DAY ONE Friday

This was my first year at Download and so a lot of research had to go into the weekend. Who do I interview? Where do I interview? Where are the stages? Which bands do I check out? - lots of questions. So, I asked around and found out who were the bands of the moment that where performing at the festival and I spent a fortune buying and borrowing albums of bands I didn’t know and giving my ears a beating. Some I loved, some I just didn’t get, but by the time Download started I was ready to mosh with the best of them! I must thank Michelle Kerr from Roadrunner Records for her help settimg most of the interviews up.

I got there nice and early on the Friday morning to park my car in the paddock. As I arrived all I could see was a vast area of canvas that was the tent site for the 100,000 visitors, their home for the next 3 days. Once parked up you then had to be shuttle bussed to the VIP and changing area which was cool as the route took us onto the Donington race track towards the famous Donington landmark tyre that I have only ever seen on TV. The Americans I was sharing the mini bus got very excited as we approached our destination stop. "F**king awesome man!". I wasn’t that excited but it was cool to think I was approaching the finish line of a famous race track in a mini bus doing about 10 miles an hour!

The main VIP area was in a large hanger which contained about 50 porta cabins that were used as changing rooms for all the bands, the management offices, TV stations, catering, press rooms, even a hairdressers (no good to me) and a tattooist. The massage area and piecing were all free of charge - very rock and roll. Also here were the VIP gardens which consisted of a large Sabian bus where drummers would go and warm up, try new cymbals or just hang, and a large marquee with various musical company’s showing their products like amps, guitars and drums. Every band would have to go through this garden to reach the signing tent and Radio 1 and I could get out into the main arena and get to all 3 stages easily, so I decided this would be my base for the next 3 days.

The first interview I had set up was with Xavier Muriel from the band ''Buckcherry''. We had arranged this via email a couple of days before and their new album "15" had been a regular with me in the gym (nothing like a bit of heavy music to get you worked up!). I caught up with Xavier before he went on stage to ask him a few questions about Download and get a full interview (to come later in the year).

MD ''What you looking forward to about Download?''

XM ''This is my first year at Download and I am looking forward to looking out from the stage and seeing all those people in the crowd, I have only seen it on TV. I wish I could stay around to see some of the bands but we have a flight in 6 hours and we fly to Kansas. Hopefully I''ll sleep on the plane and then perform their.''

MD ''Do you warm up before you perform?''

XM ''I always stretch because I am an undisciplined player and I have problems with my limbs so I really need to stretch before I play.''

The pass I had gave me access to the changing rooms so I went to hunt down my old pal Gavin Harrison who was playing on Stage 2 with his band ''Porcupine Tree''. There was security everywhere and I constantly had to show my pass.

MD ''What are you guys up to at the moment?''

GH ''Download has come in the middle of 10 days off. We''ve been touring the UK and USA and on the 22nd of June we start our European leg of the tour, so the timing of Download was not good, but we all really wanted to play Download as the band hasn''t done it before.''

MD ''What were the good and bad things about playing Download?''

GH ''I don’t like being so far away from the crowd - it’s harder. The good things is the crowd are great and we get to reach so many more people than normal. And hopefully more people come who don’t know our music and go away liking it.''

MD ''Do you warm up before you go on?''

GH ''Yes. 15 minutes of singles and doubles on a pad, but its harder because there is so much press to do here and because the stages are so far from the main changing area, we are being moved around a lot.''

I managed to go off and catch a few bands and catch up with Mat Lai who was reviewing from the front. I then went to catch a new band I didn’t know, ''The Hedrons'' a 4 piece girl band from Glasgow, performing on the Tuborg stage, whose live performance was great. This was their second year and they are a band you must watch out for. The band were off to the Isle of Wight that evening to support the ''Rolling Stones''. We have a full interview with their drummer "Soup" later on in the year but I caught up with her quickly.

"This is our second time here. We were here last year. A step up this year, the first time we were on the Super Bowl Stage which I don’t think is here. Last year they ended up shutting the gate so no more people could get in, so all these people were crowded round the perimeter fence and we ended up dedicating our song to the folk who couldn’t get in, which was good. So it was amazing this year to be on Stage 3."

I then had to quickly dart across the field to Stage 2 were Porcupine Tree were performing. This was no easy task as I had to get across the main stage area (about 80,000 people). When I finally got there I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage to see the band, so I had to just sit on the bank listening with my bacon butty. (I didn’t realize until later that my pass would have got me onto the stage to see them).

Later on back at the changing area, their was lots of commotion as ''Velvet Revolver'' had turned up and everybody wanted a photo with Slash. I managed to find my quiet corner and meet up with Shawn Drover from ''Megadeth'' who told me that the band had flown in from Finland that morning and so only got a couple of hours sleep. They then had to a catch a ferry that evening to go to Dublin where they were performing on the Sunday.

The day was catching up on me and I couldn’t get anywhere close to Stage 2 where Korn was performing with Joey Jordisson on drums. I heard later that there was so many people that the front rows were crushed against the barriers. I decided to go and catch "My Chemical Romance" (MCR) on the main stage which I really enjoyed but I couldn’t understand why the crowd where throwing bottles at them and booing them! After asking a group close to me, they told me that they felt that Korn should have been on the main stage and not MCR. After about 4 or 5 numbers the audience came around and most of them where enjoying the music and the great stage show.

I managed to catch up with Rob Bryar from ''My Chemical Romance'' after the show to ask how he felt.

"Man it was tough we got a bit of a rough ride from small section of the crowd but I think we managed to pull the crowd round by the end. It was so cool to see so many people out there".

I actually felt sorry for Rob and the band as they where really nice guys and nobody deserves that kind of treatment.

11.00pm: Knackered and hungry I went out into the main arena to get some over-priced and crap bowl of soup and a coffee before a 30 minute drive home and I got into bed about 2.00am

DAY TWO Saturday

I was up very early to do some research on some of the bands I had interviews with, and I needed to make a couple of calls to organize interviews. I also had to call forumite Alex who was reviewing the show from the trenches to see if he was ok and needed anything. He told me that he had been up since 5 am as the tent site is at the end of the East Midlands airport runway. He had a rough night!

This was the hottest day of the weekend and there was a lot of excitement about today from the VIP area. First Vinnie Paul was playing with ''Hellyeah'', ''Marilyn Manson'' was also playing, but the big fuss was around ''Motley Crew'' who where playing the 2nd Stage. To be honest I didn’t know much about Motley Crews reputation - I knew that their drummer was Tommy Lee and that was about it. First I met up with Jason Bittner from Shadows Fall.

I caught the end of ''Hellyeah'' and then the ''Shadows Fall'' set on the main stage which went down very well with the crowd, and the mosh pit was very active! I have a lot of time for Jason Bittner and have total respect for his playing, but Shadows Fall is a little heavy for me.

I caught up with Jason after the set and asked him a few questions.

MD ''What was your set like and how was the crowd?''

JB ''Our set was great, no technical difficulties (for once), we had a lot of fun, and the crowd was great, and seemed to enjoy it very much.''

MD ''Highlights from the show?''

JB ''Seeing the kid’s crowd surfing during "Thoughts Without Words", our signing at the Kerrang tent afterwards, lots of beer, and seeing a lot of my friends over the course of the weekend.''

MD ''What are you up to over the next 4 weeks?''

JB ''Mixing the ''Burning Human'' record (my side band), doing a show with BH in 2 weeks, and getting ready to go back out on the road here in the states with Shadows Fall on June 28th.''

I was let down a little today with the interviews that I had requested, so I went out and caught up with a few bands. I loved ''Bowling For Soup'' on the main stage - such an energetic live show. Next I had to run over to 2nd Stage to catch a new band ''Gallows''. The night before I was introduced to a very polite and charming guy called Frank Carter. I think his twin brother turned up on the stage today, smashing up mic stands and the drum kit at the end of their set much to the disgust of their drummer Lee Barrett - it definitely wasn''t the bloke I had met the night before!. This band were great, I have not seen stage presence like that for a long time and I can see why there is so much fuss about these guys from Watford. They are about to start touring the US on the Warped tour and I know we are going to hear a lot about this band.

Next up Alex from this site suggested I check out a female Led Zeppelin covers band from the US called ''Lez Zeppelin'' on Stage 3. To be honest I wouldn’t have needed much of an excuse not to go and see this set as it was now bloody hot and my bald head was getting burnt! I had to walk through the main stage crowd where ''Machine Head'' were performing. I am glad I made the effort because this band really could play. Helen Destroy (the drummer) did a great job reproducing John Bonham. Within about 10 minutes of their set starting I noticed loads of drummers gathering backstage to see who was playing those tubs like that. After the set Helen had given everything and was in a total mess backstage. I waited for about 10 minutes before I introduced myself and arranged a time for an interview (watch the website).

I made my way back to the VIP area to do a couple of interviews and noticed the amount of very scantily dressed woman around the changing area; I asked one of the security guards what was happing? The answer was apparently ''Motley Crew''. Now that’s rock n roll for you!

Again I tried to get to see ''Motley Crew'' on Stage 2 but even using my pass to get on stage, I couldn’t get anywhere near it. There was such a big buzz about the band, from the crowd to the back stage area, everybody wanted to see them. I stood out front but couldn’t see much except half of one of the large screens, so gave up about 20 minutes into their show. Later Tommy Lee was true to his word and signed a cymbal and a drum head for us to use as a prize, I managed to catch the last part of ''Linkin Park'' who were performing on the main stage.

I was now beat and ready go home and get ready for day 3. It was now 11.45pm and Ade informed me that he was just going to meet somebody and he would meet me back in the car in 15 minutes (midnight) so I went back to the car to do a little work. At 1.45am he turns up! I was hungry and tired and not happy!

DAY THREE Sunday

When we arrived at Download I was greeted by my friend Robin Guy (drummer for Bruce Dickinson and so many more) who informed me that Michelle from Roadrunner Records was not happy with me, as after the interview with Shawn Drover on Friday they lost him for 45 minutes and she thought it was my fault. That explains why I didn’t get all the interviews I wanted on the Saturday!

After a brief explanation that his disappearance wasn''t my fault, all was forgiven and Michelle said she would make sure I got the interviews we wanted. However, Mike Portnoy had 20 interviews to do so it was up to him to decide which ones he wanted to do. I told Michelle that I would be close by all day and wait for whatever she could sort out.

First up Roy Mayorga came and introduced himself and we sat down to do a great interview which you will see later on in the year but I also asked him a few questions

MD ''Highlights from the show?''

RM ''Without a doubt seeing Tommy Lee with ''Motley Crew'' - that was so awesome. I sat behind his kit, that was so cool, and playing with ''Stone Sour'' in front of all those people is so f####ing cool we just really went for it.''

MD ''Do you warm up before the show?''

RM ''I do about 20 minutes on a pad and then just get really hyped up back stage before we walk out.''

Next up was Justin Foley but we had only just started the interview when he was dragged away to do a signing session. I thought that I had missed out on that interview but about 30 minutes before he went on stage he came and found me to finish the interview. What a really nice guy!

During this time I had heard that Mike Portnoy had told Roadrunner that he would do the BBC 1, Kerrang and mikedolbear.com interviews(!). He came to find me and told me that he wanted to catch Chris Adler with ''Lamb of God'' and then he will come and find me.

This gave me chance to catch up with Jason Bould who was visiting the show.

"I''m not playing Download this year, it was quite nice to be on the other side of the stage. Sunday was my chosen day - firstly to catch up with my friends ''Ghost Of A Thousand'' who had a storming set at 11.45 in the morning - this is a band to watch for you punks out there. Met up with some old friends which was great because the trouble is with backstage areas is that they are rife with arseholes! "What can I get of that person - who''s looking at my tats - who''s not looking at my tats! - Who recognizes me?" - AAARRRGHHHH! Give it a rest! You can tell which people are musicians and which people want to be musicians at these events!"

So after having a shit burger, time to catch "Mastodon". I have to say they played a great set and are great musicians but I would have preferred to have seen them in one of the tents, like in "05. I think they would have preferred that too - they work better in more intimate surroundings because the music is so manic. So for me? I want more big rock bands and personalities to play that main stage - give me AC/DC next year please!"

I then caught up with Mike Portnoy (full interview on its way) who told me that he knew all about the website and had posted on the forum a couple of time and really wanted to do this interview , which was so cool.

I asked him what did he find difficult about festivals?

MP ''Trying to put the set list together. We only have a 50 minute slot and all our songs are long. I do the bands set list and I have been up for the last 3 nights to keep changing it.''

MD ''Highlights?''

MP ''Getting to see some great bands I just caught ''Lamb of God'' and catching up with so many friends.''

After sitting around all day to get the interviews I wanted, I now felt satisfied and could reflect on the weekend. 10 interviews in the bag, a review from the front of the stage by two forum members, lots of goodies signed to give away and lots of networking. A very tiring but productive weekend and I will be back next year!

Highlight for me was ''Stone Sour''. What a great live band and Roy was such an excellent rock drummer. Also getting Joey Jordisson, Tommy Lee, Mat Sorum and so many more to sign cymbals and drum heads to give away.

A big thank you goes to: Alex Pegington and Matt Lai for reporting from the front of stage, Jerome Marcus from Sabian for all his help, Michelle Kerr at Roadrunner Records, Tina Clarke from Zildjian cymbals, all the drummers for their time with interviews and signing items and Ade Holbrook for giving me somewhere to stay and running around getting things signed.

By Mike Dolbear.