From Donington To Download

by Ian Carroll

  Watching the bands during the day is damn good fun. But it’s the camp site parties that really make the festival. After the last riff is played, everyone heads back to their tents. And not for cocoa and a sing song but for JD through a funnel, food fights, drunken badminton and then a sing song. With people you don’t know and with songs you’ve just made up.

  Now they say it’s not over till the fat lady sings. Well at Download, it’s not over till you start a crash tackle initiated stacks on right at the feet of the police. Shortly followed by pushing over a porta loo with someone in it.

  Daniel Steffe (Gold Coast, Australia)

  ”I asked my girlfriend (Charlie) to marry me, on bended knee at the end of Judas Priest in 2008. Nothing major in that, except her response was:

  "You've got to be f*****g kidding me". Nothing in life is guaranteed.

  She eventually said yes and we are got married 31st October 2009.”

  Jon Flannagan (Broxburn, West Lothian)

  “It was the last day of Download 2008, the year full of bands from my teens. It had just been a great weekend, the sun had been baking everyone for most of the festival, had been awesome for music and everyone seemed to be in a really chilled out, Woodstock kind of atmosphere.

  Anyways, I had spent the whole day lounging around with my close mates from back home, I never get to see them most of the year but Download has become a sort of tradition where we can all meet up again and let loose, I think we've done it for the past four years now?

  So, we're sitting on the top of the hill, each of us slowly passing out from too much sun and vodka and whisky and beer and whatever else we'd managed to get in past security, and it was the last few bands of the main stage. Coheed &Cambria had just lightened every ones spirits, but I think it was Jimmy Eat World up next that did it.

  The next few hours were just one of those great moments in life where your sitting in the sun with your mates, just enjoying each others company and having a great time, the music really taking us back 5 years or so, all of us pissed and hugging each other, "I love you man" speeches and the rest, my girlfriend at the time just finding the whole deal amusing, taking photos of us all...

  Anyways, while Lostprophets are on me and my mate Aaron start the first big circle pit of the set, right over on of the gravel pathways. I got smashed sideways by some massive bloke and ended up with a two inch scar on my elbow and a concussion, but that afternoon will always stand out as one of the happiest of any summer.”

  Joel Minter (Peckham)

  ”Watching Lostprophets on the Sunday evening, I was right near the front and during "Rooftops" (My favourite song) I turned round and all I could see were people, as far as I could see, all singing my favourite lyrics of my favourite band.

  I'll never forget that moment, it really was the best part of the festival and a great introduction to Download!”

  Emma Taylor (Carlisle)

  “It was a long 6hr train journey for us.

  After being hassled by an old woman trying to steal alcohol off us, we finally arrived and waited to get into the festival.

  We finally got a camp set up. By this point the drink was starting to take major effect and two of our friends started a friendly wrestling match; but we hadn’t yet cleared the camp properly.

  After about 5 mins of wrestling you could see them starting to get tired, the next thing we knew one of them, Jimbo (also known as the Shitting Man) went flying into a metal trolley which we had used to haul our stuff in with and had a big cut above his eyebrow.

  So, being sensible, Captain Zara (his sister) took him to the First Aid tent but because it was only 2pm on the Wednesday the paramedics hadn’t even set up there tent yet and ended up having to deal with it out in the open while there tent was laid out on the ground.

  But they took it all in good fun, though Jimbo could hardly see out of his eye all weekend.”

  Brian Dunn (Stenhousemuir)

  “My best experience was at Download 2008, this was my first ever Download festival. I had wanted to go to the festival for so long and when I got the ticket as a present I couldn’t wait for June to roll around.

  Out of all the bands that played over that weekend the one I was looking forward to the most was the one and only...KISS. Seeing Kiss on stage was going to be even more amazing, as it would be the first time that my Dad would have seen them live in full make-up, which for us was a big deal, anyway waiting for Kiss to come on stage seemed to take forever the anticipation was killing me, then all of a sudden a voice came over the microphone saying the sentence we were all waiting to hear "Alright Download, you wanted the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world.....KISS", then the curtain came down and they were being lowered down from the ceiling all I could think was ‘Oh my god that’s actually them, on stage’. WOW.

  The ultimate point in the show for me was during ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night’; the confetti cannons went off, and at that moment I apparently turned to my Dad with the most amazed look on my face, at that point I was nearly in tears, and I have never been like that for any band I have went to see live.

  KISS were the best band on the lineup that weekend, it completely made my year.”

  Christine Dickson (Belfast)

  “In 2008 I was living in Spain and made the trek from Alicante to Derbyshire for that year's Download Festival.

  I met up with a friend of a friend that I didn't know particularly well but within about half an hour I was cooking up sausage butties for everyone in the surrounding area and became great friends with all the people we were camped with.

  On the Friday I met a nice guy who lent me his shoes and coat because I was so cold and on the Saturday I danced with a load of crazy guys in sailor's hats! Over a year and a half later I'm back living in the UK; I spent my first New Year over here with the friends I had met and camped with at Download and am still great friends with all of them, frequently popping down to Derbyshire to see them; with them sometimes coming up to see me in Manchester too.

  I've been dating the guy who lent me his shoes pretty much since the festival and had a fantastic long weekend in Birmingham with the guys in Sailor hats in February (and again in Norwich last summer).

  Having been unable to go to DL09, I can't wait for 2010 where I'll be camped in a giant circle with all the different people I met in 2008, my boyfriend and his friends, and a few people that I'll be dragging with me.”

  Jade Holden (Glasgow)

  “It was Download 2008 and it was the first time I went with a largish group of my close friends. Myself and my mate Joe were giving each other beer showers, I poured two cans of beer all over Joe he jumped up and ran straight for the beer cans. I ran off as fast as I could. I looked over to my left and I could see him chuck a can in the air, I ducked as I thought the can was going to hit me. Stupidly I ducked down thinking it was going to miss me but in fact I ducked enough so the beer can smashed me in the side of the head and knocked me out for a few seconds, I had a massive lump for the rest of the weekend but it was awesome!

  In 2008 I went with a group of 6 very close friends of mine and whilst I was there I met loads of great people especially one in particular; Eve, my girlfriend of 2 years since Download 2008, so Download 2010 will be our Anniversary of being together for 2 years and it's all thanks to the best place on earth... Download!”

  Graham Simmonds (London)

  2009

  Faith No More, Slipknot &

  Def Leppard

  Q. The final year before the 30th Anniversary and what do we get at the festival?

  A. The best line-up of any of the Download Festivals so far, the most glorious weather so far – high up in the 80’s and the most popular site since moving out of the race track; no make that the best site ever, even better than in the race track, due to the actual layout and the room for festival expansion.

  The mainstage headliners this year were Faith No More, Slipknot and Def Leppard. Def Leppard were returning to the Donington stage aft
er an absence of 23 years and this time in the well deserved top spot, Slipknot had earned their place at the top of the bill on the Saturday night after gradually building their fan-base, year upon year and Faith No More were playing their first date since reforming; FNM did play a warm up show at the Brixton Academy a few days before, but Donington was their first ‘major show’.

  The second stage had the return of Motley Crue playing at Donington for the 4th time, The Prodigy coming back with their latest album ‘Invaders Must Die’ and Trivium headlining their first Donington stage.

  Over the weekend there were many ‘old school rock bands’, which proved extremely popular, including Journey, ZZ Top, Whitesnake, Tesla and the reformed Skin; classic rock was here to stay and was a hit with all ages of attendees, from ‘Download Virgins’ to ‘MOR Oldies’ .

  The addition of the 4th stage gave many bands, some unsigned, a chance to play at Donington, when they would never have had a chance in years gone by; remember the MOR days when there was only one stage and only six bands!

  Friday on the mainstage had a ‘nu-metal’ vibe with the return of Korn in the special guest slot yet again and the Donington debuts of Limp Bizkit and Staind, all had massive crowds on the day, especially the reformed Limp Bizkit, who came back to a heroes return.

  Anvil also sailed back into Donington to headline the 3rd stage, all on the wave of success created by their movie ‘Anvil: The Story Of Anvil’; this was their first appearance at Donington since 1981, 29 years before. Following Download Anvil went on to open on some of the AC/DC ‘Black Ice’ tour dates in the USA.

  So, probably the best year EVER at Donington! Great weather, great bands and a great new layout, things couldn’t have been better.

  “If I remember correctly, we decided to play Download about 2 months before the actual event. We hadn't seen each other, much less played together in a very long time, we had some work to do as far as getting back to speed, and I don't think any of us had any idea as to what to expect. When it came down to show time, we did a warm up show at Brixton Academy which was both fantastic and surreal at the same time.

  Download was the big one, but honestly I think we were so focused on what we needed to do, that the scope and size of the event went a bit over our heads; that is, until we played.

  For our second show in 13+ years, I thought that we'd already ironed out a few kinks from the earlier one, and we performed the set well and with confidence (of course, the incredible enthusiasm from the crowd itself had a lot to do with this too). I knew that the show was being filmed, but didn't pay much attention to the cameras during the performance. This turned out to be for the better, because I was to learn later that the web broadcast from the show went everywhere; to my surprise, I received a TON of emails from all over the world, all within less than an hour after playing the set.

  So looking back, I can say that, though I was a bit single-minded at the time, this was probably one of the more critical shows in our history as a band. It was a landmark in that it proved that we were able to overcome our own personal obstacles and rise to the occasion, but I also think that the success of this show also did a lot to set the tone for the shows we ended up doing over the next year and a half.”

  Bill Gould (Faith No More – Bass)

  "Headlining here is huge; it’s like in high school reading Ripped magazine or borrowing copies of Kerrang! – This is insane for me, I can’t believe its happening but at the same time I balance it with the fact that for ten years we’ve worked toward this. With every album it’s got better and stronger and no matter what’s been going on with the band we came together and we made this happen together. I’m really proud. It wasn’t just handed to us – this was years of toil and bleeding and just getting out playing in front of everyone. It’s a dream come true, man. This is the King Daddy, this is the one you talk about – the one you make your own or it makes you something that you’re not so you’ve just got to do it and mean it. Bands here [that I remember] were Maiden, the historic AC/DC night, it’s incredible. You read about the crowds, you see the pictures of Bruce Dickinson with his foot up on the monitor: “Scream For Me Donington” – what more do you want? That is rock. Our setlist is one of my favourites, it has so many great elements that we pride ourselves on. It’s got the deep cuts, the heavy stuff that people always look forward to but at the same time it’s got all the singles that I can’t believe we have. Radio singles and hits! And crowds are really responding to it so I’m excited." Corey Taylor (Slipknot – Vocals)

  “Download this year was really spectacular and when we got out there with Def Leppard it was beautiful weather and a big show, picture perfect actually and the line-up was pretty cool. I made a point of going out and watching ZZ Top; I had really wanted to watch Journey as we had toured with them in the States, they are a fantastic band with their new singer.”

  Phil Collen (Def Leppard – Guitar)

  “This is my fourth time playing here and I’ve known John Jackson the promoter here for 22 years. Just walking through people maybe saw the band dressing room and there’s a generational skip now to the younger bands. They get real quiet and you hear them whispering and little do they know I’m just a fucking dork like I always have been! Being included with my new band – people are going out their way to help us. Whether it’s karma or whatever, I’ll take it.” Duff McKagan (Duff McKagan’s Loaded – Vocals/Guitar)

  “Wow! Donington was the most outrageous festival I've ever played! The anticipation of going on stage was immense, as I knew this crowd was going to rock!

  The mosh pit was swirling around creating so much dust, like a whirlwind was about to form! I loved every minute of it!

  I missed Slipknot as they where on at the same time as us. I would like to have seen them as I know they put on a good show.”

  Maxim Reality (The Prodigy – MC / Vocals / Beatbox)

  “We arrived and played our set and then had to leave. We weren’t even at Donington for 5 hours, because we had to play Switzerland the next day. So, unfortunately we finally got to the mainstage and we never even got to enjoy it; it was a bummer!!

  We were really bummed about not seeing Faith No More, but we saw them in Switzerland the next day.”

  Jon Gallant (Billy Talent – Bass)

  “We were up on the mainstage, 3rd from top, before Marilyn Manson and Slipknot. But to see it all kick off at Download is amazing and when onstage I have the best seat in the house. I don’t know how many people there were, but it must have been about 70,000. When the bass kicks in the waves went all the way to the back and it was a great feeling.

  Manson’s band weren’t too happy when we came off stage, they were shitting themselves and they should have turned the bass down, but they didn’t and it just distorted.

  I am an admirer of Slipknot and I think that they are fantastic musicians. I think that if you put all the show business stuff aside, underneath what they do, they are amazing musicians. Joey Jordison is one of my favourite drummers; he actually nearly broke my hand when he shook my hand, he’s so strong, but a little guy. I’m not huge, but he was quite a short guy. But they were really all cool dudes, the Slipknot guys and it was a really good experience to meet them.

  I also met the drummer from Korn, Ray Luzier; he was a really big influence on me. I was absolutely blown away, Korn were the Zeppelin of the weekend for me they had that ‘groove’. We missed Limp Bizkit, but they’ve got an awesome rhythm section as well.

  I have also noticed how the crowd have changed from Monsters Of Rock to Download, simply because rock music has morphed into so many different styles of music now, which has basically created this new audience.

  I like Download Festival for many reasons. It’s so well organised and Andy Copping is a brilliant guy and anything you want he’ll help you out with, whatever, nothings a problem for him. The whole backstage area is nicely organised and it’s really friendly with a good vibe.”

  Kodish (Pendulum – Drums)


  “We really looked forward to seeing what would happen.

  I have my Donington plaque, that I was give last time, it’s hanging outside the bog.”

  Lips (Anvil – Vocals/Guitar)

  “The last time I went to Download was 27 years ago and when I arrived this time, I could see that it was a whole ‘another generation’ of stuff; it was a long overdue return.

  The successful movie opened the doors to Anvil and I am happy with it all. We built an amazing band and we are now getting recognised for it.

  I still have my most memorable Donington plaque hanging on my wall.”

  Robb Reiner (Anvil – Drums)

  “The amount of bands, the different diversity between the bands makes it special. That’s what I like about Download, because they put together bands from rock to extreme metal, without any problem and people come to the show with a totally different attitude than those going to a specific festival with just metal bands or black metal bands and that’s it. The attitude of the people is going to be different because the crowd will just want to have fun, because they already know the all the bands are doing their own stuff and they appreciate that; that’s what I love about Download.”

  Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil – Vocals)

  “It was our 3rd time at Download Festival in 2009. Every time that we come back to the festival it is growing and doubling the quantity of people.”