TotalRock at Takedown Festival 2023

TotalRock at Takedown Festival 2023

Words by Amber Brooks

There’s nothing quite like a festival that feels like home. From the moment that the heavy guitars blast through Portsmouth Guildhall Square, or the heavy queues working their way around the archaic buildings, there is an undeniable sense of magic in the air. Festival Days are good days, and when you’ve waited eight years for the grand return of Takedown Festival to grace the south once again, there is little arguing as to what can be better than that.
Portsmouth Guildhall had been taken over by heavy music of all kinds. On four stages and an accompanying DJ bunker, almost 40 artists gave it the best that they could. TotalRock even had its own stage (quite fittingly called The TotalRock Stage) hosting amazing acts including In Me, As December Falls and headlined by the almighty Skindred, who were the original headliners of the first ever Takedown event many eons ago. In an interview with Neil Jones from TotalRock, vocalist Benji Webbe put it like this: “I look at this as an opportunity to put smiles on people’s faces.”

Inside, the main stage hosted the UK exclusive return of Sleep Token for this year, accompanied by Liverpool’s loudest Loathe, the very talented Jamie Lenman and UK heavyweights Palm Reader. If there was one complaint about the festival, it was that there were too many clashes. In the great labyrinth of corridors two other stages, featuring Heart of a Coward, Ithaca and The City is Ours. Regardless of where you went and who you saw there was always some loud and awesome music to go see.

It was not just a festival, but a community and the sizes of the crowds were perfect for seeing the best out of your favorite live bands, with ample seating areas within the main arena for when you really needed to rest your legs. With bars next to most of the stages, and food vendors catering for everyone, the layout was well thought out and accessible. For those with VIP, the bar upstairs was beautifully tranquil with exclusive acoustic sets of your favourite bands and prime seating over the main stage. This luxury was probably one of the best seen in any festival across the country.

For those who went to Takedown, or those interested in going next year, it is well worth it. This year felt like just a taster of great things to come. Next year’s dates have already been announced. Takedown 2024 will be back on the 13th and 14th of April 2024

Read a review of some of the bands here.