So how was 2014 people?

[mrtourette]

The tits are certainly what makes it different.

[lightning1000]

Friday

Miss may I - pretty good, they reminded me a bit of early a7x

Crossfaith - fucking amazing, so much better live than on record, their cover of omen by the prodigy was great too.

Turbowolf - again, really good live, definitely got a lot of potential.

Skindred - first disappointment of the weekend, it was Sooo quiet, we were just in front of middle barrier and it sounded like we were up by the arena entrance.

The temperance movement- a nice surprise, a good festival band.

Royal blood - the wall of sound they create is pretty astonishing, second time I've seen them this year and the hype is definitely justified.

Letlive - best I've seen them, Jason's leg was fucked so he wasn't running around as much which meant he was actually singing everything. Great energy.

Rob zombie- only caught 20 mins while walking over to bad religion, but it was doing nothing for me, just seemed really flat.

Bad religion - no generator or you pissed me off, but they were great regardless , probably the best I've seen them.

Avenged sevenfold - so much better than their arena show. I expected the stage show and pyro etc. What I didn't expect was the set list. Only 3 songs off the shit New album and loads of old stuff. Second heartbeat was amazing. I can't seem them doing anything else but headlining in the UK from now on.

Saturday

Fozzy- pile of shit.

Bury tomorrow - they've improved a lot since the last time I saw them. Seemed to go down really well.

The bosshoss - meh, didn't really get it. Others seemed to be having a good time though.

Marmozets- fuck me. Biggest surprise of the weekend. That girl can fucking sing/scream. Most energetic performance of the weekend and these guys are going to massive. I fully expect them to be halfway up the main stage in 2 years.

Coldrain - erm, alright I guess. The choruses are just a little bit too cheesy pop for me.

Killswitch engage- amazing as always, Jesse is so much better than Howard and they killed it.

Bmth - little ungrateful shit shouting at the audience for an hour. Big step back for them In my opinion, they looked like they've gone back to not knowing how to play their instruments. Awful.

The wildhearts- great fest band, just wished they'd had longer.

Twisted sister - why the he'll weren't these headlining the 2nd stage???? Bands of the festival for me. Sooo much fun, amazing frontman. I urge everyone to see them live any chance you get.

Linkin park - played over a backing track like eminent does, both vocals and music so kinda half live. Pile of shit.

Sunday

Avatar - alright, the songs are good but the frontman just really annoys me.

Kill devil hill - really good, and Phil anselmo coming on to sing a pantera song at the end was fucking great.

Buckcherry - sounded awful, singer was fucked and couldn't hit a note.

Richie sambora - expected a couple more bon jovial tracks but he was great.

Joe bonamassa - fuck me that guy can play the guitar. Best guitarist I saw all weekend, small but appreciative crowd. Inspired booking.

Volbeat- a few sound problems at the start, but they were so good. I'm really happy that they're starting to get the recognition they deserve in this country. Go see them on their November tour and you won't be disappointed.

Steel panther- watched a bit of their set on the monitors in press. Just misogynistic drivel. The shame about it is they're actually fucking great musicians, but they're rocks version of an oasis type lad band and I can't stand that shit.

Against me! - would have been the band of the day if they'd been given more than 30 mins. Just fucking incredible.

Seether - meh.

Heart in hand - another nice surprise, definitely going to check out some of their stuff.

Alter bridge - thankfully didn't play too much new stuff, the run of isolation, ties that bind, metalingus and blackbird was insane.

Aerosmith- most fun I've ever had watching a headliner, if you're too cool to dance like a lunatic to love in an elevator or dude looks like a lady then I feel sorry for you. Perfect band to end a festival, just a big party.

[devilman]

.... and misogynistic is better than nice?

[theramm]

Loony left bullying again

[eFestivals]

This is exactly it, complete overreaction. There is nothing misogynistic about girls showing their paps if they want to. Loony left bullying again. Time to get into this decade. The nipple is being freed. Just as many women cheer at Download as men don't you know. Are they misogynists?

Erm, which part of what t8yman said about the crowd bullying the girl involved fits with your opinion of the ban being "loony left bullying".

Let's try it another way. Do you have a just-adult daughter? If not try to imagine that you do. You're happy for a random bloke to shout across at her for her to get her tits out?

It's one thing recognising that this sort of stuff will go on in life (until we become a bit more civilised ), it's another thing entirely to believe that it should go on in life.

[gjammer]

Black Camp was the empy on Weds and Thursday compared to the last few years. There was also not that much interaction going on or raucous behaviour. We all enjoyed though and did the zombie thing on Friday although we got some strange looks from surrounding campers while we were making up!

Generally enjoyed the earlier bands rather than the headliners this year. I wasn't going to see Aerosmith but our whole group met up for that one and fooled around and danced so I did end up thoroughly enjoying.

I think the moral here is if you have the right company you'll always have a good time so hopefully back next year.

Next stop - Sonisphere then hopefully Altfest

PS. Sound was better this year but there were still problems with the mix/treble cutting out eg Avenged and also the guitars Alterbridge during Blackbird IMO

Edited June 17, 2014 by gjammer

[Moey]

I think the point here is that people should be allowed to do it if they want to. If folks don't want to, they certainly shouldn't be press ganged into it.

I do think though, that if you've been to a steel panther gig before or have read/heard about them, then you should expect that sort of stuff to go on. Especially if you get on someone's shoulders.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the way it is.

[devilman]

Hahahaha.

John Probyn put on the official DL forums that due to the number of complaints they received last year they asked the camera men not to show it on screen. Girls can still get their boobs out, you’ll just have to look yourself as opposed to it being presented to you.

OR

It’s a liberal conspiracy & an affront to your civil liberties. Which seems more likely?

[devilman]

Erm, which part of what t8yman said about the crowd bullying the girl involved fits with your opinion of the ban being "loony left bullying".

[huntyyy]

Had a great weekend, definitely liked how empty it was. Loads of space around us when camping and it was really quick to move between stages. The weather definitely helped make it perhaps the best Download i've been too, despite the music not being the best. Bit disappointed by crowds though, I was third row and pretty central for Volbeat and not a soul around me was singing along, and I definitely felt that Bring Me The Horizon and While She Sleeps had significantly tamer than usual crowds.The crowd for Letlive was massive, but only about ten of us in the center seemed to know what was going on for half the set. Dillinger Escape Plan had a great crowd though, definitely stole the weekend.

I think it was probably just because there were so few people around but I was very disappointed with the crowds this year, compared especially to the last couple of years which have been amazing.

[theramm]

Generally speaking, do we think 2015 will suffer for less revenue being generated this year, as in smaller bands playing in higher spots etc?

[lightning1000]

Yes.

[t8yman]

I find the attempts to sanitise the crowd re moshing, surfing and circle pits much more offensive than the lack of tits.

I'm not biting on the 5fdp comment monsieur devil, you know my thoughts on them, and they haven't changed!

and i find steel panther offensive because they are shit, they are taking the piss, and I generally dislike "comedy" bands, which is what they are really.

[Moey]

Generally speaking, do we think 2015 will suffer for less revenue being generated this year, as in smaller bands playing in higher spots etc?

[lightning1000]

Sorry, let me clarify. I wasn't talking about the headliners.

I think we're getting 2 or 3 big names next year. But the bill as a whole Will suffer

[eFestivals]

None of it. You're the bully. Sorry for not making that clear.

Oh, my apologies.... I hadn't realised it was bullying to call a misogynist the word that literally describes them.

My near adult daughter would be fully briefed about what goes on and then after that everything else is her decision.

it's no part of her decision to have Neanderthals shout sexist comments at her.

What is this the 40s? Maybe they should be locked up, clothed from head to toe and told whet they can and can't do. That would soon stop it eh?

wow, you are proud of yourself aren't you?

[jammy2211]

Generally speaking, do we think 2015 will suffer for less revenue being generated this year, as in smaller bands playing in higher spots etc?

[Moey]

Sorry, let me clarify. I wasn't talking about the headliners.

I think we're getting 2 or 3 big names next year. But the bill as a whole Will suffer

[lightning1000]

They always have roughly the same amount for booking acts. If you looked around this year you could see the amount of money they'd spent making improvements around the site. Things like permanent roads, those new awesome gigantic big screens and other stuff like that. It honestly was the best download I've been to. The fact that I got press and could sell the ticket I bought made it even sweeter

[theramm]

Fair play. I guess in previous years we’ve seen smaller drops between attendances, most years between 80-90k seems the norm (apparently 100k in 2010, 70k in 2011). This year the local police & BBC quoted 50k. I just wondered because the drop this year was SO big there might be more consequence than usual.

[gjammer]

I noticed the improvements too including metal floors at the toilets, cut through from the arena to camp sites. Was much appreciated but we all noticed the crowd seemed tamer especially in the camp sites and we missed the atmosphere of previous years.

Edited June 17, 2014 by gjammer

[Moey]

they obviously didn't waste any money on a zip wire this year! maybe too many people got bottled last year that they thought they'd sack it off as a bad idea.

agree that the big screens on the main were tip top. Didn't they use to have a screen on the back of the sound desk too ??

[lightning1000]

Yup, but there was no need for it with the size of those giant screens. Soooooo big haha

[kipper64]

In regards to the whole boob cam thing I've seen many people claim it's infringing on freedoms/censorship is bad etc.. and they seem to completely miss the point. Nobody is saying the festival has made it illegal for anyone to get their tits out - just that the camera crews aren't going to actively seek people out for it. The issue was that it was seemingly endorsed by camera crews and the whole boob cam thing stemming from Steel Panther (which I think the DLF facebook page also posted?). The atmosphere that created was one where whenever a camera was on a girl, a large part of the crowd would demand she flashed, and if she didn't it led to people getting booed and abuse for not doing so, and that's pretty disgusting. I think some of the girls were also of questionable ages and John Probyn, one of the bosses at Download said the whole incidents actually got them into trouble with the authorities which is another reason they've been much more strict and aren't endorsing it in any form any more. Which is surely a good thing?

[2rare2die]

If you're a girl, and can see the reaction of the crowd every time the camera is on a girl in the crowd, why then would you choose to sit up on someone's shoulders near the front of the stage if you're then going to be offended by the reaction of the crowd when the camera is focused on you? I can't say the lack of boobs on the screens impacted my enjoyment of the festival, but surely these girls could use a little common sense and not put themselves in that position in the first place if there's a chance of them being offended.