Never mind the audio, just go
Ah you can’t beat a good bottle fight and that’s exactly what the smallish crowd for Go:Audio engage in before the band come on. It’s all good fun until someone loses an eye right? First impressions of Go:Audio are that they make a strange four piece with keyboards replacing bass (and it should be noted that keyboard player Joshua Wilkinson has the worst haircut of the weekend!).
The tunes are lightweight indie pop/rock and after the second song I’m really struggling to see why Go:Audio are headlining this stage over the likes of Therapy? It’s all very nice and twee and I could see Myley Cyrus singing these songs! The girls at the front seem to like it and it certainly has a commercial edge but for a headline slot at Download it feels all wrong, Radio One’s Big Weekend maybe. Singer James Matthews works the crowd like he’s a redcoat at Butlins but lacks any real charisma. Alas the bottle fight at the start was more interesting and by the time they play ‘Forget About It’ I’m thinking that’s probably a good idea. Even Def Leppard on the main stage seem an attractive prospect at this point; every song follows the same familiar pattern of big major chords and at some point Wilkinson will inevitably realise he has nothing to do and will bound around aimlessly.
The crowd have fun, there’s a mini mosh pit and even a little crowd surfing so let the kids play I guess ...try the road next time.