Summer Festivals 2012

[Rey_Piste]

When I went to Sonisphere last year I went in my mate's camper van it was fucing luxury compared to camping properly. It was just pull up and set up the awning, jobs dones. We had a working fridge onboard, so plenty of cold beer all weekend no trudging fucking miles dragging tents and beer, it was fucking bliss.

[Bettencourt]

Well, I'm not flying down anymore. Should be on a train to Derby from Brum at the mo!

 

My flight got cancelled due to fog, got it refunded and driving 8 hours down to Derby.

 

Away to leave now. Wish me luck!

[BiffingtonClyro]

Well, I'm not flying down anymore. Should be on a train to Derby from Brum at the mo!

 

My flight got cancelled due to fog, got it refunded and driving 8 hours down to Derby.

 

Away to leave now. Wish me luck!

 

You get to hear some of Biffy's new album. I'm incredibly envious.

[Kiffy]

Meh, biffy are dull, I'll hit the bar for that then get back for tallica.

[BiffingtonClyro]

Meh, biffy are dull, I'll hit the bar for that then get back for tallica.

 

I would never take the opinion of anybody who uses the "word" "meh"

[Deaq]

 

Outside the wife's tent today at Download.

[WU LYF 4 LYF]

That's why I'm going to European festivals this year. If I must spend a few days (or a week in the case of Benacassim) living in a tent, I at least want to be dry. I'll take the Barcelona heat over the English mud any day, at least you can go for a swim in the sea if you're hungover and its too hot in Spain, when you're covered in mud and rain in the UK you can't even get a decent shower.

 

I've done my time at Leeds/Reading etc when I was seventeen, and I don't wish to repeat it.

[Harvey Dent]

Horrendous conditions, endless traffic and woeful car parks aside, Download was pretty awesome. Dread to think what camping was like though, quite enjoyed going back for food, shower and a proper bed at the end of the day. So who was good and who wasn't? Anyone surprise you?

 

The only band I saw that I didn't like was Nightwish. Not that they were bad but I'm just not a fan and only happened to be there as they between Opeth and Slash. Both were great, despite the wind fucking the sound up. Saturday was great from top to bottom for me. Fozzy was a great way to start the day, decent size crowd too. Steel Panther were fun, Tenacious D were awesome. After the D I headed for the tent to get in early for Corey Taylor's set and watched Sylosis, who were pretty decent, in the process. Corey's set was one of the highlights of the festival for me, he's always good value and I love his acoustic stuff. I know I'll be biased, but Metallica were the band of the festival for me. Great set and it really worked playing the Black album backwards. I've heard some people say about problems with sound during the set but no problems where I was. Just awesome, one of the best festival sets I've seen them do.

 

Sunday I got in just in time for Anthrax who were tight as fuck, they really set the tone for the day. I thought BLS were a bit muddled and a 5 minute Zakk Wylde solo was a bit much for a festival set, but they weren't bad overall. Managed to catch the end of Sebastian Bach as the second stage was overrunning by this point. Ugly Kid Joe were really good too, I was surprised at how many of their songs I actually remembered. Unfortunately with the second stage overrunning, I decided I'd have to miss Refused as I wanted to see Soundgarden properly, but Megadeth certainly made up for that. They sounded huge and were in great form, Mustaine's vocals were greatly improved and the song choices smartly avoided a lot of the high notes that he sounds like a little girl on. What a fucking guitar player he is though, relentless. Soundgarden after we're fucking ace as well. Seemed a bit quiet in comparison to Megadeth but they belted out a great set of hits and some lesser known/earlier stuff. Chris Cornell is some singer, I love the dirge of Beyond the Wheel. Then finally Sabbath were the perfect end to the festival. The opening rendition of the self titled song was evil as fuck. Ozzy was a little patchy as you'd expect these days, but the band sounded huge and Tony looked great. Nice choice of setlist too, loved it.

 

To top that off I actually managed to make a swift car park exit and I was back home by 2am. So, how'd it go for everyone else?

[PSF]

Just for anyone wondering about the lockup stage at Reading/Leeds. Im off to Leeds and noticed that the Lock-up stage is there Friday/Sat and then it turns into to the Dance Stage on the Sunday.

[Kawaii Guy]

Went to download for the day. Anthrax, Soundgarden & Sabbath were all phenominal. caught La Dispute on the pepsi max stage, very good.

Highlight for me was Refused. I first heard Shape of Punk to come around 1999/2000 and its been my favourite album ever since. The set yesterday was the most perfect 45 minutes of music I can remember.

[Egg Shen]

back from Download yesterday, 12 hours in the hay has refreshed me...

 

First off, the conditions/problems: I dunno if i just got lucky but other than the shitty f'n weather we had it easy. A mate (who's anti-download) text me friday morning laughing saying 'ahhh people leaving, traffic shit everyone complaining' and i was chilling with my beer thinking 'what the fuck?'. We arrived around 3pm and just drove straight in, nice concrete car park, caught the 2nd shuttle bus, walked through some mud (quite far) and found the just opened Orange camp, great spot. We must have missed the traffic by an hour or so. Friend bought a ten man tent so we spent the remainder of Thursday getting pissed in there, great.

 

I got flooded out in the tent Friday night and the wind picked up bad and for a while the 'this is gonna suck' thoughts entered my head but you just gotta grin and bear it. Friday morning was all about the wind, it was fucking horrendous. Cancer Bats & Rise to Remain were cancelled and the queue into the arena was shocking but understandable.

 

The walk to the arena i was dreading, ive heard all these horror stories about it and i aint been to Donington since the new layout but it wasn't too bad, 15 walk, beer in hand it's fine, it was hard work in the mud but seriously nowhere near as bad as ive heard.

 

From around midday Friday it was great, the wind calmed down and other than a little rain Friday evening it was dry all weekend, Saturday was perfect festival weather and Sunday it was f'n cooking, we basically had it all. The path's all dried out come Sunday, it was sticky as fuck to walk in but if you were sporting the ol' wellies it was fine.

 

Anyway's fuck that, bands...

 

Caught a wee bit of Fear Factory opening up the main stage but wind was so bad that they basically got reduced to a kick drum. Miserable. Then i moved over to the second stage which seemed more sheltered from the wind, Terrorvision came on and basically set the tone of the weekend, brilliant. I'v been a fan for over a decade and there is no happier band anywhere, brilliant short set full of classics.

 

Europe had their gear set up and then cancelled due to being stuck in the airport, bummer cause i was looking forward to the Final Countdown.

 

Billy Talent were cool to see on the main stage, not everyone's cup of tea but im a fan, i loved how they allowed Cancer Bats on to play Hail Destroyer, nice touch.

 

Machine Head were the only musical disappointment of the festival for me. I thought they were gonna crush it and for many they probably did but i just didn't like the setlist. Nothing pre-Ashes, it was all about the new epic Machine Head sound. I like it on record but Machine Head used to be a f'n seriously fun band to see live, now they've just taken it all abit too serious, disapppointed.

 

Nightwish probably the surprise of the weekend, i aint a fan and i aint after their set but they put on a f'n great show, the pyro was fantastic. This kinda music makes so much more sense live than on record.

 

Slash. arguably the set of the weekend, just fantastic. I've knocked Myles voice in the Metal thread but live he does sound epic, fun all the way through, great mix of tunes and everyone was losing their shit. Slash is the fucking man.

 

Saturday...

 

Ginger, caught the last half of the set, great way to kick off. He's got such and epic selection of tunes to choose from you never know what to expect but ending with The Wildhearts b-side, Inglorious was just classic.

 

Yo Yo's, carrying on with The Wildhearts theme, made a last minute choice to see the Yo Yo's. The performance was a bit shambolic but it kind of adds to the appeal. I had their first two ep's back in the day and still love them. Great to see Danny McCormack back on stage.

 

Steel Panther, i know some people think the joke wears thin but this was a fucking triumph, the sun was shining, girls were getting their titties out, heads were banging and everyone was fucking laughing. Funny as fuck, i know the songs are funnny but i didn't quite expect the band to be as funny. They looked like they were blown away by the reaction too. Amazing.

 

Tenacious D, carrying on the comedy theme. Just perfect at that time of day, it's all fucking stupid but it was so entertaining that you can't help but love it. Tribute may had the biggest singalong of the weekend.

 

Biffy Clyro, so good live now that it's not even a question whether they'll be great. Nice to hear a few new tunes and some older songs chucked in, The Captain remain one of the best live tunes ive ever heard, that song was designed to be played to a massive audience.

 

Metallica, it was business as usual. Metallica are so polished that you know what you're gonna get. The Black Album was cool but i think it's pretty obvious that the 2nd half of that album isn't actually that good so the tunes from that did lull a little and the decision to play it backwards made perfect sense. The encore was brilliant, One being the highlight, just epic.

 

Sunday...

 

Anthrax kicked it off for me, all classic tunes, Joey Belladonna in fine form and the crowd lapping it up. Anthrax were always the fun band of thrash and they showed why, excellent stuff.

 

Sebastian Bach fuck yes! i love going to see the legends and backed by a young band Bach was f'n awesome, technical difficulties aside this was great. The Skid Row tunes were great, i genuinely had a tear in my eye when they kicked into Youth Gone Wild, i welled up i was just happy as fuck. This was the surprise set of the weekend for me (i did say Nightwish too, but that was more because i don't like that band and i enjoyed them).

 

Lamb of God, basically did what Machine Head should have (for me). Lamb of God are a fairly serious band but their music is fun to listen too because it's got that f'n groove. Great, loved the setlist too. I'd love to see em go onto headline one day.

 

Shinedown, so f'n American it's painful but i like em. Their show is a perfect mix of massive tunes and motivational cheese talk, it could come across as shit but i think they stay just on the right side of the fence and it's awesome. I don't get to see many of the big american radio rock bands so this was cool.

 

Refused, fuck yes! I bought The Shape of Punk To Come the day after it came out and i never thought i'd get to see em.

 

I was actually not all for the reunion, mainy cause i didn't think they'd live up to the hype but i was wrong. This was just monumental, i didn't think the songs would transend on a big stage because as the band said themselves when they split they were a tiny punk band from Sweden. I was wrong and they were tight as a drum. New Noise is the anthem and when they cracked into that i nearly damn shit myself.

 

Soundgarden missed the first 3rd of the set to check out my mates band The Dirty Youth over on one of the small stages (who went down a storm!) got back to my spot though and this was cool. Soundgarden are a band ive only recently got into but with the sun going down and everyone cooked this was perfection. Crazy to see a band play grimy grunge tunes to a crowd of 60,000 people. Wished id seen it all but i saw enough.

 

Black Sabbath i'll be honest, it was only last minute that i decided to watch them. My one mate was off to see Rise Against but i'd bumped into another group i knew so i stuck around for Sabbath...best choice i made all weekend. I've seen em before and i'll admit im not the biggest fan but i love the riffs and this just fucking grooved all night, i thought Ozzy was gonna collapse originally but he always seems to warm up as it goes on. Amazing performance, probably my favorite of the weekend (toss up with Slash and Refused but i loved them all for different reasons).

 

Overall, a fucking classic weekend. I know it might sound like i loved every band, but i genuinely did. Music wise it's probably the best festival ive been too, i've always been a fan of every kind of rock music and i kinda mixed it all up and saw everything that i'm a fan of. Can't complain.

 

As for the sound...now this is a pet hate of mine at festivals. It fucking blows my mind that so many people stand in areas where the sound is shit, Friday was different cause the wind was bad but after that the sound was the usual. If you aint standing at the front (which aint for everyone), you need to stand near the big speaker stacks, i know to some people they don't really care but when you hear about people complaining about the sound it's annoying. There's a spot behind the main sound tower on the main stage with a screen behind it, hardly anyone stands there and if you stand to the left of it your sandwiched between two sound towers, you got your own personal massive screen and you can see the stage...the sound is fucking crushing there, it's probably the best sound in the field (unless your right at the front. I stayed there pretty much all weekend and it just makes the whole thing so much more enjoyable. I would walk to the toilets and see people watching bands in areas where the sound was poor and think 'your missing out!' ahhh well.

 

Great.

[KingOfMetal]

I'll post my full Download thoughts later in the week when I get the time, but all I'll say for now is that if you didn't go see Devin Townsend on the Pepsi Max Stage closing the first night, you missed an absolute belter of a show from him

[Dead Mike]

Ditto, started typing mine up & it's turning into a right essay. In short, had a blinder...Tallica, Sabbath, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Trivium & the mighty Cancer Bats all being highlights.

[Harvey Dent]

Ha, I tried to keep mine from being a wall of text. I know what you mean about standing in duff areas and complaining Ebb, just move. One thing that I think gets a bit tedious, and I know I'll be on my own on this, is the constant "GET YER TITS OUT!~" on the big screen during bands. Fair enough during Steel Panther it fit and was part of it, but it just gets a bit stupid during bands and it happens a lot. And the selection isn't exactly prime.

[Egg Shen]

There were some mighty fine titties on display during The Steel Panther set, the ones the band actually pointed out were as good a set of tits that your ever likely to see.