DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL PATTERNS - Part 5: Kiss

Sunday night's headliners were a bit special.

Over 40 year's in the business and still showing now signs of slowing down!

I'm not a huge fan of these guys it has to be said, but saying that, their set was pretty awesome and a fitting way to end three days of top-notch music!

I'm almost done with these patterns now, but I won't spam your in boxes any more today!

Till next time, keep Kalm and cross-stitch :) xxx

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL PATTERNS - Part 4: Billy Idol

Sunday afternoon at Download had a very retro 80's feel with acts such as Billy Idol, Slash, Motley Crue and Kiss.

I grew up in the 80's, so this was great for me and my brother-in-law who'd been looking forward to these all day!!!

The next pattern is Billy Idol:

My mum is a big fan and she was very jealous!!!

He was actually really rather good!

The pattern has been uploaded to the usual place :)

Don't go away... Sunday night's headliners are coming right up!!!

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL PATTERNS - Part 3: Muse

Here's there Saturday night headliner:

Pattern uploaded to the usual place :)

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross stitch!

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL PATTERNS - Part 2: Slipknot

Hello!

Apologies again for my tardiness.  It seems that I am forever apologising for the delays -- one day, I will run out of excuses :D

Anyway, without further a do, here is the next pattern:

Slipknot were the Friday night headliners.

I had initially wanted to do the band's name in cross-stitch, but it wasn't going how I wanted, so I opted for this instead, which I think is a much cooler design anyway :)

The pattern has been uploaded to BOX in the music subfolder.

So that's all I have for today.  I will try and upload the next pattern as soon as I can!

Till then ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! x

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL PATTERNS - Part 1: Five Finger Death Punch

Hello there!!

Well, I've been a little later posting my new patterns than planned  It's been a hectic few weeks on Planet Cazzy.

I'm staying on the Download theme with these new patterns.  After I went in 2013, I was inspired to chart some band logos into cross-stitch.  This year, I've decided to do the same.

First up is Five Finger Death Punch or 5FDP for short:

I'm not a huge fan, but their "knuckle-duster" style logo is really rather cool!

The pattern has been uploaded to the "Music" folder on BOX.net.

I hope to have another pattern for you soon, but in the meantime...

Keep Kalm and cross-stitch :) xx

Gatchacaz's "Mega" Download Review [Part 5]

Sunday 14th June 2015

We had planned to chill out in my brother's tent when we got back to the camp, but I didn't feel very well. I don't really want to go into any details on here, but I had a little 'accident' in my tent which made me feel quite miserable and by the time I settled down to sleep, I think I'd had enough.

I didn't want another night in this tent … I wanted to go home.

I didn't get much sleep.  The jocks' were at it again!  In fact, when they got back to the tent they started on the drinking, smoking, shouting, swearing etc… and didn't stop until gone 6am!!! 

Someone was playing music again, but I didn't mind that so much.

The day before, my brother had suggested that (depending how we all felt), he thought we should pack up and come back late Sunday night.  I hadn't given it much thought yesterday, but having had such a bad night, I was all up for it. 

When my brother suggested it again, the decision was unanimous … we all wanted to go home early.

So, after breakfast and a change of clothes, we started to pack up.  Some stuff was being left behind, like my now "smelly" tent and our fold up chairs.  Rubbish was bagged up and we tried to leave our little patch of campsite as tidy as we could as we started the long trudge back to the car park.

In an effort to soak up some of mud, the organisers had put straw down, which was fine, but the trolley wheels didn't like it as they kept getting clogged up and my brother and "BIL" were forever stopping to clear them.  Spare tent pegs came in very handy for this!

It took an hour of trudging through the mud to get back to the car.  When we got back to the car, we decided that we would spend some time there to chill out. It took a while to get stuff back in the car, despite having less stuff!

We all cracked open a can of cider, and I took the opportunity to call home and let my other half know I'd be home late tonight.

We'd agreed to meet up with my bother's friend in the arena by a red and white lighthouse (a fish and chip stall).  Whilst we were waiting, we all got hungry!  My "BIL" went off to get some paella and I chose sausage and chips!

The bands we wanted to see today were not on until later in the day, so we had time to kill and spent it looking round the stalls again. 

The heavens had opened again, but I had no waterproofs with me.  My stuff from Friday was still wet through, and my over-trousers were caked in layers of mud from yesterday so I could not use them again.  The poncho I had been wearing yesterday had become a casualty of my 'accident', so I had to go and buy another one.

The stalls were doing a roaring trade on ponchos and sold out quickly, so I was lucky to get hold of one (actually it was a plastic rain coat).  The rain became intermittent as the day progressed, but thankfully it kept me dry!

At 4pm, we were watching Billy Idol on the main stage.  One of my mum's favourites, my brother gave her a ring on his mobile so that she could hear him playing J

Slash followed at 5.20pm.  In front of me a young lad was asleep on the floor.  He must have been cold and muddy, but that didn't seem to bother him.  He certainly became a point of amusement for other people as they stopped to take selfies.  I was more mindful about not stepping on him!

When he woke up I asked him if he was okay.  He gave me a puzzled look then went back to sleep again!  Five minutes later he was awake again, and he got up to re-join his friends.

After Slash's set had finished we headed off to get coffee and doughnuts!  It was my first hot drink in several days, so it was very welcome indeed.

This is the point where we would be splitting up and saying goodbye to my brother's friend.  With me and my "BIL" off to watch Motley Crue and Kiss, my brother and his friend were going to watch Lamb of God and Suicidal Tendencies.  We would of course see my brother again at the car park later, but my brother's friend has parked in a different car park.

Motley Crue were playing their final UK festival at Download so my "BIL" and I were looking forward to watching them.  They didn't disappoint, their set was really good.  I didn't know all the songs they played, but some were familiar and they even did a cover of Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the UK"!

So another festival was almost over … there was just one more act left L

After Motley Crue had finished their set, we to get some food.  Tonight, tea would be spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce (yum yum yum). 

Back to the main stage and the last act of the day was the mighty KISS!

To get us in the mood, we took a silly selfie:

KISS had promised to put on a hell of a show and they really didn't disappoint.  It's hard to imagine that these guys are all in their sixties!  Strutting around in all that glam make-up and seven inch heels.  I guess though, they've had a long time to get it right J

There was lots of theatrics too from flame throwing to riding zip-wires and over the top fireworks, they were pretty amazing.

We didn't see the whole set though because we had agreed with the others that we would head back to the car park at 10.30pm.  We might not have seen the end of KISS's set, but their over the top fireworks lit up the car park on the walk back!

My "BIL" and I got back to the car first with my brother meeting up with us about ten minutes later.  We sat and chilled for a bit, waiting for the stream of cars leaving to ease.  Actually, we had parked near to the entrance so we didn't actually have much trouble getting out!

Finally we were on our way home.

When I got home, it was gone midnight.  My brother and "BIL" helped me back into my flat with my essentials.  He would drop my food and booze off in a day or two when he'd had a chance to sort it out.

I didn't go to bed straight away…I was still buzzing and I sat regaling my weekend to my other half for some time before I went to bed, tired and smelly (according to my fiancé)!

Despite the weather and my tummy upset, it had been a brilliant weekend.

Will I do it again?

Probably :)

Gatchacaz's "Mega" Download Review [Part 4]

Saturday 13th June 2015

The rain may have had something to do with that and we were thankful not to have to listen to our annoying jock neighbours!  That said, I still didn't sleep, as the rain continued to pound against my tent, and someone was listening to a mixture of Muse, Slipknot and Guns and Roses.

It was still raining when we got up that morning.  No one was keen to get the hexi-burner going so I didn't get my brew.  I had a can of coke instead.

Everything from yesterday was still soaked.  My raincoat and rucksack were still dripping rain water onto the floor of my tent and were in no fit state to be used again!  The inside of my walking boots were wet, but that was because I'd not worn my over-trousers the day before.

Even my camera had given up the ghost thanks to the previous nights soaking so that would be staying in the tent for the rest of the weekend.  It was just as well that I'd bought a new memory stick for my phone, which had survived a soaking and would now be my only means of taking photos and videos!

A friend of mine had brought me a jug for peeing into (I called it my piss-pot).  She thought it was a shewee, and although it was far too large for lugging round the arena with, it certain came in useful in the tent!  With the campsite now much busier, and long queues for the portaloos, it certainly was a god-send to use!  Disposing of the contents was not so much fun, but the grass outside my tent was wet already, so hey-ho!!!

After donning the waterproofs, including over-trousers and a fetching RAF poncho, we headed off to the arena for our second day of music.  My new boots had given me the compulsory blister, but thankfully I had brought plasters and I was wearing two pairs of socks so not only were my toes protected, my feet were warm and dry too!

We wanted to get into the arena to watch a band on the Zippo stage at 1.30pm called "Apocalyptica".  Thankfully there was no jobsworth on the entrance so we managed to get in no problems.  This band are from Finland.  They're rather unusual as they play chellos, but their music is rather good.  One of the band members has long, blond hair and he was doing a fair bit of moshing - we thought his hair was going to get caught in the strings of his chello at one point!

After they had finished, we decided to get some food.  I had chosen to skip breakfast so I was really hungry.  My "BIL" and brother's friend went off to sample the paella and I had a duck burger with hoi sin onions (yum, yum).  That was washed down with another pint of cider!

After that we split up again.  My "BIL" and brother's mate wanted to go back to the campsite and me and my brother would stay in the arena and we would all meet up again later at a designated time and place.  My brother's mate had wanted to watch a band on the main stage called Parkway Drive but decided to go back to the campsite leaving me and my brother to watch them instead.

I'm not really a fan and we got bored sitting on wet grass so we went for a wander round the stalls.  My brother bought a novelty hat (Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and I bought a cool Iron Maiden patch!

When we finally re-grouped, we headed over to the Somersby Bar for more cider.  We stood there chatting and drinking for a bit, then my "BIL" and brother's friend wanted the loo.  Whilst they were gone, my brother suggested that I should give the slide a go.  I was game for it, so off I went.  I gave my brother the "thumbs up" through a window and then tried to figure how to get into the slide.  I wasn't planning on going in face first, but getting in feet first was tricky!  I could get the first leg in, but without anything to hold onto, I couldn't get my second leg in.   In the end, a member of the bar staff gave me a shoulder to lean on!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Hahaha! That was a lot of fun!

The highlight of my day was the main stage's support act, Faith No More, who were due on stage at about 7pm.  I'm a huge fan, but the last time I'd seen these guys was when they had supported Guns and Roses back in 1992!

It was so worth the wait … OMG, they really were that good!  I was moshing and singing and generally getting carried away, whilst getting some odd looks from my brother who I think was a little embarrassed :D

Speaking of embarrassed…

After Faith No More had finished their set, we headed off towards the Zippo stage to watch Marilyn Manson who was due on about 9pm.  First we needed to refuel.  Tonight's offering was a chicken tikka wrap with mayo and salad (yum).

Unlike the main stage where there is lots of room for people to spread out, the Zippo stage doesn't seem to have the same luxury.  A lot of people wanted to see Manson, so it got rather cosy very quickly.  My anxiety kicked in and it all got a bit too much, so after he'd played his first song (Deep Six), I had to get out.  Mr "BIL" agreed to stay with me so that my brother and his friend could carry on watching, but we had agreed a spot to meet up afterwards.

We settled down next to an ice cream van of all things.  We were still able to watch Manson's set through the scaffolding for raised disabled seating but during the long gaps between his songs, we could hear Muse on the main stage.  My "BIL" wanted to watch them too, and as I'm not a huge Manson fan, I was happy with that.

We were a bit mindful that the others wouldn't find us if we moved, but I pointed out that Manson finished before Muse so we could always go back and they wouldn't be any the wiser ;)

We went off to watch Muse and, when Manson finished, we went back to our rendezvous point to meet up with my brother and his friend.  We 'fessed up to going to watch Muse, and they were okay with that.

We went to watch some of Muse's set, but my brother's friend isn't a fan.  I managed to hear them play 'Stockholm Syndrome', a favourite of mine, before we decided we'd all had enough and it was time to head back to the campsite.

Just as well really as that pesky stomach bug I mentioned earlier had decided to pay me a visit…

Gatchacaz's "Mega" Download Review [Part 3]

Hi Guys

Apologies for the tardiness in posting the next part of my Download review.  It's been a pretty tiring week at work.

At least it's weekend, and all being well, I should be able to get the rest of this posted.

So, where were we....

Friday 12th June 2015

Day three dawns fine and sunny, but dark clouds are on the horizon, and we know from the weather updates that heavy rain is on the way.  Better pack the waterproofs for later!

Everyone is up and about at 9am, and the hexi-burner is on the go (as well as a few things that shouldn't).  I'm feeling sick myself this morning.  Think it might be the airbed though as it has deflated slightly in the night.

Time for some drugs to get rid of the headache and settle my stomach!

Didn't sleep much better last night.  Again it was cold, and again, we had to listen to our mad jock neighbours carrying on all night.  I won't go into the details here because some of it was a bit crass, even for me, although it was quite entertaining in places. 

Someone was listening to Rammstein during the night too, but I didn't mind that.

Oh, and I found another use for the shewee … hahahaha!!!

Breakfast, again, was a cereal bar.

So today the music finally starts!  Highlight of the day for me will be tonight's headliners, Slipknot.  They headlined last time we were here, but I found them a bit too weird!  Since then, I've become a fan and I'm looking forward to seeing them tonight.

Last time we got into the arena from the campsite across the racetrack.  This year is different though, as we have to go through the village, back out though the campsite entrance and round a side road.   It takes us a good half an hour or so to reach the entrance to the arena.

Getting in was almost as bad as queuing to get into the campsite!  Unfortunately, me and my brother's friend chose the queue with the jobsworth security guard who was checking everyone extremely thoroughly!  It gave me a chance to have a chat and a joke with some lads in the queue behind us, but it was no laughing matter when we got to the front!

She really was a jobsworth, scrutinising every inch of us.  She inspected my brother's friend's wallet, pulling all his cards out individually, and when she got to me, she checked under my hat, sniffed a packet of tissues I had on me and confiscated my paracetamol!!!  At one point I thought she was going to take my phone apart and check inside that as well!!!

Nightmare!

Finally we were in, and three days of music could begin!!!

First point of call was another merchandise stall.  I wanted a Download 2015 zipped hoodie.  I queued at one stall for about 15 minutes to find out they'd sold out in all but 'small' so I went to another stall where after another lengthy queue I managed to get one in 'large'.  Only when I rejoined the guys did I find out that the top was damaged.  I took it back, but by then they had sold out of that size as well so I opted for a refund.

Lunch was sweet and sour chicken balls with noodles.  The lads had wandered over to the one of the small covered tent stages and we watched a band called "Wild Lies" who were quite good.  After that we had a wander round some of the stalls and stopped by the bar to buy a pint of Somersby cider.

We wandered round the arena taking in other bands and stuff and then headed over to the Somersby bar for another pint of cider, stopping en-route for a photo opportunity:

The Somersby bar was rather fun.  It replaced the Jagermeister bar that had been there in previous years.  As well as the downstairs bar, it had an upstairs one too with a DJ playing rock music and a slide that went down the outside -- someone would be trying that out before the weekend was out!!!

We stayed in there for a bit watching the bands playing on the main stage and listening to the music the DJ was playing then it was time for another wander, more cider and that dreaded portaloo pit-stop!

My brother's friend wanted to go and watch a band on the covered Maverick stage called "Beartooth". Their set was at 4.45pm so he went off to watch them and we said we'd meet up with him afterwards.  Sadly, they didn't agree a meeting point so when their set had finished, we spent quite a bit of time milling round the tent looking for him and sending text messages which we didn't think he would get given the intermittent signal!

By this time it's started raining

Eventually we met up again, although my brother was non-too pleased at his friend's wandering tactics.  After that we didn't split up unless we had agreed a time and place to meet up again.

My brother and "BIL" had decided to head back to the campsite for a bit so me and my brother's friend went off to watch Five Finger Death Punch on the main stage.  Another band we saw last time.  My brother's friend is a big fan, and I have to admit they're not too bad to listen to.)

I went off to the merchandise stall again to see if I could get the elusive hoodie (I'd been told they'd be getting more stock after 5pm), but they hadn't had the delivery yet.  In the end, I decided to buy myself a Download 2015 t-shirt, and a Billy Idol t-shirt for my mum (she's a big fan).

I then went to meet up with my brother's friend and watch the rest of Five Finger Death Punch's set.

After that we just wandered round wasting time.  We were all going to watch Thunder who were playing on the Zippo stage at 7pm so we went to our agreed meeting point to wait for my brother an "BIL" to re-join us.

By the time they did, it was almost 7.10pm and we had started walking up towards the stage.  It was also raining quite heavily now, and the waterproofs had gone on (but not the over-trousers).  We watched the whole of their set and then went over to the main stage to watch the last half hour or so of Judas Priest's set.

By the their set finished at about 8.30pm, we were hungry so we went to get tea which tonight, for me, was a hotdog!  It wasn't much fun trying to eat it in the pouring rain though!

Slipknot were on stage at 9.20pm.  My "BIL" is not a fan and given the pouring rain, he didn't really want to stay and watch them so he headed back to the campsite.  The rest of us would stay and we managed to get as close to the stage as we could, although I found it a bit claustrophobic being jostled and pushed about.

By the time they came on stage, the rain was torrential and I was soaked (despite my waterproofs).  I didn't care, because this was why we were here and their set was amazing!  I even experienced my first circle pit that opened up to the right of where we were stood.  It was a little bit uncomfortable for me because of my anxiety, but it was interesting to watch people running round the circle and pushing one another.  It was very civilised though as if someone fell over, everyone would stop, pick that person off the floor and then carry on again.

Bonkers!

When their set finished, we began the long trek back to the campsite.  By then, the village and the campsite had been transformed into muddy quagmires which was no fun.  It was a great relief to get back to our tents and get out of our wet things -- it was the warmest and driest I had been all day!

Gatchacaz's "Mega" Download Review [Part 2]

Here we go ... are you ready for more?

Thursday 11th June 2015

Good morning Download!

And what another glorious morning it is!

Although I was tired when I turned in last night, I can't say I had any sleep.  For a start, it was freezing!!!  Despite having my fleece on and wearing thick socks, I just couldn't get warm.  I was so cold my teeth were chattering!!!

Not only that, but there was a bunch of Scottish kids pitched up next to us who had been pretty rowdy all night with their shouting and swearing and smoking weed, so it was pretty hard to sleep.

That said, we were all up and about a 9am.  My brother's friend had his hexi-burner going so we could all have a brew.  My "BIL" had provided some rather fetching RAF merchandise in the shape of mugs and sporks … and the compulsory ponchos (more on that later).

I headed off to use the portaloo (minus the shewee).  Trying to negotiate tents and those pesky tent strings is not easy at the best of times, especially in flip-flops!  As the campsite fills up, this will get more and more challenging!!!

Definitely easier without the sheewee!  Actually, to give them their due, the portaloos at Download are not that bad.  They do get cleaned pretty much throughout the day, but I still hate them!

Back to the campsite to change and have breakfast (a cereal bar).  The weather is fabulous today with blue skies and warm sunshine.  By 11am, we're all sitting round our tents drinking cider and listening to Slipknot on my brother's iPod.

Cheers, bro!

The Leicestershire Police Force helicopter is flying overhead, we joke that it's the RAF here for my "BIL" (he should have been at Cosford Airshow that weekend).  Later I find out through their Facebook page that they're taking aerial shots of Donington Park:

To give you an idea of where we were camped, we were in the upside-down t-shaped camp at the bottom right of the picture!

Lunch is a tin of cold spaghetti hoops and mini-sausages (yum).  We pretty much spend all afternoon chilling in the sun.  I have put sun-cream on and swopped my novelty giraffe hat for a wide-brimmed one - my brother declines my offer to use sun cream (which he'll later regret).

Our Scottish neighbours are having a strange drinking game that involves duct tape and cans of Strongbow (don't ask - I didn't!!!)

We are playing our own drinking game.  Smashing empty cans with a rubber mallet and then trying to throw them into an empty Strongbow box.  Everyone kept missing to start with.  My brother scored the first hit, but my "BIL" has no excuse for missing - he's sat right next to the box!!!

Later that afternoon and we're off to the campsite village for a mooch.  It is now obvious that my brother should have taken my sun cream as he has panda-eyes!  You can also see the white marks down the sides of his face where his sunglasses have been too -- hee hee :D

The village is full of little store selling lots of things from "shit cameras" (we asked the store vendor and he says he couldn't get the word disposables on his sign) to wellies, airbeds, and other camping essentials.  There is also a supermarket, beer tents, a fun-fair and "the seat of luxury"!  The latter being proper posh toilets with running water.  The only catch, they are charging £35 for the weekend, which is a bit steep!  We decided to continue taking our chances with the portaloos!!!

We stop by the official merchandise store and I buy a Slipknot t-shirt, a Download tote bag and Download wristband.  My brother also buys a Slipknot t-shirt and a Download themed Zippo lighter. 

We stop by a stall selling bandanas and sew/iron-on patches.  Their cashless system has broken down, they are not amused as they have to turn people away.  Thankfully, they are taking cash, which luckily we all have on us!  I managed to treat myself to a gorgeous Iron Maiden bandana:

We stop by another stall selling flags.  They have a really nice one on display of Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie in the "Trooper" pose.  Sadly, they have none left.  We are told they will have more stock tomorrow.  We said we would go back, we never did :(

After a portaloo pit-stop and a stop by the drinking water station, we head over to the outdoor cinema for a sit down.  It is the first chance for me to check in on Facebook (both the wi-fi and mobile-data was shit).  Firstly, I see that Christopher Lee has died :( ironically, we are watching Lord of the Rings!  Secondly, my sister has posted me to tell me that Duran Duran are touring later in the year!

I can't really check the links she has sent me due to the shitty wi-fi, so I just update my status.

The plan of attack for the evening was to go back to the camp, chill, have tea then head back to the village about 10pm go on the fun fair and then watch some wrestling at midnight.

After half and hour, we decide to head back to the camp.  My brother says he isn't feeling crash hot, I suspect he has a touch of sunstroke!  I let him have my water, which he drains and so I go over to the water station for a re-fill.

When we get back to the camp, my brother decides he wants a sleep.  His friend had been sick earlier in the day (he did that last time too), and has also gone for a lie down.  My "BIL" is reading his Kindle, so I retreat into my tent and decide to listen to a bit of Faith No More's new album "Sol Invictus" to get me in the mood for Saturday night.

We have tea about 7.30pm (ish).  It's another barbecue of burgers and sausages.  My brother and his friend say they both feel better but after tea, my brother goes for another snooze.  Earlier in the day, my "BIL" had put an inflatable parrot and some plastic balls from a neighbouring pitch in my brother's sleeping bag when he wasn't looking - he still hasn't realised yet!

About 9.30pm, me, my "BIL" and brother's friend are having a brew.  My brother is still snoozing.  It doesn't look like we will be going up to the village again tonight :(  An hour later, my "BIL" and brother's friend have decided to call it a night too! I am wide awake but don't fancy going up to the village on my own.

Looks like I am having an early night too.

Thankfully, I have put some of the new Thunderbirds episodes on my phone, so I watch a few of those and listen to some more tunes, before I settle down for another cold, sleepless night...

Gatchacaz's "Mega" Download Review [Part 1]

 WOW, has it really been seven weeks since Download???

  

Last time I posted on here was the day before and I was getting really excited.  Now, that seems like a very distant memory.

So, how was it?

Well, it was a bit of a mixed bag if I am honest,  This time round we had warm sunshine, torrential rain and mud…lots of mud!  Oh, and I caught a stomach bug :(

Those of you who follow me on Facebook will have no doubt seen my photos but I also wanted to share our escapades as well.  So over the next week or so, I am going to post my journal of what we got up to -- warts and all!

Sit back ... it's going to be a bumpy ride!!!

Wednesday 10th June 2015

I didn't sleep well the night before, and I packed and un-packed my large back pack several times before I was completely satisfied!  I had expected to be more organised about stuff this year as having done it before, I knew what I should and shouldn't take.  It didn't make the packing any easier though!

This year, I was going again with my brother (Chris), his friend (also called Chris), and my brother in law "BIL" (Simon).  Again, I would be the only girl in our group, but that didn't bother me.

My brother in law was going to collect me en-route to my brother's house.  He called round early, I was still in my PJ's as I hadn't showered yet.  He decide to leave me to it and headed into town to get a few more bits.

He came back an hour later and off we went.

After packing (and re-packing) the car several times, it was about 12.30pm when we finally got on the road.  We had a pit-stop at the local supermarket to stock up on last minute supplies and I wanted to buy the latest edition of "Kerrang" for it's Download review:

Download Festival is held annually at Donington Park, next to East Midlands Airport.  It takes about an hour and a half by car to get there from where I live.

After taking the wrong turn off a roundabout (and having to go round a second time), we finally got parked up at about 2.30pm!  As we had so much stuff, we had decided that we would make two trips to the car.  The first trip would just be the essentials … camping stuff and the booze!!!

Last time we did Download, we didn't queue all that long to get into the campsite, but this time, the queue was humongous!  When we started queuing, it was about 3pm.  I suppose we should have been thankful on that first day that the weather was hot and sunny because if it had been raining, the queuing would not have been fun.

The queue moved at a snails pace too.  We'd move for a little bit, then we'd be stopped for about 10-15 minutes.  Every time the queue moved forward, there'd be this mad surge of bodies, tents, and trolley's all pushing forward!  It was a bit bonkers!

We cracked open a few cans of Strongbow to share whilst we queued.

Eventually, at about 5pm, we reached the entrance to the campsite (huzzah).  We managed to dodge the bag inspection, and collected our wristbands.  This year they were introducing a "cashless" system which worked off an RFID tag attached to the wristband:

It was a strange system to use (imagine scanning a barcode at a supermarket checkout), but it worked well for us and was better than having lots of cash on us, although we did have some cash -- just in case!

So we're here, and we're finally in the campsite … WOOP WOOP!!!

Now all we had to do was find somewhere to pitch our tents!!!

Last time we camped in the "white" campsite which was quite easy to get to.  We headed off that way again, but it didn't look like we would have much joy there this time round!  Even though the music doesn't start for another two days, the campsite was already heaving!  We traipsed through the "blue" camp, and saw nothing, so we stopped at the edge of the "red" camp.  My brother and "BIL", decided to go off and look for somewhere to accommodate four tents.  I was left to guard the booze:

So I settled in for a long wait.  I watched them do a lap of the "red" camp before they indicated they were going to look further a field.  I took the opportunity to text my other half and let him know we'd arrived, listened to a bit of Slipknot and cracked open a cider :)

Eventually, my brother rang me to say they'd found somewhere.  He said they'd get the tents pitched and come and get me.  "Don't be too long," I replied, "I need a pee!"

They were gone ages (well over half an hour), so I continued to people watch.  I watched these two lads half-pitch a tent and then get told off by the camp-site security for pitching in the wrong place!  Of course, I could have gone and told them they couldn't camp there before the security came along, but it was more fun waiting to watch what happened (Oo, aren't I nasty)!

Finally, I was rescued as the lads returned!  We were pitched up in the "pink" campsite, but it was still a walk to get there, past the outdoor cinema, the inflatable church and wrestling ring and through the "black" camp, which would lead to the "pink" camp (which you entered down a rather steep hill).  It was a bit precarious with over-ladened trolley's which constantly spilled their contents (mainly cider) or tipped over completely (in the case of my "BIL's" trolley - which he named "Indy").

It was a bit comical, but eventually we got to the tents.  It was a good spot too!  Having said that, they had only just opened the camp site up and it was only Wednesday! By Friday, it would be heaving with tents and gazebos!

This time round we were all having our own tent as last time we had shared, and my brother didn't want to do that again.  I was happy to do that as it meant I had more space and more privacy (something I would be thankful of later on), although, my tent had the biggest porch and so I was lumbered with all the food and drink supplies!

With the airbed up, and stuff sorted, it was time to tackle my first trip to the portaloos!

Portaloos are not much fun at the best of times and last time it had been a bit of a faff trying to un-do layers of clothing whilst trying not to have an accident!  It had all been a bit traumatic last time, and so this time round I invested in a Shewee, which I had been reassured would make things a lot easier.

They do say you are supposed to "practice" before hand and, I didn't.  As a result, the aforementioned "accident" occurred, and I walked back to the tent feeling rather damp! 

Not a good start -- the shewee was banished to the tent for the rest of the festival!

So after a wardrobe change, I joined the others for a few tins of cider whilst we waited to hear from my brother's friend, who'd had to work that day and wouldn't be able to get to us until after 6pm.  I think it was gone 7pm when he finally joined us -- after he'd had to ring my brother for directions to our campsite.

After we'd given him time to settle in (and had a few more tins), we all headed back to our car to get the rest of our stuff, and tonight's supper!  It was quite a trek there and back!

En-route back to the campsite, we stopped off in the campsite village to collect our portable phone chargers, and buying the official programme and lanyard, was a good opportunity to see how the cashless system worked!

It was gone 10pm when we got back to the campsite and we didn't chow down on barbeque sausage and burgers until after 11pm.  My "BIL" had brought along an excellent 10-litre box of home-brew cider which, (despite a leak), we managed to devour between us in just over an hour!

By midnight I was pretty much done in.  I think my brother would have liked to stay up longer, but I was tired (and cold) and ready to crawl into my sleeping bag. 

Which is what I did, and so ended day one…

DONINGTON OR BUST!!!

Guess where I'm going tomorrow!!!

Long term followers of my blog will know that two years ago I made my first pilgrimage to Download Festival, which is held annual at Donington Park, the spiritual home of rock 'n roll here in the UK!!!

We had a blast, and those of you who follow me on Facebook will have seen the photos!

Well, I'm going again this year, and this time we're doing the whole five days!!!

I think I must be mad ... LOL!!!

The line up this year is almost as good as last time, with the mighty Slipknot headlining again on the Friday night.  I'm looking forward to enjoying these behemoths of the rock world as last time it was all a little too weird!  Since then I've taken a shine to Iowa's finest, and their new album is awesome!

I'm going again with my brother, brother in law and my brother's bessie mate.  We'd discussed going again this year last summer, prior to the announcement of the headliners.   Once they became announced, I don't think there was any doubt we'd be going!

When we first booked it late last year, June seemed ages away, but now it's finally here!!!!

I did the doodle for the sketch above ages ago, but it's only in the last week that I got round drawing it properly.  I had wanted to do an ink version too, but that didn't go too well, so I left that.  The nickname was coined by a rather nutty Scottish lady my brother and I were chatting to whilst queuing for beer (as you do) last time round.  I was wearing my novelty giraffe hat and a rather fetching Royal Air Force's poncho at the time though!

If you need proof - click HERE (at your own peril)

Well, I think that I'd better get back to my packing ... still lots to do before tomorrow!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch :) x