I’m back from my first weekend at Download Festival in 6 years, and although screaming for the entirety of Guns N Roses’ 3 hour set means I have now lost my voice, it was so worth it. I’m a rock girl at heart, and used to go to Download every year for 7 years, and I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed being surrounded by festival metalheads. It was incredible to spend a few days back in Derby at one of the first festivals I fell in love with. Did you read my pre-Download music preview? Read on to find out how many bands I managed to see!
Luisa-Christie and I only got confirmation we were going a week before the festival started, so unfortunately we weren’t able to get the Friday off work 🙁 but we managed to leave early, plus I did everything I could to make our drive up to Donington Park as quick as possible, and we arrived on site just after 6pm.
Luckily the site had not had any huge changes since I last went in 2012, so I very quickly got my bearings. It was the first time I wasn’t camped in public, I was a veteran of Blue Camp back in the day. We were camped next to the Arena, behind the Dogtooth stage. This location helped a lot as we put up the tents as quickly as possible, then were able to get into the Arena nice and swift, to make the most of Friday night. I’m going to split this blog into sections rather than write it in my usual diary style, mainly as Download was such a 52 hour whirlwind I think this would be the best way to describe it!
Music – what bands did I see?
I was so excited to be back at a rock festival! Don’t get me wrong, I love most music, but recently I’ve been indulging a lot in drum n bass/electronic, so it was really nice to get back to what I’ve loved most for longest. We kicked off Friday by catching the last two songs of You Me At Six on the Zippo Encore (second) stage. Then we made our way down the hill to watch the Friday headliners; Avenged Sevenfold (A7X). For me, their set started and ended fantastic, but got a little boring in the middle. Maybe an unpopular opinion there. It was great to kick off the weekend with something a little heavier though, and the pyrotechnics were impressive!
On Saturday, the main stage was fully stacked with awesome Southern/classic rock and roll bands which of course meant it was my perfect day, I spent almost the entire day at this one stage. It started with Whiskey Myers who I LOVE, and they were definitely worth getting up earlyish – I’d had a rather large night the night before, so midday was a challenge to be up, dressed, makeup-on and in the Arena in time for, but I managed it and went with Beth who we were camped next to (Luisa needed more sleep!). Whiskey Myers are a six piece southern rock group from Texas and their smooth, foot tapping sounds kicked my day off nicely. Next came Monster Truck, who I’d never heard of, and from the cheesy name, I wrongly assumed they would be pretty crap. They formed in 2009, and are a Canadian hard rock band. They sound similar to Black Stone Cherry, but with a different style of singing voice. They were really quite good, and have been added to my Apple Music library since I’ve got back from the festival!
After picking up Luisa from camp and meeting up with Dulcie (from ThatFestivalLife), we got some food and ciders. Luisa went off to see The Faim and Rolo Tomassi on the Avalanche stage, and Dulcie and I stayed with her Dad and brother at the main stage for another of my favourites; The Temperance Movement. These guys are another classic rock band but a bit more up tempo… you can definitely dance to them, and we did!
Dulcie and I managed to catch a little bit of Babymetal on the Zippo stage, the incredible Japanese metal girls, then came back to the main stage for Thunder followed by Black Stone Cherry. I really loved the Saturday of Download! So much classic Americana music. It was awesome to sing along to BSC who I’ve loved for years as the sun was streaming over the Arena.
Next came the big event, what I’d been waiting for. Guns N Roses started at 7pm and played for a solid 3 and a half hours. I’d met up with Luisa and we got a pretty decent spot in line with the sound desk. Only 3 songs in they played Welcome To The Jungle and that is where I started to lose my voice, as I was screaming along with Axl whose voice was actually on point! The set was fantastic, Slash looked delicious as always and his guitar solos were incredible… total sploosh!
I will say, Axl Rose had more costume changes than Beyoncé. Every time we looked on the screen he had a different t-shirt on, or plaid shirt tied around his waist, or hat, or leather jacket. But considering he has a reputation of being a total diva, and in previous years was known for delaying the start of shows by an hour or more, I’m happy that the only diva-quality we saw was the love of changing outfits. The set was really awesome though, and included Velvet Revolver’s Slither as a cover as well as The Who’s The Seeker, Live and Let Die, Sweet Child o Mine, November Rain, Nightrain, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door and of course ended on Paradise City. The 3 + hours seemed to go by in a flash and I was left wanting even more, even though my voice was definitely on the way out from singing along for so long.
Moving on to Sunday, I woke up early and got dressed in order to catch Dream State on the Avalanche stage. I’d describe them as similar to Paramore, but if they went heavier instead of turning more pop. CJ Gilpin the lead singer has an insane vocal range, and sings, screams and howls through their set. She was also very open and spoke a bit about her vices between songs. I was gutted they only had a half hour set!
After taking our camping gear to the car, I came back to see Thrice on the Zippo stage, taking me right back to my late teens, then saw my first main stage band of the day; Shinedown. They were a highlight for me, I forgot how many of their songs I loved, and singer Brent Smith surprised me. He did spend slightly too long trying to get the whole crowd to jump up and down… but it was impressive that he ran all the way out to the sound desk and around it in the process!
Next was Alexisonfire which were Luisa’s favourites. I’d only ever seen them before years ago and in a smallish tent, so it was good to see them on the Zippo stage in the afternoon sun. We then moved back to the main stage to catch a bit of Marilyn Manson, his goth makeup melting in the heat. I glad we managed to see mOBSCENE and Sweet Dreams.
We were trying to squeeze in as much as possible, so then ran back to the Zippo stage for another of my university-years favourites, Rise Against. These guys are a little heavier, and really made me remember what I love about rock music. The passion, the volume, the guitars. I definitely need to catch up with their latest albums, as the last ones I listened to were released in the early 2000s.
Running out of time before we had to drive back to London, we couldn’t leave without catching the Hives on the Avalanche stage. They are the most high energy band, with one of the greatest frontmen I’ve ever seen; Howlin’ Pelle. The tent looked packed and had crowds spilling out, but we managed to get inside and get a good view with a bit of wiggling. Of course they were wearing their signature half black, half white suits, and I loved when Pelle thanked Guns N Roses for being their ‘support band’… ?
Sadly, it was then time for us to head back to London, as Luisa and I had work Monday morning. So we made our way over to the west side of the Arena, stopping for 10 mins to catch a bit of Ozzy Osbourne, who surprised me by sounding actually quite good, despite being clearly a little tipsy. The giant cross backdrop to the stage that was actually made out of LCD screens fantastically set the mood, and everybody seemed happy to be part of the Church of Osbourne as the sun went down.
Camping – public arena and campsites
Luisa and I were camped in the Press & Guest area, which was behind the Dogtooth stage. We were right near the RIP campsite areas which honestly looked awesome. They had a variety of options there, like bell tents, gypsy caravans, yurts, and also the usual pre-pitched tents. They had great facilities too, and if you’re RIP you also have access to the Guest Area in the Arena with actual flushing toilets which was a godsend too! I would definitely consider RIP for next year!
We spent Saturday night after Guns N Roses in the Village which was by the main campsites. For the 6 years I attended Download previously, I always camped in Blue camp (the party campsite), and that was still in the location it always has been. The Village itself definitely felt bigger though! It’s always a bit of a trek to the Village and public camping, one of the only downsides of Download, it’s a 25+ minute walk from the Arena so if you forget something it’s a bit of a way to nip back to the tent. We spent most of Saturday evening in the Doghouse, which was being hosted by Face Down, a rock/metal club night that’s run in a few UK cities. It was nice and loud in there until 3am which was great!
I used to spend lots of time in the Village and I remember the one thing that used to annoy me was a 2am curfew, so it was good to see they’ve provided more late night entertainment! There was also a Silent Disco tent which looked to be popular as it had a huge queue! We had a bit of a look around the Village between bars, and I was really impressed with the toilet situation this year. There seemed to be lots more, and they were in pretty good condition even after midnight. Also there were more taps too which was great.
Food – delicious noms I ate
I’ll admit that I wasn’t as adventurous with food at Download as I usually would be at festivals. This is because I knew that The Happy Maki were going to be there, and I hadn’t had my vegan sushi fix since last summer, so I did eat there 3 times over our weekend. All I can say is, I’m a meat eater (though I am trying to make better choices on what I eat and cut down my meat/dairy intake) and these vegan sushi rolls are still my favourite festival food. I usually get the Hoisin “Duck” which has vegan duck, cucumber, avocado, red pepper, spring onion, sesame seeds, wasabi and ginger inside! Incredible.
On Saturday I had a hot dog from Rocket Dogs – now, hot dogs aren’t usually my thing, because I feel they’re usually a lot of money for what they are, but they were the only food van taking card in near the Zippo Stage where I was at the time. And actually… it was really quite good! I chose the Phoenix dog which had bacon, jalapeños, salsa, guac and nachos on it. So messy to eat but one of the best hot dogs I’ve ever had, even the actual dog itself was tasty and not at all ‘cheap’ tasting.
I had a vegan breakfast wrap from the van in the guest area which was great, and the only other food I had over the weekend was a hog roast on the way out before driving back to London. It was quite tasty, but I didn’t write down the name of the place or get a picture. I will say I was impressed with the variety of food on offer! It’s got a lot better since I used to go to Download Festival pre-2012. I spotted my favourites Bunnyman’s Bunnychow, Pizza Love and the Roaming Rotisserie, but I wasn’t hungry when I passed them. I’ll catch you all at another festival this summer 😉
Entertainment – all the other fun things
Download Festival have stepped up their game as far as entertainment available apart from the music. In the Arena, they had a WWE NXT Stage where they had live wrestling from stars like Aleister Black and Nikki Cross.
There was a full funfair both in the Arena and the Village, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t love drunk dodgems?! It might be a little cliche but I do always enjoy fair rides at festivals. The big wheel was particularly great, offering incredible views over the main stage.
Dulcie and I also watched a bit of Demolition Download, which was Battle Heritage’s fully armoured Medieval Fighters hosting melees. We thought at first it was more of a reenactment, but these guys went at it! They had actual metal swords and hammers, and fought each other in two teams of 4. It was actually fairly brutal! But fantastic to watch!
As for other entertainment, they also had air guitar championships, Doom Yoga, a Wall of Death, and actual tattoo studios both in the Village and Arena. I have to say I was very tempted to get one!
Though it was such a whirlwind experience, and sadly only two nights, I had such a great time at Download Festival 2018! I really want to make sure I get back there for next year. I’d forgotten how much I loved rock fests.
Thanks so much Download Festival!
See you next year!
And also a big thanks to LD Communications PR for inviting me! <3
Yesssss!!!! Such a good weekend! Sad I missed Happy Maki…. \m/ xx