Parramatta Park, Sydney
Saturday 9 March 2019
My hopes were sky-high for Download, as there’s been a massive Soundwave-shaped hole in my music life that I can happily say that Download festival has filled. Organisers had to deal with the last minute cancellation of main headliner OZZY OSBOURNE which left a noticeable gap on the lineup, but this didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits one bit.
I’m happy to say that Parramatta Park is an exceptional venue, with the organisers appearing to keep things on a deliberately small scale in line with their plans to expand more each year. The 2 main stages occupied the main area of the park while the side stages were located in the amazing natural amphitheater, and it was great to watch some bands from the hill. Unfortunately there was a ridiculously excessive police presence with many cops standing around with nothing to do. Less than half of this force would’ve been enough, as they seemed to be bored shitless for most of the day. The police were definitely friendly however which was nice to see. Another point in the negative was the mid-strength catpiss lager that the nanny state had decided was all this older crowd could be allowed to consume, with the average age of those in attendance being 30+ years. Hopefully the good behavior of the crowd this year means we get to enjoy the privileges of adulthood in full next year.
Also worth a mention is the sound and staging, which was easily the best I’ve seen and heard at a festival. The mix for every single band was PERFECT and I could hear each instrument clearly. In addition there was pyro, smoke machines, and massive screens which enhanced the gig a ton.
First up was POLARIS, who got a huge mosh moving despite being on early. ‘The Remedy’ and ‘Lucid’ got a huge response and the band seemed to be loving playing to their hometown crowd. These guys are ridiculously talented and deserve to be on a big stages like this. I caught a few songs of LUCA BRASI who also sounded very tight and polished on a big stage, before going to explore the festival. Next I caught THE BEAUTIFUL MONUMENT on the small stage, who were tight and heavy. The mostly female members all shared vocals and seemed very happy to have drawn a decent crowd so early in the day.
Off to the amphitheater to catch some of HIGH TENSION, who were fucking HEAVY. Some of the riffs pleasantly reminded me of Mastodon and frontwoman Karina is a beast on vocals, ripping some of the biggest screams of the day which is saying something. I’ve never heard of FEVER 333 and didn’t plan on watching them until they absolutely exploded onto the stage. They were by far the most energetic band all day with backflips, guitar swings and instrument destruction. The electronic-sound mixed with RATM probably doesn’t appeal to me on record but I fucking love watching a band give it their all.
I’m also not a fan of punk, but I figured it was time to finally get around to seeing FRENZAL RHOMB live. They opened with the first of many Ozzy tributes for the day with ‘Crazy Train’ and then entertained with their punchy 2 minute songs mixed with some entertaining stage banter. Never realised how good a guitarist Lindsay “The Doctor” McDougall was until today! CODE ORANGE were a strange mix of metalcore/electronic and had entertaining stage presence, with the beastly bass player front and centre making gurn faces and winding up the crowd.
It was time to head back to the main stage to catch BEHEMOTH. The face melting pyro added heaps to their gothic set but the music seemed quite boring, with many other bands showing tons more musicianship. The makeup seemed to be trying to make up for this fact to this reviewer, but I guess this wasn’t the band for me.
ANTHRAX were entertaining and gave a solid performance, and as a solid lover of all things thrash I was happy to cross another band off the Big Four. Unfortunately they didn’t do it for me today, but I seemed to be the exception with many die hard fans giving it their all.
Next up was the band everyone’s girlfriends came to see, and AMITY AFFLICTION sounded great on the main stage. Unfortunately the performance seemed pretty by-the-numbers and they didn’t appear to be very stoked to be playing such a huge stage with pyro etc. Again, I don’t think I was the target audience here but kudos to the organisers for coming up with a lineup to appeal to everyone. Some bats decided to fly over the crowd at this point, and a friend pointed out that Ozzy might’ve had a snack if he’d made it to Australia…..sigh.
Next I caught a few songs of RISE AGAINST who definitely looked happy to be there, and frontman Tim McIllrath was in the crowd from the get-go getting things moving with a circle pit. My friends stayed and caught another Ozzy tribute, with the band playing some of ‘Paranoid’ which I was sad to miss.
But there was no way I was missing THY ART IS MURDER. The band only had 30 minutes to play their hometown crowd but they made the most of it. Frontman CJ ordered “150 of you crazy cunts” to start a circle pit around the sound tent, and of course 400 of them obliged. The circle pit had roundhouse kicks and spinning elbows galore, but anyone who got knocked down was helped up immediately. This was the shot of energy I needed to power through the rest of the day.
Back to the main stage for ALICE IN CHAINS. These guys are the antithesis to Slayer, with a focus on slower grunge jams with soaring harmonies. They were my favourite set of the day and saw in the sunset with their classics like ‘Them Bones’ and ‘Would?’. ‘Man in a Box’ absolutely went off with Jerry Cantrell’s talkbox riff sounding perfect live. The band ended with ‘Rooster’ which was a lovely slow finish and massive singalong. So good.
Prior to the next act, Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ blared over the speakers which had a huge singalong. Again I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t be seeing Ozzy in the flesh but kudos to the organisers for soldiering on and for acknowledging the elephant in the room. I caught a bit of JUDAS PRIEST and was impressed with their stage setup and duelling guitar solos before sneaking off to catch some of PENNYWISE, who had a massive mosh going with their set of punk covers and their own classics. I caught 2 songs of SUM 41 who sounded super-tight and had another massive crowd, but it was time to get back to the main stage for the headliner.
During the extended set of the headliner I had to sneak away to catch at least 1 song of GHOST, who had the most heartbreaking set time clash of the day with Slayer. Luckily this was timed to perfection as I managed to catch signature track ‘Cirice’. Ghost have a massively full sound with at least 7 members crammed on stage and it sounded awesome. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay any longer than this but I was glad I caught that one at least.
I was there at Soundwave 2011 when SLAYER were forced to cancel immediately before their set, and it’s a moment I’ll never forget. So I was relieved when the ominous black curtain dropped and I finally saw the legendary thrash band in the flesh. What followed was an unrelenting assault of double-kick drums, pyro, screams and all-out thrash. This was visceral and amazing to behold, and the band unleashed on the audience for a full 90 minutes. Guitarist Kerry King does not stop headbanging the entire show, and it was awesome to finally see him in the flesh and….well….slaying. Frontman Tom Araya’s vocals still sound incredible, and guitarist Gary Holt filled late guitarist Jeff Hanneman’s shoes very well (and wielded an axe with Hanneman’s signature logo) and traded solos with King nearly every song. Paul Bostaph is an amazing drummer, but he will never fill the shoes of legendary drummer Dave Lombardo who by all rights deserves to still be on stage with the band. This did not stop my enjoyment of the set and the band powered through their classics like ‘War Ensemble’ and ‘Seasons in the Abyss’. Of course, the obvious highlight was their signature song ‘Raining Blood’ which sent the crowd absolutely berserk. The big finale was reserved for ‘Angel of Death’, and Hanneman’s signature logo replaced the backdrop on stage in honour of their fallen brother. The exhausted crowd gave it one more go for the road before saying goodbye to Slayer forever.
What a fucking day. I’d resolved to catch as many bands as I possibly could today, and afterwards I had the old familiar feeling of wanting to do it all again (the thought even crossed my mind of hopping a plane to Melbourne for round 2!) The vibe of this festival was absolutely amazing, with a crowd only there to have a good time. The current state of music festivals in NSW may impact the future of this event which would be an absolute tragedy, as the organisers of Download deserve for this festival to succeed. If you are a heavy music lover at all, get your ass to this festival next year.
Reviewer : Matthew Glen
Photographer : Kevin Bull
