From Donington To Download

by Ian Carroll

  I remember Poison’s set being somewhat unremarkable and suffering from a sound mix that was being carried away by the slightest gust and completely drowned out by the usual low flying 737’s. Apart from the usual enthusiastic first ten rows, the crowd seemed to react lethargically to their set and it passed; not threatening to go into the list of legendary Donington performances.

  On that day, Aerosmith could have played anything they wanted and I would have been hooked. It was my first chance to see the Toxic Twins who were at that point in time, within my top five favs. I was hooked from the off, Steven Tyler with white and black scarved mic in tow ran about the stage like a man possessed as they went through mostly newer stuff early on but for me it was the trio of 'Sweet Emotion', 'Toys In The Attic' and 'Dream On' that got me really singing along. And then to top it off in style, Jimmy Page joined them for an incredible encore of 'Train Kept A Rollin' and 'Walk This Way'.

  Bottle fights occurred as usual, as did peoples liking for recreating Egypt’s finest monuments but I do not remember either activity being as prominent as previous years. In fact I fail to remember witnessing any event that was particularly odd or outrageous. Where were the naked sports people, fire starters or Hells Angels tipping over burger vans? Maybe they were all there but I managed to miss them all.

  I was not particularly looking forward to Whitesnake, apart from a handful of tracks. I did not care for their recorded material, even more so since they had ditched their better blues style in favour of a more commercial hair band, widdly diddly, and power ballad mad style. What’s more, I could not stand David Coverdale, his pompous, big headed, patronising attitude got right on my tits. That said, I did not hate their performance that night and even sang along to the tracks that I could bear. Their sound mix was top notch and the majority of the crowd responded enthusiastically. This set was going out live on BBC1 albeit with several seconds delay to help remove any foul language! Coverdale responded to this accordingly and was deliberately littering the set with as many 'Fucks' as he could muster between and during songs, I believe that a few got through which must have had the good old Beeb fuming.

  Although I do not consider 1990 as being one of the better lineups, I remember it as the most relaxing of these fests. The mood was friendly as usual, the weather was pretty warm and the drink flowed well; most importantly we had lots of fun and it was great to have the festival back, it could have been taken away from us for good!”

  Roger Moore (Glinton, Peterborough)

  “Only five bands this year and the headline slot saw the return of (the now) MTV friendly Whitesnake. Their traditional blues rock had been sidelined for a sleeker USA style heavy metal.

  Their show was based around the ‘Slip of the Tongue’ CD and just didn’t excite me like the days of old……the only real nod to the past was a perfunctory version of ‘Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City’. David Coverdale’s voice had also lost some of its magic.

  Disappointing to say the least.

  Aerosmith hadn’t played these shores for a while, so they were eagerly anticipated. They didn’t disappoint, even Jimmy Page joined them onstage for the encore. Band of the day…..easily.

  Poison could have done better, but at least they played ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’, which my wife (whose name is Rose) enjoyed.

  Not too sure that The Quireboys were right for the show, but they entertained a sizeable portion of the crowd, so who am I to complain.

  Thunder were fantastic. From the moment Danny opened his mouth at the start of ‘She’s So Fine’ to the end of ‘Dirty Love’. I was near the front and thought they were great…..best opening performance of all the Doningtons.

  The whole concert was broadcast live all day on Radio One.

  The weather was fine.

  Also this was one of the first years where alcohol had affected my recollections of the day.”

  Paul Hartshorn (Chesterfield)

  1991

  AC/DC,

  Metallica, Motley Crue, Queensrÿche, The Black Crowes

  This year would be mostly dominated by two major facts,

  1) AC/DC were playing again and the appearance would be their 3rd headline slot within the 12 festivals career span so far.

  2) Metallica had gradually risen from the mid-afternoon slot, to now being in the ‘special guest’ position, playing just before the headliner.

  First on were The Black Crowes, a slightly random choice for Donington, but as the festival encompassed ‘all that was rock’, why shouldn’t they play?

  With ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ released the previous year, the majority of the crowd were aware of or absolutely loved, the tracks played on the day. Getting an airing from the album were many of the gems that had made the album a multi platinum seller in their native USA, these included ‘Twice As Hard’, ‘Hard To Handle’ and ‘Jealous Again’.

  Next on were Queensrÿche. More suited to the atmospheric conditions of a dark club gig, Queensrÿche lost some of their aura in the open field in the middle of the afternoon, but still put on a great show. Playing tracks from their astounding 1988 concept album ‘Operation Mindcrime’ and the 1990 release ‘Empire’, they showed the crowd how ‘progressive metal’ could be done, polished, note perfect and hard hitting.

  Coming back for their 2nd appearance at Donington were Motley Crue, seven years after their opening slot debut and 6 months before Vince Neil would leave the band.

  The album ‘Dr. Feelgood’ had been released in 1989 and had been a multi platinum success, but there would be no more Crue albums until 94’s ‘Motley Crue’ which would feature John Corabi (ex of The Scream) on lead vocals; Motley Crue were a band in turmoil.

  Playing tracks from most of their previous albums, with the exception of ‘Theatre Of Pain’, they included a cover of ‘Anarchy In The UK’ as the final track of the set.

  Metallica were on next and it was only 5 days after the release of the ‘Black Album’, which would see them rise to stadium and festival headliners within the year.

  The set featured ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Sad But True’ from the new album and tracks from their whole back catalogue plus the usual two covers.

  At the time Metallica had been on a major support tour with AC/DC so they seemed the obvious choice to be in the ‘special guest’ spot at Donington and they certainly now were something special.

  AC/DC returned for their 3rd top of the bill; we would have to wait another 19 years before they returned to headlining Download 2010, making them the band that has headlined equally the most times at Donington with Iron Maiden.

  With a set featuring all the best songs from their career, the show was released as the video (then DVD and now Blu-Ray) ‘Live At Donington’, featuring cannons, inflatables and the giant ‘Hells Bell’.

  AC/DC were a band at the top of their game, with continuing success and still churning out platinum albums. The ultimate singalong rock band, with more hits and well known tracks than most headliners AC/DC had created a legacy at Donington.

  “We were doing a whole run with AC/DC and it was right when the ‘Black Album’ was coming out in August of 1991 and we were doing about six or seven weeks with AC/DC and it was just amazing.

  We had started fourth from the bottom, then third and then second on the bill.

  We were on before AC/DC, we’d had Motley Crue on before us and ‘Enter Sandman’ had just come out. You could just feel the whole thing was about to go to the next level; there was just a confidence and excitement in the air that was exciting.

  We played two new songs from the ‘Black Album’, ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Sad But True’ and they went down well and we were just young and ‘full of spunk’ and going for it big time, definitely feeling confident and getting ready to play the ‘big league’.

  It was just great to be part of the AC/DC thing and get to watch them every night. I’d go and behind Chris Slade and watch them every night; hanging around AC/DC for six weeks was just amazing. Once in a w
hile I would get invited to have a cup of tea with Angus which was so amazing. We would share our rock ‘n’ roll lives, which was very cool; also having Motley Crue there was very cool, because it meant that there was definitely a debaucherous element there at all times. It was a great late summer.”

  Lars Ulrich (Metallica – Drums)

  “It was pretty much socialising with the other bands; we did some interviews and then got up and played. From the band stand point, they are all pretty much the same; some have better food and better trailers, but usually not.

  Well this time it wasn’t raining which was a kind of a change.

  A lot of times there are the paying audience and the ones that are just there to watch; it’s better for everyone when the crowd just lets themselves go. We like the people in the audience to bond in a way that’s really beyond words; it’s one of those things that’s indescribable and it goes across all countries, social, political, religious, you name it!

  It’s very mystical and beyond language and you really feel that at some festivals where the audience is really ‘there’. I do feel that the media is based on a ‘sports model’, but concerts aren’t based on that model and it’s hard to score.

  So, of all the gigs that we have done in our career, the gigs that really stand out for me the most are the ones where the people are really letting themselves experience it and that’s a great feeling.

  One thing that I like about Donington is that they tend to have a more eclectic type of bill.”

  Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche – Vocals)

  “In my opinion, 1991 had a very strong, diverse line-up that in theory should have kept everybody happy. We had the new raw sound of Pantera, the bluesy swagger of The Black Crowes, some modern Prog rock from Queensryche, Motley Crue for the glam / sleaze crowd, the ever growing beast called Metallica supplying the Thrash and last but not least, the mighty AC/DC racking up their third (and final) headline slot.

  I was happy as the proverbial sand boy when I saw that line-up in Kerrang! and hurriedly collected some tickets from our local ticket shop (which disappeared soon after the emergence of the internet). We had six bands this year again and August could not come around quick enough.

  By now we considered ourselves veterans and had the whole thing down to a fine art! We travelled light but still had adequate provisions to last us all day, we were also prepared for all potential August weather conditions. Every year at least one festival virgin would join us and despite continual reminders of what to take, they would always come ill prepared. My girlfriend Sue’s friend joined us one year and insisted on wearing high heel shoes, this was a decision that she would later regret as they sank in the mud constantly as she trudged slowly around the toilet blocks.

  Pantera were an emerging force to be reckoned with and they hit the stage like an uncaged tiger, their sound was brutal with riffs that could skin cattle at 200yds. I was only just getting into them at this time and only new the odd track from 'Vulgar Display of Power' such as 'Walk', however, this performance was suitably impressive enough to encourage me to buy the two albums they had released so far. It was noticeable again that there were very few bottles heading in Panteras direction, maybe people were just too scared of Phil Anselmo and did not wish to be on the receiving end of some five knuckle retribution .As expected Sue hated every minute of their set.

  The Black Crowes were about as far removed from Pantera as it could possibly get, their sound was more southern blues but they kicked ass in their own way and were always entertaining to watch. Their 'Shake Your Money Maker' album was riding high in the rock charts and they belted out energetic versions of 'Twice As Hard' and the big hit of the time 'Jealous Again' to an appreciative audience.

  Queensryche were at that time (and for at least a decade after) myself and Sue’s favourite band. We had witnessed them at Hammersmith Odeon twice and they had put in fantastic performances playing 90% of 'Operation Mindcrime' with the entire crowd singing along to every word. As an indoor live band they were one of the best out there and always gave 200%. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent to us that the energy and atmosphere they created indoors could not be recreated in an outdoor environment, it just did not seem to work and was a sad experience for us. The band did not play badly and Geoff Tate’s vocals were as brilliant as ever, there was just something missing which was not helped by the set list which was less than inspiring and the crowd did not really warm to them on that occasion. Thankfully, we have seen them countless times after this and they have been superb every time.

  As far as I can remember the weather remained good all day but to be honest the weather was rarely that bad and if there was a downpour it never lasted particularly long. On most occasions I did not need to dig out the trusty bin liners, and if I did it was usually for seating purposes which is the preferred option over sitting on chips and Chinese noodles.

  It was Motley Crue's second appearance at the festival but this time around they were for obvious reasons much higher up the bill. The Crue were another band that you either loved or hated, the Thrash Fans in the audience would absolutely despise them but I loved them. I will never fathom out why some people get into this mentality of dissing particular styles of music which are effectively in the same genre, if you don’t like it don't listen to it and let us who want to , do so in peace.

  Apart from Mick Mars (as usual), the Crue were full of energy and treated us to some choice cuts from ‘Dr Feelgood’, ‘Girls Girls Girls’ etc but from my vantage point they were not going down as well as they had in ‘84, the crowd was receptive but not overly enthusiastic. Vince Neil has never been the greatest vocalist in the world but gets by well enough and is well suited to their style, on this occasion he seemed to be having a problem reaching all of the notes which probably added to the crowds mostly lethargic reception. That said, the crowd got moving a bit more for the set closer, a decent version of 'Anarchy In The UK'.

  In ‘91 it was becoming apparent that Metallica would soon be the biggest metal band on the planet. The pioneers of thrash were starting to lose many die hard fans after the release of the 'Black Album' but on this sunny August afternoon they were still kings of the hill in many peoples eyes. Their last opus 'And Justice For All' had sold bucket loads but was not held in as high regard as its predecessor 'Master Of Puppets' but still had some killer cuts such as my all time favourite 'One' and a large proportion of the masses in attendance (Glam die hards aside) were well up for this performance. Wearing the traditional black against a black backdrop James and the crew pummelled us into early submission with new and soon to be most famous track 'Enter Sandman' then another favourite of mine 'Creeping Death'. Other highlights included 'Fade to Black', 'Master Of Puppets', 'Seek And Destroy', 'One' and finally a brutal headbangers favourite 'Battery'.

  I do not see the need to wax lyrical about AC/DC’s performance, proof of how good they were that night is available for all to see in the form of the Video (or DVD in the techy modern world) that they shot of the entire performance. When I watched this video several years later I was glad that it captured the show just how I remember it. I could not fault the show or performances that night, it was the last time that I saw DC and if I do not witness them again at least I can whack in the DVD for a quick refresher of them at their peak.

  We travelled down by minibus again that year and of course had to cough up the usual ridiculous fee so that we could wait for hours before we actually got out of the car park. This waiting time was usually spent blasting out the stereo, which of course everybody else was also doing in their vehicles making the din somewhat undecipherable. During this wait at some point everybody would need the use of a WC which of course was not provided in the car park, therefore any old tree or car tyre (or bush in the case of the ladies) would have to succumb to our urinal needs. Car tyres seemed to be the prime choice of one of my regular colleagues, I don't know what it was but he seemed to have a thing for them, this proved dangerous on several occasions as sever
al of the vehicles were occupied at the time, on one occasion an Oak tree sized biker type jumped out of his land rover to remonstrate with our pissing friend but luckily was calmed down before face punching could commence.

  In ‘90 I remember that my brother got out of the van via the back door to relieve himself just as we were able to actually move, therefore we decided that it would be a fun game to drive off and stop about 50 yds away, this of course became the age old fun game of "lets wait for him to catch up then drive off again" we continued this game for at least ten minutes, It is amazing how childish games can keep you occupied in such circumstances, the atmosphere at festivals does have that effect on people though.”

  Roger Moore (Glinton, Peterborough)

  “This was the first time our now depleted gang had not travelled down in our own transport. Instead we caught the train to Derby, then the organised shuttle bus service to the site. At the end of the show we did it all in reverse.

  1991 saw the most impressive stage show of them all, with AC/DC having twenty-one cannons lined up across the top of the stage.

  This was the best (by far) of the three AC/DC headlining shows at Donington, culminating in a very loud 21-gun salute at the end of ‘For Those About to Rock’.

  Angus also performing his guitar solo spot on top of a podium in the middle of the crowd during ‘Let There Be Rock’

  One of the best Donington shows ever.

  Supporting ‘DC was Metallica, who with the release of their ‘Black’ album had suddenly leapt into the mainstream of rock. From a personal point of view their new direction suited my musical taste buds at the time. I went on to enjoy all of their 90s material and concerts.