Download always likes to throw some a curve ball right at you, give you something a little different to sink your teeth into, sometimes their massive and high profile, such as Chase and Status in 2012, or someone a little low-key yet still different with twenty one pilots last year. This year the wonderful lot at Download have given us an interesting number in The Qemists. They’re a band that could quite easily divide opinions on the first listen, but live they will be a completely different beast.
When it comes to Drum and Bass, Dubstep and other electronic based acts you seem to have two ways of performing live these days, the DJ booth set-up which doesn’t really lend itself to a festival like Download, or you can move into the live performance route such as with The Qemists. Like Pendulum and The Prodigy before them, the live music direction can easily help you bring in those rock fans who may not like the idea of something other than strict rock being played at “their” festival, but will give it a chance once they find out that it’s not just pre-recorded music being offered to them from behind a mix desk. Thankfully with The Qemists, this is exactly what you get, a live show filled to the brim with energy and tunes that will get you moving no matter what denomination of rock you sit under.
It’s difficult to explain The Qemists, or to even suggest tracks you need to listen to, as quite often the live performance is so different to what you get on the record that it’s almost fruitless to get used to the tracks beforehand. The band has already proved time and time again that their live show lends itself to the rock crowd, most recently when they completely owned the stage at last year’s Breakout Festival. They’re not shy about working with rock bands either. Possibly one of their biggest tracks so far was working with the sensational Enter Shikari, a band that has also proved that you can effectively blend drum and bass and rock music, a band that also coincidently is also playing the Sunday at this year’s Download Festival. The track ‘Dirty Words’ is one of the biggest proofs that rock really is very much part of The Qemists.
Variety is the spice of life, and you’re certainly getting that with the Qemists. You shouldn’t just take them as “that band that’s a little bit out there”. The band should be taken for the awesome live show they already are, and you’ll be fools to miss one of the biggest changes to your weekend. Seeing rock after rock after rock can blend into after a while, but seeing this band will really leave an impression on your weekend.
Release to own: ‘Spirit In The System’
Tracks to listen to: ‘Dirty Words’, ‘No More‘, ‘Take It Back‘
