DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL JOURNAL JUNE 2007 June 8th to 10th 2007 / Donington Park England by mark von sound DAY ONE ... FRIDAY This is the 5th year Download Festival has been going ... and pleased to say I've been to all five ... the first one I just came along on the last day to check out ... I remember thinking I really wanted to work the following year ... and thankfully I've worked them all since ... There are 3 stages with just under 100 bands playing over 3 days ... But day one today for me is all about getting my pass and checking the layout of the festival to see how it's changed from last year ... Travel arrangements were easy today as my friend Matt drove there and back but meant I couldn't stay too long but that didn't matter as there were two full days ahead of me ... Meeting some other friends we regroup in the VIP area ... time for the first beer of the festival ... and it was shit ... frothy warm nasty pre-taste and during-taste with a worse after-taste ... the draught tap beer was so bad I didn't even finish one before moving on to the trusty alcoholic apple juice ... Strongbow cider would be my companion for the weekend ... I strolled up to the main arena and to my dismay got to see a couple of Megadeth songs on the main stage ... well I didn't like them back in the day and that hasn't changed so unimpressed I headed up to stage 2 to see From Autumn To Ashes ... with perfect timing they struck the last note of the last song as I approached ... bugger !! ... unknown to me this was not the last time this would happen to me over the weekend ... So back to the VIP area where the bar is cheaper than in the regular areas ... more Strongbow cider ... Apart from the work side of things I also love this festival as I get to see so many old friends ... some people I'm expecting to see but it's great for the complete surprise appearances of people ... and today my great friend George was over from America on tour ... he was tour managing Job For A Cowboy ... the last time I saw him was at the start of my 36 Crazyfists tour earlier this year ... he wasn't around for long today as he had to get to the airport in time to have two days off in Amsterdam before meeting up with the band again ... nice ... But late afternoon it was time to return home as Matt who was driving was playing a show himself elsewhere with his band The Plague ... So a quiet night in before the two day 'session of rock' I thought ... but no ... Dale my main crew guy from the Supersuckers tours was in town driving a band called the Danomes ... they were due to play the festival the next day ... There I was chilling on my chocolate brown sofa and a message comes on my phone from Dale ... he's in my local pub ... on his own and thirsty ... so I'm straight down for a multitude of Guinness ... that was my day June 8th 2007 DAY TWO ... SATURDAY Feeling a little delicate from the previous night I woke with just a few minutes to spare before I had to meet Ames and Ross to get the bus ... I made it with just seconds to spare ... for the 39 minute bus ride from Nottingham City centre to East Midlands Airport close to the festival ... then from there we walked ... I didn't realise it was going to be a 45 minute walk in the blazing heat ... I guess neither did the guy in the wheel chair we passed ... don't worry we didn't just leave him he was being pushed ... we never got up to the two people on crutches who were speed crutching in order to no doubt get to see Bring Me The Horizon ... After walking to the festival site watching bands was the last thing I wanted to do ... so I head straight to the VIP bar for my first Strongbow of the day ... After a little rest and recuperation and cider it's time to check out some bands ... so our merry delegation saunters over to stage three ... the smallest of the three ... as we enter to see an American band called Priestess are playing ... good stuff ... straight ahead rock ... driving music ... they are followed by The Architect ... another great set ... I didn't really know the music too well yet so before next time I shall purchase albums by both bands ... As soon as they finished ... autopilot took me back like a homing pigeon to the VIP area for more Strongbow ... but on the way I had the misfortune to see some Machinehead ... I don't know what song it was but the vocal harmonies were so out it made my eyes itch and toes curl ... but I quickly scurried off to safety ... I hasten to add I am not paid by Strongbow to continuously mention the name of their delicious cider drink ... and so ... on returning to VIP area the Strongbow again flowed ... parading around for photographs were a bunch of guys dressed up as Star Wars characters ... this would be good but for the fact that lord of all evil Darth Vader was too fat ... bounty hunter Django Fett was too fat and too short ... and the evil murdering Stormtroopers were too fat and too short and too clumsy ... as they fell over each other like keystone cops ... I don't think they were meant to be comedy but I pissed myself laughing anyhow ... I hooked up with old pals Paul and Reuben from the band Johnny Truant ... and so now was the time to get to the Jagermeister bar and to use some smashing little free Jager tokens ... seriously the only thing on site that was not only free but didn't cost an absolute bloody fortune ... however to do a Jagerbomb we had to purchase Redbull at £3 a can !!! The several Jagers took a bit longer than we planned ... we were enroute to see Biffy Clyro ... a band I hadn't liked until recently ... but true to form we got to the tent as they struck their final note and thanked the Donington crowd ... this was followed by the smallest and most expensive veggie burger ever made ... they provided a complementary magnifying glass with every purchase ... on returning to the VIP area for more Strongbow Rueben stops to talk to a friend ... this guy had recently got married ... also staying in the same hotel as the wedding reception was British television celebrity Vernon Kay ... well this guy and Vernon Kay got chatting at the bar about music and to my amazement the squeaky clean annoying beanpole was an old thrash metal fan with favourite bands such as Sodom and Nuclear Assault ... how about that? ... this does not redeem him though as he still annoys the shit out of me !! For me the rest of today's festival was spent again at the bar ... I had no motivation to see three of the worst bands ever formed ... Linkin Pork ... Korn and Motley Crue ... each headlining each of the stages ... The old friends I saw were far more entertaining ... I don't see some of these people enough ... more Jagers and more cider ... Stu O'Hara you are a maniac ... especially when you threw a chair cartwheeling through the air at a guy dressed up like Jesus ... that was pretty much my cue to leave before risking being struck by lightning for annoying the god(s) ... time to return back to Nottingham ... but shit ... in front of us was the walk to the airport ... drunk and tired I sacked off the walk in favour of getting a taxi ... the drive to the airport cost £15 ... the robbing bastards !! ... that was my day June 9th 2007 DAY THREE ... SUNDAY After 6 hours sleep I wake early to get to the festival site in order to see the Cancer Bats ... I stood up ... the room span ... my brain switched down to safe mode with only scope for simple thoughts ... brush teeth was one of them ... which is always one of the first steps to start combating a hangover ... but ... hangover had different ideas and before I'd even got to cleansing my molars the vomit was coming up ... my toilet is next to my sink ... thank f*ck ... and so due to my regurgitation I had to miss the Cancer Bats and get a later bus ... which my friend Dr Gords and I missed by seconds ... it was obvious I wasn't best pleased as I stood in the road displaying both middle fingers and shouting you f*cker at the bus ... so 30 minutes to the next one ... not so bad ... and for the whole journey trying to ignore the sick feeling ... this time though we got lucky getting a super-cool driver who drove us practically to the gate negating the long walk ... Today I was working ... doing sound for London based rock warriors Orange Goblin ... still feeling a little delicate from the night before I hook with the band ... they are old friends who I have toured with lots in the past ... brilliant to see Benny MartYn Chris and Joey again ... it wasn't long until their mid-afternoon time slot on the second stage ... which this year got renamed 'The Dimebag Darrel Stage' after the assassinated Pantera guitarist of course ... Orange Goblin were great ... I'm so pleased they got to play Donington especially after this being the site of the legendary Monsters Of Rock Festivals from 1980 until 1996 ... I know how much it means to them ... and today a strong set was loved by many thousands in the huge marquee tent ... a result ... they done themselves proud ... and I love mixing them too ... With the work over it was again time to chill ... I hung out with a nice lady friend ... we watched some Lamb Of God on the main stage who were OK ... for me they don't set the world on fire but good at what they do ... then back to the VIP for more Strongbow ... so Killswitch Engage hit the stage and I wanted to see them but I got a call from my pal Chris ... I had to miss them because I had to walk up to the main gate to get him in ... boo ... he'd just been on a Monopoly pub crawl in London ... and still standing today ... respect !! ... Following more Strongbow ... time to see another band ... Cult Of Luna were playing the smaller stage ... they were incredible ... I've seen them before and they've been hit or miss but today their brand of brutal hardcore ambience was perfect ... nice one chaps ... or as they say in Sweden "sagolik" ... The nicest toilets on the site were in the bands backstage area which is the one I of course chose to use for the duration of the weekend ... whilst returning from there I bumped into Killswitch who are also old touring friends ... was so good to see Mike D, Joel, Howard and Justin with the crew Dice and Josh ... they some of my favourite people I've ever toured with ... I really don't see them enough ... After a couple of beers some whiskey and a pure spliff ... mmmm ... it's time for Iron Maiden to play ... unfortunately the bar and the Strongbow were between Maiden and me and true to form I didn't see them but did listen to them whilst sitting on plastic garden furniture in the VIP area ... which is how I experience most download headline bands ... As soon as it got chilly outside we headed into the huge exhibition centre where the end of festival party was being held ... so with my new lady friend who I been hanging with all day we hit the bar for ... errr ... Strongbow ... all going well then out the blue she's off with some other bloke ... balls ... I didn't see that one coming but I've never been the luckiest with the ladies so wasn't that surprised ... but as my mum would say ... "it's her loss" ... I think the other guy probably disagreed though ... haha ... Before leaving I got to see my friend Amy whose about to move back the Australian Gold Coast ... she's ace ... after a good chat I say my goodnights and head back home ... well it was nearly 3am ... again the £15 taxi ride back to the airport perfectly timed to get the 3:05am bus back to Nottingham ... that was my day June 9th 2007 from my view of the Orange Goblin show ... off in the distance is the band ... the size off ants but with more hair ... AND FINALLY I am very lucky to always get to hangout with such resplendent people at Download Festival ... not mentioned already Helz, Lisa and Joy, Mole, Lee and Nina, Jay, Carlito, Lou and Laila, John C, Steve, Carl, Elena, Jason, Alister, Andy, Sami, Gill, Charlie ... and all those people I don't remember their names cause I am shit at it that tricky memory task ... And Amy's friend the stunning lesbian who looked like Scarlett Johansson but with a mohawk ... thanks Max for that extra ticket ... I'll see you same time same place next year ... for a Strongbow I guess ...