The last day at Download.

(photo: http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/)

I am again late with a post, but I have a good excuse - Wimbledon ;) From quarter-finals with Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot to the final last Sunday. It's such a pity that Novak Djokovic didn't win, but it doesn't mean that he is less handsome ;)

Our third and last day at the Download was full of surprises. We saw a few bands from the past which we hadn't been aware that they still are "alive" and play concerts, such as Coal Chamber and P.O.D. We arrived in the the middle of Coal Chamber set and even if I am not a fan of this kind of music anymore, they sounded great and fitted well into the festival. Then we went to see Graveyard and I finally found what I was looking for the whole weekend...

The best ale-ish beer in England or maybe in the United Kingdom, inspired by Iron Maiden and created with help of Bruce Dickinson ;) I was wondering all time where people got this beer from and I finally asked a nice guy about it. There was a special stand only for this beer and price was bearable for what I got - a small beer, a few coasters and a nice plastic mug which I kept as my souvenirs from the event ;) 

The beer itself is really good, I don't like ales and English beers in general, but it looks that I had to go to Download to find a real English beer with a taste of ale and more than 4 % of alcohol (it has 4,7%!!) at the same time which is tasty and let's say it, drinkable ;) I think Poles have higher requirements when it comes to alcohol beverages ;)

The next band Hacktivist simply smashed the Pepsi Max stage. I think these guys will be huge very soon, even if a combination of rap and metal doesn't look fancy in 2013. Apart from Limp Bizkit, this numetal vibe is rather out of date now. But on the other hand we can observe a big return of 90', so who knows? Maybe in a few years we all will be listening metal/rap tunes again? Honestly, I don't mind - it's music of my growing up. Hacktivist played short, but really intense gig and did an AMAZING cover of 'Niggas in Paris'. I am looking forward to see them in December in Manchester. For only 8 pounds it's a bargain!

We had a few more bands on our list that day and having waited for Stone Sour, we managed to catch a half of Parkway Drive gig. They are so popular now, but I think I will never understand their fame. Of course, they are talented musicians, but for me all their songs are the same and I'm getting bored after 10 minutes of listening. They are more metalcore than hardcore and I gave up the first one quite soon in my music 'education' ;) But I can understand that other people like them, at the end of a day it's people's taste.

Stone Sour - another great perfomance! I haven't followed Corey's 'side' project for years, but I need to catch up on it. I prefer Slipknot more, once I was even angry that Corey killed a part of Slipknot by putting all this Stone Sour's tune in the first band, starting from 'Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)'. But love forgives and after all these years I still like him and his work. Singing 'Bother' aloud with the whole crowd was so beautiful, it was a magical moment of the day.

(photo: http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/)

The other nice surprise on Pepsi Max stage was P.O.D. I will write shortly: I thought they broke up long time ago and I never supposed that I would ever hear 'Alive' live in my life, especially having 26 years old. It happened and that was W.O.W.

And then they came - Limp Bizkit, one of two headliners of Sunday. We had a problem what to choose, because we wanted to see both them and Rammstein, but their concerts overlaid themselves - when Limp Bizkit finished, Rammstein had been already on main stage for an hour. We decided to go to Limp Bizkit and then ran to see the rest of the German show. Limp Bizkit set was too short, they only had 60 minutes and there was no time to play anything apart from evergreens like 'Rollin', 'Break Stuff", 'Faith' and 'Nookie'. Sadly, they didn't play anything new like 'Ready to Go' or pieces from 'Gold Cobra' album. Fred Durst told during an interview that festivals are a place of classic songs which everyone will enjoy instead of experiments, but we expected a bit more after all. It was a good show, we almost fainted there, but we could easily notice that Fred wasn't in his best mood and could give us more that day. Anyway, I don't regret that I was there, because I love their music and it's always great to see them live. They also did a cover of 'Killing in the Name' and that was awesome!

Rammstein was the last band performing at Download 2013. We came when they were playing 'Links 2-3-4' and I spent this song looking for a place with good view, because there were 90 000 (ok, maybe 85 000) people in front of me ;) I have never seen Rammstein before, I am not much into their music, but it is always good to see this kind of show they represent. Not to mention that tickets for Rammstein are about 50 pounds now. To be honest, I was disgusted with their performance during 'Bück dich', the same as I am dissatisfied with some of their videos (Baywatch style). The rest I saw was really good. 'Du hast', 'Ich Will' and 'Sonne' are my favourite songs and I feel content that I heard them live. I think I should see Rammstein once again with full show, but I realize that it may not be easy because of their popularity and big arenas which they prefer.

So this is the end of the story. We spent 3 days in Castle Donington seeing 15,5 bands ;), drinking expensive Tuborg beer and generally having fun without losing a penny. But I personally think that if I had bought this ticket, I would have regreted it. I am so grateful for this chance I got, but generally the whole idea of festivals is not a thing I agree with. Maybe I am old-fashioned, not partying weirdo, but I find music as the most important part of my life and when I go to concert, I want to experience it in the best possible way, celebrating these special moments with band. In closed venues you have chance to feel this intimate atmosphere and you know that people around you are here for the same reason. You enjoy band playing close to you and they thrill you with every tune you heard before from their records. 

At festivals everything is ragged from this spirit - it's a mass event for everyone above 14 or 12 years old, so simply whole families can attend Download. Don't get me wrong - I appreciate that parents educate their children showing them the best kind of music we have in this world, but 90 000 people were just too many for me. Too many random, drunk and stoned people around who treated the festival as a picnic (the best possibility) or a pigsty, throwing up, pissing around and sleeping while bands were playing. How can someone pay 200 pounds and at least another 100-200 for accomodation, travel, food, alcohol and then just sleep over the whole event? Ok, it's their choice, but I don't like when a totally drunk guy accosts me, because I wear 'Jane Doe' vest and he claims to be the biggest fan of non-drinking, vegan band Converge. Sorry, I don't like stinking, dirty people who can not walk a straight line after drinking. I also can't stand people who behave like they are on catwalk, not at the rock/metal festival. I swear, I have never seen so many men wearing leggins in my life!! Their looks were like from the most stylish, snobish fashion magazines and they were more interested in checking their outfits and taking photos of themselves instead of watching concerts on stage. And girls showing off their tits every single time when camera pointed them eh... Of course, there were many nice people there, but overall the place was overcrowded for me. If line-up is long, you can be sure that concerts won't last long and people will be rushing for one place to another in order to get the best possible view. I mentioned before that we had to go out before Converge finished, we were also running from Limp Bizkit to see as much as we could of Rammstein. Korn, LB, P.O.D. and many more bands had really little time. The other thing I will never understand - how the hell is possible that Bullet For My Valentine is a bigger star than Korn? Who put Korn on the stage so early? This was just disgraceful. After all these years they should have played at least just before Slipknot or been even a headliner. Another word needs to go for poor organisation - unhelpful, misinformed staff workers who were so rude sometimes (asking 'where are you going!!' like policemen, when we were heading home), no information signs when we looked for a car park with our Spanish friends. There were a lot more things I could complain about, but let's focus on the bright side ;)

The best perfomances:

Queens of the Stone Age

Hacktivist

Converge

Slipknot

Alice In Chains

Korn

I spent three amazing days listening to music I truly love, seeing bands I've never supposed to see, singing aloud my favourite songs from teenaged years and relaxing totally for free. It was really nice weekend, but I will never change my mind about festivals (< concerts in normal venues). I want to see all these bands once again in near future in normal circumstances, but I won't mind if I win again some tickets. No, I will be more than happy!! :)