2000 Trees Set-Up Diary - Day One (the one where Hayley just can't believe she's here)

Everybody loves a weekend right? Except people who work in retail (ahem). They wouldn’t even notice it wasn’t a week day if it wasn’t for the sudden influx of humans in the shop. But despite my daytime employment situation, I too am a fan of the weekend. This weekend, however, is something else altogether.

Yesterday morning, I arrived at Upcote Farm, Withington for the first day of set-up at the glorious 2000 Trees Festival where I will be spending the next eight days and I could not be happier about it if I tried.

After less than 24 hours here I can safely say we’re on course for one of the most memorable experience of my life.

I got here at about 10am and immediately marvelled at the surroundings. Based in the Cotswold Hills, 2000 Trees has the advantage of an actually breath taking view from all angles without even having to put up a single defining feature.

In all the excitement of arriving on site I drove quite randomly looking for Andy, one of the festival’s dedicated organisers. I pulled over once I found the first human I came across, explained to him that I was looking for Andy and was delighted to find out that this was, in fact, Andy. I’m telling you this place is magical.

 

After a quick chat I drove up to The Barn, met a few more members of the family that is this crew

and jumped straight into applying some 2000 Trees vinyl decals to a set of monitor covers. Prepare yourselves for a barrage of pictures of these up on the stage during sets next weekend.

Once that job was jobbed we hopped into a vehicle and drove down to the tree. I, much like you, had no idea what that was other than a strong suspicion that it might be a tree. It transpires that it’s a beautifully large tree, encompassed by a picket fence, in front of which will be the main stage.

We hung out there for the rest of the morning, decorating the tree with fairy lights and re-painting the picket fence. This was pretty lovely in itself, painting is incredibly therapeutic for me and I’m really hoping for an emotional lights ceremony later in the week. If that’s not happening, I’ll strongly suggest it.

But from where we stood we watched the perimeter fence go up and the main stage itself begin construction. Ever since I found out I was coming here I have been excited to see that happen and it’s just as outstanding as I thought it was. To see something that will be so full of life in its bare-bones is really special.

Breaking for lunch we were thoroughly spoilt. It was a great opportunity to meet more of the team, who I will work really hard to introduce to you as I move through the week because I’ve known them for less than a day and already feel quite blessed.

I phoned my mum and wished her a Happy Birthday!

The trial-run that was Download Festival worked in my favour and I managed to get my tent up with ease this time, owed in no small part to the much softer ground. Believe it or not, there was a time at Download Festival 2016 when the ground was not only dry but hard.

After all of the excitement, and the settling of anxious nerves which were completely unnecessary, a nap was in order. The rain has been off and on all day so I snoozed to the pattering of the threatening drops on my tent. It’s easy to drift away when you feel truly content and oddly at home.

My ten-minute nap window came and went and I headed straight back to the barn to paint some

artwork that will (when it’s finished today) be put up at the bar. The rain washed the paint clean off of three of them, but we’ll go ahead and brush right past that.

Besides, the rain meant that the most glorious rainbow stretched over the site. You just don’t get this shit in London.

The whole crew were served a delicious Thai Green Curry and that brings me to now. I’m sitting in The Barn with a can of cider and a Kit Kat, managing to write this only because a new friend sat with me and typed notes whilst I told him what I had done with my day forming a skeleton for this diary that I would not have been able to get my head around otherwise.

Honestly, I can’t believe that I am here. I feel truly honoured, and so incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to help set up this festival, to contribute to this event that means so much to so many people, and to meet all of these incredible people.

I have never felt more at home, and more determined to make myself useful! I’ll just point out that this is day one. O-N-E. This week is going to kick all other week’s ass.

5 REASONS WE'RE EXCITED FOR 2000 TREES - #3

Now that we have officially landed at the site of 2000 Trees Festival 2016 it is safe to say that were 100% correct to be excited about the week ahead. This place is amazing. This team is sensational. The list of reasons to be excited truly is never ending.

But in the interests of adhering to the countdown target we set ourselves:

#3 - FANCY DRESS.

In honour of the festival’s tenth birthday (something we will be honouring in our own way over the course of next weekend) the Fancy Dress theme is What you wanted to be when you were 10.

I feel like this is going to end in certain hilarity. I cannot wait to see the hordes of disappointed people dressed as various wild animals. I will ask every single one of them, in turn, at what age it was that they discovered it was impossible to switch species as you progressed through life. I for one still believe.

It’s also worth anticipating that this will inevitably lead to a lot of men in uniform, although I’m not sure if it’s permissible to find that interesting given that we’re talking about childhood dreams.

Anyway, I for one find the theme perfectly fitting because when I was ten I wanted to be a writer and preferably one that attends the coolest music events on the calendar.

Oh. Would you look at that.

Ladies and gents, prepare for some epic pictures evidence. 

5 REASONS WE'RE EXCITED FOR 2000 TREES FESTIVAL - #4

So I think we’ve made it perfectly clear that we are pretty darn excited for eating more good food then we have ever eaten before at 2000 Trees Festival next weekend. But believe it or not we don’t plan on spending the entire time stuffing our faces (it’s pretty tempting though).

After all of that glorious festival food we’ll need something to wash it all down with. Seen as it’s a festival, it’s probably best that something has a percentage.

#4 - Booze.

First of all, Fireball will be the official shot of 2000 Trees Festival. Yeah you read that right, this festival has an official shot. The smooth liqueur with a natural cinnamon flavour and pure Canadian whisky will be available at all of the festival’s bars, and we’ve heard that this stuff is gloriously deadly.

I’d say that we’re off to an amazing start but for the lager devotees among you, you have nothing to fear.

Cotswold Lager will be on tap throughout the festival and both Pistonhead and Pistonhead Full amber will be sold in cans at the Forest bar.

Just the fact that 2000 Trees has a ‘Forest’ Bar is enough to make me cry with excitement. But if you think that sounds wonderful you wait until you hear about the most exciting booze concept I have ever heard of.

The Rumbrella.

Yeah. That’s right. 2000 Trees Festival will have it’s own dedicated Rum Bar and, if you wanted to find me, that’s where I’ll be.

An all new addition to the festival, The Rumbrella will be serving a full selection of rum varieties as well as some other specially selected spirits. So far we know that El Ritual will be served and Idle Saint Mint Moonshine.

Would you really be able to live with yourself if you missed out on all of that?  

  

5 REASONS WE'RE EXCITED FOR 2000 TREES FESTIVAL - #5

So far this summer we have been delighted to bring you coverage from both Slam Dunk South and Download Festival. We have had the time of our lives and seen some amazing bands that have blown us away. But, we’re not finished yet. Three is the magic number after all.

We are extremely proud to say that on Saturday morning we will be throwing on our wellies, rolling up our sleeves and driving to Upcote Farm in Gloucester, Cheltenham to give a helping hand setting up 2000 Trees Festival.

It is a huge honour to have the chance to do this and we can’t wait to give you all a sneak peek into what it really takes to set up such a momentous music event such as 2000 Trees.

There are an unlimited amount of reasons to get excited for 2000 Trees, especially since it’s bound to be extra spectacular on this, it’s tenth anniversary year!

But we’ve mulled it over and managed (with difficulty) to put together the top five reasons why we can’t wait.

#5 - Food

Food is a contentious issue in Louder Now HQ purely because I’ve been on a diet (successfully I might add) since September. It’s not awfully rock ‘n’ roll of me but a lot of planning and effort went into making sure that I was as good as I could possibly be both at Slam Dunk and Download.

It has become apparent that this will not be possible at 2000 Trees.

So far we have been teased with this mouth-watering selection:

Smokin’ Hot Tamales: We’ve heard rumours that these guys have completely sold out of Tamales before and I cannot see that happen. Will be heading for Smokin’ hot Tamales just as soon as we can for that Authentic Mexican goodness!

BangWok: Street food and festivals go hand in hand and Thai Street food is the stuff that dreams of made of. Chicken and Tofu are on the menu so they’ll be seeing a lot of us considering they cater to our incredibly varied dietary requirements. We’re just too cool.

Chicken Shack: Chicken marinated in buttermilk for 24hours before being deep fried? Just the sound of it is enough to make you crave it but wait until you see the pictures. Oh my word. I want one of the chicken sandwiches as soon as physically possible.

The Cheese Truck: This is the main attraction as far as I’m concerned (food wise of course). When I first saw this it was the deal breaker diet-wise. Grilled cheese toasties are one of the main things I miss and it’s incredibly likely I’m going to be eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner on at least one day.

Since I originally wrote this I’ve been scrolling through pictures of the goodies that The Cheese Truck has to offer and I’ve just seen spinach involved. I could not be more excited about this situation if I tried.

There are links to these guys included above and I’ll be sharing much more over on our Instagram and Twitter (follow us if you haven’t already!)

Get prepared for food Instagram posts over the course of the coming fortnight. It’s gonna get messy (seriously I should consider packing a bib.)

      

Download Festival 2016 - Sunday

It was really sad to be waking up on the last day of Download Festival 2016. I was only consoled by the still very distant prospect of my bathroom, my bedroom and my cat.

Somebody pointed out to me recently that it’s worth forking out for a hot shower on the last day of a festival so that you don’t start wishing the whole thing to be over because you know the luxury that awaits you. Unfortunately, this wasn’t pointed out to me until after Download so by this point I’m really starting to feel it.

On the plus side, those huge PVC ponchos are dynamite for covering up how little attention that you’ve paid to yourself for a week. Silver linings.

The Sunday came with early celebrations because it was the first and only day of the festival that we managed to actually see a band before 3PM. Hurrah!!

Amon Amarth

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

The celebration was even bigger because that band happened to be the one and only (and never has that catchphrase been more apt) Amon Amarth.

I’ve heard that Amon Amarth put on a sterling performance that’s not to be missed but when we walked down the hill towards the Lemmy Stage and caught site of the two giant dragons on it, I immediately got very excited.

Here’s an attempt to summarise this band (don’t have high hopes, this is the hardest of tasks):

Amon Amarth are a Death Metal band from Tumba, Sweden who were formed 24 years ago (coincidentally, the year I was born, just in case you were wondering).

Having taken their name from the sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J.R.R Tolkien’s Middle Earth the quartet tends to base their songs on Norse and Viking mythology.

Amon Amarth

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

Live, that all translates into the most incredible production you have ever seen. Those dragons weren’t just background scenery. Oh no. Those bad boys breathed smoke and doubled as platforms that the band members casually climbed up on to from time to time.

But that was just the beginning. By far the most dramatic thing I saw at Download Festival was frontman Olavi Mikkonen drag a giant hammer to centre stage before victoriously lifting it above his head and then smashing it to the floor, at which point a shit ton of fireworks went off and he looked like the hero we have all been waiting for.

Once that spectacle was over we skipped back over to the Maverick stage where we were lucky enough to catch The Dirty Youth. Not a band we had planned to see, I’m chalking it up to fate that we did because they were amazing.

Danni Monroe - The Dirty Youth

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

Formed in 2007 The Dirty Youth have chalked up an impressive four appearances at Download Festival, and the experience really showed. Pop punk with a metal spine and electronic embellishments they brought heaps of energy and the chance to really dance.

I have a lot of time for electronic rock music, and vocalist Dani Monroe brings everything out of the genre that could possible by brought. With dance moves on point at absolutely no detriment to her vocals, she was really inspiring. An absolute must see again.

All in all it was a deeply impressive morning and I was so pleased that my friends had suggested such amazing bands to check out. After all, that’s what festivals are all about. So we moved into the afternoon with the next suggestion. I had been assured that it was absolutely necessary for me to see Attila. So that’s what I did. We didn’t last long.

Chris Linck - Atilla

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

Ultimately Attila were incredibly good at what they do. With a reckless attitude they assaulted their set with all of the sass that I expected, sunglasses and all. It would have been impossible to not be impressed with the power behind every track we saw them play. It was a full force type of set.

Kalan Blehm - Atilla

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

But for me, the crowd were the best part and it is true that for most of the set all cameras were pointed their way as opposed to the stage. There was a might mosh pit, crowd-surfing and middle fingers in the air. Not quite the carnage of Neck Deep the day before, but somewhere close, and at only midday that’s a triumph.

Next on our list was Halestorm (another Lauren Golding suggestion) but unfortunately logistics made it impossible, bringing my missed band total up to four for the weekend. We’ll have to revisit that as soon as possible.

Instead we went to collapse our tent, which, quite honestly, I had been panicking about since we got our Download tickets. After a lot of swearing, a moment of near-tears and shouts of uncontrollable abuse, that sucker was in it’s bag and we were headed back to the arena from the car park to see Don Broco.

Simon Delaney - Don Broco

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

Most of my previous swearing had come from the idea of missing this band, and that’s because it wouldn’t have been the first time. I’ve only seen Don Broco once before (a thousand years ago) and have been dying to catch them again, but every time the opportunity arose I just couldn’t make it work. This was my chance.

Don Broco are the suavest men in British rock right now and their Download set was full of surprises. Do not let that well-dressed charisma fool you. These guys are rock through-and-through and can pull off a wall of death as good as any metal act on that bill.

The sun shined bright on the Encore stage for one of the few times that weekend, paving the way for banging dance moves and singing along as if it was summer or something. Don Broco are the ultimate festival band, it really doesn’t matter what festival it is.

Rob Damiani - Don Broco

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

The only thing that disappointed me that there were only two songs in the set list from the 2012 album Priorities. Having said that Fancy Dress and Priorities are incredible tracks and in a nine track set-list, which even included a snippet of Rage Against The Machine, I just can’t complain in good conscience.

The reality of the situation began to set in. We had just two bands left before Download Festival 2016 was officially over. Luckily, those two bands were the most perfect to close this legendary weekend. The first was Nightwish.

There’s no easy way to put this but, I got Nightwish completely wrong. One glance and I thought I had those guys completely figured out but I could not have been more wrong.

Nightwish pride themselves on being storytellers first and foremost. The fact that they happen to achieve that through the use of multiple instruments and in the most spectacular of ways is second to the fact.

Another band with a history of line-up changes the absurdly talented Floor Jansen now runs the show and she does an incredible job of it. Her vocals switch from being the things that lullabies are made of to the most hair-raising metal-queen yelling you have ever heard. Her hair whipping skills are also wildly impressive.

Floor Jansen - Nightwish

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

But by far my favourite thing about Nightwish was watching Troy Donockley on the big screen. Every time the camera panned towards him, Donockley was grasping a completely new instrument and I honestly don’t even understand where he was getting them all from.

As humorous as I found it then, ultimately it’s crazy impressive. Many of the musicians at Download Festival this weekend could only dream of being able to play half of the instruments that he can: Uileann pipes, tin whistle, guitar, keyboards, bass, pump organ, bouzouki, cittern, bodhran, mandola, harmonium… The list of the tools he uses to tell these stories is amazing.

And that brings us to the main event. After Mr Dickinson landed his Boeing 747, Ed Force One, in East Midlands Airport on Sunday afternoon the Kings of this festival were ready to headline the whole affair. Iron Maiden were ready.

Iron Maiden

Download Festival, Donnington

12/06/2016

It is only right that the award for most extravagant stage production goes directly to Iron Maiden. Ed took various connotations, my absolute favourite was a giant Ed head and shoulders that emerged from the back and made these musical legends look teeny tiny (pictured).

To carry on the theme that Nightwish kickstarted, Maiden did what they do best and told a narrative of stories. We learnt all about the Mayan Civilisation as well as the fundamental issues of the world. We also learnt how to dance like a monkey. All of the important lessons were delivered.

Bruce Dickinson is a performer in everything that title encompasses. Several costume changes, extravagant displays of almost dance (NB he is a British man) and a fight with a stilt-walker culminating in a heart being literally ripped out of a chest – that is how you nail a festival headline slot.      

Tears of a Clown was emotionally dedicated to another legend, Robin Williams, keeping that special moment feeling at peak momentum. Hearing the 100,000 people seeing Fear of the Dark sent tingles down the spine.

The set was 2 hours long but only 15 songs were played. Another sign of a time long past but not tonight they reaffirmed what these thousands of Iron Maiden t-shirt wearing people already knew. It’s nowhere near forgotten. 

After a remarkable weekend it was well and truly time to take myself off home for a well deserved nap and a much needed shower but it wasn’t without a very poignant feeling of sadness.

Download Festival will always have a place in my heart as the festival to end all festivals. It is a legendary place, the spiritual home of rock music and means so much to so many people that to have the opportunity to experience it again in all of it’s glory is incredible special to me.

As all good festival experiences should be, this was made up of seeing bands that I adore, bands that have been strongly recommended to me and bands that I have never heard of before but happily fell upon. If you can tick all three of those boxes at the end of a festival weekend then, my friend, you did a fantastic job.

Six long years had been and gone since the last time I was at Download (see picture evidence for proof of how long a period of time this actually is). So much has changed in that time, more than I could have ever imagined and I find that remarkable.

I will not leave it that long to be back at Donnington. Just try and stop me.

Download Festival 2016 - Saturday

After all of that we had ourselves a well-deserved lie in which was both wonderful and catastrophic in almost equal measures. Sorry Beartooth and Atreyu (three bands notched on the missed tally so far.)

But once we were sufficiently recovered we were ready to face the main arena once more and we had it on good authority that our first band of the day were something  pretty special.

Lauren Golding has been harping on about Dead! for months now and the second she knew we would be at Download she insisted that we see them. Never one to turn down a trusted recommendation I was front and centre to see the young prog-rockers on the Dogtooth Stage (which was gratifyingly slight and also a tent, hurrah for shelter!)

Alex Mountford - Dead!

Download Festival, Donnington

11/06/2016

Their dramatic entrance to the stage caught my attention but it was retained by the sheer aggression

that Dead! attacked this set with. Vocalist Alex Mountford is one of the most dynamic performers on the scene today, and looks like a frontman with an extensive history on stage.

New track You’re So Cheap is the perfect way to display everything this band are capable of: gritty with a splash of beauty and a hint of allure. They have a distinctive glam sound reminiscent of a past scene, but when it’s this brash and addictive then there is plenty of room for it today.

Moral of that story is that if Lauren ever tells you to go to a show…then you go.

Kevin Thrasher - Escape The Fate

Download Festival, Donnington

11/06/2016

If there’s one thing that Download Festival has in abundance its nostalgia including for the more recent rock history. With that in mind it was only right we skipped across the arena to catch Escape The Fact on the Maverick Stage.

When we arrived the Vegas emo-metal-core (just go with it) outfit were already in full swing playing to a packed out tent full of the most loyal of fans. These guys have stuck with Escape The Fate through a wild history, not to mention numerous line-up changes. To date, only one original member of the band remains, drummer Robert Ortiz.

That being the case the current line-up has done a damn fine job keeping the ETF fire alive and it shows because the fans turned up with flawlessly executed hair and make-up to lose their minds for a 5-song set list. That never ceases to amaze.

All of those fans matched the band’s impressive energy and showed Download what crowd participation really looks like shouting out the one, two and three of the fearless One For the Money. But that was nothing compared to the extraordinary tempo of closing track This War Is Ours which was potentially the best song intro I heard all festival.

Juliette Lewis - Juliette and the Licks

Download Festival, Donnington

11/06/2016

But Escape The Fate weren’t the only band billed with an interesting past. One of the most exciting

parts of Download was to see Juliette and the Licks on the line-up. Having broken up in 2009 this band were one of the few that I had accepted I might never see and since their reformation last year I have been dying for my chance.

Enigmatic frontwoman, Juliette Lewis, took to the stage in an apt red, white and blue cat suit embellished with stars and stripes for a naturally American rock set in a sea of British acts.

The set list did not disappoint with all the key players in attendance, Smash and Grab, Hot Kiss and Killer were the tracks I was waiting for but an incredible few bars of Rolling on a River at high speed was absolutely amazing.  

Lewis is very talented but whipping her hair all over the stage, dancing with the stage security, harmonising with the crowd, she proved that she is a born frontwoman. Sure, she might be wild, but that’s what makes this band so exciting and ultimately enthralling. I am begging for a new album soon please!

I think it’s clear that Saturday afternoons just don’t get much better than that. Sure, it was still raining but what’s one more damp day? Besides, checking out more bands playing tents then we had on the Friday gave us some great relief from the elements (Dear Download, I feel the Encore Stage should be a tent. Thanks.)

Neck Deep

Download Festival, Donnington

11/06/2016

It was in one of those very tents that we then went to see, for the first time, a band that have had the most remarkable for few years. It was time for our daily dose of pop-punk, today from Wrexham’s finest, Neck Deep.

We listened to Neck Deep play live at Maida Vale for Radio One’s Rock All Dayer (which was very much appreciated by us by the way) on the day we drove up to Download and decided that our spot in the audience was non-negotiable. Another act with a huge, dedicated and incredibly loving fan base, Neck Deep are a sure-fire sign that pop-punk is undeniably back.

Not all light-and-fluff, Neck Deep tore up the Maverick Tent with their edgy pop-punk (more emphasis on the punk). They exploded into our lives with Citizens of Earth, also the opener of last year’s album Life’s Not Out to Get You, which called for much jumping up and down and head banging from every body crammed into the place.  

It’s a pretty momentous title to hold but Neck Deep claimed the first real crowd surfers that we saw at Download, which says it all really. That crowd lost the plot altogether, all inhibitions evaporated and anything was on the cards. To all extents and purposes it was glorious carnage, until I got mud in my hair. I won’t lie, I was pissed about that.

When they launched into December both band and crowd alike gave it 100%. This track is pretty, unforgettable (for literally days) and live they step up the tempo to make it just as hardcore as the rest of their performance. Bravo Neck Deep, overly impressive.

Hopefully you understand that, whilst we were appreciated of the shelter that all of these tents were offering us, we had already planned to see these bands. The fact that there was a roof involved was just a happy coincidence. That was until Pennywise happened. So anyway…

So here’s the thing about Download Festival, the thing that makes it, above and beyond, the best major summer music festival in the UK (come at me, bro). Download has a history of the most legendary, rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame level headliners. Saturday June 11^th will forever be known as the day that I saw Black Sabbath.

I don’t mean to excessively embarrass her but I cannot explain to you how much I loved my colleague for her first sentence upon seeing Ozzy Osborne in the flesh. I quote: “Oh, is Ozzy the vocalist? Why am I picturing him with a guitar?”

Ozzy Osbourne - Black Sabbath

Download Festival, Donnington

11/06/2016

Ridiculousness aside, Black Sabbath was everything I wanted them to be and so much more. This set

was what millions of people across the world dream to see, made so much more special by its extraordinary setting.

As the masters and creators of metal, the set list could have been almost anything but War Pigs was a sensational, and uncomfortably relevant, high point. I’m sure all 100,000 people in attendance will agree with me.

It would be futile to tell you how good Black Sabbath are, they are one of a small group of bonefide rock music legends and they prove it every time they take to the stage. What did surprise me however, is just how endearingly British Ozzy Osborne is. Of all of the things that I have seen and heard in my life, I will forever remember hearing Ozzy Osborne say the sentence: “Why does it always have to pissing rain?”

With names like Ozzy Osborne and Tony Iommi taking over the stage it would be easy to hide in their shadow. But for session drummer Tommy Clufetos that clearly was not something he could consider. At one point, Ozzy exclaimed: “Back in a bit…” and promptly wondered off stage (at a surprisingly brisk pace) leaving Clufetos to deliver a flawless drum solo to the applause of the huge crowd.

As the final notes of Paranoid rang out across the festival it was pretty clear that something momentous had happened, even if it wasn’t for the last time. Can you really be mad at Black Sabbath for changing their mind on that score? When it’s this good, it has to last for as long as physically possible.

And that was Saturday! Filled up with bands that I was seeing for the first time, which is novel. All attempts at being presentable were well and truly abandoned by this point so all that was left for us to do was pass out. That’s after we realised that we had just one day left at Download.

      

   

Download Festival 2016 - Friday

We arrived at Donnington in a blaze of sunshine, popped up our tent, made ourselves at home, kicked up a barbeque, cracked open the cider and sipped at it with sunglasses and sunscreen (but not enough) in our camp chairs ready for our second UK summer music festival of the year.

But after one whole day in the sun we decided we’d had enough of all that, pulled on our wellies (well one of us did anyway) and headed down to the main arena for our first official day at Download Festival 2016.

Unfortunately we did all of that just a little too late to catch Alien Ant Farm (completely gutted) which meant that the first band we caught were the almighty Babymetal.

I said it at Reading last year, and I will say it again. Babymetal are amazing and genuinely unlike anything you will ever see. It brings joy to a huge crowd to see those dance routines in front of shredding metal guitars. From the second Suzuka Nakamoto, or “Su-metal” as she is known, squealed “Hi Guys!” she had Download Festival eating out of the palm of her hand.

Crowd pleaser, and my favourite Babymetal track, Gimme Chocolate as well as brand new track Karate were particular highpoints but their whole set had the huge crowd forgetting that they were standing in the year’s worst weather and throwing up their horns in their thousands.

The original plan for post-Babymetal was to hang out for the rest of the day at the Zippo Encore stage (for reasons that will become apparent soon). However, when I say the year’s worst weather, I’m under-exaggerating. At the risk of sharing too much information on the internet, once the rain started it took approximately thirty seconds for every inch of my person to be completely and utterly saturated and, sadly, I was not quite as prepared as I had believed.

Turns out the very beautiful rain mac I bought especially for the occasion was in no way, shape or form water proof. My wellies were also very pretty but basically just little empty paddling pools waiting to be filled. But at least I had wellies on. RIP my colleague’s Van’s. You served well old friends, but you were no match for this occasion.

Clearly we had to head back to camp and attempt to pull ourselves together, but once we’d done that we jumped right back in and managed to catch The Amity Affliction who opened with a song called I Bring the Weather with Me, so apparently we’ve got them to blame.

The Australian metal-core act brought five tracks to a stage where they looked right at home. A more stern performance than our first of the festival, they performed to a crowd of loyal fans who screamed back both the roars of Joel Birch and the clean vocals of Ahren Stringer. The Amity Affliction proved that when looking for your new favourite music, get you a band that can do both.

Ever the suave performers, The Amity Affliction took this set in their stride with Birch pointing to a low-flying plane over head, muttering “that’s cool” and then unleashing pure mayhem less than two seconds later. Masters of a genre that is perfect for both the festival world and headline shows, I cannot wait to see these guys play their biggest UK tour to date in December.

Daryl Palumbo - Glassjaw

Download Festival, Donnington

10/06/2016

According to the plan, we stuck with the Zippo Encore stage where Glassjaw’s experimental and progressive rock was next. Known for their intense performances, the New York quartet wasted no time in launching into the classic Tip Your Bartender.

Forming in 1993, Glassjaw have spent well over 20 years leading the post-hardcore and underground scenes, shaping them both into what they are. But today they just did what they do best and, above all, enjoyed it. Relying heavily on the 2002 album Worship and Tribute, Glassjaw proved that they shared a core value with their hosts – a dedication and love of their genre.

It’s really important to me that you understand that the weather I mentioned a while ago had not improved during all of this. No. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as it originally was but it was still pouring. I just want to make sure you get that.

Luckily, I had a pretty huge coat. Luckier still, it was Twin Atlantic time.

Ross McNae - Twin Atlantic

Download Festival, Donnington

10/06/2016

You remember when I said at Slam Dunk that, although a line-up might be inundated with incredible bands, there’s always one that makes your attendance at a festival non-negotiable? Well, ladies and gentleman, I present to you the reason I went to Download Festival 2016.

I might have mentioned a few times that I really rather like Twin Atlantic. It seems like we’ve been waiting a million years for news of their new album, but in reality we only said goodbye to them 10 months ago when they announced they would be taking a break after their now legendary set at Reading last year.

But now the time has arrived. Twin Atlantic have announced that in September they will release their fourth studio album, GLA, and quickly unveiled two tracks from it before playing what can only be described as an incredible hometown show at King Tut’s in Glasgow before announcing a whole host of intimate shows on a UK club tour. Yeah. It’s been an exciting time.

To say I was dying to hear the new tracks, No Sleep and Gold Elephant : Cherry Alligator, would be ridiculous, because frankly it was all I could talk about and I am overjoyed to say that they both play to all of Twin Atlantic’s strengths. Live, vocalist Sam McTrusty surrenders his guitar for the new offerings and both the change in focus and new lease of life mean that he has never sounded better. Imagine that.

As soon as Twin were announced for Download Festival I hoped that they would take the opportunityThe Ghost of Eddie and when that opening riff reverberated from the stage just second in their eleven track set, the crowd went mental.

Sam McTrusty - Twin Atlantic

Download Festival, Donnington

10/06/2016

to play their heaviest track to date,

Given the environmental circumstances it seemed unlikely that the crowd would be getting on the floor ready to fly into the air when I Am An Animal kicked in for its finale. Who cares for likeliness nowadays? Every person in that crowd adhered to the request and knelt down in the mud that we would fester in for another two days because that’s what sets like this do to people.

I could go on about this band for days but luckily we got three more Twin Atlantic shows to cover over the next three weeks as well as something really special coming up for Louder Now too so I got the time to revisit this but let it be known that there was nothing more special then to hear that Heart and Soul chorus ring loud once again.

Jack Barakat - All Time Low

Download Festival, Donnington

10/06/2016

And from those that fit right in to the most unlikely of Download headliners, next was All Time Low.

When guitarist Jack Barakat announced during their arena tour last year that they were playing Download Festival I thought he was, characteristically, taking the piss. To be honest I still didn’t really believe it until I saw them up there with my own eyes.

Nevertheless, All Time Low are born headliners and, as it turns out, are adaptable to all situations. That being said, they did not compromise their trademark hilarity and good-time nature for one second. Having seen these guys a ridiculous amount of times now I have always loved Barakat for his tendency to go missing from the stage but I never appreciated just how bat-crap crazy he really is. This guy loves those fans more than any musician I have ever seen perform and he opts to spend most of the set just hanging out with them, and I’m talking fall blown conversations, getting his pecks out, cheek-kissing, hanging out.

As ever, they played a career spanning set, even pulling out Jasey Rae from their EP to a rapturous

Alex Gaskarth - All Time Low

Download Festival, Donnington

10/06/2016

reaction from the audience who lapped up every second of it.

No strangers to covering songs, we’ve seen All Time Low do it all but an impromptu cover of American Idiot was a pleasant surprise in amongst a sea of absolute bangers.

And if all of that weren’t enough they even brought some cosy fires to the stage with them which I’m sure those close enough to feel them were eternally grateful for at this late stage in the very wet day.

After All Time Low wrapped it up with the ever sterling Dear Maria, Count Me In we hobbled over to the main stage to see the last of Rammstein’s incredibly visual industrial-metal set.

If anybody wants to tell me that Download is a singular festival I refer you to my last sentence.

As first day’s go our Friday at Download Festival 2016 was pretty incredible but, with two more days to go, it was about time we took a towel to all of our clothes, scraped our hair on to the top of our heads and collapsed onto an inflatable bed somewhere.

Download Festival 2016 – Saturday will be uploaded tomorrow.

What happened at Slam Dunk South 2016

FESTIVAL SEASON HAS BEGUN

It might not have felt like it for the past few days but summer has arrived and the UK festival season was officially kicked off on Saturday May 28th with the almighty Slam Dunk, now in its tenth year!

In celebration of the festivals birthday it unleashed its biggest line up to date in Leeds, Birmingham and Hatfield where we donned our party hats and joined in the festivities on Bank Holiday Monday.

As soon as we landed on site we were surprised to see how intimate it was, with no more than about a handful of food vans, one set of toilets and a main stage that would pass for a 3^rd or 4^th stage at most other festivals.

Now, Slam Dunk hasn’t been without its share of negative feedback this year and the grumbles are understandable. Your heart has to go out to anybody who was turned away from a capacity-filled stage or sobbed in the queue outside whilst listening to their favourite band play somewhere off in the distance.

Having said that, Slam Dunk has got to be one of the only big-line-up-festival’s where  you can actually stand within a 10 mile radius of the main stage, and all 5ft of me really appreciates that (particularly my non-stretched neck and unnecessary tippy toes.)

The fact of the matter is that you can’t put that many incredible bands on one line-up, retain that intimate-show feel that everybody loves and not run into a few capacity or queueing issues.

Personally, I would have been happy to make a few sacrifices for the ridiculously incredible day we had hanging out at that main stage.   

Gustav Wood - Young Guns

Slam Dunk South, Hatfield

30/05/2016

Young Guns have been up to all sorts over the past few weeks secretly writing and recording their fourth studio album, releasing the first single from it and sadly announcing that long-time drummer Ben Jolliffe has decided to leave the band.

With all of that happening I was dying to see the Bucks-now-four-piece for the first time since Warped Tour UK back in October and, it seems to me, like they were dying to perform. After their explosive return with Ones and Zeroes last year, the break has given them a chance to “get their shit together” before making their next move.

They took the more stripped back and upbeat nature of new single Bulletproof in their stride on stage and performed it with more energy and gusto than I have ever seen from this band (and that’s saying something because I was HERE).

But Young Guns also took this opportunity to showcase the art of audience participation. Last year’s album was full of crowd-pleasing shouts and woah’s and at this point both the band and the fans have their roles mastered. I Want Out and the now iconic Bones saw the crowd match the band’s vitality, jumping in the air, fist pumping and screaming at three in the afternoon. Only happens at a festival.

We sloped off to explore our surroundings and bought an almost obligatory pizza and burger before returning to the main stage for Mayday Parade, fully aware that we were not leaving that stage for a single second for the rest of the day. Bit daunting.  

Derek Sanders - Mayday Parade

Slam Dunk South, Hatfield

30/05/2016

For one member of the LN team, this was the main event. We’re talking, tears on the journey in,

playing all of their songs on my car radio before pointing out which ones were going to make her cry (SPOILER ALERT: it’s all of them). 

I suspect that Mayday Parade have not changed in over ten years. They’ve never needed to. This is a band who got right under the skin of its fan base and when they started to play Three Cheers for Five Years it was plain to see that all of those fans are still as in love with that song, and this band, as they ever were.

Typically performing without shoes, frontman Derek Sanders is potentially the bounciest of the emo-rockers and for a band who rode out that genre they did a fine job of sending out an undeniably positive vibe with their performance.

Sadly, drummer Jake Bundrick couldn’t make the Slam Dunk weekend due to surgery but the rest of the band didn’t let that hold them back smashing every song and soaking in the sounds of the crowd yelling back all the words.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my colleague on getting through the entire set without shedding a single real-life tear and also for not punching me despite my laughing directly in her on-the-brink-of-tears-face. Yes, I’m a pretty awful person but don’t worry, her chances for revenge are plentiful this summer.  

Ryan Key - Yellowcard

Slam Dunk South, Hatfield

30/05/2016

But Mayday Parade weren’t the only band on the Slam Dunk line up with a long history and dedicated fanbase. Florida pop-punk Kings Yellowcard also turned back the clock be playing their 2003 album (yep, t-h-i-r-t-e-e-n y-e-a-r-s) Ocean Avenue from start to finish, which is frankly the things that dreams are made of.

Time restraints meant that it was a whirlwind trip down memory lane with little room for chit chat but Yellowcard made up for that with the sheer joy of nostalgia.

Violinist Sean Mackin is one of my all time favourite people, serving as band cheerleader when he is not musically needed or busy doing backflips (by the way, a lot of gymnastics went on at Slam Dunk.)

I’m a huge fan of the “playing an entire album” concept and really hope more bands decide to do it in the future (I’m looking at you Fall Out Boy). For Yellowcard it meant that their set-list had peaks and lows in unexpectedly perfect places. Playing the crowd-pleasing title track three songs in instead of to close was a bit strange but ultimately quite special, so it fit right in with the rest of the day.

From old-timers to the (relatively) new guys, up next was something completely different with Mallory Knox.

Mikey Chapman - Mallory Knox

Slam Dunk South, Hatfield

30/05/2016

It’s hard to define Mallory Knox, plenty have tried and many have failed but they sit somewhere in

between post-hardcore and alt-rock/indie-rock, kind of. I mean I suppose so anyway, for the most part it doesn’t much matter because whatever it is that they’re doing, they’re doing it very well.

They definitely brought a needed heavier edge to the main stage rounding off the line up impeccably.  

Funny thing though, I have never seen a band so unbelievably grateful for a show in my entire life. Lead singer Mikey Chapman was like a kid at Christmas hardly being able to address the crowd without thanking them for being there and telling them how excited he was. Guitarist Joe Savins spent most of the set connecting with the audience too but couldn’t contain his disbelief at the fact that every time he did they melted into a sea of giggles and screams. Someone should really let Mallory Knox in on what we all know. They’re damn good.  

But Mayday Parade AND Yellowcard weren’t the only bands on the Slam Dunk line up with a long history and dedicated fan base. The OTHER Florida pop-punk Kings, New Found Glory, had absolutely nothing to prove and put on a classic, no thrills, straight up pop-punktacular set.

Jordan Pundik - New Found Glory

Slam Dunk South, Hatfield

30/05/2016

Their set list spanned their 19-year career and they flew around that stage pulling stupid faces at the crowd, singing about being teenagers like they were 20-years younger. I’m sure I’ve said this before but I find it really special that New Found Glory still perform their cover of Kiss Me because damn I love that tune.

And just when you thought this band could not get any better they grab a fan from the crowd and have him choose a song before letting him perform it with them in front of the bat-crap crazy crowd. Let me tell you, that guy was remarkable.   

Now. This is where there is a small chance (miniscule really) that I might have, potentially, lost…my…freaking…mind.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing, could have prepared me for what happened next.

Often with festivals there will be one particular act that will sell me. Sure there’s likely to be a whole host of bands that I would love to see but more often than not there is one in particular that makes my attendance non-negotiable. For Slam Dunk, this was Panic! At The Disco.

However, that’s not to say that I was buzzing with excitement about the whole thing. I’ll be completely honest with you, I thought P!ATD would be good. I thought it would be cute to see a band that I was in love with when I was 14 and interesting to see how things were shaping up now that so much had changed.

What actually happened was one of the most spectacular, jaw-dropping WHAT ON EARTH sets I have ever seen.

Firstly, those MySpace classics (I Write Sins, Not Tragedies and Time To Dance) were nothing short of wonderful and I belted out every single word and danced my little heart out.

But that wasn’t even the thing. For the first time (I’ve been slacking for a few years) I heard the new(er) tracks. They. Are. Golden.

Brendon Urie - Panic! At The Disco

Slam Dunk South, Hatfield

30/05/2016

I realise that’s unlikely to be news to the majority of people but for me it really was. I literally stood with a hand covered mouth whilst the crowd took over the vocals for the opening of Victorious. I struggled to remember that I was supposed to be working whilst the hey-ey’s of Crazy = Genius rang loud through the festival. I considered just giving up and sitting on the floor so that I could assess all of my life choices whilst Nicotine was flawlessly played.

At one point, I actually turned around and screamed at the girls at the barrier “ARE YOU SEEING THIS?” True story.

The fact of the matter is that for a long time I considered the P!ATD situation a sad one. I knew that Brendon Urie was a very talented man but I didn’t really feel that he could run the show solo and I felt it was a pity that everyone else had left. Turns out, I was really wrong.

I can’t tell you at what point I had this realisation. It could have been when he obliterated some ridiculous high notes, or it could have been when he was singing baritone. Who knows? They happened in equal amounts and he made it look like no big deal.

It could have been when he pulled out a guitar. Could have been when the drummer evaporated from the stage and Urie practically somersaulted on to the kit and smashed out a drum solo. Then again, it could have been when he performed Nine in the Afternoon on the keyboard before sticking with it and just casually belting out the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Having said that, it could have been when he gave up on clothes and left very little to the imagination. Could have been when he back flipped off the drum riser, but maybe it was when he somersaulted off of absolutely nothing.

Frankly, if that man had flipped that microphone one more time I’m not too sure what I would have done.   

Whenever it was, suffice to say that, until further notice, I am all about Panic! At The Disco. Bring on November (I’m coming for you Cardiff.)                                                                                             

Brendon Urie - Panic! At The Disco

Slam Dunk South, Hatfield

30/05/2016