Download Festival (Donnington Park 2005)

[Mercifull]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well im back from Download Festival today feeling pretty tired from lack of sleep and nursing he bruises aquired in the mosh pits. Just wondering if anyone else from Tip.It was there and if they saw any of my text messages on the big screen lol?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me and my friends arrived on Wednesday and pitched up in Blue 1 (see map)

 

 

 

There were 9 of us in 8 tents so we had this massive circle of tents surrounded by 17 metres of Police "Do Not Cross" tape lol. Maybe you saw us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Wednesday and Thursday were pretty hot days, which was a good thing because there wasnt really much to do. Unlike Glastonbury you cant go out of the camping locations and the main Arena wasnt opened until about 12 on Friday. So we pretty much just sat back, relaxed, drank a load of beers and destroyed about 5 foldaway chairs. ^_^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were two for a tenner and lets just say that their arn't worth the time taken to even type this sentance. Absolutely useless lol. Anyone that was there would have seen broken chairs scattered practically everywhere on the entire site hehe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so then came Friday and the first proper day of the festival, this was the first time Download had been a three day event and the numbers of people trying to get into the arena was huge. the queue to get in stretched right back to the end of blue field. But we just pushed into the front ^_^ yay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we finally got into the main arena Planet of Women were playing the Napster Stage so we stayed in there to catch the end of their set before wantering over to the Aftershocks tent for some custard pie and water gun ownage lol. It was only a short stop however as we wanted to go along and see Lordi perform all dressed up in costume lol. If anyone has ever seen them play then you'll know how weird they are. Heres a pic...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty insane to watch but pretty dire to listen to as they were crap so we left then towards the markets passing JJ72 on the main stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then found a nice spot for The Others, who were absolutely rubbish, Biffy Clyro and the amazing Megadeth for their last performance in the UK.

 

 

 

After the almighty Megadeth we went back to our tents for another boozing session. None of us were particularly bothered about Feeder but a couple of us popped along for the end of the My Chemical Romance set and then The Used who were absolutely amazing. I did get royally pwned in the mosh pit however, which haunted me for the remainder fo the festival :( *rubs back*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the amazing weather we had from Wednesday to Friday is was no suprise that the British weather would come to join the party too. It was pretty over cast all day but not that cold and I still managed to tan a bit. Yay! :D

 

 

 

It was a much earlier start today too compared to the meandering down to the arena we had Friday lunchtime because we wanted to catch Trivium at 11. The Dwarves were on right after and were dreadful. To add insult to the performance the guitarist played ball stark NAKED! *shudders*

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also refused to come off stage at the end of their set to the sound engineers made the wonderful decision to cut them off mid song hehe. pwned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was only a short walk after that to the Snickers Stage to watch the very scary looking American Headcharge who played minus guitarist Bryan Ottoson who sadly died in April. I was very impressed by their performance but unfortunatly had a pretty bad view because some 8foot bloke was stood infront of me lol. My view was impaired even more when a MASSIVE circle pit formed right ontop of me and my friends and I was practically forced out of the tent lol. Nevermind, to calm myself down we went back to the campsite for more alcoholic beverages and a bit of a smoke ^_^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The evening however was great the performances by Lamb of God (from the Wannado advert) and Chimaira at Snickers was spectacular and were far better then Velvet Revolver whom is was very dissapointed by despite Slash up there on the main stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was anyone there for the bottle war that began just before the end of Velvet Revolver? Me and my friends were on top of the hill and it was so funny seeing dozens of bottles being flung up and down. Of course as the old saying goes "Its all fun and games until somebody loses an eye" it was much fun when people started putting rocks in the bottles to give them more weight and I got a few close calls myself before you could hear the fainr words of someone backstage thru the spesaker...

 

 

 

It was good old Ozzy himself with Black Sabbath headlining the main stage for Ozzfest Saturday. It was all pretty amazing ^_^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it was another fine day for British weather, abso-fluffling-freezing lol. So it was a dash to the merch area in the morning to trade some hard earned cash for some tshirts to put on top and get a bit warmer lol. We then hung around to watch Matt Zane from Society 1 um "hang around" lol as he broke the world record for the longest set ever done hung on meat hooks in his back *ouch* >.<

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty amazing to see but it didnt take long to realise why he does it. The music was dreadful and we left after only one or two songs. Its blatantly the only way he can draw a crowd lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was then time to do a quick bit of shopping at the markets before seeing Mudvayne back on the main stage ^_^

 

 

 

The evening was die to be VERY busy so we went back to the stage for a little bit to drink up the last of our alcohol and stuff so we didnt have to carry it all back home. We listened to Papa Roach from our campsite before wandering back to the main stage for Killswitch Engage yay!

 

 

 

It was a pretty amazing set by Killswitch who for so early during the day still managed to get several circle pits going :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time for me to break away for most of my friends because I wanted to get really close for Nightwish who I had really been wanting to see for ages now. Unfortunatly I had a long wait... a VERY long wait infact :( Due to a bomb scare in Vienna airport they were deylayed from coming on stage for about an hour and a half. Their set was cut short and they only played 4 songs and I was distraught :( Marco Hietala apologised but there was really nothing they can do. And in their own words I too will "Drink to the death" of the pleb who left a bag in the airport and the guy who filled the plane with too much kerosine :cry:

 

 

 

I was pretty annoyed at such a short set so i really didnt enjoy the set done by Slayer at all which was a shame because some of their songs are pretty good. I spent most of it grumbling to myself lol aw well nvm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then ran off to get some food and go for a wee before Slipknot came on and amazingly managed to find a few of my other friends that were going lol. I also managed to get pretty far down the front again just past the sound engineers tent thingy. Their performance was spectacular and by far one of the best live acts ive ever seen. Corey really pumped up the crowd with massive pits everywhere and really getting us jumping up and down. It was a shame Clown coudlnt' be there but there was a valid reason and we all clapped hoping for the best for his family. The drum solo was AMAZING and anyone thatrs ever seen Slipknot live will know how crazy it is to watch. Joey really goes insane with the drum spinning routine and the crowd loved it, spectacular. Bright lights, loud music and pyrotechnics. It was by far the best performance I saw during the entire weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My tactical toilet break during Slayer was perfectly times as hourdes of people rushed to the toilets before System of a Down. It meant i could get real close to the front just so long as i avoided the flying bottles of piss from the people who couldnt be bothered to move lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great performance and they played loads of songs from the new album unfortunatly leaving out Violent Pornography which is my favourite song on the new album. They did however make up for it by playing some classic songs from the Toxicity album which really got us moshing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back to camp for the long drive home back to Frome. Overall is was an amazing weekend and with no Glastonbury Festival next year it seems that Mercifull will be making an apearance at Download in 2006 once more ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock on Guys \m/

[Antrune]

ww nice explanation merci. My mate went yesterday with his dad who had VIP tickets *l13k pmg) and said it was great. Aparently women got topless on the big screen w00t! shame I wasnt there :P . I woulda loved to have seen system of a down and slipknot though, oh well, allways next year :D

[Ryan]

That was a fun read. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it due to not liking most of the bands you mentioned unless there were many others there? I'm also surprised by your dislike of the Velvet Revolver show. They always put on a great show so I don't know what could have happend. I'm more surprised that Slipknot could have had the best show there...all 9 of the members they have when they only need 4 :roll: .

[Mercifull]

ww nice explanation merci. My mate went yesterday with his dad who had VIP tickets *l13k pmg) and said it was great. Aparently women got topless on the big screen w00t! shame I wasnt there :P . I woulda loved to have seen system of a down and slipknot though, oh well, allways next year :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah lol System were taking a long time to come on to we had a bit of visual entertainment on the big screen. Yay for the cameramen and yay for the girls willing to give us a pre band show ^_^

[Sunwarriord]

Only bands i like from that list is Slayer, Black Sabbath and System of a Down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't know if i would've liked it, but it sounded f***King sweet.

[Pyro]

Sounds awesome. I was thinking of going to Sweden Rock Festival this year, but some other stuff got in the way. I did see Lordi perform a month ago or so though, and yeah, they are indeed weird :P

[my_pet_worm]

sounds awesome 8)

[Mercifull]

I didnt actually take any pics myself but a few of my mates took their digicams so hopefully either me or Rizla will post a few in a day or two ^_^

[Rizla]

Yeah i got some pics, not sure how good they are but i'll upload them sometime soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not much i can add to Merc's rundown, except for seeing Unearth, As I Lay Dying and Team Sleep - they all kicked [wagon].

 

 

 

Oh, the only other point of interest was my rude awakening on Sunday morning. At 6am i heard someone unzipping my tent, thinking it was one of my mates with some flour (a couple of people got 'antiqued' during the weekend), i shouted some abuse before realising it was Lee Dainton and Matt Pritchard from Dirty Sanchez (UK people might know them as our version of Jackass). They filmed me for a minute or so then went on their way to wake up some more people, so i might well be on MTV some day :P

[Bubsa]

Oh, the only other point of interest was my rude awakening on Sunday morning. At 6am i heard someone unzipping my tent, thinking it was one of my mates with some flour (a couple of people got 'antiqued' during the weekend), i shouted some abuse before realising it was Lee Dainton and Matt Pritchard from Dirty Sanchez (UK people might know them as our version of *). They filmed me for a minute or so then went on their way to wake up some more people, so i might well be on MTV some day :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome! :P But how will we distinguish you from the other drunken slobs? ;)

[Rizla]

Awesome! :P But how will we distinguish you from the other drunken slobs? ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd be the one who said the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Who the **** are you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Jesus Christ, it's Dainton!

 

 

 

Pritchard: **** me Daint, sounds like you woke up a fellow countryman

 

 

 

Me: **** off, i'm only Half Welsh

 

 

 

Dainton: Right then boys, 1 down, 100,000 to go

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was it, i went back to sleep and thought i might have imagined it, but some of my mates confirmed they'd heard them. Looking back on it i'm surprised they didn't do something to me, i was expecting a slap on the face or something similar, but they just giggled a lot and left.

[Bubsa]

Brilliant! That's bound to feature. Congrats mate, you're actually gonna be on Dirty Sanchez!

 

 

 

Me = envious.

[LordChocobot]

Sounds crazy. I'd love for a show like that to happen in NYC...Probably never will happen :cry:

[Mercifull]

Sounds crazy. I'd love for a show like that to happen in NYC...Probably never will happen :cry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You get plenty of metal festivals in the US tho lol

[Rizla]

Well i've only got like 2 photos that came out ok (kinda hard to take pics when you're getting bashed about a lot), but hopefully i'll post some more when my mates get their films developed. Click for bigger pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trivium on the mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of Megadeth from the hill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of Biffy Clyro from the hill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset from the campsite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've got more pics of people on the campsite but y'know, we're bound to get hunted down and raped if i post them :roll:

[Futurama]

we're bound to get hunted down and raped if i post them :roll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hey, it could happen

[Mercifull]

We have the personal protection of Sheriff Jim Bunnell though. :roll:

[vmser]

Hmm.. Sundays program looked quite impressive :P

[Rizla]

Hmm.. Sundays program looked quite impressive :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed, plenty of metal :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a side note: i think people who are over 18 should be allowed to post pics of themselves if they want to. I'm 21 years old and i can't even post a pic of my face for fear of someone hunting me down, seems a bit stupid imo.

[Futurama]

 

Hmm.. Sundays program looked quite impressive :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed, plenty of metal :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a side note: i think people who are over 18 should be allowed to post pics of themselves if they want to. I'm 21 years old and i can't even post a pic of my face for fear of someone hunting me down, seems a bit stupid imo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You shouldn't post a pic of yourself for our own good, you hideous freak :shock:

[Rizla]

You shouldn't post a pic of yourself for our own good, you hideous freak :shock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man your spelling is terrible, 'hideous freak' isn't even close to 'gorgeous creature'. Shame on you!

[Futurama]

 

You shouldn't post a pic of yourself for our own good, you hideous freak :shock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man your spelling is terrible, 'hideous freak' isn't even close to 'gorgeous creature'. Shame on you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blast, the english language fails me once again! :cry:

[Lageris89]

Damn all the exams in England :( I really wanted to go this year the line up was one of the best so far. Unfortunately I couldn't due to lack of ÃÆââ¬Å¡ÃâãÃÆââ¬Å¡ÃâãÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã and it being stuck right in the middle my exams :x Oh well, I'm going to Audioslave a week tomorrow, that will rule.

[Phil]

As a side note: i think people who are over 18 should be allowed to post pics of themselves if they want to. I'm 21 years old and i can't even post a pic of my face for fear of someone hunting me down, seems a bit stupid imo.

 

 

 

Think how much complaining we would have on the boards if we allowed that. Most of the people who visit here are under 18.

 

 

 

Also how would we ever decide if people were saying they were over 18? Very difficult to proove it online on a free forum.

[LordChocobot]

 

Sounds crazy. I'd love for a show like that to happen in NYC...Probably never will happen :cry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You get plenty of metal festivals in the US tho lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meh, but going to a festival with only 2 bands performing that you'd listen to seems like a waste of money :|