DOWNLOAD! FUCK YEAH!
(Sorry this is really long (i'm not even joking, it's gonna take you ages to read) but don't you want to hear all about my brilliant experiences?? If not, then skip straight to the Saturday night/Sunday stuff - 'cause that's when all the best stuff happened.)
Festivals are fun =). Soooo let's see, where do I begin? Really.. I don't even know - soooo much cool stuff happened over the weekend, it was like: "Wow, check me out downloading and shit." Erm, but i'm rambling, so I may as well start at the beginning. (Incidently - that was last Thursday.)
I had to go to school in the morning because I had an English exam, but it was really take-the-piss easy, so I didn't care. Then I went home and had a shower (because it was very hot!) and then my mom arrived with Cat and Phil and picked up me and Alex. We went to Asda, but i'm going to leave that bit out because there were no rockstars there!!
When we got to Download, we had to haul all of our stuff out of the car and start the LONG trek to the camp ground.. Okay so it wasn't that long but it was like a billion degree's and it sure felt like it!! We walked up through the carpark and over the very rickety bridge and finally into the Donnington race course (because, of course, when it is not being a festival ground it is actually a motor racing track ^^)
THEN we had to walk across The Village (which is an area in the festival that has loads of shops and rides in it.) To get to the camping area. Luckily mom, Cat and Phil had gone on Wednesday so the tents were already up. Then I REALLY needed to go to the toilet and I was dared to use the green ones that were around the corner from us. So I did. Yuck. It's literally.. You open the door and there's a hole. I'm not even joking. I would've took a picture but i'm not like, a pervy sicko.
Anyway, me and mom went to explore and we looked through some of the shops (in which I found a pair of red Doc Martins for £10 but they were too big for me =(.) And we saw the Sonic Forest which was all these pillars with sensors around them and when you run your hand across the sensors the pillars make a noise, and each one makes a different sound. Then we got some food and by this time it was getting dark, so we went to see if anything was on at The Big Screen (Which was literally, a big screen - where they show films at night.) And as we walked up to it I suddenly realised I know who was speaking - Joey Ramone!! It was The Ramones documentary/film thing!! We ended up watching that for an hour and a half.
During this time I noticed a guy sitting next to me, obviously stoned who was trying to get the people sitting and watching the film to cheer. So when he shouted "THE RAMONES!" I yelled "HOORAY!" And he suddenly decided I was his new best friend, hehe. He was really funny, and then he turned to me and said "What should I shout?!" And Cat told me to tell him to shout "MATT DAMON!" Which he did, and it was very funny. (NB: Team America.) By this time loads of people had noticed what we were doing and then a group of lads next to us suddenly yelled; "I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME, GADGET!" And everyone fell about laughing.
At around 11:00 me and mom decided to go back to our tent and on the way I noticed some guys who were quoting The Mighty Boosh and I got into a lively and entertaining conversation with them about it.
When I woke up on Friday, I was really excited, like really shit-the-bed excited. 'Cause Deftones were playing! Yay! So after we'd had breakfast and cleaned up a bit (and put on deodorant!!!) We went over to the main stage and I got nacho's =). Then the first band came on - they were called Amplifier. They were alright, but it was really really hot and I was getting bored. So we decided to see if we could find the signing tent! (I told Jamie that i'd try and get loads of rockstars to sign his birthday card for him ^^)
When we found the signing tent, we discovered that Deftones were going to be in it, so we joined the queue and waited for ages and then - Deftones arrived! Wow! The lead singer is really fat and is basically a head and shoulders. But he was really nice, and we had a conversation about Jamie and his birthday =). The rest of the band were really cool too.
During this time, Wicked Wisdom were onstage (don't know who they are but apparently the lead singer is Will Smith's wife.) But we didn't really see much of them - and we weren't going to watch Soil (the next band on the main stage) 'Cuz My Awesome Compilation were on!!!!! (Whoops, sorry about the exclamation mark abuse there!) So we went to the Myspace tent and watched a bit of them. They were good. Yo. No really, they were good, as always (<< Even though they played a crap version of that song.) Andy threw his drumsticks into the crowd, as usual but one of them managed to land on the lights at the top of the stage. Haha. Andy. Only. You. Loser.
AND THEN we went back to the main stage to watch Strapping Young Lad. (Sound nice, don't they? HA. They were like "FUCK YEAH DOWNLOAD, FUCK SHIT BOLLOCKS! HERE'S OUR SONG! RARGARGAGREAGRGAGRRAG!" But they were pretty brilliant. Well, not that brilliant. But ok. We also stayed there to watch Soulfly, bum bum bum. They were good. I don't know what else to write about them so i'm not going to.
Onwards.
After Soulfly, we wandered away from Coheed and Cambria to go back up to the signing tent because Ginger And The Sonic Circus were going to be in there and my best friend Nix absofuckinglutely adores them. So I was gonna get them to sign something for her =) and mom came with me with Jamie's card 'cause you can only get one thing signed.
Wow. Ginger And The Sonic Circus looked really strange!! The red haired lady was the first one I spoke to and she was really nice and wrote "HEY NICOLA!" on the piece of paper I gave her before signing her name. Then there was the coloured lady who was all grins and smiles who looked like she was having the time of her life!! Then I reached the hat man, who was REALLY COOL. I told him I liked his hat and that I had one back at the tent and he told me that he wasn't sure whether he should wear the one he had on or his tophat, and we had a little conversation about cool hats. Then I reached Ginger, wow wow wow pat him on the head. He's cool. The next guy was the Jack Sparrow lookalike, and then the really fat guy who was really nice, and when I asked him what he'd been doing all day he said "Running around manically! WOO!". Then there were the two skinhead pierced guys, who I ended up shaking hands with because they looked so odd!!
After this (which me and my mom actually got filmed walking out of - so watch Kerrang for the signing tent shots and if you see someone walk out in a green hat covered in badges and a green shirt with a yellow alien on it - that's me!!) we went to the mainstage because Deftones were on! Yay! (Even though the lead singer is FAT and I don't mean PHAT as in really great, but FAT as in look-at-his-tummy-it's-huge.) But they were good! And they played Change (In The House Of Flies) which is the only song I wanted to hear (apart from Shove It, but I don't think they played that.)
We got really bored, so we went to the Snickers Bowl, where all the skaters were like. And they were all good and stuff. At skating. I don't know about whether they're good at anything else, like cooking for instance, but they were good at skating.
We started to watch Tool at the main stage for a bit, but they were really boring!!
Then... I really need to think of a better way to start a paragraph.
WOW. Then we went back to the Myspace tent to see Ginger And The Sonic Circus because as mom said "After seeing what they look like in the signing tent, we can't not go and see what they sound like!" So we did. And they were fucking brilliant! The two skinhead guys with piercings everywhere and lumps in their heads came on first and started drilling nails into their legs and arms and skull. Which is pretty gross, but very cool and they were The Sonic Circus, then the band came on, and WOW.
The hat man was actually the saxophone player, who was still wearing his hat! YAY! The band were really great, it was exhausting, but funny. You could tell they were having a good time, as the Jack Sparrow guy took off his guitar at one point and just started dancing.
After that we went back to the tent to sleep.
On SATURDAY. We went straight over to the Snicker stage after finding out that the special surprise band was Down. They were another "RARARAGHARAGARAGARA!" Band. But I wanted to see Khoma! I did! But by the time we had circumnavigated the entire main stage and walked up the path and down the hill to the Snickers Stage, Khoma had gone off =(. But Johnny Truant were about to come on! So we stayed and watched them for a bit. Then we went up to the signing tent, and I noticed that Khoma were going to be in there! So I waited in the queue there for a bit whilst mom went off to watch Arch Enemy at the main stage. Then by the time I had met Khoma (Who were really cool) Billy Talent were going to be on at The Snickers stage, so we made our way back there and watched them.
Mom, by this time, had decided she wanted to see Stone Sour, which I had no problem with. So we went over to the main stage again and watched Corey Taylor and his band. UGH. Corey Fucking Taylor what have you done to your head? A BLONDE AFRO?! NO! Bad Corey Taylor!! They were really good though. Avenged Sevenfold were on after them and I was avoiding them like the plague.
We went back to the signing tent 'cuz Billy Talent were there. And when I went in I was waiting for Tania (A girl at my school who I found in the queue behind me!) to get her photo signed for Mica, when the guitarist of the band pointed at me and said "I LIKE YOUR SHIRT!" (I was wearing my white "London Calling" shirt =)) So I said "Ta mate, I like your shirt too!" Dood. The drummer for Billy Talent was really sweet, 'cuz he has Multiple Sclerosis and it was making him write really slowly. But I didn't mind =).
After that we went back to the mainstage to settle ourselves down and watch KoRn and Metallica. But we realised that the rumours that had been flying around all day were true! Jonathon Davies (lead singer of KoRn) has been rushed to hospital and was too ill to play!! But it was okay (Not that Johnathon was ill - I hope he gets a lot better soon!) because the singers from other bands (Corey Taylor, The guy from Skindred, the guy from Avenged Sevenfold etc etc) filled in for him and it actually turned out to be pretty good.
Then as we were waiting for Metallica, mom got a text from Phil saying "Am in medical unit with suspected fractured jaw!" So we thought "FUCK!" And tried to find our way to the medical unit he was in. Some attendant guy told us that it was right by the main stage and that we had to go bang on the big doors. So we did and a guy opened them and asked us who we were and what we wanted (whilst I was peeking through the gap in the door) then he closed the door to see if he could find Phil (at which point, I noticed that there was a gap where the hinges were and you could see backstage.) The attendant guy came back and said Phil wasn't there, but if he was having an X-Ray he would've been transferred to a hospital. He closed the door and I continued peeking through the gap whilst mom txted Phil, and then.. A man walked by.. With a beard.. And a guitar.. But it wasn't just any man with any beard and any guitar.. IT WAS JAMES FUCKING HETFIELD!! Lead singer of METALLICA! At which point I grabbed mom and yelled "MOM LOOK IT'S JAMES HETFIELD!" But he'd already gone.
I didn't care! Fuck that! James FUCKING Hetfield was less that 10 metres away from me =).
Anyway, we went back to the main stage and Metallica came on. About 10 minutes into it James (yes, I now consider myself to be on first name basis) informed us that because it was the 20th anniversary of Master Of Puppets, they were going to play through the entire album. So I figured I would go to the O2 place and charge my phone because it had died. But when I got round there the queue was MASSIV. So I thought "Fuck this, like." And went around in a huge circle to get back to Metallica.
As I walked past the stalls, a crazy man came up to me and was like "HI CAN I GET YOU A FREE SAMPLE OF SOME HERBAL TEA IS REALLY REALLY GREAT!" So I agreed, and then I noticed.. To the side of me.. Were three of the members of Ginger And The Sonic Circus!!! The red haired lady, the Jack Sparrow guy and the really fat man!! But I didn't want to be rude to the guy that was getting me a free sample of this tea that had cinnamon in it (which was really nice =D) but I started to slowly inch my way over to them.
When the guy brought my tea back, I thanked him and walked straight over to the guys from GATSC and waved, and they waved back. I told them that I thought their set the night before was fantastic, and they looked really pleased. I stood talked to them for ages, and at one point we were discussing dancing, because there were some people playing bongo's near to us and we ended up doing the Kick-Tre-Cool's-Ex-Wife dance, but I didn't tell them that was what me and Nix had called it! Then me and the Jack Sparrow guy were talking about when he danced on the stage, and we ended up dancing like that too! They were really cool! Then they decided to go elsewhere, and I was gonna go back to Metallica, but before I did I got a picture with them (in which the Jack Sparrow guy put his arm around me and pulled me in front of him =).)
So I made my way back to Metallica (like this: =D!!!!! OMGISH-I-JUST-FUCKING-MET-SOME-MEMBERS-OF-GINGER-AND-THE-SONIC-CIRCUS!) And I found my mom and I explained in hysterical detail about what happened, and then watched Metallica, who were very good. After they played through the Master Of Puppets they played songs like: Nothing Else Matters, War, Enter Sandman and this really great cover of The Misfits - Die My Darling, where Corey Taylor and loads of the other lead singers from Saturday came onto the stage to sing along with them. It took James Hetfield ages to get off the damn stage though!! They were on for an hour longer than they were supposed to, but it was still good.
When we got back to the tent, we found Phil (he had gotten back in time to see Metallica!) and we found out that he'd been in the pit for KoRn and this huge Scottish guy slammed into him really hard (by accident) but one of his fillings fell out, his tongue bar fell out and he went deaf for about an hour, so he thought he'd fractured his jaw.
SUNDAY! YAY! The day I had been waiting for because THE ZICO CHAIN were playing! Yes! The wonderful, majicky Zico Chain who let me and Jamie into their tour van when we were cold and gave us free passes when we made them a video =).
We got up really late though, and it took us ages to get to the signing tent - I wanted to see if The Zico Chain were going to be in there, as I REALLY wanted them to sign Jamie's birthday card. But they weren't =( So I was kinda sad for a while. They weren't on until 1:55, and it was only 12:00 when me and mom made our way to the Myspace tent, but I REALLY wanted to be on the front row, so we went early and saw Winterville, who were pretty good. I managed to get to the front for their set and as I looked down past the security barrier - I noticed Paul (the amazingly talented guitarist from The Zico Chain) leaning on it from backstage at the other end of the tent.
I was torn and conflicted. Should I go over and say hi? Or should I stay at the front of the pit so i'm definately here when they come on? Stupid question really. I ran from the front over to Paul, who looked really confused and then his face lit up and he was like "HEY!" He remembered me =) (How could he not? HA.) He was talking to a woman, I didn't know who she was, and he included me in the conversation, which was nice. We asked him how he was ('cuz.. Sorry Paul.. But he looked REALLY nervous) and he said he felt a bit rough, and he'd actually made himself sick because he knew he was going to throw up on stage if he didn't. BLESS.
Then he signed Jamie's birthday card, after I explained the situation, and he smiled and said; "I'll go get Oli and Chris for you!" Then he walked off backstage and I got talking to the woman he was talking to originally who turned out to be their agent!! So I asked if she'd seen the Rohypnol video that was made for them, and she said yes, and I grinned and proclaimed "Me and my boyfriend made that!" She looked impressed, and said "Oh wow! Well done!" =) =).
By this time I noticed Oli walking over to us, with a big grin on his face and his hair as mad and crazy as ever! I got him to sign Jamie's card and he was all "HEEEEEY! How are you!?" During this time their agent had disappeared, I don't know where she went, but Oli stayed with me and had a chat for a bit. I asked where Chris was and he gave me a wicked grin and said he was having his hair straightened, awh! Then he looked round and saw Chris coming towards us, so he decided to go sort his gear out, 'cause they were on in about two bands. He looked nervous too, but he was all smiles.
Then Chris, bless him, practically ran across the backstage area, with his arms outstretched and gave me a big hug and kissed me on the cheek (EEEK! OMG! NEVER WASHING MY CHEEK AGAIN! Actually. That was a lie. But still, it was really cool of him. I felt special in front of everyone in the Myspace tent.) He'd had his hair dyed brown at some point, with blonde bits at the front. It looked really nice! I chatted to him for a while, and he watched the crowd for a bit (also looking quite nervous!) And then I decided I should probably go back to my mom 'cause she'd be wondering where I ran off too. I wished him good luck, and told him i'd be on the front cheering them on! And he told me to come back to the area we were in after their set and he'd come to see me again =).
So I went back over to my mom and showed her Jamie's card (which, by now, looked FUCKING COOL. And I was sooooo happy that I got The Zico Chain to sign it because I know that would make him very happy and I like making Jamie happy because I love him and he is sitting behind me so I have to say all of that.) (That doesn't mean I don't mean it of course.) Anyway. By this time Lauren Harris was on, and she was pretty good but me and mom went round to where the bands go in and out of the tent and sat there, after Lauren Harris and another band called Voodoo Six had finished, I slipped steathily into the crowd and nabbed a spot on the front row right before a bunch of emo's showed up and tried to nab it first. HA IN YOUR FACE. FECKING EMO'S. SAY NO TO EMO. Actually they were rather nice. I got talking to them.
Anyway.
The guys had started setting up their equipment, and Chris had his bass and was strumming it quietly offstage and peeking through the gaps in the amps at the crowd. When he saw me he grinned and waved, and I waved back and all the emo's were like =O! HA. Then Paul was onstage and I yelled his name and he waved, and I felt like going "nyah nyah nyah!" To the audience. Then Chris went off and I think he was REALLY nervous 'cause he was sitting by the stage with his head in his hands. So Paul tested all the equipment and the mics and then Oli tested the drums.
I was really looking forwards to their set, so I was cheering the loudest when they began! They played an excellent version of Roll Over (which I was singing along very loudly too and getting lots of photo's.) After Roll Over they started playing Rohypnol but then - DISASTER!! A look of panic suddenly crossed Paul's face, and I noticed and frowned 'cause he was usually too busy thrashing around to have looks of things on his face, he bent down and listened to the amp for a moment before looking offstage worriedly. By this time Oli and Chris had noticed and were just playing a melody so that they didn't have to stand onstage to silence.
Oh, I felt so sorry for them. I did. It was their first Download set and it could've been for a disaster. IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME! YEAH! I noticed how anxious they looked, so I started cheering at the top of my lungs, and pretty soon the whole tent joined in with me, and we were all clapping and cheering and encouraging them. Eventually the amp got fixed and Paul raised his guitar triumphantly, and we all cheered even louder.
I'm not sure if he knew it was me, but i'm sure I saw Chris give me a small smile from under his hair. =).
Then Paul turned and nodded to Chris and BOOM they shot straight back into Rohypnol and played it from the start. It was FUCKING FANTASTIC! And I was singing along so hard I could feel my voice breaking, but I didn't even care! They played This Thing, Social Suicide, Where Would You Rather Be?, 1-2-3-4 and The Lonely Ones (which I was happy about 'cause they're pretty much all the ones I wanted to hear!) And every now and again Chris would give me a small smile from under his hair, hehe. After the third song (which I think was Social Suicide) Oli collapsed onto his drums in exhaustion, but he was only faking and got up again for the next song. Although he did have a huge sweat mark all down his shirt, which I thought was kinda funny.
After their set finished, I ran back over to where Chris said he'd meet me and waited patiently for Oli. (Who had walked offstage, sat down on the steps, and buried his head in his hands... I don't think he was sad, I think he was exhausted!) Then Paul wandered over with a bottle of water, he looked really happy and I said "GREAT SET! What happened to your guitar?!" And he grinned and shook his head, and said "It wasn't my guitar! It was the amp!" And I laughed and we chatted for a bit, before he decided to go and pack up his stuff.
By then the next band had gone on, they were called "Bring Me The Horizon." I wasn't really paying attention to them until the security guard who was on the otherside of the barrier I was leaning on, waiting for the guys looked at me and said; "Do you like this stuff?" And I shrugged and told him I thought The Zico Chain were awesome, and this lot were okay. He wrinkled his nose and handed me this crazy frisbee thing that the band had been chucking off the stage and said I could have it, which was cool. He was really funny!
Then Oli came over and sat down on the security barrier next to me. We were both silent for a moment then he looked up at me with a big grin and a sparkle in his eyes and he yelled "WE JUST PLAYED DOWNLOAD!!" And I laughed and cheered with him. Then he noticed my crazy frisbee thing and asked what it was, and I shrugged and said I was using it for a fan because it was too hot. He agreed so I wafted him with it for a while and told him he looked tired, because he did. I don't think they got a lot of sleep the night before! Then he slumped his shoulders and stood up and said "I have to go pack up my drums, stay here!" So I nodded (like I was gonna go anywhere!)
Then my mom came over, she'd been watching from the back and she said that she thought they were very good. I stood and spoke to her for a bit, then Chris came over and I introduced him to my mom (hehe, he shook her hand!) Then we chatted for a bit and my mom got a text from my sister telling me that she thought The Zico Chain were good (What?? My sister never likes the bands that I do!) And that she thought the guitarist was hot (although i'm not sure if she meant Paul or Chris.) but they'd gone already to watch Lacuna Coil. My mom was like "LACUNA COIL?!!!" And legged it to the mainstage, but I stayed where I was because I was still talking to Chris.
Then Chris had to go pack his stuff up and he told me to wait where I was. (Again, like I was gonna move?) So I stood and watched the band that was on for a while. Then Oli came back out and came through the barrier and into the crowd and stood with me =). He asked me all about all the bands i'd seen and stuff, and I told him about my exams and stuff. (He said I was very rock and roll 'cuz I went to Download when I had a maths exam the day after I got back.) Then Paul and Chris came out and they watched the rest of Bring Me The Horizon with me and we talked and laughed and they're really great.
Then Paul looked round and frowned. He looked back to Oli and Chris and said "Press call!" And so they had to go do an interview for Kerrang! or something like that. Band stuff. You know. Paul grinned and waved like a madman, to which I waved back. Then Oli patted me on the back and wished me the best of luck of my exams (ZICO LUCK! YES!) and then Chris hugged me and kissed me on the cheek again (Ooher!) and told me to come and see them again. (Duh.) And then with lots of smiles and waves they went backstage and I left the myspace tent ON TOP OF THE WORLD.
I couldn't find mom for ages, she was watching Lacuna Coil and I was trying to avoid them like the plague. But because my phone had died I couldn't get in contact with her and tell her to meet me somewhere. So in the hope that Phil would've gone back to the tent (as he seemed to have done every 10 minutes over the weekend) I wandered back to the campsite and sure enough, Phil was sitting outside the tent! I got him to text my mom and tell her to come back to the tent when Cradle Of Filth finished (who were on after Lacuna Coil and who incidently, I was also avoiding like the plague.) then I sat half in half out of the tent with my book and some chips I bought and listened to Cradle Of Filth from the mainstage (I couldn't help it, it was the only thing I could hear!)
Then mom came back and we made our way over to the Snickers stage 'cause we wanted to watch The Prodigy. Unfortunately, a lot of people had the same idea and Download had made a HUGE miscalculation. We got there 10 minutes before The Prodigy came on, and the tent was jammed. People were crowding around the outside trying to see in and there were so many people. It was unbelievable. The crowd for Funeral For A Friend (who we saw a bit of 'cuz we walked past the main stage) was thinning as everyone went up to The Prodigy. Well, we stood outside the tent with this really cool girl with purple curly hair and listened to The Prodigy (we found out that if we stood on our tip toes we could actually see the band =)) but after 20 minutes of that we decided to walk down to the Myspace tent to watch Lordi.
As we walked down the hill towards the main stage and the myspace stage, we noticed a line of attendants stopping people from entering the Snickers stage as there were just too many people.
As it turns out, Download made the same mistake with Lordi. There were people crowding around the outside of the myspace tent trying to get a glimpse of the Finnish monsters. Somehow me and mom ended up against the barriers to the outside of the tent and we stood on those so we could see the band. They looked funny =) and they were really good. We stayed there for a bit and then decided to let the people behind us stand on the barriers and we moved onto the grass to sit down. Lordi played The Devil Is A Loser, and Hard Rock Hallelujah - which is what I wanted them to play =).
After that Guns n Roses had come onto the mainstage, but Axl Rose is a big plastic man and they weren't that good so we went to camp, collected my stuff and I went home. (As I had a maths exam the day after at 9:10 AM)
(Incidently.. The maths exam was fine, ta!)
So that was my download. Well done if you read it all. I applaud you. The best bands were Ginger And The Sonic Circus, and of course The Zico Chain who I love. They're great. Go listen to them.
Peace, love and penguins (Oops, sorry Marc!)