A DAY TO REMEMBER
MAIN STAGE, SATURDAY
E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N I N G I N RO C K
By the time Bolm approaches the barrier for a despairing final bow of ‘Honest Sleep’, everyone’s jaws are feeling as heavy as their hearts, dropping to the floor in the wake of such a perfect encounter.
12
Three years on from bouncing back out of their hiatus, it feels like the only place left in the world for Basement to prove their worth is Download. With their third album ‘Promise Everything’, the Ipswich five-piece have crafted anthems that would have filled arenas in the 90s, and judging by how massive ‘Aquasun’ and ‘For You The Moon’ sound on the Avalanche Stage, who’s to say that they couldn’t do it now? The likes of ‘Bad Apple’ and ‘Covet’ attract some of the most victorious singalongs of the whole weekend, but the person having the best time of his life here is singer Andrew Fisher, who bounds about the stage grinning ear-to-ear while leading contemplative alternative rock anthems, played with
the gusto of a hardcore band. Basement are no longer on the cusp of something magnificent; this is that something, and it has the potential to take them all the way to the top. For 20 years, The Dillinger Escape Plan have been like a nuclear blast in every conceivable environment. It only makes sense that, for their final dalliance with Download and the UK as a whole, the mathcore pioneers charge in on their most merciless form yet. Perpetually shrouded in strobing white light and dry ice from the get-go of ‘Prancer’, the New Jersey quintet play with a staggering amount of animosity. Founding member Ben Weinman is a sick genius of his craft, pulling off blistering guitar licks with inhumanely technical timing, and yet still darting around the Avalanche Stage like he’s possessed. ‘Can we just turn everything up and punish the shit out of everyone in here?’ frontman Greg Puciato teases before annihilating everyone’s ears with his banshee scream on ‘Sugar Coated Sour’.
Despite everything Biffy A Day To Remember are here to make a claim for that top spot. Years of appearing towards the end of festival bills have given the band plenty of chances to lock down their ferocious party throwing, and today, all those life lessons are put to vicious effect. From the opening ‘All I Want’, ADTR are in fine form. Stomping from abrasive and defiant to reflective and tranquil, the band proudly boast each one of their stripes. Frontman Jeremy McKinnon is a sheer force of nature, determined to incite a reaction, and his role as fearsome master of ceremonies sees the band reach the highest of heights.
There are no pleasantries, no lump-inthroat speech, no pause for breath, let alone to consider that this truly is the last time that The Dillinger Escape Plan will lay waste to a British audience. Just a brief thank you and another menacing phrase from Puciato (‘I’m playing until they fucking turn us off’) before a backto-back blast of ‘Sunshine the Werewolf’ and ‘43% Burnt’ leaves everything before it sounding pedestrian. Forget orchestrated chaos; this is a fully blown orchestrated apocalypse. As the UK bids farewell to one of the world’s most influential and incendiary bands, at least we can say that this plan was perfectly executed. P