Download 2023 - Day 4 - Sunday

This day was the hottest of all days, there was no breeze and next to no shade so it felt like we were all slowly cooking. I saw so many people suffering from heat stroke and there was people round them trying to help them. People were sitting anywhere they could that was shaded including in front of food vans, I just wish there had been more places that were shaded for people to just sit in out of the sun.

We got to the gates just before they opened and as soon as I got through, I was off to the second stage. There was no way I wasn't going to have front row for Blind Channel lol. Fran said she has never seen me move so quickly lol.

We found my friends Luna and Carman and we camped out in the front row. It was so hot that while we were waiting, Fran decided to go and find some shade instead of seeing Blind Channel but she did get to see Bloodywood instead so she still got to see a great band.

Blind Channel
As usually, my amazing Finnish lads were absolutely brilliant. They came out singing their newest song at the time, Happy Doomsday, which had been released a few weeks before the festival. Hearing the new song live was amazing!

Seeing them at a festival definitely has a different feel to a gig, I was further away from the stage for starters hahaha. There was a lot more people, it was great getting to see so many people coming to see them and everyone having a brilliant time. I loved every minute and felt like I was taking everything in as much as possible as I didn't have another gig booked to see them at all as I was waiting for dates.

We went in search of Fran but couldn't find her and it was hotter than the deepest, hottest corners of hell so we went into one of the marketplace bars that had a tent to sit in the shade. Fran found us and said she wanted to go home, the heat was getting too much for her, if there had been more shade then it would have been better for everyone. There was no wind either, at least a bit of wind would have cooled us down a little.

We chilled out in the bar for a little while as none of us had another band to watch for a while. We saw a few people being brought in with heat stroke and helped by everyone around them. One young girl got brought in near us so we helped as much as could. I think it's brilliant that everyone was helping each other, no one asked for help, people just stepped up and did their bit. Love it!

We went out to the walled walk through that runs from the day ticket entrance to the main stage, the walls provided a little bit of shade and there was less foot traffic so we laid down on the grass and had a little nap.

I Prevail
I'd seen these guys in March so it was nice to see them again on a much larger scale. They put on a brilliant show and everyone was really getting into them. They did their version of System Of A Down's Chop Suey which sounded awesome.

This is when things started to turn for the worst. I was feeling light headed, sick and really tired. Luna and Carmen went to watch a band so I found some shade to lay down in and kept passing out. I felt like I just closed my eyes but whenever I opened my eyes again and looked at my phone for the time, I'd find out that I had actually been out of it for a while. That's when I decided that I should head home before I pass out and don't wake up again until the end of the night. As much as it pained me to not get to see Slipknot, I knew that if I had stayed, I would have passed out in a corner and missed them anyway. Just like in 2003 when I was at Download and missed Iron Maiden because I passed out from heat stroke.

I messages Luna and Carmen to let them know, and Sean to come get me and then started walking out to the main road.

Download 2023 was an awesome festival with some of the most amazing bands. It's definitely changed since the first one in 2003, it has grown massively and that's all down to the hard work of the organisers and their teams, and the fantastic fans, both new and die-hard fans that return year after year. I can't wait to see what they do next.

***Originally posted on my music blog Suzy's Musical World

Download 2023 - Day 3 - Saturday

Today felt a little bit weird to be honest, normally today would be the last day of the festival as it's the third day but knowing that there was still one more day after this was, like I said, a bit weird.

As soon as got to Donington, we went straight to the Dogtooth stage as I really wanted to get front row for Antisaint and lucky enough, we walked right up to the front and got a good spot. Everyone else seemed to turn up about 10 minutes after us so we definitely timed that well haha.

Antisaint

These guys seriously blew the roof off of the Dogtooth Stage. From start to finish they had amazing energy and performed every song to perfection. I've never seen these guys live before but I have been listening to them for a little while so was looking forward to hearing them live. I wish they had had a longer set so I could of heard more.

Ice Nine Kills

Absolutely loved INK's set, countless theatrical deaths including the Download Dog but the best thing is that they performed Hip To Be Scared, the American Nightmare, the Shower Scene AND Welcome to Horrorwood. I loved every minute of this set. It amazes me how much effort the band put into their stage performance, each song is a different mood, a new scene and a slight costume change. There's not many bands that give their fans a top notch visual experience as well as a musical one.

Me and Fran had a few hours chill time so we walked around the stalls to see what there was and pitched up our chairs against one of the shaded walls to get out of the sun for a little while while Clutch were on stage. I'm not a fan of Clutch so didn't pay a huge amount of attention to them but they sounded really good and the crowd was really getting into them.

I didn't know this beforehand but there were more barriers than usually to separate the crowd to prevent people from getting crushed. It looked brilliant and obviously worked a treat. At first, I thought the crowd section down the front was for VIPs or something like that so went up to have a chat to a security guard who said anyone can go in there but they aren't allowed to take chairs. This delighted me so I went through for a look around, it may not have been for VIPs but it felt like it haha.

Disturbed

Something happened during this set that I wasn't expecting, I was loving the set, every song sounded amazing, and then I heard the intro to Sound Of Silence. The crowd started to go quiet as we all realised what song it was. I got my phone out as soon as I realised so that I could film it, there was no way I wasn't going to film this song, and that's when it happened. As David Draiman started to sing, I started to cry. The words to the song seemed more powerful being performed live and hearing all of those thousands of people singing along was just unbelievable and really moving.

We weren't planning on sticking around for Metallica so we started walking out towards the road for my husband to pick us up. 

***Originally posted on my music blog Suzy's Musical World

Download 2023 - Day 2 - Friday

Woke up to find that I had some serious red and white tan marks from yesterday haha. Didn't realise it was that bad so made sure I put on plenty of sun cream and kept reapplying throughout the day so it didn't get worse.

We didn't really have many bands to see on this day but we decided to go in after lunch to chill out in the sun and see some bands that we didn't know.

We also decided that we were going to try and spend no money at all while we were in Download so we took sandwiches, crisps and my 1.6 litre plastic bottle to keep us going. It was weird not going to any of the food vans for something to eat or drink but we managed it and we were quite surprised that it was possible to actually spend nothing in a day at a festival.

Nova Twins
I will be honest, never heard anything these guys had gone before but they were brilliant! They're songs were quite catchy and they put on a good show. I wouldn't mind seeing them live again. I really liked their song "Taxi", it's quite catchy and got a good base line to it so it's good to dance to.

Hot Milk
I had heard some good things about this band but hadn't really listened to them before Download. I actually thought they were American and loved it so much when the singer, Hannah, said they were from Manchester and then called the crowd "Cheeky Fockers" haha. I loved them so much. They had such a good vibe to them, it was hard to not pay attention to them. I really really loved their song "Bad Influence", I really got into it and who doesn't like a song that says "fuck all your friends" haha. Really looking forward to seeing what these guys do next.

Pendulum
The vibe while Pendulum was on stage was amazing! Everyone was really getting into the songs and having a dance around from the second the band came out on stage and the crowd didn't stop moving until the end of the set. Hearing "Propane Nightmares" and "Blood Sugar" being performed live was just so mind blowing and the crowds reaction to "Blood Sugar" was like electricity going through everyone and powering us all. It was great to see Matthew Tuck from Bullet From My Valentine to perform Halo with them as well, I wasn't expecting that.

Within Temptation
It has been a very long time since I saw Within Temptation live and I am so happy to see that they are still putting on an amazing performance. We didn't get to see the whole of their set as we were watching Pendulum and then trying to walk round to Opus Stage took a little while as it seemed most people had the same idea.

Evanescence
My mind was 1000% blown away by Evanescence. I haven't seen them since they were last at Download in 2007 and I love that they are still mind blowing. Hearing Amy's beautiful voice captivated me and every person in the crowd, it's like she can hypnotise people with her voice. Hearing her sing My Immortal was quite emotional for me, I wasn't expecting that at all. I loved that the crowd sang Paul McCoy's parts in the song in "Bring Me To Life", everyone was singing at the top of their lungs and it was just amazing to be part of that.

***Originally posted on my music blog Suzy's Musical World

Download 2023 - Day 1 - Thursday

Today was definitely an experience, there was a lot of traffic going to Download again as there was still people turning up for camping. We got dropped off near the day ticket entrance, there was lots of people but it didn't take us long to get through once the gates opened. We got Fran's wristband and then did the short walk round to the arena.

I've never been at Download so early before so it was weird to see it so empty before everyone arrived. It was quite nice to pick out a nice spot to see the main stage as we had a while before there was a band we really wanted to see.

I'd selected to get the 20th anniversary packet with the program, lanyard and pin and seeing as I wanted to be able to check the set times without having to keep checking the app, I decided to get in the queue for click and collect. 2 hours later after trying to navigate the fact that there was 3 queues for click and collect, 2 members of staff serving people and my skin burning in the sun shine, I had my pack and I could go back to my poor sister who had been left on her own while I was in the queue.

I found my friends Luna and Carmen in time for us all to go and watch Punk Rock Factory. These girls are my Blind Channel sisters, we have been to a lot of gigs and always have the best time together.

Carmen had the best stood ever! It was a telescopic stool that collapses down into a nice little portable case that's easy to carry. I saw a few people with them, it's a lot easier to carry round with you than a camping chair but the only thing that would put me off is that it doesn't have a back to lean back on.

Punk Rock Factory

These guys were amazing! I haven't seen them before and they were so much fun, they started off singing the Power Rangers theme song and they ever had people dressed up as Power Rangers on the stage!! My favourites that they played were "Under The Sea", "You're Welcome", "Mamma Mia", "We Don't Talk About Bruno", "Spongbob" and "Pokemon". I loved the happy party vibe that everyone had for this set, everyone was just having such a good time dancing around and singing at the top of their lungs. One thing I love about this band is the Disney covers they do, even if you have never heard one of their songs, everyone knows the words because we have all seen the films.

Halestorm

I missed the beginning of the set because of seeing Punk Rock Factory and then needing to get something to eat but Halestorm sounded awesome on the main stage. I only know a few songs but they put on an awesome performance. I heard them play "Back From The Dead" and "The Steeple" which were amazing to hear live.

Alter Bridge

OMG Alter Bridge were amazing!!! I will admit that I didn't know all of the songs that they played as I'm not a die-hard fan but they played 2 of my favourites which are "Black Bird" and "Metalingus" and hearing them live was just out of this world. Myles said at one point that he has been at Download quite a few times now with different projects and he's now at the point that he feels so comfortable playing at the festival because it feels like we are all family. I just love this so much because it is true, everyone is just so lovely to each other, we are all there for the same reasons and that is to listen to our favourite bands. We don't feel the need to fight or be dicks to each other, we dance and sing together. Hearing Myles' golden voice ringing out over the crowd was just out of this world. His voice is one of a kind and

While we were waiting for Metallica to come, a guy goes to walk in front of us but stops, he has 4 pints in one of those cardboard trays and it looks like the tray was going to fall apart. I get up and agree to help him take his drinks to his friends as there was no way the poor lad was going to make it. He took 2 pints, I took 2 and we started making our way through the crowd. He couldn't find his friends so he phones his friend Lee only to find out that his friend had gone off to the toilets. So, to keep the story short, I ended up adopting this lad (his name is Gareth), who came with me to find Fran and Carmen as Metallica started and I ended up having Lee's pints. It was quite good cider so wasn't going to complain haha.

Ok, I'm going to admit something that some of you won't like....... I'm not a fan of Metallica. Yes, yes, how dare I and all that haha. I repect them as a band as there is no doubt that their contribution to the music industry hasn't been huge but I'm just not into them. I like some of their songs obvisiously, there's not a chance that there are many people who don't know the intro and words to "Master Of Puppets" or "Sad But True", "Nothing Else Matters", "For Whom The Bells Tolls" or even "Enter Sandman".

We stayed for about an hour and Metallica hadn't played anything that we knew so we decided to leave. This kicked us in the arse though because as I was getting changed to get into bed, I heard "Master Of Puppets" as clear as day haha. I couldn't believe how clear I could hear it and all from the comfort of my bed.

***Originally posted on my music blog Suzy's Musical World

Suzy's Festival Survival Guide

With festival season coming in hard and fast, I thought I would put together a little guide for anyone who was heading off to their first festival.

Read the festival rules.

Don't be that person standing at the front of the queue complaining because staff are taking something off of you that you shouldn't have. Most festivals don't allow you to take in any food or drink and they usually have a limit on the size of bag you can take in. Always check the festival website to check their rules.

Check the weather forecast.

The last thing you need is to wear the wrong type of clothes at a festival as there isn't anywhere for you to change unless you go back to your tent if you are camping. You don't want to end up missing your favourite band because you got heat stroke and end up in the medical unit like I did twice because I didn't learn the first time. I passed out 10 minutes before Iron Maiden came on stage at Download 2003 and then in 2007 when I was pulled out the crowd before Korn took to the stage because I felt really light headed and then passed out. Not done it again since though so I did finally learn from my mistakes haha.

Be prepared to spend a lot of money on food and drink.

The sooner you realise that you are going to spend upwards of £6 a pint at a festival, the sooner you won't begrudge buying anything. Little bottles of fizzy or water are sometimes £3 or more and cans can up £2 or more. There is a huge range of food available at festivals but it can be expensive so take your time to have a look around before buying food. If you are going to Download, it is worth opening a Barcleys bank account to get the slightly cheaper prices. If you don't drink alcohol, look out for stalls that do deals on drinks, I've seen a Pepsi stall before that did £4 for a pint of Pepsi and then £3 if you went back with the same cup.

Take a fold up poncho

If it rains, you have something to keep you dry, if it doesn't rain, you have something to put on the ground so your backside doesn't get dirty. Win win

Don't automatically think you will get signal.

I have found that sometimes at festivals, I have had a brilliant signal and then others I have had nothing. Remember to tell people who may try to call you while you are there, it will be easier if they message you so you can call them back once you have signal.

Arrange Meeting Points

If you are going with a group of people and you know you aren't all going to see the same bands all day, arrange a meeting place for the bands you are going to see together so that you don't spend half your time trying to find each other. You could pick one of the food trucks, a bar, the sound desk for the stage you are going to, anywhere that you will all remember and make sure you set a time as well. This is great just in case you are at a festival with no or little signal.

Plan your day.

Make sure you know what time your favourite bands are on stage so that you don't miss them. Most festivals have an app where you can pick your favourite bands that are playing and it will tell you when they are going to be on stage. They also send you a notification when they are about to start their set.

Take a camping chair

If you are ok with getting up and down from the ground or standing around for ages then this doesn't apply to you but if you aren't ok with it, take a camping chair. It's so much more comfy to be able to sit in a camping chair, plus, they have drinks holders so you don't have to keep holding your drink. Another win win

Get a power bank

If you are like me and like taking lots of videos and photos, your battery is going to go down quickly, so invest in a power bank so that you can keep your phone topped up throughout the day and be able to capture your special and fun festival moments.

Take sun cream

As most festivals are in the summer months, there is a very good chance that it is going to be sunny and hot, make sure you have sun cream so you don't get sunburnt. I like getting the small bottles of sun cream spray as it fits nicely into my bag and I prefer spray as it's easier to apply.

Drink plenty of water

I'm not saying to just drink water, although that would be the healthy option, I'm saying that you need to drink some water to stay hydrated. Drinking alcohol is fine but every now and then have some water. No one wants sun stroke. To save some money, take an empty bottle that you can fill up with water at the water stations. There are some great collapsible bottles you can buy so they don't take up to much room in your bag when you don't have water in it.

Know how you are getting there

Seems like a simple one but not fully knowing has caught me out before. I got a weekend parking pass for Download in 2022 thinking the car park would be close but it wasn't. It took us an hour and a half to walk from the car to the arena, that was not fun and it was the last time we parked that weekend. The rest of the time, we got a taxi to and from the festival because the walk from the drop off point was only a half hour walk. There are separate car parks for camping and arena only so make sure you check the festival website to know which one you need to go to.

Take wet wipes

At festivals it can be dusty so having wet wipes can be quite refreshing. Plus, if like me you are a messy eater, it's good to have one to clean up haha. There are some great small wet wipe packs you can get for festivals that are super handy and are small enough that they don't take up too much room in your bag.

Check out the marketplace

I have found some serious bargains in the marketplace at festivals, like my alien and predator rings that I think you will agree are super frigging awesome!! There is some things that can be expensive but there is some seriously good stuff too. It always amazes me what you can buy in the marketplace so take your time to walk around and I am sure you will find some bargains.

Ask people that have been before

People that have been to the festival you want to go to are your best source of information. They will be able to tell you things that caught them out and if there is an alternative. Some festivals have a forum that you can join and you will be able to go through loads of threads of questions, tips and general festival chat.

Be yourself

A festival is the perfect time to be who you really are. I love going to Download and seeing everyone dressed to the extreme because they look so amazing! The outfits and make-up are outstanding and I am so jealous because I don't think I will ever have those make-up skills. Wear what you want, be as crazy as you want, just don't be a dick haha.

And last but not least.... Have an awesome time 😀