The Main Stage on this sweltering opening day of the
Download Festival had seen acts of unrelenting heaviness. From the
bonecrushing Stampin Ground, to the laughable tomfoolery of the
Murderdolls. Ministry had just finished a longwinded
smattering of prog rock, and at 5.30pm the sun was still unmercifully
searing.
What was needed was some downtime. A little bit of
time to chill and enjoy some good rockin' music. At first thought, the
intelligent evolving music of the Deftones would top anyone's list on
this sweaty late afternoon.
The Sacramento quintet had other things on their mind
as they emerged to hordes of gleeful punters. Things kicked off nicely with
Feiticeira, enticing a lot of thrashing about and sing alongs.
Unfortunately the PA was questionably meager, which
was a problem throughout the weekend, and muddied the band's sound. Still at
the front it wasn't too bad. A double whammy of My Own Summer and Be Quiet
And Drive whet eager fans appetites.
As Minerva was anthemically aired out, many were
perhaps expecting a flurry of material from their recently released fourth
album. Unfortunately that was not to be, with only three new songs played,
the band choosing to meld material from their previous back catalogue.
Despite expanded waistlines (Chi &
Chino), the band sounded tighter than ever and were more 'in touch
with their active environment' (they weren't stoned off their faces) than on
previous occasions. Chino happily zipped across the stage and nipped down to
both ends of the split barrier.
After a disappointingly average rendition of Change,
some much needed va-va-voom was injected with some old-skool Deftones in the
form of Root. Following on was a hard hitting Head Up, which saw two lucky
fans hoisted onstage to provide backing vocals, leaving just enough time for
the maniacal 7 Words. Never had I witnessed so many adolescent males
willingly hammer themselves into each other in circle pits.(Until
Metallica)
A good set on the whole, the Deftones could
emphatically claim job well done. Just a shame a few of those beautiful
newies were shelved.