Festival: Download Festival 09

Artists: Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, Thunder, Lawnmower Deth

Venue: Donnington Park, Donnington 

Date:  13 June 2009 

Long thought to be banished to the archives, the 80's cult thrashers are given a hero’s welcome by both the older crowd, for whom this a hilarious trip down memory lane and the younger crowd who are curious to see what all the fuss is about. After surprisingly being chosen to support Bullet For My Valentine in London last year, Lawnmower Deth are now enjoying the usual brief resurgence that occurs when cult bands reform after decade-long gap. Their northern, working man’s charm resonates throughout the entire crowd and the Spinal Tap of thrash (complete with a guitarist in a clown suit) treat us to a half hour set packed with their 1 and 2-minute ‘classics’ and everyone, albeit some quite bewildered, give them a standing ovation with huge grins on their faces. The primary reason we made the trip over to third stage however, is to witness the farewell of one of the greatest British rock bands to ever grace a stage – Thunder.

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It’s a sad fact that this is the last time we will ever see Thunder grace a British festival stage and the tent is absolutely filled to bursting point with fans eager to see the band’s swan song and give them the send off they deserve. Unfortunately they only have 45 minutes so we only get a criminally short set, although one that is filled with all their hits and they choose to open the set with their usual finisher, ‘Dirty Love’, as if to make a bold statement that they start as they mean to go on. 

Every song has the crowd singing the lyrics back to the band at twice the volume and it’s an emotional set from start to finish, not least the gigantic 

sing-along that accompanies a fantastic version of ‘Love Walked In’ that truly makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. As great as these songs are, they do unfortunately serve as a reminder of what we’re going to be missing out on after this summer’s farewell tour is over and when the band do finally leave the stage after an encore of ‘I Love You More Than Rock & Roll’ and ‘Backstreet Symphony’ they are given the loudest ovation of any band this weekend. You will be sorely missed guys, thanks for the memories. 

By the time we head back down to the main stage, there’s half of Marilyn Manson’s set still to go and this turns into possibly the longest 35 minutes of everyone’s lives. Manson is way off the mark today and the crowd know it. They don’t cheer or applaud and he returns for an encore without anyone asking or wanting him to and it’s hard to determine who’s more apathetic – the crowd or Manson himself. His set is devoid of any crowd interaction and most of the time the lyrics are just mumbled into the microphone without any effort whatsoever. Manson’s recent performances at this festival have not been up to standard and he is doing his reputation no favours at all. The once self-proclaimed ‘God of F**K’ is quickly becoming the ‘God of F**K All’ and has sadly turned into a parody of his former great self. In a complete contrast to Manson’s pathetic, phoned-in performance, Slipknot connect with the crowd on every level and by all accounts, play the set of their lives tonight.

It’s a full decade since Slipknot burst onto the scene and they tease the speculation that they will be playing their first album in its entirety by opening the set with a blistering, non-stop run through of ‘(sic)’, ‘Eyeless’ and ‘Wait and Bleed’. The rumours turn out to be untrue however and the set takes more of a ‘greatest hits’ turn after that. It’s a mystery that Slipknot haven’t headlined this festival before as they are clearly the fans’ favourite and the reception they get is unbelievable – almost everyone at Donington is watching them tonight and it seems the crowd have been waiting for them to headline Download as long as the band have – Corey Taylor in particular is in an 

emotional mood, acknowledging the fans’ contribution in their success and meteoric rise to the top on several occasions. Slipknot go at the task at hand tonight as if their lives depended on it and just when it seems that they can’t raise the intensity levels any higher they launch into a one-two knockout punch of ‘Dead Memories’ (which provokes one of the biggest sing-alongs of the not only the weekend but of Download history) and ‘Pyschosocial’ (which seems like it’s played at double-speed if that’s even possible) that send the crowd completely nuts. 

The best example of the affinity felt between band and fans tonight comes right at the end of the set with a version of ‘Spit It Out’ that really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and will no doubt go down in concert history. As per their reputation, Joey pulls off an amazing revolving drum solo and the band get everyone to kneel down then leap up en masse at once but the difference tonight is that everyone really is taking part, from the front to the very back at the merchandise stands, and it truly is a wonderful thing to be a part of. If there were any doubters left then Slipknot have more than just silenced them tonight, they will have no doubt converted them into full-time maggots – one of the great Donington performances.

Review and Photos: Adam G

 

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