Top 5 Things To Do At Download Festival

There are only a few days before the gates of the biggest festival for the UK rock scene open. It feels like forever since last year's festival, but this year the organisers of Download have gone above and beyond to create the ultimate rock experience. Yes, there are some amazing bands like Kiss, Slipknot and Muse who are ready to blow your minds, but there are also some great activities for you to try out while you're bathing in rock goodness, or mud.

5. Laser Tag

Is there really much of an explanation needed for this one? You'll run around, shooting people with lasers. It will be amazing. You'll probably be very drunk. And is there really anything better than that?

4. Wrestling

This year's dress up theme is pro-wrestling, so expect to see fully grown men walking round in just a mask, a cape and speedos. To fit in with the theme, Download ramping up the wrestling at Donnington by making some amazing additions to the programme, including the country's best independent wrestlers, Progress wrestling and continuing the long standing tension between the reigning champion Jimmy Havoc and Download's own figurehead, Download Dog.

3. Dog's Bed Stage
Have you ever dreamy of playing to the masses at Donnington? Got your own band who need a few extra fans? Download's Dog's Bed Stage lets YOU become the star of the festival with their fully equipped open mic experience. Just try not to be too bad.

2. KISS Face Painting
Kiss are set to close the festival with a bang on the Sunday night, but let's face it, are you going to be alive enough to paint your own face like the band? Visit Download's face painting station to get your Kiss look expertly applied. Don;t forget to bring your own tongue!

1. Love
A heavy rock festival is probably the last place you expect to be going on blind dates, but Download have teamed up with Heavy Metal Dating to bring speed dating to all the single festival goers. If it all goes well, why not pay a visit to the inflatable chapel where you can marry whoever and whatever you like? Will it be that certain someone you've been with for a while now, that random person you bought back to your tent last night, your beloved case of beer, or if you're lucky, your favourite band member? Just remember it's not actually legal, so you won;t end up in court a few months down the line filing for a divorce.

Don;t forget you can also watch your favourite bands at this music festival, so try not to get so caught up in marrying everything and shooting lasers at your mates that you miss your favourite band! Have an awesome time and stay safe.

Weekly Roundup

It's been a busy week in the music world with some huge releases and the start of the festival season! Here's 4.3.5's highlights of what has been an incredible week.

New Releases

We have seen 2 huge new albums from Victory Records this week. On Monday Broadside and Victorian Halls unleashed some incredible new music, and neither band has disappointed. Broadside's Old Bones has the power to transport any pop punk defender back to the good old days when the movement was first starting. They have also released their brand new video for Damaged Kids off the album, be sure to check it out.

Victorian Halls have released Hyperalgesia (I have no idea how to pronounce it either!) and have impressed here at 4.3.5 HQ. Their style is very difficult to pinpoint, but they sound like the musical lovechild of Enter Shikari and Fearless Vampire Killers with their electronic undertones with a gothic, creepy aura provided by some killer vocals. These are really worth a listen if you are a fan of anything from the most popular indie bands to the heaviest of rock.

Festivals

It really excites me when festival coverage starts popping up on my TV, and the extreme mixture of genres at Radio 1's Big Weekend means it is the perfect way to get everyone hyped for the British festival season (one of the best in the world). With amazing bands like Fall Out Boy, the Foo Fighters and Muse, the weekend is bound to set the standards high for the rest of the summer.

Discoveries

I have been doing a bit of digging this week and found some little crackers for you all to soak up and enjoy over the next week. The first song comes from a group of guys hailing from Cheshire in England. Indigo Shores are a relatively new band with some big plans for the future. If this band don't take you back to the summers of the late 2000s with their indie riffs and catchy lyrics, are you sure you sure you lived through them?!

A little bit of credit must go to Spotify this week for throwing this amazing cover of Dark Horse at me. I was (unfortunately) a bit of a fan of the original when it first came out, but like most pop songs it became tired and overplayed. Listening to Our Last Night's over of the sugar coated anthem was like listening to a completely different song and actually brings a whole new level of darkness to Katy Perry's hit.

Let me know what you have been loving this week and if there is anything I should feature in next week's round up!

Storytellers

You could be forgiven for thinking this band were part of the revolution that founded what we now know as pop punk, but you couldn't be more wrong. Broadside were formed just under 5 years ago, bringing the heart and soul of classic pop punk back to a current audience.

It's easy to see how their influences have shaped their music. With influences like New Found Glory and Comeback Kid, it becomes obvious why their prominent classic pop punk guitar riffs and melodies are a major part of their music. Andrew noted that the band would love to work with New Found Glory because they have managed to stay relevant for such a long time in the game, and here at 4.3.5, I think Broadside are fully capable of achieving this themselves years down the line.

Warped Tour has inspired so many pop punk bands on the scene today, and it's also where Broadside's dreams of creating a band started. Finding each other online, and even stealing Dorian from other bands, Broadside have strived to create the best music they can, and were honoured to be featured in Alternative Press' '100 Bands You Need To Know' feature a few months ago. A list that has predicted the insanely huge careers of the likes of A Day To Remember, Simple Plan, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Panic! At The Disco and so many others who have gone on to find worldwide recognition.

The band do admit that they face their challenges. 'One of the hardest things I feel like we have had to face is balancing a life between being in a touring band and still having a manageable personal life' is an answer we hear in interview after interview with bands like Broadside, especially as they are still at that stage where they have to 'work dead end jobs' just to live when they are back at home, which I honestly hope is a life they do not have to live for much longer.

While finding the time to have a personal life can be tough, the guys love touring and love the connection that touring with other pop punk bands can provide. They feel they 'automaticallt have that connection' with the other bands they tour with, making each trip on the road a lot more fun. Sometimes that could lead to too much fun as the band admitted they have had their rock and roll moments, before even hitting the big time! Touring with a band called Challenges. the guys threw some 'insane parties' in their practise space which led to a trashed rehearsal room and evictions, but we're sure this isn't the behaviour they will be bringing over to the UK.

Stay tuned to 4.3.5 to find out when the band will be playing a British tour (which we hope will be soon). Be sure to preorder Old Bones which is released on May 19th.

Photography:

Hannah Verbeuren