The Angry Budgie on Tour - Download Festival 2009 Day 2

The Angry Budgie On Tour – Download Festival 2009

After firday’s exertions it was time to go back to Donnington park for round two, another scorching day saw few clouds in the sky and some sky high temperatures. We really had been blessed with some great weather for the festival!

The day began slightly later than Friday and entering the site was a breeze, today we did not intend to get in for the firs acts but, to be in to ensure a good spot on the main stage for Five Finger Death Punch. Anyway this was the day that saw the main dilemma of the festival, The Prodigy or Slipknot? In the end the choice was easy, explanation below!

Main Stage – Five Finger Death Punch: These are a band ive got into fairly recently, mainly thanks to ‘The Bleeding’ video getting heavy exposure on Kerrang/Scuzz. A band fairly similar to Killswitch Engage in having great solo’s matched with some damn heavy riffage! Anyway despite this being their first Download the lads did well, interacting well with the crowd and getting some damn fine moshing at lunch time! The main highlight being ‘The Bleeding’. 8/10 for me!

Second Stage – In Case Of Fire: Admittedly I did not see much of In Case of Fire as halfway through the set I let to go and take in Hatebreed on the main stage. As such I cant really give them a rating!

Main Stage – Hatebreed: What can I say, no band plays harder or more honestly than Hatebreed. With every song you can tell they mean what they say and appreciate the fans. After every song the crowd go mental and much love is exchanged! I don’t think I saw any on person not nodding their head or moshing! Obvious stand out songs being ‘Perseverance’ and ‘I Will Be Heard’. 10/10 Yes you read that correctly a perfect 10, and possibly my band/performance of the festival!

Second Stage – Fightstar: After Hatbreed left the stage, it was back up the hill to rejoin my girlfriend and take in the last few songs of Fightstar’s set. There not really for me but I do respect them for plugging away and winning over the doubters. At Dowload 2008 they were greeted with a number of bottles but 2009 was different, with just about everyone in attendance rocking along with Charlie and Co. As I only saw the last two or three songs im not going to give Fightstar a rating but of those songs they did, they did well! Ending with the excellent Death Car.

Second Stage – Static-X: This next band were someone I had been looking forward to see all weekend. I have a few Static-X albums but never seen them live. On the walk and Wayne Static appears, one of the most recognisable front men in metal. They proceed over the course of their set to pummel the crowd into submission. A damn fine set and high points being ‘Shadowzone’ and ‘Black and White’. Again another band with a fairly simple formula, but one that works! 8/10 for me!

Main Stage – DragonForce: I am a big big DragonForce fan, I know they are not many metal fan’s taste, many finding them boring! But I simply find them amazing, the songs are great and the guitar work is simple first class. Before the festival I had wondered what their sound would be like on a festival main stage, after seeing them at the most metal festival of 2008, their sound kind of got lost in the MEN Arena. I shouldn’t have worried, it was a noticeable slow down after seeing the likes of FFDP and Hatebreed, you cant really get too involved with moshing to DragonForce as the songs are too fast. But each song was greeted with enthusiasm from a pretty darn good crowd! Best songs of the set being ‘Heroe’s of our Time’ and ‘Through the Fire and Flames’. 8/10 for the DragonForce boys.

Main Stage – Pendulum: We moved further back for Pendulum as we were going to rush over to the second stage for You Me At Six. Now we missed most of their set in 2008 so we were determined to see more of them! Pendulum seem to have cracked the rock market and drew one of the biggest crowds (as evident by the lack of one for YMA6!) of the festival. Thankfully we saw ‘Granite’ and ‘Propane Nightmares’ before we had to dash! 7/10.

Second Stage – You Me At Six: As mentioned we caught the second half of their set, a strange booking for Download and even stranger position on such a big stage. They boys played well but I thought Josh looked very nervous on stage. A few more years and invite them back and im sure they will give a better performance. 6/10.

Second Stage – Chris Cornell: For Chis Cornell we decided to get into position for The Prodigy after. Even so Chris sounded excellent and did a few Soundgarden and Audioslave songs. Not sure I 100% forgive him for pulling out of Download 2008, but none the less I enjoyed his set. The highlight being Cochies. 7/10.

Second Stage – The Prodigy: So after much waiting and excitement it was time for The Prodigy. I was looking forward to this, as my girlfriend had seen them live before and waxed lyrical about how good they were. We must have chosen the spot where the sound was at its poorest! The Prodigy were so quite that, around a couple of hundred people began chanting ‘Turn it up’! Such a big disappointment, despite The Prodigy playing ‘Omen’ and ‘Warriors Dance’ the sound was so poor we left early to go and check out Slipknot! 5/10.

Main Stage – Slipknot: Soo many people seemed to be looking forward to Slipknot, and so were we. We were towards the back of the crowd but still took in a fantastic show. Wondering at the same time what passengers on departing aircraft were making of the show! The band sounded great and the crowd were going mental. We stayed for most, not all, of the set but still saw ‘Wait and Bleed’ and ‘Psycosocial’. Then as we were leaving the site heard the crowd explosion to ‘Spit it Out’ and ‘People=Shit’. 8/10 for Slipknot.