DERBYSHIRE: Download Festival - First Muddy Experience

I wanted to try something new this year and go to a big music festival. Download Festival is a very well known three-day metal music open-air festival taking place in Donington Park, in Derbyshire. I started playing guitar about a year ago now and was introduced to some rock songs and would like to listen to them live as it is always different and more enjoyable. The name Download Festival comes from 'downloading' which is a dirty word for the music industry as it is forbidden to download music illegally and because rock is seen as a rebellious music genre. 
The logo includes the Download dog which is the mascot of the festival. The highlights of the event were without doubt Metallica, Black Sabbath, The Prodigy, Soundgarden, Chase & Status and Tenacious D and all the crazy dressed up people. Some of them were wearing clothes you would never even see in Soho.. loud colour combinations or even in completely in black! 

The rainy and windy weather made it uncomfortable to stand and listen, but none of the music fans cared about the circumstances and appreciated every ear 'orgasm' they got from the live performances. It was such an amazing feeling standing in the middle of thousands of people, facing the stage and being so excited to see the bands performing live. The sound system was incredible so that you could feel every beat in your body. It was actually not possible to stand there without moving. The most exciting moment was when Metallica came on stage. Fans have been waiting for so long to see the band live. They came from every where and did not mind waiting in the rain. Even I did not want to leave my well conquered space on the front and waited 2 hours in advance. I wanted to see them as close as possible and wanted to fear every note. 

First fireworks opened up the first song intro. Everyone started screaming without them getting on stage and when they got on stage everyone was so out of themselves. It was just mind blowing seeing all the crowd getting so excited and smiling. It already seemed like they have reunited with their 'father of metal rock'. There was no song they did not know the lyrics and did not sing with. Some songs animated them to bump into each other. This is for a girl, standing in a crowd with mainly men not very safe. But luckily there have been a few who look out that no one bumps into girls. Another very unique moment was towards the end of Metallica's performance. Whatever James Hetfield was saying, the crowd did it. He seems to have magical power and knows how to talk to the audience. The way he talks to them makes them feel warm and comfortable and being part of a family. Other than the other bands they do not mind playing a bit longer than they are supposed to. They want to give their fans as much as possible which we all appreciated. Even I became already a big fan of Metallica cos they just had an incredible performance and care about their audience. 

This is the 'One' song which belongs to one of my favourites and always gets me goosebumps:

Even on the first day some cars were struggling to get out of the parking spot as their car tyres sank into the mud and made it impossible to make the car move. 

On Sunday, when everyone wanted to move back home, it was a nightmare. The whole car park was a desperate place where drivers and passengers had to wait until the car in front could move. We had to wait a full 3 hours before we could move. It was an experience, but one I would not want to get involved with again!