Fox Reviews Rock

For the second day of Download Festival we managed to find somewhere closer to park and after a combined hour drive and walk from home, we made it into the arena.

The first artist we went to see was LØLØ who we last saw in Birmingham, you can read that review here. We got ourselves to the front in the Avalanche stage in the tent, where people were giving out LØLØ bracelets and we managed to get one each.

She came out with her band in front of a big crowd opening up with ‘faceplant’ and ‘omg’ with her amazing voice and fun, dancing stage presence.

For the third song ‘debbie downer’ the band and staff threw pom poms into the crowd for people to dance to the song with, we like this as it helps get the crowd more involved with the show.

LØLØ finished her seven song set with ‘THE FLOOR IS LAVA!!’ with a bit of Green Days ‘Brain Stew’ which nicely worked together, this followed the popular ‘hot girls in hell’. LØLØ was great throughout her set and was gutted she couldn’t stay on longer to perform more songs.

For the remainder of the day we stayed at the Opus Stage, the first band we saw there were Eagles Of Death Metal, who St Jimmy saw before back in 2007 & 2009.

The band was formed in Palm Desert California by Jesse Hughes (vocals & guitar) & Josh Home (Drums) with the latter rarely performing live as he has commitments as the lead singer of Queen of the Stone Age. They have had many contributors over the years such as Jack Black, Dave Grohl and the late Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, showcasing the wide range of talent that has been involved with them.

Eagles of Death Metal aren’t the Eagles and they don’t play metal, but they are a very fun band to watch, making jokes and telling how beautiful the crowd was.

They opened with  ‘I Only Want You’ which was their first ever single back in 2004, followed by a favourite ‘Don’t Speak (I Came To Make A Bang!)’ which the crowd enjoyed. They played a few more songs but it felt like their set was very short, we think this was down to some technical problems.

We enjoyed their set but were disappointed they didn’t perform ‘I Gotta Feelin’ (Just Nineteen)’ & Wannabe in L.A’.

Next up we’re The Darkness who we last saw in Wolverhampton 3 months prior, you can read about that here.

They opened up with a newer song ‘Rock and Roll Party Cowboy’s and Jimmy’s favourite ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’ which really got the place rocking!

Justin (lead singer) entertained like always, dancing around and making jokes, including doing a handstand and clapping his legs together, which is a talent in itself.

They continued to entertain through with fan favourites ‘Growing On Me’, ‘Love Is Only a Feeling’ and even ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)’ which was brilliant on a summers day in June.

The Darkness finished their 10 song set with the massive ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ and a newer song ‘I Hate Myself’

After a short break it was time for the headliners of the Opus stage Sex Pistols with Frank Carter, we last saw them in Birmingham in 2024 where we didn’t have a great experience and you can read about that here.

The Sex Pistols played the whole album ‘Nevermind the Bollocks’ in full starting the punk party with ‘Holidays in the Sun’ in front of a massive crowd which was going nuts at the front.

Before playing the hit song ‘Pretty Vacant’ Frank decided to go into the crowd and have everyone one mosh around him. This song had to be restarted twice because he was getting crushed and unable to perform, which was really frustrating for the rest of the crowd to watch, not really one of his best ideas.

They continued through the album playing big hitters ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘My Way’, finishing with ‘Anarchy in the U.K.’ capping off a fantastic show.

We were happy we actually got to sit back and enjoy the show this time without anybody trying to ruin it and go home with a smile.

All rights to the songs in this review are retained by the relevant artists and this site claims no rights over them.

St. Jimmy and Rex 🖤☠️