by Ian Carroll
Beyond that, it was a pity that we never got to see more bands because of all the bullshit going on; Deftones played the same day as us and I am a big fan of their music and a couple of other bands. We were only there for the day, which I was a bit annoyed at, as Metallica were playing the next day and I was really dissapointed; I heard that they did all of ‘Master Of Puppets’ and that was something that we all had wanted to see.
So, not only did we get to share the stage with other bands that we respect and are fans of, but at the same time we got to play in front of this crowd and realised that either way we were going to be ok and even in the worst of times and in the shittiest situation, we could still make the best of it and make this music.
But, it was a good experience in the end, it just started off pretty crazy.”
Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria – Guitar)
“We played the mainstage very early in the afternoon and I don’t think I had ever seen so many people in my life. It was the first time that I had seen such a huge amount of people.
We came with a tour bus that time though. The variety of bands impressed me a lot because there is something for everyone; you could almost have a family coming here, from the young 16 year old who wants to listen to the extreme metal bands, to the parents who would like to listen to the old school or mainstream bands like Slipknot, so there is literally everything for a ‘rocker’, all kinds of rocker.
It’s the variety on offer that makes it the best festival in Europe.”
Andrea Ferro (Lacuna Coil –Vocals)
“We played the year that Guns N’ Roses played.
We just go up onstage and have a good time. All of these festivals are like a ‘high school reunion party’, because you meet all these bands that you’ve toured with and you meet new friends; it’s just about hanging out.
What I like most about festivals is the part where you can go anywhere, meet your friends and have a laugh; what I really hate about festivals is that they seclude the headliner and put them alone with gates and security outside and if you are the headliner, like we have been, you sit there alone and it’s fucking boring.
The festivals in Europe are a little differently organised and us being from Europe, I guess it’s what we are used to.
But we have fun on everyone, especially if we have a good show and get to see our friends.”
Peter Iwers (In Flames – Bass)
“The last time that we came to Download me and Aaron got a lift down a day early, because we wanted to see Tool.
So we arrived a day early and it was such an awesome show; to see them at night with a massive crowd and the planes flying over, it was an amazing experience like no other. It’s just a cool experience; you wouldn’t see planes that low anywhere else.
There was an after party and the guys in Alexisonfire were there, so we all hung out backstage and it was pretty cool. We got to meet Phil Anselmo and he was singing songs to me and George from Alexisonfire; he was like ‘hey guys I’ve got a new song, check it out’. He would just start signing and five minutes went by and me and George were thinking ‘this is so surreal right now’, it was great.
It was such a cool experience.”
Ian D'Sa (Billy Talent – Guitar)
“One of the great things about being at Download was that I got to meet a couple of the Metallica guys and I got to watch all of Metallica’s set when they played ‘Master Of Puppets’, which was really cool. It was amazing to be so close to the band and then to look out at the crowd and realise the importance of Download, especially for metal.”
Jon Gallant (Billy Talent – Bass)
“So here I found myself backstage in the VIP "free drinks" section. I didn't have the appropriate wrist band to be back there but Aaron from Billy Talent headed to bed early for the night and gave me his. I used a paper clip to secure it on my wrist and it was free drinks for me! (Sorry Download! But the exchange rate is pretty hefty for us Canadians and we ain't rich!)
So I'm standing around with some of the Billy Talent boys chatting and shooting the shit, when who walks in??? Ex-Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo. He was completely smashed, which was exactly how I expected him to be. The second he got a drink, he bee lined it over to this chap wearing a Minor Threat t-shirt, pointed at his chest and said "1st album only...FUCK Fugazi." That alone was probably the best thing I could have possibly witnessed that weekend. But the story didn't end there. Later that evening when Phil got within earshot of me, I told him I thought he was going to perform with Alice In Chains, as I had heard several rumours. He quickly responded, "I was too wasted. They would have never let me on stage." A fitting answer from the man who has died three times. More time passes. My friend Ben and I are hanging out when who strolls over but Phil yet again. "Hey, where are you guys from?" "Toronto, Canada," we respond. "Ahh...a couple of Canadians! I'm Phil from Louisiana. You guys wanna hear me sing something?" You are damn straight we wanted to hear Phil Anselmo sing something. A personal concert just for me and Ben. I was totally jazzed. Phil puts his arms around us and begins his tune, "...happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear...worst song ever. Take it easy guys." I probably don't need to tell you it wasn't my birthday. Phil then let us go and was wrangled by one of his crew. And that's the story of the night. Phil Anselmo sang me "Happy Birthday". You just can't make this shit up. Totally true story.”
George Pettit (Alexisonfire – Vocals)
“The buses were about 5 miles away from the stage and we had to get someone to drive us over. To get to ‘our stage’ it was about 7 miles away from the bus.
We arrived a 2am and so we didn’t get to see Metallica do their 3 hour show; you wouldn’t get to see us do that.”
Pete Koller (Sick Of It All – Guitar)
“It was awesome; we played the small tent and it was the defining moment of our career up until then. It was the first festival that we did and the tent was absolutely rammed and just to look out and see that many heads was pretty incredible.”
Roughton "Rou" Reynolds (Enter Shikari – Vocals / Synthesizer)
“We had gone to the festival the year before and it was pretty weird to be playing it the year after, but it’s always awesome and pretty scary, because there are always a few bottles. That first year we played was our first ‘big show’, apart from that we had been playing lots of club gigs; it was I think also our first festival.
It was so scary, but it was pretty fucking cool. We had a massive pit and a ‘wall of death’.”
Oli Sykes (Bring Me The Horizon – Vocals)
“I had never been to Download or Donington when I’ve not been in a band, so the first year I went to Download was pretty cool; first time at Donington and I was pretty stoked on it.”
Matt Nicholls (Bring Me The Horizon – Drums)
“We were booked to play the tent and we had a blast, but I am friends with Robert in Metallica and he said ‘dude, Jonathan Davis and they are looking for someone to sing and I have put your name forward’. I just went up there and spoke to a couple of the guys in Korn, they said that they had wanted me to sing two songs, but I said that I would do one, because if it all went horribly wrong I could end up getting covered in piss. They then said to me to sing one song.
Of all the metal bands in the 90’s I was a massive Korn fan, I’d even paid money and bought tickets to go and see Korn and now I’ve got Fieldy asking me to sing a Korn song, it was like a dream. I had Robert Trujillo saying ‘dude, you can do it’ and I’d got Fieldy saying ‘will you do it?’ and I’m just an asshole from Newport, with these two hug ‘rock monsters’ asking me to do it.
I went up there and I thought that I would just give it my best shot and I know that the British heavy metal fans love my band, so I went up there and gave it all I’d got. I sang ‘A.D.I.D.A.S.’ and to this day I think ‘my god it’s just a dream!’ It was incredible!!
I met Corey from Slipknot; I hadn’t really known him before, but he was really trying to bring it a
ll together. So there was Corey, Dez from Devildriver and the guy from Avenged Sevenfold and he was like ‘c’mon guys this is not about us, we’re representing Jonathan Davis here and we’ve really got to get this together’. He gave us a pep talk before we went on and cheered us up. He made us feel like a team and made us all feel comfortable. I wish that I had really done another song as the entire crowd sang along; you either get covered in piss or kisses, I guess we got covered in kisses!”
Benji Webbe (Skindred – Vocals / Synthesizer)
“We played in 2006 and I think our story is pretty cool.
We were actually slotted to play first on the 2nd stage, we had done some big shows like Ozzfest before, but we were slotted in to play at 11am and we were wondering if anyone was going to be there and it was on the Sunday too and people had been rocking out for the whole weekend.
So the doors opened at 10am and we got there at about 10:30am and there were hardly any people out there, so we started freaking out. We were fired up and pissed off and shouting ‘this is bullshit’. We got ready to play and the intro goes off and we got out there and it was completely packed and we couldn’t believe it; we were like ‘holy shit’.
Being that we were so early, we were speaking to other people about it and they said that they hadn’t seen that many people that early in the day before, so they were coming to see our band!
The show was insane, the crowd went nuts and we actually used some of the footage for a music video.
It was a pleasant surprise and I think it was still probably the biggest show that we have played, even bigger than the Ozzfest shows that we’d done.”
Doc Coyle (God Forbid – Guitar)
"It's a tough call to really sum up our experience at Download in just a few words.
It was like all the fuckin planets lined up for us that day...Everything was perfect...and having the crowd respond to us in that way was just over the top. It made us feel like kings for the day...well...for our set anyway!
Watching the footage from the show is almost as good as being there again...I just keep watching it, ha-ha! It was a good day for us, and made us feel 'valid', ya know? Very cool...very memorable...and something that I will never forget, and always cherish.
Thanks to all at Download...the fans, the crews, everyone that made us feel right at home there...you're all gods. Metal Hailz!"
Jed Simon (Strapping Young Lad – Guitar/Backing Vocals)
“It was awesome.
We were really happy that we made it, after 2004, when our bus broke down and we missed the show and felt really bad.
I think that the band right now is stronger and better than ever, with AJ Cavalier as our frontman now, we are a lot more in your face. We are still heavy, but we’re still melodic and I think True Self (Album) shows that.
We played a good mixture from Scars, Re.De.Fine and the new album.
Thirty minutes of blistering intensity and then a good friend of ours Jada Pinkett Smith of Wicked Wisdom came on stage and she helped out with Halo.
It’s good to be on a big stage again. But it’s hard to feel how hard the crowd is into the gig, when they are a shitload of feet away from you. But from the reaction I think that they were having a good time, and it was beautiful weather”
Shaun Glass (Soil – Guitar)
“We played on the mainstage and went on at noon, Guns N’ Roses was the headliner that day. It was set up a little bit different to now, because the stage was in a different area.
One thing that I do remember about that show was that the weather was also great and it was sunny and the temperature was perfect; we really ‘lucked out’ there!”
Frank Novinec (Hatebreed – Guitar)
“I guess for any metal kid its classic grounds; I grew up with a lot of classic British heavy metal and also through the Guns N’ Roses era and obviously most of these bands had classic gigs when they played at the Monsters Of Rock at Donington. So without us getting to play there when it ended, it was a bit sad.
When it reappeared as Download a few years ago, we got to play it and it was amazing.
I remember being very fucked up, it was very hot and our bus had some real problems. I was sleeping in our ‘Nightliner’ because we were there for two days and I suddenly woke up in a garage, because the driver had driven off to get the bus repaired, not knowing that I was in the bus. He couldn’t just turn around and take me back, as we were at the garage; so I spent most of one of the days at the garage far from away from Download; not that fun.
But I do remember that it was a good gig. The only downside is that you have so little time to do linecheck and soundcheck, both the crew and the band and the promoters get a bit stressed out about that.”
Nicke Borg (Backyard Babies – Vocals/Guitar)
“It was absolutely unbelievable and the one that I was really looking forward to. I was really nervous before going on stage and there were a lot of people there and the crowd were really, really responsive.
I was a bit worried because my act isn’t as heavy as some of the other ones, because it’s a very heavy festival and some of the acts are REALLY HEAVY.
But everyone was really brilliant and everyone was clapping and it was probably one of the best responses I have had and I’d just done a 2 week tour including Rock AM Ring and Rock IM Park and this was definitely the best response.
I came down in my dads campervan and caught Metallica and we were right at the back and couldn’t even see them because I’m so small”
Lauren Harris (Lauren Harris – Vocals)
“Our next visit to Download was in 2006 and this time we played the Prestigious Main Stage, bigger Crowd and bigger nerves go along with this honor.
This time was not the best of luck for me as I had blown out my voice in Sheffield a night earlier, but as they say the show must go on, it did. I survived it but it wasn’t pretty.
It seems a little vague to my memory of all the happenings due to me being a bit under the weather, but never the less we were stoked to be asked back for our 2nd time.”
Brock Lindow (36 Crazyfists – Vocals)
“We played at Download in the tent. We hadn’t been playing or touring much as we had been writing songs for a new album.
I had really bad cramp; it was a horrible gig for me. My left hand completely froze up during the first song, all my tendons right up my wrist; it’s the first time that it had ever happened to me, they went like concrete, so I couldn’t move my hand. So, I did the whole set in utter agony, as it really hurt as well; it just went like rock and went solid.
All I could do was use one finger and follow what the bassist was doing, so I was just making some sort of noise, but no one seemed to notice.
I went to the St John’s Ambulance after to see what they could do, but it eventually just went.
Then we went to see Guns ‘n’ Roses and left in disgust.”
Larry Hibbitt (Hundred Reasons – Guitar)
“Lot's of interesting things have happened to me at Donington/Download. When I played there with Ginger And The Sonic Circus in 2006 we had the Psycho Cyborgs appear with us who proceeded to impale my arms, five insertions per limb. All was well until they pulled out the rods and for the next 45 minutes the stage was filled with my blood. It was great fun seeing the band skidding around in my plasma.” Ginger (Ginger And The Sonic Circus – Vocals/Guitar)
“I think our first experience of Download was probably the most nerve wracking of our lives in 2006.
We came on to a wall of bottles, but it was probable one of our most triumphant shows, as we overcame it.”
Omar Abidi (Fightstar - Drums)
“I was really nervous because Download is a predominantly metal festival and I remember from when we walked out, to the moment the crowd changed and a massive mosh pit opened up.”
Charlie Simpson (Fightstar – Guitar/Vocals)
“Download was significantly important for me, as a kid growing up in the mid-‘90’s. I remember seeing Sep
ultura on their ‘Chaos AD’ tour at Monsters of Rock, must have been ’94 and the footage that ‘Headbangers Ball’ had put together was probably what pushed me into being in bands.
So it was a dream come true to play there and it’s different from other festivals as it’s such an exclusively metal festival. You get a great sense of belonging and everyone there is like ‘part of a tribe’ an therefore there is goodwill that extends beyond what you experience in day to day life, because everyone realises they are in it together, everybody’s into the same shit and it’s all about unity and belonging and that’s why it’s special. Download and Donington epitomises that.”
Dan Haigh (Fightstar – Bass)
"Download was like everything we'd ever dreamed of, it was amazing, huge crowd and a big stage.
I think the crowd at Download is better than the crowd at Reading, but both festivals are amazing."
Angel Ibarra (Aiden - Guitar)
“My friends in As I Lay Dying said that our show in 2006 would be the best show that Bleeding Through had ever played, because they thought that it was the best show that they had ever played in 2005.
We were really nervous about coming over as we had no idea what to really expect. We got up on the stage and it was one of those shows where it made us feel like Metallica. It was the closest that I had ever felt to what it must be like to be in a ‘big band’; it felt like being a God on that stage and that we could have got away with saying anything up there.