Download Festival 2023. Friday Morning. As far as festival ‘villages’ go, District X is as good as it can get this year. Day Two saw award-winning podcast On Wednesday’s We Wear Black host their show in The Sidesplitter just inside the pre-arena area. The Doghouse also hosted a RockFit session for all those either not dying from a hangover or looking to cure one.
Police confirmed they had had complaints about noise, with Derbyshire Police saying it had taken some calls but suggested that North West Leicestershire District Council were the ones to look into this. There have been posts on social media suggesting that noise could be heard eight miles away. But hey, ho!!
“Brilliant to be back at Download Festival today,” Jack Hutchison wrote on social media. “Metallica were simply superb. A really diverse setlist featuring a lot of my faves (The Day That Never Comes, King Nothing, Blackened, Master of Puppets). Can’t wait to do it all again on Saturday!”
Theme park rides are plenty, and queues for the toilets are generally very good. On my way to the arena, I pass the local Co-Op pop-up supermarket. With the queue being consistently quite long, Download had taken the liberty of appointing some kind of entertainer on a stage in front of the hordes of Metalhead’s looking to get a sarnie or some much-needed suncream. It genuinely made the experience much more appealing, with a few punters sitting down on the grass by the store just taking in the bad jokes and general entertainment.
“Anyone from the back wants to queue jump?” Hopeful hands go up, but we are in England after all and is a festival really a festival without a bit of hanging around?
Speaking of which, upon entering the main arena, there is an enormous queue for the merch stand, already fully cooked. Download merch is a staple piece of any hard rocking festival goer, with the designs repping a hot topic of piping hot fuel and Metal memorabilia.
The sun is beating down once again, and the Friday atmosphere is rife. Onto the music, as we keep wishing these times would never end.
Take Part: Are you at Download this year? Who are you looking forward to see? Want to get in touch and tell us how it’s going? Email MetalTalk Editor Steve Ritchie to tell us how it’s going for you. Download@MetalTalk.net.
MetalTalk Download 2023 coverage can be found at MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2023
Download Festival 2023Â was a record breaking year.
Download 2023 will see the festival celebrate its 20th anniversary with an additional day, meaning four days of live music in total.
This year’s MetalTalk team is:
Photography by John Hayhurst – SnapAGig
For Download 2022, visit MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2022
