Download - Donington

o1s1n

Great writeup!

It was worth going to for Black Sabbath alone.

We went RIP - best decision ever. Walked up to the campsites one evening and my god, was muddy hell on earth.

Then retired home to my podpad and slept like a baby :pac:

Catari Jaguar

Corey Motherfukn Taylor. That is all.

Keedowah

I saw Soundgarden in the 90's and thought they were useless live - at Donnington they were fantastic!

Loved the event!

Catari Jaguar

Keedowah wrote: »

I saw Soundgarden in the 90's and thought they were useless live - at Donnington they were fantastic!

Loved the event!

At that stage I'd been holding my place at the front waiting for Black Sabbath for 3 hours, sore feet, full bladder, sobering up and had absolutely no patience left for them.

hellyeah

great write up Wrongway. Really enjoyed reading that.
I arrived thursday night in derby and was glad i was staying in a hotel
for the weekend as it was really chucking it down.
For me friday got off to a bad start as i was stuck outside the venue
and missed half of Fear Factorys set. When i did get in i thought Burtons
voice was shot. Was not mad on the Machine head set as they excluded
fan favorites such as Old and Davidian which for me are must plays at a festivel.
For me friday was saved buy Nightwish and Slash. Both bands are on top
form. The pyro nightwish had was some of the best i have seen and for me Myles kennedy was the best clean vocalist of the weekend.

Saturday was all about metallica for me. Worth a mention were Steel panther and Skindred which i really enjoyed. Liked Metallica opening and
encore but found some of the weaker songs off the black album boring
and did not get the whole "sandman metallica family" thing. Have to say as always James and Lars really but in a shift.

Sunday arrived just in time for Devildriver and they opened with end of the line which was killer. Really enjoyed there set and considering they were on at 11.50am had some wicked circle pits going. Enjoyed Anthrax as well. Soundgarden were surpriseingly good and the sun was finally out at this stage. Cornells voice was excellant imo. A bit weird how they finished
there set but maybe its a trademark.

Black Sabbath were a major surprise for me also. They sounded huge and ozzys voice was surprisingly good. They got a massive crowd which was
great to see. Tony iommi looked very well. They were worthy of closing out a festivel.
All in all a very enjoyable weekend only let down slightly by the weather and mud. This was my 2nd time at download and hope to return for many years to come.:D

EyesClosed

Had an amazing time myself, so much so that I would go back regardless of the line-up.
We arrived in the sun on the Wednesday, so all the tents where up and dry before the rain kicked in, which really really made a difference.
Hit up the comedy tent on the Thursday was OK, some funny enough acts, some very very bad acts.

Friday:
The rain caused the delay that hellyeah was talking about which sucked, as the wait to get in was horrible, also missed most of Fear Factory's set. Thought NOFX where brilliant, had wanted to see them for some time, and the humour was great. I have always liked Billy Talent so they where on top form, and I thought it was cool of them to let the Cancer Bats have a song. Missed a lot of Machine Head in favour of checking out some of the tents, the band that stood out the most for me was Marmozets, who I had never heard of, had some good songs. Sat through chase and status to get a good spot for the prodigy. They where terrible in my opinion all their singers where on the screen behind them so it wasn't even live, but they seemed to warm the crowd up.
Prodigy where unreal, really got the crowd going, my favourite was getting everyone to sit down for Smack my.

Saturday:
Got in just in time to see Saxon who where very good, although I went for Metallica, Steel Panther really stole the show. They really got the crowd going and they interaction was amazing. Tenacious D did indeed play to many new songs, I felt they where better when they supported Metallica in Marley Park. I though Biffy's set was brilliant although quite mellow, setting the flare off during who's got a match was deadly. Metallica sounded great that day, Lars was great, Hammet didn't mess up any solos, and James was perfect.

Sunday:
Was at the main stage all day from Kyuss onwards. Kyuss where brilliant, as where Anthrax. I really don't remember to much from BLS, super long solo from Zakk. I am not a huge Lamb Of God fan, but the crowd was unreal, smoke grenades and huge pits, I was near the back so it was great to just watch the madness. I was really looking forward to Megadeth who played brilliantly. Soundgarden where great to, although yea the ending was very very strange, I didn't know what to make of it, just a weird walk off. Sabbath where my favourite, I wasn't expecting Ozzy to be so good. He really had the crowd in the palm of his hands, I was near the back on the hill, and even that far back people where going mental, it was amazing to experience.

I really think I will be there next year, camping was great, in the Red camp site and everybody we meet was lovely, loads of great sessions with random people.

lord lucan

hellyeah wrote: »

Soundgarden were surpriseingly good and the sun was finally out at this stage. Cornells voice was excellant imo. A bit weird how they finished
there set but maybe its a trademark.

If they ended with Slaves & Bulldozers then it's how they normally end the set. Seen them at Werchter a couple of weeks ago and they ended with that song followed by them walking of stage and Kim leaving his guitar propped against his amp and some ferocious feedback.

EyesClosed

lord lucan wrote: »

If they ended with Slaves & Bulldozers then it's how they normally end the set. Seen them at Werchter a couple of weeks ago and they ended with that song followed by them walking of stage and Kim leaving his guitar propped against his amp and some ferocious feedback.

That's exactly what they did, was kinda sudden

Fi H

Keedowah wrote: »

I saw Soundgarden in the 90's and thought they were useless live - at Donnington they were fantastic!

Loved the event!

Amazing what less drugs will do although I have to say I saw them in 90s and loved every minute even the bit where Chris kicked me in the head

Overall a good DL year I think.

for the record I thought Biffy's performance was awful, no energy at all, completely the opposite to last year at sonisphere.

Highlights were acoustic skindred, tenacious d, metallica, nofx & soundgarden. Was surprised at how good sabbath were, looking forward to seeing them again at lollapalooza now

lord lucan

Sky Arts are showing a Donington highlights package at 21.00 this Friday. It's part 1 of 2,and its just over 2 hours long. Not sure when part 2 is on yet.

Furious-Red

lord lucan wrote: »

Sky Arts are showing a Donington highlights package at 21.00 this Friday. It's part 1 of 2,and its just over 2 hours long. Not sure when part 2 is on yet.

There is a DL programme on at 11pm sat night (i think) , so i presume thats the second part

Wrongway1985

Furious-Red wrote: »

lord lucan wrote: »

Sky Arts are showing a Donington highlights package at 21.00 this Friday. It's part 1 of 2,and its just over 2 hours long. Not sure when part 2 is on yet.

There is a DL programme on at 11pm sat night (i think) , so i presume thats the second part

The Saturday night show is a repeat of Fridays part 1 episode, I believe Part 2 & repeat show will air same nights/times the following week.

deeks

Watching it now. Opened with Enter Sandman. How did anyone think that "singalong" in the middle was a good idea. I'm embarrassed sitting here watching it.

LH Pathe

What the fùck was the woman doing tryin to take the mike off Anthrax's joey does she not like that sort of music or something?! Being black; because bizarre at it appeared it almost justified her action in that regard and is the only angle I can work with. Very strange behaviour, from 'security'.

RayCon

Recorded it on Sky Arts and found myself fast forwarding 90% of it , then delete. Didn't like any of the artists shown ( watched Anthrax doing "Anti-Social") .. had heard Ulrich had become a lazy drummer was was ****in aghast at his performance of "One" ... he should have his "Drummers Union" memebership revoked immediately. Pathetic ... the drummer outta Def Leppard lost a ****in ARM !!!! and adapted his kit and his learning to ensure he could still perform live what he had recorded in the studio. Ulrich is fat lazy , front man wannabe - art collector.

LH Pathe

Thought Lamb of God were good, trivium even soundgarden but what was a purely dubstep act doing on?

or did they swiftly employ some session guitarists for the 'rock festival' a la jessy j, et al bit of a sham that - just not rock. the prodigy have a mild punk edge but that was pointless

FanadMan

Still not as good as Monsters of Rock One day gig that used to last about a week for about a quarter the price. God, am getting old :mad:

Still, the lineup this year wasnt that bad tho

breffni666

FanadMan wrote: »

Still not as good as Monsters of Rock One day gig that used to last about a week for about a quarter the price. God, am getting old :mad:

Still, the lineup this year wasnt that bad tho

Ah for the good old days on the hill, beer wimmin and metal!

scudzilla

I used to love the old Donington days, when ya had to be a true 'Monster of Rock' to get on the bill.

We'd drive down late Wednesday night, 8 of us in a Transit, and set up camp around midnight (even though it said No Camping on the tickets !!)

By the friday night there'd be around 15,000 camping, and teh atmosphere was great, camp fires, music, weed, beer, mad craic altogether, and not one ounce of trouble (Swedish House Mafia take note)

In the early evening we'd walk down to the village where the villagers loved the festival, there was a pub that converted an adjoining barn into a bar with a stage. Again, never any problems, the police were awesome and so chilled, i remember one saying that a few of them volunteered for it every year because it was so laid back.

Come gig day, you were allowed in with alcohol, in plastic containers or big 'beer bags', we'd converge at a certain spot and that would be ours for the day, just stand up and watch whatever band ya wanted, not missing anyone, and not having to wanders for fcukin ages between stages.

There was so many bars, and they had these big pint carriers that held 10 pints, handy after 3pm when yer own supply had ran out.

So many good memories of Donington, fcukin hate what it's now become

LH Pathe

Just have too accept how it goes, n try to enjoy it tbh n for the record I think were a world away from the days of 'Monsters of Rock' anyhow in an age when disco is seemingly the new punk am even paranoid of non rock acts / people encroaching on the rock setting it's that popular to the detriment of rock! I just hope bangers don't end up necking yokes, again like the turncoats back in 1990

..but it's all caution now isn't it. Corporate sponsors and safety procedures. but at least the foods better

bleach94

RayCon wrote: »

Recorded it on Sky Arts and found myself fast forwarding 90% of it , then delete. Didn't like any of the artists shown ( watched Anthrax doing "Anti-Social") .. had heard Ulrich had become a lazy drummer was was ****in aghast at his performance of "One" ... he should have his "Drummers Union" memebership revoked immediately. Pathetic ... the drummer outta Def Leppard lost a ****in ARM !!!! and adapted his kit and his learning to ensure he could still perform live what he had recorded in the studio. Ulrich is fat lazy , front man wannabe - art collector.

Same with regard to which artists they showed, only wanted to see Black Sabbath to be honest and they weren't even there!

LH Pathe

There's another part this weekend.

With regards, to who they pick and choose from the bigger acts on the main stage we just have to put up and shut up unless we actually attend.

But If they think they can promote some shìtty rave meets dub formula type act we already put up with in the 90s, at a supposedly exclusively rock / metal institution well i've got a pipe bomb for that. Metal community is too middle class n accepting in the 21st century so be vigilant!

alleyjoe

I never gone there but i have heard so many nice places there.It is not so much expensive.

LH Pathe

I viewed the joey/security incident again and paid some attention; this time out he must have taken the apache headress off an audience member en route as the reason she didn't recognize him.

Probably thought it was the original owner! Anthrax appeared a lot of fun, still a good energy about em

LH Pathe

Also a bit surreal to see english bands from the mid 90s who only had fleeting success like Little Angels n Terrorvision perform as well. Wouldn't listen to em, but good performances after all these years.. on the dole probably!

Furious-Red

Jaysus Black Veil Brides are f'n s**t

LH Pathe

No sabbath! n the show went out with more of a rave, than a bang!

Furious-Red

Also crowd seemed kinda bored during the Soundgarden songs

D.Q

haha it was late on in the 5th day of the muddiest weekend I have ever experienced. Didnt have the energy to go mad for Soundgarden and Sabbath so I made my choice...

Irish Halo

LH Pathe wrote: »

No sabbath! n the show went out with more of a rave, than a bang!

Andy Copping on Twitter wrote:

There were legal issues as to why Sabbath weren't in the Download TV programmes. The band & I were both disappointed about it

https://twitter.com/Maverick_AC/statuses/226659114552549379