Well, it seems I've been promising gig reviews for various gigs from the last 6 weeks or so. I've posted little bits of them here and there, and I'd imagine no one's that bothered about reading them, but I'm gonna stick them all here anyway in case anyone fancies having a read, seeing as I've stuck them up all over MySpace/LiveJournal/Facebook already:

Download Festival - Donington Park - June 2007 - Day 1

Bands:
Zico Chain - Well, listened to them while queuing for drinks tokens and caught them on the screens occasionally … they seemed pretty good, all punky / grungey / alternative / indie rock. Probably worth downloading a couple of songs from. Seeing as I wasn't paying complete attention though, can't really rate them.

Buckcherry – Cool, fun sleazy rock n' roll, with the strutting energy being just what's needed to shake off the hangovers most of the crowd probably had (including, to an extent, yours truly). Highlight of their set was an extended version of Crazy Bitch with a bit of a jam breakdown in the middle. I'll award them a 4/5

Hinder – I didn't see their whole set, but they were pretty much as I expected them to be: Emotive modern rock combined with a hard rock edge is all well and good (albeit it's unlikely to ever be truly outstanding), but mostly they played too many ballads to get a festival crowd going. Get Stoned remains a really good song though. 3/5 ish

Megadeth – Kinda disappointing live … I mean, they have some great songs, and are obviously great musicians, but there was no spark … it was all a bit workmanlike, and, well … boring. Even Holy Wars, which I consider to be one of the best metal songs ever lacked any real fire. Can't really give them any more than … 3/5

Dragonforce – Sheer awesomeness! Ludicrously long and fast solos may not seem the way to keep a festival crowd entertained, but when the rhythm is that relentless, the band members such good showmen (especially the frontman … now he has the Jack Sparrow style facial hair thing going on and was dressed all in black I actually want his babies … coolest man I've ever seen), and the songs that anthemic; entertainment is guaranteed! Probably my favourite band of the day … go on, have a 5/5.

Wolfmother – Since I've seen them before I missed the beginning of their set to tend to more pressing matters … they haven't changed too much from last year … they still rock like the bastard child of Zeppelin and Sabbath, and stepbrother of the White Stripes, they're still a little bit unginged … the bassist / keyboardist jumping onto his keyboard and playing it tilted or completely vertical; the frontman looking and sounding a bit deranged, like he's under the influence of something (and I reckon he was). They did a new song too. They definetly rock live, but it's sometimes a case of "seen it before", and you can tell they're not really used to a big stage, they never really moved off the spot and utilised the space properly. They can have a 3+/5

Velvet Revolver – Well, it's Slash and Duff innit? That's always a good starting point And Scott Weiland, with his camp stage movements and sneering punk vocals is an exciting frontman. OK, so they're no GnR, but they've got that same mixture of sleaziness and rock fury which is really engaging live … somewhat like not being able to take your eyes off a car crash. Decent setlist: most of the best rockers off their first album, as well as the ballad Fall To Pieces; the obligatory (but still very cool to see) STP and GnR covers, and a few songs from their new album, which sounded interesting. Great performance, but I think Dragonforce just about beat them for sheer entertainment value. 4+/5

Korn – Hung about for very little of their set, the tent was absolutely rammed … not only was there no chance of getting in, I was finding it difficult to find a place outside where I could even see the screens. Think I heard their the drum solo intro and the first song, then got pissed off and went to watch MCR. Did return for a bit later, and was pleased that I caught Freak On A Leash … which was a very straight performance of it … but still couldn't see, so buggered off again soon after. Tis a shame, I was looking forward to seeing them with Joey Jordison drumming, and I later heard a rumour that Clown from Slipknot was also there playing percussion for them … can anyone confirm or deny this? Yeah, can't really give them a rating either.

My Chemical Romance – Probably saw about half their set at various different points. I still don't think they're much better than alright live. Not only is Gerard Way's voice incredibly inadequate live, he doesn't even seem to perform much, the rest of the band seem far more into it than he is … his wiseass act when talking to the crowd suits him though. Despite the fact that they said in Kerrang that they'd be bringing their stage show across, there were no theatrics or interesting props or scenery in the bits I saw. On the plus side I did manage to catch Welcome To The Black Parade, but on the minus side even that was kinda disappointing. Yeah, mainly just made me wish I could have got into see Korn. Can't be bothered to rate them … somewhere between a high 2 and a low 3 I guess.