I'll review by day I think, so;
Friday:
Our day begun on a nice hot day, thankfully all the rain had stopped on the Wednesday, and as we made our way in to the arena, excitement built even further.
The first band of the day was Steadlur (7/10), an American 'glam metal' band. They were newcomers to the scene at the time, and it showed slightly in their performance, but with some thumping anthemic tracks blasting out of the Second Stage, it was a good opener for what would turn in to an awesome day of music.
Next up, through no choice of my own, was In This Moment (3/10). They are a 'metalcore' band, which doesn't fill me with joy anyway, but the fact that the frontwoman is famed for her good looks and ability to scream in her vocals put me off even more... I hate screaming vocals. Anyway, the band themselves weren't too bad, hence the three points.
After this experience, we hit The Doghouse, a cocktail bar towards the back of the main stage area. Music overflowed from the 4th stage while we sat at drank cocktails, before hitting the main stage for Billy Talent (8/10). Having never seen these before, but wanting to for a few years, I was rather excited, and they lived up to my expectations. So much so, I bought a ticket to see them at a headline show too.
After Billy Talent, we headed for a look around the stalls/to get food, which was typical festival fares, and chilled on the grass for a while, before I was time for Lacuna Coil (8/10).
To be totally honest, I wasn't looking forward to these either, but they really impressed me. They were fantastic, well worth watching, with very catch songs.
Opeth (9/10) followed, an amazed me more than I thought they would. Lead singer Mikael Akerfeldt was fantastic, hilarious and gracious to everyone, a true nice guy, and the music was out of this world.
Then came the moment I'd been waiting for. I made my way to the front (2 rows back) and waitd patiently for Motley Crue (10/10) to hit the stage. As soon as they did, the crowd went wild, and I remember struggling to stay on my feet, but it was worth it. After about 75% of their set, I was pretty dehydrated after not getting any water for a while in such heat, and no matter how much I asked, the security wouldn't pass me any water, so unfortunately I had to make my way out of the crowd and to a ice cream van to get some water. At this point, I'd lost my friends, so I sat against the fence for the final two songs, before rising to find my friends. Luckily, I hadn't moved far away from the stage when they came back on for Home Sweet Home, their encore, so I caught that, with shivers shooting down my spine at the utter emotion coming from the stage. Amazing.
After a fantastic day in the arena, we headed back to the campsite for booze, sleep and rest in preparation for the next day.
Saturday:
The sun was unbelieveably hot as thousands of rock fans made their way in to the arena for the second of three days of pure rock n' roll.
First band of today was Hardcore Superstar (8/10), another glam/80's influenced band, who do it well. They were fantastic, really impressed me, and it was made better by just chilling on the grass at the back, watching and listening, while taking in the sights and scents of Download.
Next up was The Answer (9/10), a fantastic Irish band. Their mixture of old time rock n roll and 80s heavy metal fused together perfectly to make another band which were fantastic to laze on the grass and take in.
We caught about 10 minutes of YouMeAtSix (4/10) before we could take no more and headed to The Doghouse again. From there, we met a few new people and had a brief chat, before heading to 3rd stage to catch Thunder (10/10) who were the 'secret band'. Fantastic. No other words will describe how awesome it was.
After Thunder, we rushed over to the main stage to see the rest of Marilyn Manson (4/10), which was a complete waste of time. He seemed uninterested, sang loads songs no-one knew and barely interacted with the crowd... rubbish.
Then, finally, for the last band of the night... Slipknot (9/10). Now I wasn't a fan of Slipknot until that day, and they blew me away. Possibly one of the best performances I've ever seen at a festival!
After all the excitement, we headed back to the campsite, and over to a friend's camp for lots of cocktails, tickling a random man and laughing at his girly laugh. Oh how we laughed at you, Pezza. <3 the people we met that night!
Sunday:
Well, this was the day I'd been waiting for, the 'classic rock Sunday'. We woke quite early, and headed to the arena for the first band of the day.
First up was Stone Gods (10/10), a band I'd seen twice before, but loved. They were mindblowing for such an early time slot, and it set the pace for the day perfectly. Next was Tesla (7/10), a band I'd only heard of through Download. They impressed me, but it wasn't as awesome as it could have been had I known some of their material. Another band came next which I'd heard nothing by. Skin (7/10) performed really well, and it was a reunion show if I remember rightly. It all built up to what was to follow in an amazing set of bands.
Black Stone Cherry (9/10) were next up, and playing through their greatest hits and some new material, they were amazing. Little did we know that this wouldn't be the last time we saw Chris on stage that day.
Next, was Journey (10/10). I'd been waiting for this moment all weekend, and they surely proved all the doubters wrong. The singalongs to all their songs were amazing, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end when they dived in to the first few bars of Don't Stop Believin'. It was the best festival moment yet, possibly ever.
After that, we dashed over to the second stage to see Shinedown (10/10), who blew my mind. Chris from Black Stone Cherry came on stage for a song with Brent, but that wasn't even the highlight. The whole set was breath-taking.
We quickly dashed back over to main after this for Dream Theater (10/10), which cemented my love for experimental music. With their epic long songs, they didn't get much played, but I missed the end anyway travelling over to the second stage to see Buckcherry (10/10). They impressed me so much that as soon as I got home I bought a ticket to their July show. After them, Papa Roach (10/10) graced the stage. I'd waited to see them for years, so I was in my element. With a perfect mix of new and old material, they were EPIC!
Sadly, that's where my festival hits a downward slope in to pure boring. We nipped over to main stage to see Def Leppard (5/10), who were very boring up until the last half hour. They got interesting after a tribute to their drummer, Rick Allen. He got upset, and happy too, and cried, which seemed to spur on the rest of the band and play some decent material. Their last half hour was amazing.
This is where the festival ends, apart from going back to the camp, drinking and sleeping!
