The Verse’s Lou Clement tells us about the epic Rock festival Download, its headliners this year and her first-hand experience of what it has to offer.
It’s coming up to that time of year again, when music fans battle mud and rain to see a stellar array of musicians perform and entertain in the British Summertime. This year at Donnington’s Download Festival, taking place 9-11 June; its going to be epic. I’m especially excited because of the line-up announcements.
When I first attended Download, I felt lucky. Not only was I there with an ace bunch of people, we also saw a ridiculous amount of good music and the weather was good too! We pitched up on Thursday, set up camp close to the gates and then spent the weekend watching bands like Prodigy, Skindred and Metallica. I slept through a few to be fair, but between the stages, the evening events and an atmosphere of celebration, there was no doubt that Download was a gathering of a very special kind.
This year, the bands that are exciting me include Dillinger Escape Plan. We can expect an outstanding, tremendous performance from the New Jersey stalwarts of mathcore. I’ll also be looking forward to seeing Hacktivist, who I missed on their last tour. Kvelertak’s performance is much-anticipated following their 2016 album which oozed heavy, bloodthirsty metal.
Of course, there are the headliners. I’ve waited a long time to see Opeth, their music has a quality that makes me stop what I’m doing, it’s evocative, dark, its heavy and Mikael Åkerfeldt brings a creative driving force to his work that is inimitable and indescribably good. I cannot wait. Whether it’s raining or not seeing bands like Aerosmith, Biffy Clyro and System of Down is going to be an awesome experience.
Tickets are on sale now at downloadfestival.co.uk/tickets.
For the Official Download Video 2016 click here.
