Act of the Weekend?

[Lord-Seabass]

Corey Taylor the set was mesmerizing!

[biffoire]

We live 10 minutes drive away but it would have to be a mega lineup for us to consider going for the weekend again!

[gjammer]

We had a 700 mile round trip.

[biffoire]

And that was just from the camp site to the Arena!

[kaosmark2]

Metallica or Nightwish for best performance, they were both absolutely stunning, nevermind that I've seen them both before, Nightwish (what I saw of them) were fantastic, some surprising older gems that I didn't think they'd play. Over the Hills! Metallica are always excellent live, and despite the fact they are a boring booking in some respects, it's still brilliant seeing them.

Soundgarden and Sabbath were the pair I went for and were excellent as well. Cornell's voice wasn't quite as soaring as I remembered it from when I saw him 5 years ago at Hyde Park, but still brilliant. Just frustrated that between my mates pissing about leaving the campsite and the track being closed at the time I didn't get there until they were most of the way through Let Me Drown. Pretty sure I only missed Spoonman and maybe one more, but still a pisstake. Should probably have left my mates earlier and gone to see Refused like I'd originally wanted.

Also, I'm pretty sure Ozzy mucked up the lyrics on a few songs. Anyone else think that?

Biffy impressed me, others have said negative stuff about their set, but as someone who finds both Puzzle and Only Revolutions incredibly boring, and wasn't that huge a fan even before them, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I probably would have had a better time watching Skindred + Killswitch, but I was knackered and had a good spot after the D that I wanted to stay in for Metallica and was enjoying them enough to feel my time was justified.

[devilman]

Sabbath - just awesome. Iommi is the master. Ozzy still got it despite being a veg most of the time, they must pump him full of stuff and wind him up before he goes on stage.

Metallica - flawless as they always are.

Nightwish, Slash and Steel Panther were all very good.

While she sleeps sucked baws. As did the Skindred accoustic set. They were good on 2nd though. I was really impressed with BLS too!

[O.C.Dino]

For me it was either Prodigy or Corey Taylor... Enjoyed seeing Chase and Status before Prodigy who were AWESOME! Played my fave songs and the atmosphere was great

Corey Taylor.. after fighting to get in to the tent, I nearly melted! Love him, loved his performance <3

Saw nothing on Sunday as left early- GUTTED that I missed Sabbath, Dropkicks and others!

This was my first Download.. will probably come back and give it another go next year.. the walks were a bit long, but the music made them well worth it! Fellow campers' arguing aside I had a fab weekend

[ap3311]

Black Sabbath.

Absolutely blew everyone else out of the water. Yes even Metallica.

Skindred were incredible. Feel genuinely sorry for anyone who was watching Shitty Clyro. Steel Panther, Black Label Society, Lamb of God and Opeth were my favourite acts other than the obvious ones.

And Megadeth were crap imo.

Edited June 12, 2012 by ap3311

[504329lt]

Interesting to see how many people here are complaining about the long treks and saying this will be their last year. We could see the main stage from our van but we were forced to trek for 40 minutes each way to actually get close to it and we were parked virtually next door to the redbull tent but we never actually found our way there, seeing as all the most straight forward routes seemed to be reserved for VIPs only! I can really understand why people who have to travel a long distance would think twice about going again We live 10 minutes drive away but it would have to be a mega lineup for us to consider going for the weekend again!

On the plus side, best acts for us were Sabbath, Anti-Nowhere League, Lawnmower Death and NoFX.

[the_hedge]

What's wrong with people Biffy were great. These metal heads need to expand their music range a little bit.

Acts of the weekend for were Chase and Status, Slash, Metallica (you just can't go wrong with Metallica) Steel Panther, BLS, Sabbeth and Megadeath.

Tenacious D were disaapointing as were Soundarden. I want to like them, they sound great but they just don't do anything for me the majority of the time. The boy made me watch Black Veil Brides, that's 40 minutes I won't get back again!!! Machine Head - just noise, I tried but it just didin't happen :-(

[Dan R]

What's wrong with people Biffy were great. These metal heads need to expand their music range a little bit.

Acts of the weekend for were Chase and Status, Slash, Metallica (you just can't go wrong with Metallica) Steel Panther, BLS, Sabbeth and Megadeath.

Tenacious D were disaapointing as were Soundarden. I want to like them, they sound great but they just don't do anything for me the majority of the time. The boy made me watch Black Veil Brides, that's 40 minutes I won't get back again!!! Machine Head - just noise, I tried but it just didin't happen :-(

[the_hedge]

This was my 7th time seeing Biffy and it was one of the worst shows I've seen them do.They just didn't seem all there. Was a shame cos it was a great opportunity for them to expand their fanbase.

[AcademicPistol]

I probably would have had a better time watching Skindred + Killswitch, but I was knackered and had a good spot after the D that I wanted to stay in for Metallica and was enjoying them enough to feel my time was justified.

[PastCaring]

There was an exit just by the Red Bull tent (bwtween Red Bull and Main Stage) that opened at the end of the night. From there <5mins back to van!

[cornucopia]

I personally have quite a few, so here goes:

FRIDAY

Brilliant: Slash, Quireboys (what I caught of them due to problems getting in),Terrorvision, Little Angels

OK: Opeth and Nightwish

SATURDAY

Brilliant: Metallica, The Treatment, Corey Taylor

OK: Steel Panther (too much stupid talk, could've fitted another 3 songs), Tenacious D (glad I saw them though), GUN,

SUNDAY

Brilliant: Sabbath (obviously and Ozzy was 90% which is about 20% better than I expected!!), Kyuss LIves, Anthrax, Soundgarden, BLACK SPIDERS!!!!!!, Seb Bach

OK: Megadeth, Soundgarden, Ugly Kid Joe, Reckless Love

ALL DAYS - THE VOICE, S104 - THE GUY AT THE ENTERANCE, HE WAS HILARIOUS!!!

I had a great weekend except for getting food poisoning from a dodgy kebab in Derby on Friday night, but other than that I got through it - yes the mud was a real pain in the ass, never saw any trouble except for 1 lad beating the actual crap out of a pink chair which was hilarious, full body slams and everything!!!!

[kev1664]

Highlights of the weekend:

Top 3

Metallica - The last hour and a half was one of the best gigs I've ever witnessed First half an hour not so good, but once into the Black album it was just fantastic.

Soundgarden - Great, everything about it.

Turbonegro - For only know one song they had us and a few around us singing every song, great performance and great sound.

Best of the rest

Turbowolf - Great energy, great sound and great crowd.

Soil - What a set, perfect, even though his mic clapped out while surfing for Halo, however the crowd sange the last third of the song for them.

Ugly Kid Joe - Much heavier than on record and great set.

Biffy Clyro - Best I've heard Simon's voice (only time I've seen him wearing an earpeice when singing). Great set list. Cowd where I was to the left of the stage in the front was great, however the rest of the crowd didn't seem as pumped. For a set list that contained 4 brand new unreleased songs. I thought they done exceptionally well at keeping the crowd involved. It did lack Jaggy Snake. But those expecting crowd interaction were always going to be disappointed. All the new songs had them performing as a three piece again so I expect to see their next effort returning them to that sort of pre-puzzle sound.

Billy Tallent - Great set list, great interaction, great gesture and Viking Death March seems like a quality track.

Good, but a bit of a let down

Black Sabbath - I'm not saying they were bad, just not many people got into it where we were standing, and after metallica the night before and soundgarden they didn't really live up to it.

Tenacious D - Too packed out and full of dis-interested people.

Worst Acts

Black Label Society - Never seemed to get going, plus the massive solo mid-set did nothing at all to keep the attention of the crowd.

Skindred (Acoustic) - Absolutley awful, what a waste of my time. Was contemplating seeing them on the saturday too, until that point.

Slash - Watched the first 40 minutes, too many solo's all sounding similar, Miles' voice could only do so much in trying to save it for me.

Steel Panther - Absolute dross, not funny in the slightest, only saved by the vast amounts of Titties on show.

[angelofharlem]

Loved the Mission and Metallica but the highlight for me has to be Black Sabbath..awesome!

[504329lt]

Yeah, quite a few people have said that - the trouble is, due to the mud and the sheer amount of people, we never actually managed to find a non-VIP route to the Red Bull Tent - we tried a couple of times but just gave up in the end after being denied access from a number of possible entrances.

[kaosmark2]

Worst Acts

Slash - Watched the first 40 minutes, too many solo's all sounding similar, Miles' voice could only do so much in trying to save it for me.

[devilman]

This. Although I got bored about 25 minutes in. No interest in entertaining the crowd, just showing off his guitar skills.

[kaosmark2]

I'm not quite sure what you expected but Slash is a lead guitarist, the band and trademark are all based on him being "the" lead guitarist and he goes on stage and does some lead guitaring! Personally I loved it, 3rd time for me and probably the best although I did particularly enjoy 2010 too. For me his set flew past far too quickly. Given the choice again would I go see the Prodigy? Would I fuck!

[the_hedge]

I didn't have much expectation. I was there after Nightwish and wasn't desperate to see The Prodigy, so stuck around for Slash to see if he'd entertain me. He didn't so I wandered off. The Prodigy didn't particularly impress me either, so we just buggerred off back to the campsite to get started on the crates we'd had so much fun lugging through the mud. Still a great evening.

[kaosmark2]

It must have been the rain but if Slash or Prod didin't entertain you then something is wrong. I loved Slash and Prodigy are renowned as one of the best live bands in the UK today!!

[gazza_20]

Well I don't like Velvet Revolver or his solo stuff, so was always at a disadvantage when it comes to Slash. Nightrain was good, but he was taking the piss with his solos in Rocket Queen.

Regarding The Prodigy, fuck reputation, that was just their standard songs, a fast light show and jumping around. It wasn't bad, but definitely wasn't anything special. Maybe it's that we didn't try and get close, but the attempt at getting an intense atmosphere seemed forced, and ultimately didn't impress me.

I'd adored Nightwish's show, saw plenty of good bands on Saturday, and closed the fest with Soundgarden/Sabbath. I'm not bothered that a couple of acts on Friday slightly disappointed me, had a great time anyway.

Edited June 12, 2012 by gazza_20

[AcademicPistol]

Given the choice again would I go see the Prodigy? Would I fuck!