The Jesus and Mary Chain performs at The Fillmore in San Francisco on Oct. 19, 2017.

SAN FRANCISCO — The folks behind this year’s Download Festival, held Saturday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, targeted fans of newer bands in the dance, alternative and Britpop molds, as well as fans of two of the ancestors: headliners the Jesus and Mary Chain and Gang of Four.

What they were offering was impressive: For just $20, fans could see 24 bands on two stages, as well as a comedy stage with 11 performers. And there was no downtime between performers as a rotating main stage kept set-up time to a few minutes, if that.

They apparently failed at drawing fans – reportedly only a few thousand tickets were sold. Even at the peak of the show, during alt-rockers Brand New, only the lower bowl was full, with handfuls of fans in the upper bowl or in the grass.

Those who didn’t come because the festival lineup was missing a bigger name or two missed out. You could have gotten you money’s worth in just a few hours.

The crowd was late in showing up, like at a Lakers playoff game, which was a shame because they missed great sets by early performers the Duke Spirit and Chicago DJs Flosstradamus.

The Duke Spirit, a six-member Britpop band led by smoky-voiced siren Liela Moss, who sold the performance for the couple hundred who were there at the time.

Flosstradamus, who have been through the Bay Area several times recently, including last fall’s Treasure Island Music Festival, got the crowd moving for the first time. But of course you can’t go wrong with ‘80s and ‘90s remixes set to deep bass.

The middle of the lineup on the front stage was highlighted by strong sets from husband-wife duo Mates of State, who were supported by a cellist and violinist; Southern rockers The Whigs; Datarock (in matching tracksuits); and French mood music makers M83.

Datarock, one of Norway ‘s best exports, led the crowd in stretching exercises and jumping jacks — as well as some retro ‘80s singalongs.

M83, which is primarily the project of Anthony Gonzalez, was the most unique act of the day. Atmospheric, syncopated and moody, it was at times trance and at times sounded like amped-up Enya (when the keyboardist Morgan Kibby sang, which was also when the band was at its best).

The award for the most energetic band of the festival went to New Orleans alt-rock band MuteMath, who blasted through their set. Or, they would have if drummer Darren King wouldn’t have kicked a hole through his bass drum during the first song, which resulted in a five-minute delay.

He also broke several drumsticks in 30 minutes, snapping them in half like a juiced-up ball player with a flimsy wooden bat. Singer Paul Meany, and the band’s other members used just about every piece of metal on stage as a hitting surface, including the piano seat and microphone stands. At one point, three band members were banging on the same drum kit.

Although Meany didn’t have much space to move around on stage, he still attempted several flips over his keyboard, at one point landing at an awkward angle on a stage speaker.

It became clear after the set by Australian disco, retro dance pop band Cut Copy that half of the crowd viewed them as the headliners. The only thing missing from their set was the mirrorball and lasers (but it was still daytime), and it proved very difficult to not move to “Lights and Music” and their other songs.

Another third of the crowd apparently felt that alternative screamo outfit Brand New was the headliner. After a strong 50-minute set for the head-banging and moshing crowd, Brand New was the only band to elicit chants for an encore and then attract boos when they didn’t reappear on stage.

A third of the crowd left after their set. They missed a stellar performance by Scottish alt-rock pioneers the Jesus and Mary Chain, and a strong, but odd, performance by English alt-rock architects Gang of Four.

Jesus and Mary Chain were in fine form. That is to say they paid little attention to the remaining crowd and instead played song after song with little fanfare.

Gang of Four singer Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill — and a new rhythm section — sounded good but King’s stage antics distracted from the music.

King gave it his all, jumping over speakers, thrusting himself against the microphone stand, frog-jumping and crawling across the stage on all fours and pretending to shoot people in the crowd while saying, “bang, bang.”

It was a bit too much. King looked stiff while performing his stunts, ran out of breath several times while talking between songs, and sat down two times, wiping the sweat off with his shirt.

Luckily, while King’s age (he’s 53 now) has affected his body, it has not touched his voice, especially on popular songs like “I Love a Man in Uniform” and “Love Like Anthrax.” The latter was sung by both King and Gill in a simultaneous declaratory delivery after Gill finished his famous guitar-squelch solo and threw the instrument to the ground.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.