Download Festival 2018 | Review

Even some bad aspects of this place couldn't let it bring the fun down!

Download Festival 2018

This place brings nothing but comfort and fun, emo and cliche, love and family! Nothing can tear down the wall of happiness that gets built the second the festival band is around your wrist, the only thing that can change it is the sweeeet cocktails but the only thing that does is add another layer to it!

“In order, I’d say that the best bands I saw were Avatar, Avenged Sevenfold, and Black Veil Brides (I’ll admit that BVB was mostly due to emo-teenage nostalgia though they did put on an incredible show).”

Download Festival 2018 saw a huge increase in popular bands throughout the weekend rather than simply the headliners of each stage. In 2016 there were six bands I wanted to see over the whole three days and that includes headliners, 2018 saw twenty bands over the weekend. The atmosphere lived up to its friendly reputation and was incredibly welcoming. Everybody I came across were extremely inviting whether or not they were drunk, offering high fives and numerous photobombs. In order, I’d say that the best bands I saw were Avatar, Avenged Sevenfold, and Black Veil Brides (I’ll admit that BVB was mostly due to emo-teenage nostalgia though they did put on an incredible show). Seeing Avatar was the first I’d seen and heard them and it had a huge impact because of their production, they had more production sets than most of the main stage headliners. Avenged Sevenfold sounded just like their studio recordings and therefore had to make their way into the top 3. It was an extremely enjoyable and constantly entertaining weekend with many extra experiences such as the entertainment in the Doghouse, the Infernal Varanne Globe of Death, Area 51, and the fairground. There were of course let downs. This must include the set of Guns ‘n’ Roses which was too long at almost 3 hours from which they extracted a $5mil pay check from. The majority of the set had no clashes which meant that other bands could have been booked in to fill some of that time but they wouldn’t play if there were. There were also bands I didn’t enjoy which is no fault of Download Festival but has to be mentioned. This especially includes Babymetal, of which I think are too over credited. I appreciate the skills of the instrumentalists in the band but the vocalists and the overall band are very generic and over hyped. Overall, I can’t say too many negatives about the festival and can honestly say (besides the INSANE amount of walking) it was an incredible weekend. Let’s get Rocktail Cocktail back! The festival deserves a solid 7/10 for it’s excellent entertainment!