Saturday 13th June 2015
Download Festival on Saturday
Report by Kevin Gaughan
Apologies but all the photos that were in this page have now been lost. Sorry about that. (Ed.)
Apocalyptica – The Encore stage
Starting off my rather soggy Saturday at Download were Apocalyptica, a five-piece cello playing rock/metal/classical band from Finland.
Sporting no less than three cellos they provide an unusual visual spectacle, especially as Perttu Kivilaakso performed windmilling duties with her long, golden locks.
Playing rock with cellos is an intriguing mix of styles, but there is no doubt that it works, and it works well. The cellos added dramatic undertones to their original rock sounds.
Unfortunately they did suffer from technical difficulties, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of this band’s performance.
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The Struts – Jake’s stage
The Struts are a four piece sleazy, swaggering rock band from Derby, UK. Great fun to watch with the Mick Jagger-esque mannerisms of lead singer, Luke Spiller.
Jake’s stage was packed full of dancing Downloaders, especially when they performed T-Rex’s Get it on, which suited the band’s style perfectly and worked every body into a frenzy.
Having just played the Isle of Wight festival the day before and off to play Bergenfest in Norway the day after, they are clearly a busy band, but there was no sign of fatigue in their stage show.
Read about The Struts in Leicester
Motionless in White – The Encore stage
A very pale, slightly scary looking band were performing on the Encore stage, for a split second, I thought ‘Manson’s on early’, but, as the huge backdrop, written in blood at the back of the stage indicated, it was Motionless in White.
A five piece metalcore/goth band from Pennsylvania, they were anything but Motionless – although they were kind of whitish, and black.
The electro metalcore mix of their aggressive songs saw a few muddy circle pits open up and the moshters clearly enjoyed moshing in the mud.
Although aggressive sounding and looking rather frightening, it was good to know they have a sensitive side as they were very appreciative of the support the Download crowds have given them over the years.
Faith No More – Main stage
After waiting for ages for people dressed in white to decorate the stage in white flowerboxes, yes, boxes with real plastic flowers in, and hundreds of them at that, Faith No More eventually entered the stage.
It was good to see the 80’s funk rock band from San Fancisco back on the Download stage which they last played in 2009. Lead vocalist, Mike Patton, who likes a joke or two, made fun of the crowd by singling out a bored looking lady in a plastic poncho on the front row. Of course the cameras caught her and in no time at all she was featured on the big stage side screens.
Of course they played their one hit single, Who Cares a Lot, which went down a storm, as well as The Commodores classic, Easy Like Sunday Morning.
There was no circle-pitting here, but it was music for the more mature Download audience members, although, I’m not sure if those plastic flowers were worth all the time it took to set them up.
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Marilyn Manson – The Encore stage
Finally, after raining for twenty four hours, the rain started to subside by the time Mr Manson entered the stage.
After a dramatic entrance as shadows in the smoke entered the stage, Mozart’s Requiem set the perfect backdrop to set the mood.
Blasting straight into their first song, Deep Six, rock’s occult prince and his band then ploughed into Disposable Teens and mOBSCENE before pausing for breath.
On stage were two stained glass windows, with Marilyn Manson’s face etched into them in a Jesus Christ pose. As always with Marilyn Manson, you shouldn’t take his music too seriously.
He performed all his old songs which went down a treat with the audience (me included) including his cover of the Eurythmics classic, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).
As with all the bands who play at Download, they are playing to a mixed crowd of other people-fans, so they often water down their acts. This was very noticeable in Marilyn Manson’s case, he is normally much more hard-hitting, full on, and, dare I say it, shocking.
He took time in his set to thank the Download audience for their support, which is definitely not the Marilyn Manson I remember, who always seemed to walk off stage in a huff whenever I used to see him.
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More from Download 2015
Photo gallery from Download 2015
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