Tobester and Gina’s Guide to Download 2011

 or “Who We Are Going to See, and Who We Want to See But Probably Can’t!”

Before getting into the nitty gritty of line-ups and band clashes, let’s get one thing straight. Download is mint. Awesome. Three days (minimum) of total immersion in rock new and old – a long weekend of exactly what you hope heaven will be. It’s not just the bands, or the huge crowd of like minded fans, or the beer – but the underlying sense of history both made and in the making.

You only have to hear the strains of Ronnie James Dio on Rainbow’s Stargazer* drifting across the campsite and the hairs literally stand up on the back of your neck – it’s the closest thing to a ‘religious’ experience you can possibly have in a field full of campervans, portaloos and cold baked beans.

Fan With Strong Friend Getting a Better View of Rage Against The Machine - Download 2010

Part 1 - Friday

Download 2010 started with a bang and an easy choice to kick the weekend off in Year Long Disaster – but this year doesn’t have an obvious opener for us. If the acoustic (Jagermeister) stage starts earlier than the Main stage, there’s a slim chance we can catch Million $ Reload instead of CKY on Main…but if it’s like last year, that won’t happen so it’s a case of a getting a prime spot as near to the front as possible during CKY ready for a ‘camp-out’ on the main stage.

This will bring back memories of our 2009 marathon, surviving on a packet of crisps, 12 rich tea biscuits and the generosity of the security staff (who provided much needed water and suncream) for 12 (yes, twelve) hours stood (occasionally sat) in one place - barring pee breaks - while taking in Stone Gods, Tesla, Skin, Black Stone Cherry, Journey (complete with 90,000 peeps who wouldn’t stop believin’), Dream Theater, ZZ Top, Whitesnake and Def Leppard.

Having made a tentative decision to concentrate on the mainstage, there’s 3 major sacrifices to be made.

First off Million $ Reload are playing the acoustic stage. These guys have been championed by Classic Rock magazine for a while now, but we’ll have to wait a little longer before seeing them live.

Two big misses will be ‘supergroup’ The Damned Things (see review of their brilliant debut album here) and the amazing Slaves To Gravity are headlining the acoustic stage. This could be worse – both bands should be around for a while yet (some of Thin Lizzy must be, like, 90) so it shouldn’t be the last chance to see either live – fingers crossed.

The first band of Camp Out 2011 will be Puddle of Mudd. Famed for awesome tracks such as Blurry, She Hates Me and Control, this is our first chance to see them live, and could be a highlight of the weekend if they are up to scratch.

It’s then a welcome return to Donington for Duff McKagan’s Loaded. Our third time seeing Duff’s band who in 2009 provided one of the moments to remember when joined by Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour) for a couple of G’n’R songs – greeted by a rather loud ‘get the f**k in’ shout from a rather over excited punter**.

Duff McKagan’s Loaded and Diligent Security Man #0287 - Download 2009

Biggest cheer from me will be for the legendary Black Stone Cherry. A mix made in heaven of hard rock riffage, expert songwriting, unassuming personas all laced with a dash of southern ‘Skynyrd’ groove. We never miss a chance to see these guys live, and they join our exclusive ‘5’ club having first seen them supporting today’s headliners Def Leppard (and Whitesnake) 3 years back. If I get another chance to say ‘Nicely Done’ to the bassist post-set as I did at DL 2009 then I’ll be a happy camper – but that will need a front row, against the barrier spot again – lady luck will need to be with us!

Next up are long-suffering veterans Thin Lizzy. Minus of course Lynott and Moore, but sporting original / long standing members Brian Downey (drums) and Scott Gorham (Guitar).

This will be our first Lizzy encounter but I know it’s not the same as the 70’s classic lineup. It should still be interesting though. By the time of DL 2011, Viv Campbell (guitar) will have regrouped with Def Leppard, and will be replaced by G’n’R axeman Richard Fortus. Hoping to see classics such as Jailbreak, It’s Only Money and the Boys are Back in Town.

I’m so pleased that Alter Bridge are playing next. We’ve had a couple of chances to see them, but for one reason and another never made it. We saw Myles Kennedy sing for Slash last year at DL, and it has to be said his voice is stunning. Marry this with Mark Tremonti’s fretwork this promises to be a powerful, technically brilliant set. If they can bring the feeling from tracks such as ‘Into the Void’ from their latest CD it will be electric.

Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge Spending Quality Time with Buddy Slash – Download 2010

And this is where things start to get a bit silly. From cracking debut CDs Stone Gods and Hot Leg have re-vamped, regressed, put two fingers up to everyone and gone back to kindergarten – yup, The Darkness are back in town.

I’ll never forget my first taste of ‘Darkness’…40, 50 and 60 somethings wondering what the f**k was on stage – spandex and falsetto vocals could not be further removed from headliners Deep Purple and Lynyrd Skynyrd old-guard at the genteel NEC. This was just weeks before The Darkness hit the bigtime, and nearly ten years later they are back to try to recapture former glories. Could (and should) be cracking – 100,000 trying to hit the highest notes of ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ has to be a winner!

After the initial surprise and some disappointment on losing the Thunder-esque old-school-cool Stone Gods, I’m now a little excited by seeing the re-inventors of cock-rock back in business. We are promised the full stage show – so if you see a 50 foot inflatable penis on the back of a truck driving up the M1, you’ll know it’s heading to Main Stage, Donington Park!

Headlining the Friday ‘Classic Rock’ Night is Def Leppard. I told you it was getting a little silly. Didn’t they headline just 2 years ago? Err, Yup. To say this announcement was met with mixed reviews is like saying Adele is considered un-svelt.

Def Leppard’s Rick Allen and Viv Campbell Ask For The Volume To Be Turned Up To Eleven – Download 2009

I think the main problem isn’t with Def Leppard themselves – great songs, good delivery, pretty stage show – but that it’s just a repeat of two years ago. Okay, they have a new song out, currently being given heavy airtime, but it’s hard to see why Andy Copping (DL’s head honcho) couldn’t get old-schoolers not seen at DL for a while or even at all (Van Halen, Sabbath, Maiden, even grungers such as Pearl Jam or Foo Fighters for example).

Still, we’ll make the best of the classics such as ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Love Bites’ and my secret fave ‘Let’s Get Rocked’. If only they would play some ancient stuff from 1980’s ‘On Throught The Night’ then I really would be a happy bunny.

And as the lights dim, we’ll sup a last beer before dreaming of giant blow-up cocks (goddamn The Darkness!)…recharging the batteries for what will hopefully be a mint middle day at the spiritual home of ‘heavy metal’…

Fans Try in Vain to Order Pints of Tuborg Lager from AC/DCs Brian Johnson. Download 2010.

* Yeah yeah, I know, the anoraks amongst you will be shouting that Graham Bonnet fronted Rainbow at Donington in 1980 – but that’s a minor detail after 30 years!

**oops. Not sure about these footie shouts at gigs…but at least I didn’t shout ‘Who are yer, who are yer?’

Words and Rubbish Captions © Toby Winch 2011

All Awesome Pics © Gina Tudor 2009 / 2010