Sod it, I can't be arsed.

Download line-up is piss poor - it's a shame the UK gets comepletely shafted every year by festival organisers. We only have to look at festivals in Europe to see we are getting a raw deal.
I will be at Reading on sunday to see Metallica - yeah alot of folk are really into slagging them off but i've been going to see them for nearly 20 years and not going to stop now!

Are Testament playing this year?

One of my mates is going and he seemed to think so...

They are indeed.

sweet, not in for such a shitty festival after all

haha the Download festival is so 2001. Seether FFS

yeah man... and JONAFON DAVIIDISIDISDIIWRJEGNSEIGBJFIGHEGVNM

Festivals are so last century.

Not going to gigs at all is where it's at in 2008.

Friday (As much as I'd love to have seen Testament, it was the only day worth going for).

Where to begin...

So, the rape of the old Monsters of Rock festival is complete. What we have now is a full blown attempt at being a mainstream Glastonbury type festival, complete with fun fair, EA Games hub, on-site marriages, clothes stores etc, Powder Rooms (?!) and other such stuff. Not to mention that in between bands the songs being played were virtually all indie or dance music!
In fact, I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew the Donington I loved had died was when the whole crowd sang the entirety of Blur's Parklife louder and with more passion than they sang along to Priest or Motorhead.
That really pissed me off.

The way it's set up this year is horrendous. There's a huge distance between the 2nd and 3rd stage (I know it was never the shortest of walks before but this is definitely longer), and the main stage is now situated at the foot of an incline, albeit not a steep one, but enough to question it's placement considering it was only a slightly steeper incline where 2 kids got killed at Donington back in 1988.

Arguably, the worst part of it for me was also probably the most trivial. For me, one of the best things about going to Donington is that it's instantly recognisable as Donington because of the giant Dunlop tyre. It's just one of those things where you go somewhere but don't feel you're really there unless you can see a certain, special landmark. Stupid, I know, but it just didn't really feel right yesterday because you can't see the tyre from anywhere.

Right then, to the bands...

NIRVANA.
Ran through a selection of Seether's most popular songs much to the enjoyment of people who enjoy pedestrian, bland, tuneless, derivative drivel. I was not one of them. The hilariously ironic playing of In Bloom was the only highlight of the entire set.
Tedious shite. 1/10

KID ROCK.
Total no-show. Had to be taken to hospital, apparently. I was not happy. He was one of the four acts I went specifically to see.
N/A

DISTURBED.
I've only seen Disturbed once before and was left slightly disappointed by them. Not this time. Maybe it was because they only played 50 minutes, not giving you a chance to get bored of them, but their set was bloody excellent. The highlight, of course, being a whole crowd of 40,000 or so making monkey noises at the beginning to set closer "The Sickness".
8/10

MOTORHEAD.
Does what it says on the tin. With added Wurzel.
8/10

JUDAS PRIEST.
Does the new material come over well to an audience who (largely) don't know it? Yes. Does the old material send youngsters not old enough to have been around when even Painkiller was recorded into a frenzied moshpit? Yes. Were they just fucking awesome from beginning to end with no problems with sound or choice of songs? Yes.
So why only give them 9/10?
Because of...

You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world - KISS!
Fuck me. From the moment the curtain went down revealing Gene, Paul and Tommy on a platform suspended 60-70 or so feet in the air above the stage to the moment where they ended the show with more fireworks than a christmas episode of Eastenders, it was nothing short of spectacular. Seriously, that is one of the best shows I've ever seen in my entire life. Breathtaking. All the staples of the old Kiss Alive shows were there - Gene's firebreathing, blood vomiting and flying up into the top of the stage, Tommy Thayer mimicking Ace's old guitar solos perfectly right down to the fireworks coming out of the top, plus Paul flying above people's heads to play on a platform 200ft away from the stage for Love Gun and enough pyro and explosions to put Rammstein to shame.
Now THAT felt like Donington of old.
10/10.

Well I only listen to French pop music from the 1960s now, so...

French Techno is better.

It really isn't.

At least it exists!

Nirvana are still going?! Whatchoo talking about Willis!??

Nirvana? What?

HE'S DEAD!