Tag Archives: Download Festival 2013

Download Festival Part 3: Saturday and Sunday

Well, I’m back on-line and trying to write this review while watching the series ‘Hannibal’ and being sociable. Look at me multi-tasking!

I saw a few more bands on Saturday than Friday. I saw a range of bands, some I hadn’t thought to see, and I missed some of the bands I wanted to see, for various reasons.

The first band I saw was:

Katatonia on the Zippo Encore Stage

In my notebook I’ve summed them up as ‘loud Scandinavians with long hair. They’ve been around for a while’.

I really enjoyed watching them. They are quite heavy, which I like, but I couldn’t actually discern the words.

Next I watched Lit play, again on the Zippo Encore Stage

One of my friends used to really like them when we were kids, back in the 90’s/00’s. According to Shelley, at some point they dropped off the face of the Earth. Their appearance at Download therefore made Shelley quite happy. I don’t know what I thought to them, some of the songs I liked, most of the set I found a little insipid. I only recognised one song; I must have heard it at some point.

After Lit I went to the Main Stage to see

Alice In Chains

I was looking forward to seeing them but was in the event actually quite disappointed, though they seemed popular in the Arena.

Next up Motorhead

Oh, I was looking forward to seeing these legends.

They were really fun to watch, although it did drag slightly. The two drum solos, while incredibly good, made the set seem unnecessarily long.

Returning to the Zippo Encore Stage to see Jimmy Eat World

By this point in the day I was tired and hungry, so I probably wasn’t listening as closely as I should have done, which is not great when you’re writing about bands and their music. Anyway, eventually I did manage to raise a bit of enthusiasm for the set.

I staggered on through to QOTSA back on the Main Stage

They were okay, I couldn’t really hear what was being sung, but I liked the music.

I had planned to stay to see Iron Maiden but all the cigarette smoke set off my asthma, and it was too much for me. I ended up going back to my tent. Due to the acoustics of the site I could hear Iron Maiden anyway. I could hear the crowd’s reaction as well; they went down very well with the people who managed to make it through the second day of Download.

And on to Sunday

Sunday was great.

I started off the day right down the front of the main stage singing along to Sacred Mother Tongue. They happen to be one of my favourite bands, so I was in heaven, just a little bit.

http://www.sacredmothertongue.com/

I first saw them at the Halestorm concert I went to in Nottingham in March this year and only saw half their set. Since then I’ve kept an eye on this Northamptonshire group. I waited impatiently for their new album and reviewed it (see https://rosemariecawkwell.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/review-sacred-mother-tongue-out-of-the-darkness).

They lived up to my expectations entirely. It was so good to see them on a larger stage and in front of an appreciative crowd. Clearly people had made the effort to drag themselves out of their tents, probably with a hangover. And they appreciated the bands efforts as much as I did.

Next up, because my friends wanted to see them, Cancer Bats, still on the Main Stage

As good a front man as Liam Cormier is, I can’t say I particularly like this band. The band have a devoted following but their style of music doesn’t appeal to me. Again, I prefer singing to shouting. I just don’t like that sort of punk, though I know it’s quite a common genre these days.

Next, another band I really couldn’t wait to see, Stone Sour, played their set in the evening. We sat up on the hillside and watched. I could just about hear. The problem was that someone over in the Pepsi Max Stage were rather loud and it was irritating. They acoustic set, which I would love to have heard properly was practically drowned out.

It was still enjoyable, Corey Taylor is an excellent singer and can write a good song. The crowd certainly liked him.

After Stone Sour came Gaslight Anthem

They’re okay, I’ve never seen or heard their music before but I quite enjoyed the set. It was easier, marginally, to hear them than Stone Sour. Mainly because the racket from the Pepsi Max stage had ended.

30 Seconds to Mars

After Gaslight Anthem came Jared, Shannon and Tomo. The Echelon were very excited, and I had a few friends down their. When Jared started getting people on to the stage one of them was feet from getting up there. Then there was an accidental crowd surfer and they refused to let any more people onto the stage.

The new songs were definitely tighter in performance than the older songs; Jared seemed to get bored of singing then and got the audience to do the work instead. Shannon is still a talented drummer, and evem Tomo had a go at drumming at the start.

They announced their UK tour in  November. I’m going to the Nottingham gig.

Jared’s voice isn’t as strong as I thought it would be. To be fair, we got distracted.; I’ll tell you why later.

In between 30STM and Rammstein we took a trip to the Zippo Encore Stage to see a bit of Limp Bizkit.

They played their ‘classic’ Rollin’ – it was practically a sing-a-long. After listening to a couple more songs we got distracted by the arrival on the Main Stage of

Rammstein

I only saw the first half-hour or so – I was tired again – but impressed by the pyrotechnics. I’m not sure what I think of their music though.

And now for the most entertaining part of the evening.

During 30 Seconds to Mars’s set a person got stuck on the zipline. They cot bottled while they waited to be rescued. The a bottle fight started. There are videos somewhere on you tube. I shall go and find one.

——————————–

Disappears to YouTube to find said video.———————————-

Returns from YouTube

——————————–

Thanks to whoever recorded that and put it on youtube.

Right, it’s getting late and I have to be up for work in the morning (I’m doing overtime this week – expect random sleep-deprived blog posts). Sorry that this post is a bit disjointed and not as detailed as I would like or expect, but it was a busy weekend and I was trying to take it all in. Problem with that is I didn’t write as much down as I should have.

Bye

Rose

Download Festival 2013 review Part the second: Friday 14th June 2013

On Friday afternoon we finally got in to the Arena and had a look around before we started listening to a few bands. Mostly we wanted to see Papa Roach and HIM on Friday, everyone else was incidental.

The first band we heard, at least a little bit, was

Emperor Chung on the Pepsi Max stage

This band is a heavy rock five-piece from the Midlands.

I quite liked what I heard, although we didn’t stay long, because even outside the tent the bass made my chest hurt. They definitely lived up to their description ‘heavy rock’. They’re very heavy, but in a way I like.

Eventually we retreated to the main stage.

At the main stage we got ourselves comfortable on the grass under our ponchos, and settled down to listen.

And fell asleep.

And that is a mark of how unimpressed we were by the acts on the main stage on Friday.

About three in the afternoon we decided to join the queue for the HIM signing at the Kerrang! tent, and watched

Papa Roach on the Main Stage while we did.

Jacoby Shaddix gave a very good impression of an over-excited child, just to be at Download Festival. He kept calling everybody ‘Mother fuckers’ and bouncing around. The crowd didn’t seem to respond well to his attempts to get circle pits opening up. They played a mix of songs from their new album and some older songs that everyone recognised.

Later, after some wandering around, tea, collecting a further friend, we returned to the Arena to see

HIM on the Pepsi Max stage

http://www.heartagram.com/

I’ll be honest, HIM were one of the main reasons I decided to go to Download this year. They packed out the tent, despite the competition of Slip Knot on the Main Stage. But then I suppose if a band disappears for three years then their appearances will be popular. It was only their second show in the UK since they came back with ‘Tears on Tape’, (the first was at the London Barfly on 26th April 2013). They performed a mix of songs from the new album and their classics, including ‘Wings of a Butterfly’ and the ever-popular ‘Funeral of Hearts’.

As ever, from what I’ve seen – I’ve never seen HIM live – HIM’s stage show is not showy but enjoyable. They looked like they were having fun; Ville made jokes with the audience, Linde, Mige and Gas had fun with each other on the stage.

Ville’s acoustic guitar has been making an appearance at recent gigs and Friday night was no exception. It was pretty much constantly in hand, and when it wasn’t he was clutching his mike stand. Something has to replace his old crutches of cigarettes and booze, now that he can’t smoke on stage and has had to cut down on the drinking. He was even sober, as far as I could tell from a distance.

One thing I did notice was that Ville couldn’t quite hit some of the notes these days. It was still a great set, and I wish it had been long.

They are touring here at the end of October. I’m going to see them at Rock City in Nottingham, I can’t wait.

I had a good time on Friday, especially in the evening, I soaked up a few bands though I didn’t exactly take in names. It was an experience, being surrounded by all the different bands, hearing bands I’ve heard of but never listened to. I now know what bands I don’t like, as well as the ones I do.

Back tomorrow with a review of Saturday and Sunday’s bands.

Bye

Rose

 

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Download Festival 2013 (A victory for the socially awkward)

My First Festival

In just over two weeks I will be departing Lincolnshire in the company of my dear friend Lellibo for that great celebration of all things rock and metal, Download Festival 2013.

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/news

I’m rather excited. I’ve never been to a music festival before. I’ve never been interested in that sort of thing. I was not a normal teenager or student; now I’m getting on a bit I am interested in music (if you hadn’t noticed). I have no idea what to take, although I have been trying to find out. The Download website is quite helpful and when I contacted the organisers with questions they were answered promptly. I also found a festival survival guide written by a veteran of Download, especially for people going to Download for the first time. There’s a link to it on the Download website.

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/info

I’m going to meet up with an old friend I haven’t seen in a few years, and two new friends that I’ve yet to have a chance to meet up with. I hope to also meet new people. I don’t find it particularly easy to make new friends or even acquaintances, but I want to try. As well as a celebration of my 30th birthday this trip is also going to be a celebration of how far I’ve come this year. I still have trouble dealing with people (and occasionally leaving the house – people are scary) but I managed to go to London and meet a large group of strangers, and to go to a concert in Nottingham on my own, so this will help me prove to myself that I can do this stuff.

This morning I’ve been going through the line-up and stage times, trying to work out which bands I definitely want to see. There are quite a few. If I get my timing right I should be able to see most of them. Bands I have no intention of missing include HIM, Korn, Motorhead, Young Guns, 30 Seconds to Mars, Stone Sour and Sacred Mother Tongue. There are a few that I would like to see but I don’t mind if I miss a bit of their set getting between stages: Down, Papa Roach, 3 Doors Down, Turisas, Iron Maiden, QOTSA, Alice in Chains, Rammstein and Limp Bizkit. The rest of the time I’ll just catch whoever I like the sound of.

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/line-up/all

I did a quick calculation and worked out that it might be expensive for the weekend (we’ve got 5 night camping tickets) but even if I only see those 16 bands, that’s £12.81 per band with free accommodation plus £20 towards petrol. You can’t get concert tickets, accommodation and train tickets for that; such good value for money! Now I just need to get some spending money together 😀

I’m planning to write about my experiences, and have purchased myself a notebook to write everything down in while I’m at the festival. I’m on the cadge for a camera to borrow so I can take some decent pictures. While I am getting one of the lockers and will be able to charge my phone, I want to save the battery for emergences, for example when I inevitably get lost, confused or forget my medication and need rescuing by my friends who I’m going to issue with spare inhalers for me.

So for the duration of Download I will be offline.

When I get home I plan to sleep, shower and start writing about it. Not necessarily in that order. It might take a couple of days for the band reviews to get published but they will be. In addition to band reviews I intend to write a general commentary on the festival as a whole, and a discussion of my reactions to it. I’m wandering how I will react to all the people, the constant stimulation and general atmosphere. I don’t generally do well in loud crowded places for more than a couple of hours at a time (it’s a wonder I survive concerts).

If anyone has any survival tips for the festival I’d appreciate the advice (or if any of my friends/relatives want to contribute to the 30th birthday spending fund – you know where I am).

Bye for now,

Rose

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