dience a chance to stop moving; a set expertly
delivered with tons of energy.
Muse by Richard Johnson
my’s vocal talents are second to none, this is a
great moment! Following them from a teenager
to a late twenty something, stood in front of the
main stage at Download watching one of the
most musically gifted bands I have ever heard.
Their classical training shows undeniably throughout all of the albums. Delivering the classics
from ‘Plug in Baby’ to ‘Knights of Cydonia’ and
13:00 - EVIL SCARECROW - I had heard rumours
about these guys, and when I saw a festival goer
dressed in a robot suit crafted out of empty beer
cans, Carlsberg boxes and electrical tape, I knew
I was in for an interesting show. The first thing
that struck me was their image, are these guys
serious?! No, they are not. But, damn, were they
good! Frontman, Dr. Hell, is hilarious; admitting
that they were low budget and could not afford
fancy fireworks, he beseeched the audience of
the Maverick stage to grab anything they could
find off the floor, from cups and cans to grass
and “sh*t”, and, on the count of three, to throw
it into the air - of course the crowd willingly obliged. For ‘Robototron’, they had the whole crowd
dancing like robots, a surreal but thoroughly
entertaining performance! (It has to be seen to
be believed, look it up on YouTube!)
showcasing the tracks from the new album. The
newer tracks sounding more like Muse’s older
material with a heavier reinvention and appear
to really be appealing to the fans. Once Muse
finished their set, everyone was in agreement.
they smashed it! The atmosphere was brilliant.
Day 3: Sunday 14th June
11:00 - Supporting KISS on their European tour,
‘super group’, THE DEAD DAISIES, kicked off on
the Zippo Encore stage with their upbeat, bluesy
rock and roll. They opened with ‘Mexico’, a great
start to the day - positive, feel good, groove
based rock. Next up, ‘Midnight Moses’; perhaps
the rain and mud was getting to people, but
there weren’t nearly as many heads nodding
as there should have been, perhaps it was just
the wrong crowd? It was the first time I’d heard
them, but I can safely say, I love these guys!
Corabi addressed the audience throughout the
songs in a way that only enhanced the live experience. ‘With You And I’, with its catchy, vocalised
lead hook, hit the audience with so much swagger that they started to really come alive with
most heads nodding and feet tapping. A superb
and very natural performance, the experience of
the group was wholly evident.
11:50 - Swedish hard rock outfit, H.E.A.T, arrive
to a recorded intro for ‘Point Of No Return’, and
jumped straight in with Erik Grönwall pouring
energy from the word go. The opening track was
well selected and followed on perfectly from The
Dead Daisies’ set. They are theatrical, but without being cheesy. When the chorus of ‘A Shot
At Redemption’, kicked in I could help but smile
- it’s just such a big sound and so enjoyable! They
delivered a seamless set and did not give the au-
Evil Scarecrow Marcus Wheeler
to really enjoy the performance. Foot stomper,
‘Brains’, is laced with some brutal riffs, and got
people nodding and tapping along. Down-tempo number, ‘The Things I’ve Seen’, saw the main
crowd swaying their hands along; a powerful
and emotional song that provided a nice break
to a generally heavier set.
14:25 - The rain had started once again in Donington Par