SONIC SHOCKS - Download 2014 Special

PRESENTS

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SPECIAL SOUVENIR EDITION June 2014

a collection of of live, backstage and crowd photos

by Cristina Massei & Nelly Loriaux Š Sonic Shocks 2014 - All Rights Reserved

DRENGE

Zippo Encore Stage – Friday 14.50 We were not sure how the Castleton brothers would fit the bill with their NME endorsed stripped down rock, but ‘Face Like A Skull’ and ‘Necromance Is Dead’ go down pretty well with Donington’s early birds. Watch them again on more friendly territory at Reading.

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SKINDRED

Stephen Sutton Stage – Friday 16.00 Put your garments in the air and welcome back Benji and his crew for one of the most explosive sets of the day. The Star Wars intro leads to ‘Rat Race’, ‘Doom Riff’ and ‘Ninja’, but it’s ‘Kill the Power’ that gets the party well and truly started. Raise your hands bitches.

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BLACK LABEL SOCIETY

Stephen Sutton Stage – Friday 16.45 The audience knows exactly what to expect when Zakk Wylde gets on Donington’s Main, and they’re not disappointed. Opening proceedings with ‘My Dying Time’ followed by ‘Godspeed Hellbound’, Black Label Society deliver a powerhouse of a set leaving sweaty tangled locks aplenty in their wake.

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WITHIN TEMPTATION

Stephen Sutton Stage – Friday 17.55 Sharon den Adel’s voice and stage presence dominate a growing crowd effortlessly, a perfect fusion of grace and power. Add her tangible chemistry with Westerholt and the force of songs like ‘Let Us Burn’ and ‘Paradise (What About Us?)’ for an epic live experience.

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FLOGGING MOLLY

Zippo Encore Stage – Friday 19.05 Time to party Celtic style, as Dave King and his merry punk lot get ‘Screaming At The Wailing Wall’ swearing ‘(No More) Paddy’s Lament’. Spontaneous tap-dancing moshpits are evidence of this year’s eclectic bill.

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ROB ZOMBIE

Stephen Sutton Stage – Friday 19.20 Really, what else can we say about Rob Zombie’s live show that hasn’t already been said?? Enjoy the pictures…

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BAD RELIGION

Zippo Encore Stage – Friday 20.10 Punk legends make a welcome appearance as main support to Zippo headliners Offspring. They choose the most direct approach opening with ‘Fuck You’; it’s all downhill from there… 45 minutes of fun on and off stage.

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THE OFFSPRING

Zippo Encore Stage – Friday 21.25 Time to Relax? Yeah right. Nitro (Youth Energy) ignites the sonic fireworks for The Offspring’s much awaited comeback at Download 2014. Louder than a terrorist attack on 24. I hear terrified members of Avenged Sevenfold tried to call Jack Bauer…

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BOWLING FOR SOUP

Stephen Sutton Stage – Saturday 15.00 There is no better way to kick off a Saturday afternoon: Bowling for Soup, sunshine and a giant inflatable sheep.

‘Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day’ aptly compliments this set list next to ‘The Bitch Song’, ‘1985’ and ‘The Girl All The Bad Guys Want’.

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ORANGE GOBLIN

Zippo Encore Stage – Saturday 16.15 18 years after that split EP with Electric Wizard, Ben Ward & Co are stronger than ever, their sound empowered with an infusion of metal which doesn’t eclipse the original doom/ stoner roots. Live as well their maturity is evident, even in a set way too short like this one.

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MONSTER MAGNET

Zippo Encore Stage – Saturday 17.10 The legendary Space Lords open with a blast from the past in ‘Superjudge’ then set the DeLorean further back to 1991 for stoner classic ‘Medicine’.

40 minutes, 6 songs, 1 overwhelming performance – including ‘Dopes of Infinity’ and band’s biggest UK hit ‘Powertrip’.

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THE WILDHEARTS

Zippo Encore Stage – Saturday 18.15 Ginger teams up again with CJ, Jon Poole and Ritch Battersby to bring to Donington his evergreen Wildhearts catalogue. Riffs and catchy choruses matched in heaven by a undeniable song writing genius of our days - with a loyal enthusiastic fan base to match - make this set a Festival highlight for all those still looking for emotions in their rock’n’roll.

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TWISTED SISTER

Zippo Encore Stage – Saturday 19.20 Surely one of the ugliest, yet most entertaining men in rock’n’roll, Dee Snider is back to celebrate 20 years of ‘Stay Hungry’ – the album with ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ and ‘I Wanna Rock’.

‘The Kids Are Back’ early in the set is a declaration of intent. A vivid splash of colour on an already bright day at Donington.

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STATUS QUO

Zippo Encore Stage – Saturday 20.50 If anyone tells you they were not dancing and singing along to ‘Whatever You Want’ and ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, they are blatantly lying. Fact. Every festival should have at least one band like Status Quo.

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THE GRAVELTONES

Pepsi Max Stage – Sunday 12.30 And after two days of miraculous sunshine, the gods decided it was time for some rain. Just to make sure everyone would run to the Pepsi Max Tent to witness the glorious rock’n’roll bash that is a Graveltones show. Shake it baby!

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BUCKCHERRY

Stephen Sutton Stage – Sunday 12.50 Josh Todd plays it safe starting with ‘Lit Up’ - a song about cocaine. Not that you’re gonna need any after this guncotton lunchtime delivery.

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THE TREATMENT

Pepsi Max Stage – Sunday 14.45 ‘Drink, F**k, Fight’ works the crowd nicely but ‘I Bleed Rock+Roll’ is a definite highlight for these young rockers. A high energy set for one of next year’s big stage contenders.

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RICHIE SAMBORA

Stephen Sutton Stage – Sunday 13.50 Of course he played ‘Lay Your Hands on Me’ and closed with ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’, but his partnership with Orianthi works wonders on stage and – with an album being recorded together – maybe Richie is soon going to be more than just Bon Jovi’s ex guitarist.

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ORIANTHI

Stephen Sutton Stage – Sunday 13.50 Well, she was playing with Richie Sambora but we thought she deserved her own space…

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CRAZY TOWN

Pepsi Max Stage – Sunday 15.35 Crazy Town’s unexpected comeback fills the Pepsi Tent to capacity. Epic and Shifty in top form don’t let the crowd down, with an electrifying performance and of course a Butterfly.

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PHILIP H ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS Zippo Encore Stage – Sunday 17.10

Anselmo breaks the silence quite abruptly with a Hellbound cover and continues louder and angrier than ever for 40 minutes, screaming out of his lungs and pulling faces to the delight of Pantera fans in the audience.

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THE PRETTY RECKLESS

Zippo Encore Stage – Sunday 19.25 Taylor Momsen has more to offer this time than a flashed boob and a teenager TV past. Finally confident and able to command a stage, she proves herself and passes the Donington test, successfully bringing the maturity of ‘Going To Hell’ to a major live setting.

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THE HOWLING

Redbull Studio Stage – Saturday 20.55 Out of hiding after a full moon Friday 13th, The Howling pack the Redbull Studio Stage with a raw thunderous performance NL

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HUNTRESS – Jill Janus Why I really love Ann Wilson is she surpasses the gender… she strips away the sexuality vocally and just delivers a pure, true voice.

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BATTLECROSS– Hiran Deraniyagala I think social media right now more than anything is the most important thing to be on but have to go beyond that too because information’s going so fast on the internet people can’t keep up...

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THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT Acoustic Set

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DRIPBACK - Adam Sagir

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ZOAX It’s amazing that Sikth are back playing, they’re such an influence to I think 95% of the bands that play here

THE DIRTY YOUTH We’ve got a song called Bury Me Next To Elvis about a crazy fan that’s obsessed with Elvis who wants to be buried next to him – good lyrics that tell a good story.

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SKYHARBOR – Keshav Dhar For us, being a predominantly Indian band, [playing Download Festival] is like a bucket list thing…

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THE DIRTY YOUTH

Acoustic Set

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CHASING CADENCE It’s just been an overwhelming experience, the kind of response that we’ve received, the fact we had a full room singing our songs was mind blowing.

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FOZZY - Chris Jericho We’ve played everywhere from the biggest of shows to the smallest of rooms, doesn’t matter the size of the crowd the people are there and they want to have a good time and they believe in the band

DYING FETUS – Trey Williams We’re very flattered (about the Dying Fetus hashtag), it’s awesome that fans of extreme metal helped make this happen through something like Twitter.

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The Download Dog with John Gallagher from DYING FETUS

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SIKTH - Dan Weller …the best thing you can hope for is that other bands dig it so when you find out there are other bands that are influenced by you it means a great deal.

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THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Trevor Strnad With the last 2 records it’s gotten bigger and better – having Ryan Knight come into the fold and bloom as a songwriter, incorporating samples which we had never done before, they’ve been the bar for us and blown the door open for more creative things.

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ARTHEMIS

SKILLET – John Cooper

There are only four of us but we try to play like ten so it’s always a good challenge every time we get on stage.

THE HOWLING Yesterday we were preparing,we couldn’t go out obviously with the full moon so we had to lock the doors and sleep in the basement to hideour hairy backs

We are a ‘Christian’ band but we don’t only write songs for Christian people; I write songs that I hope are relatable to atheists, Muslims, people that aren’t religious at all and Christians, it doesn’t matter to me because our songs are about life.

MONUMENTS John Browne & Olly Steele The first to make it are the ones that did it the best, and that’s going to happen to the current progressive style…

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WE CAME AS ROMANS

Acoustic Set

Plastic Sister makes an appearance

CRAZY TOWN ...It’s the end of the world and we’re not scared and we have our baseball bats and we’re hitting balls of fire.It’s just like the sky is falling and we’re having a good time.

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