Download Festival: Donnington

Donnington Park is one of the most well-known motorbike racing parks in the world, although the first time I heard about it was also about music. Being myself just 15 years old I was drinking with some friends in Garage, one of my favourite pubs in Getafe, when they played in the TV Donnington’s 1991 Monsters of Rock video. Since then, I’ve thought without the slightest doubt that that one was the best gig ever – ACDC and Metallica leading it, playing one right after the other, and trying to prove who reigned the heavy metal scene at that time. The countless fans watching it also impacted me in the deepest way: 1.6 million people - believe it or not - enjoying the two best bands in the world at that time, and in what still today remains in the case of ACDC as their best recorded performance, at least in the Brian Johnson era.

So when a friend of mine here in London offered me a couple of weeks ago to go to Download Festival, in Donnington, in the VIP area for three days at the ridicule prize of £45 – for the WHOLE bloody weekend, Friday,Saturday and Sunday -, I obviously didn’t think it twice. And I can say it was the best festival I’ve ever been.

Donnington Park is 1h 30min far away from London by train, besides a very close to a small town called Castle Donnington – no need to say it has a castle on it -, an not too far away from Derby, another town lost in the middle of nowhere in Derbyshire. 85,000 tickets were sold for every day in the festival, which may give a clear insight of what a massive festival we are talking about. And the crude fact is that festivals in the UK have nothing to do with our little Spanish ones…

For instance, the fun fair rides. Russian Mountains, big wheels, bumper cars… well, all you can get in your hometown local fiestas, you get it in a festival like this one as well – I cannot even think about Glastonbury, which is even bigger. Plus a 24 h cinema. Plus a million food take-away shops, ranging from the classic beef burger to the pizza alike, Thai food, Mexican food, etc. Plus ‘the village’, an ad-hoc real village with more shops, t-shirts, tattoos, heavy metal paraphernalia… build up just for the three days festival. Plus the Guests area, where we met Korn’s bass player, and where you could chill out besides the main stage and listening to the show at the earlier hours of the day when you don’t feel bold enough for those crazy goths making annoying noise in the outside :).

Plus pints of beer priced at £3.50, without any queues because yes, those guys know how to organize a festival and they are pretty aware that queuing for an hour is not fun – here in Spain we have to learn so bloody much about that. Plus the brilliant idea consisting in giving you back 20p per glass returned: you didn’t return it, but as some people in the festival short of money would do it for you, picking them up from the grass, the obvious result is that the place remains tidy and clean and healthy enough. Just like an Spanish festival, don’t you think?

Plus a camping area with grass – yes, real grass, that lovely green thing. Plus a gigs arena with grass – yep, the very same green stuff. And clean toilets. And not-too-overcrowded showers.

Plus a Guinness bar :)



And allowance to get as much booze or food from the outside as you want – no glass permitted, though. And… fuck it. Enough is enough. In a word: Plus plus plus. I’ll be back next year, VIP or not.

There were four stages:

The main one

The second one (Lacuna Coil, The Prodigy)

The Tuborg one

And the Redbull one, which, by the way, we couldn't find in the whole weekend!! :)

About the music, the gigs I went to – there were 4 stages, so some painful decisions including missing Opeth, Chris Cornell and Motley Crue had to be taken…

Friday

Bring Me The Horizon

Punk metal, I didn’t know any of their songs but they were good enough for a warm up. 6/10.

Lacuna Coil

A fairly famous band in the metal-goth circle, I had been willing to watch these Italians for a while: I particularly like some of their melodic tunes. They sound a bit like Evanescence should sound if they weren't a shitty MTV con. They performed alright, although obviously the voice of the female singer - Cristina - didn’t get to the pitch she does in their records. I didn't know all the songs, so I guess my favourites ones are not the favourites of most of their fans... anyway, a fairly good gig. 7.5/10.

Limp Bitzkit

Everybody else insisted, and I suffered just half of the gig, after I decided to go to the guest area for a beer . I hate those guys, oh dear, how much I hate them, and they’re live performance is even more rubbish than their albums. 'Chandal metal' of the worst sort. 3/10.

Korn

Well, this is excelsior stuff. My first Korn gig, they really know their racket, these guys. Pretty aggressive metal, with machine head and fear factory they created a completely different sound that still today sounds fresh, as opposed to most Nu Metal bands. Jonathan Davis voice was perfect, and the band was just a trashing machine. I particularly loved the bagpipes moment, pretty emmotive too... anyway, pretty aggressive crowd as well in the front rows, but what the fuck, this is Korn! I will survive with a couple of bruises in my legs/head :) 8.5/10

Play attention at the mike in the picture LOL

Faith No More

The best gig of the festival, and one of the best I’ve ever been. Mr. Patton comeback was amazing, and even while I’m not a big fan of the band, they won me forever. Almost two hours of an incredible gig, I simply have no words, just say that absolutely everybody I spoke with on Saturday was pretty moved about it. 10/10.



Saturday

Devil Drivers

The other big thing in the festival, a personal recommendation from my friend Kennet. These guys are extreme metal on its best, and the circle pit they created with their last song will very likely appear in the Guinness Records. I jumped around for a while in the dancing area, in the circle, under the moshing crew, and after a while I realized I just couldn’t breath anymore. And at that point, they did the circle pit thing. And I joined it, and almost died, and had fun as I didn't have had in a metal concer for a while. Have a look how the circle pit thing was in the video, from the screens in the stage...



An incredible shot of adrenaline, and an experience I effortless recommend to everybody. At 13.30 pm in the morning LOL. 9/10

The Auteurs

A punk rock band formed by four young lads, melodic enough to pass the evening alright. 6.5/10

Dragonforce

Famous because of the Guitar Hero impossible to play track, this is classic heavy metal in the Helloween best tradition. As expected, they sounded technically perfect, and a bit soulless for mi taste. It remembered me my teen days, though. 7/10.


Pendulum

Another very good surprise, this weird band is right between the goth vibe and the drum&bass one. They are not rock, either dance… but they are good. Sometimes they remember the early prodigy, but more than that I cannot describe them, just listen a couple of tracks and decide by yourself. I'd be suprised if you don't like them. 8.5/10

Marylin Manson

The biggest deception ever. I’ve seen this guy three times before, and he was incredible every single time, so I don’t know what has happened since then, but guy, you were rubbish. Just three classics, and all the other songs from his last shitty album. No respect for his fans, sniffing over the stage and just pocketing the money and going somewhere else, like the Starfucker he is. Beautiful people and Dope show give him the 4/10, but really should be even less than that. 4/10

The Prodigy

They were pretty good in their comeback. With less pre-recorded stuff than I thought, their live gig is really a live thing, almost completely performed with guitars and other rock instruments. I was quite far away from the stage, but the partying vibe was so good, and the atmosphere so high, that I really didn’t care. 8.5/10

We are back!!!

Slipknot

I don’t get how they got to be the head of the main gigs day, but they didn’t deceive. I’m not a very big fan of this totally unmelodic band, but I reckon they have energy. Again, too far away from the stage, as 85K people were there at that time. Particularly memorable when they got everybody ducked first and jumping at the same time at the shout of ‘stand the fuck up’. A bit kiddy, but cool nevertheless. 7.5/10



Sunday

Tesla

A hard rock band I didn’t know at all and didn’t pay a lot of attention either. They didn’t sound too bad, though. 6/10

Skin

A classic British hard rock band, coming back after 10 years ago they decided to call it a day. They sounded very very well, as if they had never stopped it. 7/10

Black Stone Cherry

The other big discovery of the festival. This American guys make a rare mixture of metal, grunge and blues. They were very well accepted by everybody in Donnington, and they did a particularly touching show at some points, specially in the slower tunes. I recommend them, and hopefully I’ll have the chance to see them again when they come back to London on tour in October. 9/10.

You can count me in for the next one, guys

Journey

What can I say about this classic of the classics? They invented concepts as glam rock, power ballads and so many others, that even today you feel something special when you listen to one of their ballads. They were the classic formation but the singer, which by the way was fairly good. 8/10.

Dream Theatre

With Marilyn Manson, the other big deception. The singer voice sounded like shit and their virtuoso way of playing, with long tracks and long solos, didn’t get on well with the mood in the festival at that point. And it is a pity, as I really like the music they do.

And that was all, as I had to go back… I missed three classics after Dream Theatre: ZZ Top, WhiteSnake and Def Leppard. But you can’t get everything in live… so better take what you get!