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To everyone surprise this year, we didn't feel a spot of rain, and had beautiful sunny, hot weather that reached temperatures of 23 degrees.
obviously everyone took that as a sign it was going to be a good year, which I can confirm, was the case.
Nothing beats download atmosphere: drunks sipping alcohol out of some questionable items; insane outfits; complete strangers acting like life long friends and a lot of loud music.
I feel more at home in donnington park during the second weekend of June than I ever do in my own bed.
The feeling when you arrive cannot be beaten, as all the excitement rushes through you all at once. This was my first time camping and I had been highly recommended the blue camping area, which I am about to highly recommend to anyone reading as I met some of the coolest people in that camp area.
Boston Manor was the first band I saw after arriving and they definitely set the standards high with their memorable performance.
It was great seeing Blessthefall live on the Friday as they were a band I got into when I was younger, I got the chance to meet them back in 2015 but had never seen them perform till download. It was brilliant seeing songs I used to listen to when I was younger, I was fully releasing my younger self into those pits.
Stray from the path was a very memorable performance from that day as not only did I loose my bandanna, but, my friend lost her nose piercing in the pits! It was eventful and has made an impression on me as I had never heard of them before.
Although Marmozets are a very close second, the highlight act of Friday had to be Bullet for my valentine! I've never been a huge bullet fan, but after seeing a performance like that, I can honestly say I'd love to go see them again. Not only were the band themselves so good but some of the people I met in BFMV's crowd were some of my favourites that I met during the entire weekend.
There were two very important lessons I learnt that first night at download. Lesson 1: If you want to see the headliner, do not go back to your tent first. After that long walk to the camping area, you will not want to go back to the arena. Despite the fact we wanted to see Avenged Sevenfold, we went back to the tent first and once we had sat around our tents, we knew there was no way we'd be walking back within the next 40 minutes in time to see them.
Lesson 2: Do not get too fucked up in the evenings unless your willing to cope with it in the mornings. We had a blast Friday night. Once we had had a few drinks of jager, we decided to go to the rides. We went on all the biggest rides and the fastest rides, someone we had met took an open can of beer on the biggest ride and we all passed it around to drink once we had gotten to the top. It was all a lot of fun until Saturday morning.I felt like death. I barely saw any bands Saturday due to how deathly my hangover was.
Bands I did see included Black Stone Cherry, part of Guns and Roses and Neck Deep.
Black Stone Cherry is one I had never heard of before but their songs are so catchy I had them stuck in my head for days
Guns and Roses was one that when first announced I couldn't believe it! When was I ever going to get the chance to see them again?! Closer to the date I realised how long their set was, and said I'd see the beginning, go Neck Deep then come back to see the end, because that'd still be 2 and a half hours of Guns and Roses. It wasn't till they were actually on stage that I realised I don't quite care abut Guns and Roses as much as I thought I did. Their guitar solos are definitely impressive, but when they do a ten minute guitar solo during each and every song I find myself just chatting to the people nearby and paying no attention to the actual band at all. So I did see the first bit of Guns and Roses but after neck deep came of stage I returned to the tent.
Neck Deep sure loved the fact they had a crowd of people that'd rather see them than Guns and Roses. Not only did they start to the entrance of Sweet child o' mine, with the Guns and Roses logo saying Neck Deep instead as the background, but they also sold a shirt that got banned after a few hours of selling it because it was a copy of a Guns and Roses album cover of use your illusion, but in different colours and with their name on. Safe to say, some people were not impressed.
Now for Sunday. The best day of my entire life. After getting up nice and early, I went straight down to the Kerrang! signing tent and waiting close to the front of the line to meet Black Veil Brides. I had brought a car sticker from the merch stand which said "howl if you're horny" and Cc howled at me! I swear to God my heart skipped a beat. This was my third time meeting the band, 5th time meeting Andy and honestly I never get bored of it, they are genuinely some of the nicest guys in the world.
After meeting Black Veil Brides, I went to see In This Moment, which have been one of my favourite bands for years yet I never got the chance to see them live before. No word of a lie, Maria Brink is a Goddess and the best front woman I have ever seen. Their theatrical performance was magical and s inspiring.
Lucky me getting Black Veil Brides come on straight after, and I couldn't have been happier, the grin on my face could not be wiped off. I don't know whether it was the best I've seen them play or not but it was surely one of the best to say the least.
Now one of the most inspiring artists for me personally has to be Marilyn Manson. This was my third time seeing him perform and it was easily the best performance I've seen from him yet. One of the most memorable bits had to be when he started playing "I don't like the drugs (but the drugs like me)", stopped the song, said "That's bullshit" and lit a spliff on stage before starting the "Dope show". Something that has always been on my bucket list has been to crowd surf at a Manson gig so as soon as the adrenaline hit me hard enough I went for it. It was a beautiful show and I'd give anything to go relive it.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/marilyn-manson-bd6a522.html
Finally I got to see the last act of Download 2018, the legend himself Ozzy Osbourne. The only headliner I stayed for the whole set, and it was so worth it despite the fact nobody I was with stayed to see him so I spent the whole time alone, it was still brilliant! Anyone that says he hasn't got it anymore clearly is too critical because he had more energy up on that stage than majority of younger front men I've seen. It was the perfect way to end the perfect day.
https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/music-nightlife/download-2018-sunday-review-ozzy-1661555
After the experience I had, I have to say I will find any excuse to go download as often as I possibly can because it actually feels like a family and the time I had there could not be beaten.
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