitar), Dougie Poynter (bass, vocals) and Danny Judd (drums) are in a playful mood, aware they are somewhat of a novelty booking on this bill. The catchy chant of “Rock and Roll is good for the soul!” on opener Where Did All The Guitars Go? has everyone jumping from the start.

Star Girl morphs into Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name Of. A melody of Livin’ On A Prayer/I Wanna Dance With Somebody/Radio Gaga/Twist and Shout has us all dancing. Erm hang on, am I having too much fun?! I’m supposed to sneer and bemoan the downfall of Download with this booking, apparently. Dougie asks us to open a Wall of Death – yes, this is more like it – before hilariously playing the ballad All About You. Mixing 5 Colours In Her Hair with Metallica’s Master of Puppets isn’t nearly as offensive as it sounds, completing what I have to say is one of the most fun hours I’ve had at a festival.

Opus Stage

Myles Kennedy

Is a man never being at home the key to a happy marriage?! Playing here on his wedding anniversary, Myles Kennedy’s relentless touring schedule sees him play the festival circuit in one guise or another virtually every year. Whether it’s with his main band Alter Bridge, Slash and the Conspirators, or – as he is today  performing his solo material, he’s a hugely popular figure. With one of the finest voices in rock today, his solo stuff is softer – see the tender Love Will Only Heal – whilst an acoustic version of Alter Bridge’s Watch Over You takes on even greater meaning.

Opeth

Death metal and Friday the 13th? A match made in hell, right? What could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot, unfortunately. It’s totally out of the band’s hands, but a late start due to sound problems – which are never properly fixed – they battle on as best as they can. True professionals!

Apex Stage

Rise Against

It’s no surprise Rise Against draw a huge crowd. They’ve put the hard miles in on the road, and here at Download – this is their sixth appearance, and it’s rewarded with their highest billing so far. A well-earned reputation as a must-see live band, the crazy amount of pyro on opener Re-Education (Through Labour) coupled with today’s weather must have been really testing for those on and close to the stage.

“The songs stay the same, but the works around us keeps changing” frontman Tim McIllrath remarks, whilst keeping the politically charged anthems coming our way with the likes of Prayer Of The Refugee and Help Is On The Way. The energy created on stage is channeled through the crowd with various circle pits in full motion. The most wholesome moment happens during Satellite, as the big screens show a man crowd surfing with his young daughter in what will always be a core memory for them both, especially on Father’s Day.

Jimmy Eat World

Is there anything better than when you’re in a field, singing your heart out to one of your favorite bands, with the sun shining and thousands of other people doing the same? Jimmy Eat World have always meant a huge amount to me, and an hour of their emo anthems on this glorious day couldn’t have felt any more perfect. From opener Pain, these aren’t sad songs to wallow in, but to release the angst and frustration we have inside. Their heartfelt Big Casino and All The Way (Stay) tackle topics of hope and resilience. A well-polished live outfit, they know to save The Middle ironically until last, as we deliriously bounce away our problems before some much-needed rehydration.

Green Day

It’s finally time for Green Day to take to the stage. Fans have been waiting a long time for this, and I’m not just talking about today. Somehow they have never played Download before, so this is a long overdue moment.

A giant heart-shaped grenade from their American Idiot album cover inflates behind them, and they waste no time in launching into its title track. A subtle lyric change to “I’m not part of an Elon agenda” hints at their feelings about the current state of American politics before the much less subtle rants calling Donald Trump a fascist and later on asking the crowd to chant “You fat bastard” in his, erm, honour. They duly oblige.

Having brought the Saviors Tour to UK Stadium’s just last summer – a tour for their most recent release, but one in which they also celebrated the anniversaries of Dookie (30 years) and American Idiot (20 years) by playing both albums in full – this is more of a greatest hits setlist.

Inviting fans on stage is a regular occurrence at a Green Day show, and early on a female fan lives out her dreams by taking over vocal duties on Know Your Enemy.

Like many, I fell in love with music as a teenager. One of the CDs (remember them?) I played the most was Green Day’s 2001 release International Superhits. A Greatest Hits collection of their career to that point. So a run of tracks from that album – Longview, Welcome To Paradise, Hitchin’ A Ride, J.A.R and Brain Stew – took me right back to my formative years of being told off for playing music too loud in my bedroom, but this time it’s much louder, and I’m happily dancing in a field rather than stomping around the house declaring life isn’t fair.

The political commentary isn’t overdone, and frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is in his usual playful mood throughout. Leading the crowd through various “Heyyyy ho’s!” he has Donington Park in the palm of his hands as the hits keep coming. Minority sees the usual band introductions to Mike Dirnt (bass), Tré Cool (drums) and their live touring members before Basket Case sends the various mosh pits wild.

We often describe moments at gigs as magical, but that is the only way to describe what happens during Wake Me Up When September Ends. As Billie Joe sings the line “here comes the rain again, falling from the stars” the very first drops of rain we had felt that day land on our heads. A huge cheer erupts as we all realise what is happening. Believe me when I say the rain never gets a cheer at Download Festival.

A huge singalong for acoustic set closer Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) brings the first day of the festival to a close. Punk-Rock reigned supreme on Day One of Download. Over to you, Sleep Token…

Review of Friday at Download Festival XXII by Will Maxwell. Photography by Simon Reed. Additional Green Day images by Todd Owyoung / iShootShows. Lead image by Sarah Louise Bennett.

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