After a gig Friday night in Bristol with Sevendust, we drove straight to Donington ready for the following morning, the FIRST Symphony Cult festival appearance. An early start after a very late night is never good so breakfast at 7 30 and knowing we’d be playing before midday was not appealing, however, it was Download!
We arrived around 9am ready to unload and PLAY! Thankfully sunshine greeted us making the early start a little easier. Having driven a few times around the campus and asking at every entrance if it was ours, we finally found our way!
In true style, Charlotte got the privilege of hitching a lift in a golf kart to the SC dressing room! Turned out we were rightfully placed between the likes of The Prodigy and Fightstar… A quick change around meant we were soon in a shuttle bus (couldn’t find a golf kart back) back up to Stage Two. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of going from playing a stage that barely Jack and the drum kit fit on to one that could hold 10 times (if not more) the amount, especially at 11 50AM… it was strange!
A great stage team helped us out a lot, taking the stress of rushing away and leaving time for us guys to get ready too… Well, a few minutes!
It was great when our intro started playing, we were told the security guards in front of the stage all jumped out of their skins when the bass kicked in… How cruel! A great crowd accepted us as we walked on stage, especially for the time of day and amount of alcohol probably consumed the night before. The welcome we received and the comfort of how much space we had, made the show a lot easier. We all very much enjoyed the chance to use it! The response we got was great and by the end of the set it looked like we managed to double our audience which is a crazy achievement, especially knowing what other great bands were playing at the same time.
Having now achieved the whole ‘we played Download!’ thing, we carried on our work having interviews with radio stations, TV crews and internet sites. We met some great people along the way too… Standing next to various Slipknot members is something no-one expects to do. We also had lunch at a table with Anvil bassist, ***! Everyone mentions the atmosphere at Download and you wonder what all the fuss is about, but once you’re in it, the energy and spirit is just amazing to be a part of.
Once we’d done some mingling we all got a chance to go out and explore. Barney made use of the free services backstage by getting his hair cut… We’re not quite sure if that was a good move or if he’d been better paying but it’s ok, it’ll grow…! We also got a chance to see what bands we hadn’t already missed. As gutted as we were, we missed most but a highlight in our eyes were The Prodigy, what a band to see live!
Anyway, next year, main stage please, Mr Copping?!);
