Download Festival 2023 – Saturday. On the Opus Stage, Motionless In White were an emo-heavy music dream. Clad in their usual look of black, white and face paint to match their dress, they brought Download into a messed up time gander with their set, oozing with hot suave and pendulous darkness.
Having not seen the band before, I can say they were way ahead of their 4.00 pm stage time with a discography I can’t wait to get my hands on later.
Three Days Grace
Following on was Three Days Grace. I’m not sure whether it’s because it’s the first-ever sellout of the festival or it’s just the general quality of the acts this year, but there just seems to be not enough space for the vastness of the bands playing.
It’s as if there are two main stages, both Opus and Apex, this year. For Three Days Grace, the crowd stretched way beyond the usual lines and right up towards to the food stalls on the far fencing.
But of course, TDG put on a show worthy of such crowd mania. The sing-a-longs of the band were unanimous all around. Their obvious history of being a highly acclaimed band was not far but near; a constant level of lonely man lyrics wrapped in some snappingly good riffs and vocal giveaways.
It got a bit too heated in the pit, so I clambered out to set myself further up where surprisingly, the energy of the pit had completely transported itself. No end to the love of Three Days Grace in this field.
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.
Download Festival 2023
MetalTalk Download 2023 coverage can be found at MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2023
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:
For Download 2022, visit MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2022