Any heavy metal fans out there?

Is it drivable from where you are? I took my teenage daughter a couple of years ago, didn't camp, but only an hours drive away, worked out well. It was a hot weekend and needed the hospitality tent last day (nothing major), was tiring for her by the end. We made the most of all the stages and it was quite a bit of walking. So make sure you have plenty of drink and energy boosting snacks.

She struggled to get a good view, but we always found somewhere that she found comfortable. Factor that into kids who may be smaller than her. We saw GnR on the Saturday and got close to the stage, that was a massive crowd and took some walking through to get out of there.

Just make sure you are all up for a whole day in the elements fighting for a good view, its a long day amongst the crowds, but everyone is really friendly there.
I'm in York - I've done the day trip many a time myself. Where I park is about a 45min walk from the car to the arena, so add another 90mins of walking into the mix as well... its a tough day for little legs !! The youngest mainly wants to see Kiss and the eldest (will be 11) wants to see Maiden as well which is an extra day ! The eldest could manage 2 days, the youngest couldn't. May look to get a hotel in Nottingham or Derby and drive there each day. I wouldn't get too close to the stages with the little ones....maybe go back up the hill for the main stage. Would probably pack some camping chairs as well when they need a rest. The youngest is diabetic so need to make sure we keep him fed and watered too ....then there's the chance its chucking it down !
 
Well considering that 4 tickets to see Queen & Adam Lambert at Manchester Arena next June would cost me around £600 I think Download is very good value....and kid tickets are half price !

I don't think they're not, but invariably there isn't enough there for me to spend three days there. And when I say "not enough" I don't mean lack of amount - there's loads and loads of bands on. But when you might only be able to see 3 or 4 of the ones you actually want to see, that £200 day drops in value. For me, there's rarely ever enough bands that I actually want to see playing on the same day, let alone at times you can see them without them clashing. The MoR of yesteryear were great - 1, sometimes 2 stages; in 1994 (2 stages) we saw all but 2 bands over the whole day, and that was amazing since 9 of the 10 we did see we actually wanted to see. 1995 we saw all 9 bands (single stage) and 8 of those we really wanted to see. I get why there's loads of variety at Download - cater for lots of people and you'll get lots of people = lots of £££, but it's also quite an expensive day/weekend. Last year I went just for GnR, so anything else was a bonus. I went in 2012 for Black Sabbath and there was enough on the rest of the day to interest me (Lamb of God, Soundgarden, Black Label Society, Megadeth, and a few others we only got a chance to see parts of due to clashing and walking times) but on the whole there just hasn't been enough to make me do the whole weekend, or go regularly even for a single day.
 
I'm in York - I've done the day trip many a time myself. Where I park is about a 45min walk from the car to the arena, so add another 90mins of walking into the mix as well... its a tough day for little legs !! The youngest mainly wants to see Kiss and the eldest (will be 11) wants to see Maiden as well which is an extra day ! The eldest could manage 2 days, the youngest couldn't. May look to get a hotel in Nottingham or Derby and drive there each day. I wouldn't get too close to the stages with the little ones....maybe go back up the hill for the main stage. Would probably pack some camping chairs as well when they need a rest. The youngest is diabetic so need to make sure we keep him fed and watered too ....then there's the chance its chucking it down !

Where do you park? As one of the things I hate the most about Donington is the car park - pretty sure every time I've been it's been on average an hour to get out of it (and paying £20 for the privilege) so I'm all up for a walk to get to somewhere free/easier/quicker to get out of and back on the main road
 
Ah, was going to suggest the Ashby De La Zouch Premier Inn, its on the A42 which is a dead easy drive into Donnington in the morning and the route I take from home, but looks like its already booked.

Regards leaving, I have a tip which you may hate, but we leave during the last song before the encores. You get to hear the last song as you're making your way up the hill and you get to hear the encore in the distance as you get to the car with very little traffic getting out. It may be sacrilege, but it saved us hours faffing about on the car park each midnight.

The great thing about Donnington is you don't need to be close to the stage for a good view or a good sound. I was immensely impressed by how good things sounded 3/4's up the hill and the big screens show most of the action. But I do like getting up front for my favourite bands..
 
I don't think they're not, but invariably there isn't enough there for me to spend three days there. And when I say "not enough" I don't mean lack of amount - there's loads and loads of bands on. But when you might only be able to see 3 or 4 of the ones you actually want to see, that £200 day drops in value. For me, there's rarely ever enough bands that I actually want to see playing on the same day, let alone at times you can see them without them clashing. The MoR of yesteryear were great - 1, sometimes 2 stages; in 1994 (2 stages) we saw all but 2 bands over the whole day, and that was amazing since 9 of the 10 we did see we actually wanted to see. 1995 we saw all 9 bands (single stage) and 8 of those we really wanted to see. I get why there's loads of variety at Download - cater for lots of people and you'll get lots of people = lots of £££, but it's also quite an expensive day/weekend. Last year I went just for GnR, so anything else was a bonus. I went in 2012 for Black Sabbath and there was enough on the rest of the day to interest me (Lamb of God, Soundgarden, Black Label Society, Megadeth, and a few others we only got a chance to see parts of due to clashing and walking times) but on the whole there just hasn't been enough to make me do the whole weekend, or go regularly even for a single day.
I agree - its what usually drives my decision on the day trip, i.e. which day has got the most bands I want to see. In fairness though, there have been a few occasions when myself and my mate have stayed put at one stage and just watched whoever came on. Discovered some decent bands that way !! But you're right its a fair chunk of change, but on the basis that individual gigs by some bands aren't too far away from what you'd pay for just decent seats for them its still decent value.

Where do you park? As one of the things I hate the most about Donington is the car park - pretty sure every time I've been it's been on average an hour to get out of it (and paying £20 for the privilege) so I'm all up for a walk to get to somewhere free/easier/quicker to get out of and back on the main road
I park in Melbourne, just along the street near the end of the village Donnigton side. If doing a day trip I aim to get there around lunchtime. From there its around a 25-30min walk to the car park, then 15mins or so from there to the arena area. The walk back is a little hairy at night as there's no footpath so you;re on the road, usually in a black t-shirt and black shorts :). But usually straight back in the car and back on the road.
 
I'll bear that in mind, thanks! Last year we came through Castle Donington town/vilage and I was looking to see if there was any raids with no parking restrictions, but they're obviously wise to it and the roads without white/yellow lines had cones out and temp "no parking" signs. But I really hate that car park - we weren't even that far into it, and could see the exit from where we were parked, but after an hour we'd only moved about three rows. In the end we u-turned and drove through the fields and through a gap in the hedge. Great, but if it had been raining we'd have been stuck there.
 
Just spotted At The Gates are playing at the Electric Ballroom in December

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I'm seeing Arch Enemy and Amon Amarth in November and whilst it'll be good to see Hypocrisy open for them, I thought it a shame ATG weren't on the bill like they are for the US leg of that tour. So I think I'll have to swing by this one. I also heard Deserted Fear's album, 'Drowned by Humanity' earlier this year and liked it, so that's a bonus too.
 
MACHINE HEAD NAME NEW DRUMMER AND GUITARIST
In two posts on the bands Facebook page today, Robb Flynn introduces Matt Alston (ex-Devilment drummer, drum tech for Limp Bizkit, Machine Head monitor tech, Cradle of Filth guitar tech) and Vogg Kiełtyka (Decapitated, Lux Occulta, ex Sceptic, ex Vader) to the band. Matt and Vogg will play the the "part 1", a collection of MH's classic songs, of the "Evening With" shows on all dates of the 'Burn My Eyes' anniversary tour, with original members Logan Mader and Chris Kontos playing "part 2", which will be the 'Burn My Eyes' album in full.



 
when i've been to Donington i park at the airport. although the last time i was there was a bit of a cluster**** it got sorted ok. given it was the year it belted down for about 8 hours solid the fact you're parking on tarmac is a massive plus.
 
Went to this before work last night

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Hadn't seen Kill II This since they opened for Megadeth at the Astoria back in 1997 on the Cryptic Writings tour, so when I spotted they were back (apparently on and off since 2014) I had to go check them out, as I remember being really impressed with them. And they didn't disappoint! Original line up bar different singer (who is excellent BTW), it was a real treat for me to see drummer Jeff Singer (My Dying Bride, ex Paradise Lost) play, and even more to meet him after and have a quick chat. Fun of energy, the thing that made an impression on me the most, aside from the kick-ass metal, was just how much fun they were having - Mark the guitarist (a 6'6" giant) leaping about the tiny stage with the BIGGEST grin on his face the entire set. Not been the the Boston Music Room before, although I had been to it's sister venue The Dome, it wasn't the best turn out - I reckon as few as 40/50 people. But that didn't stop all three bands giving it the full beans. I only caught the last song from openers The Heretic Order, which is a shame as they sounded good. Divine Chaos played a particular difficult set since there was probably only 20 people in the room at that point, and it's hard to get the energy going with a sparse crowd but it didn't damped their spirits - watching them play you'd be forgiven for thinking there was a 500-strong crowd behind you. Kill II This were class, a new track was played from a forthcoming album, so that's something to look forward to. Really hope to see them again, hopefully with a larger crowd, maybe somewhere like The Underworld, or even the Dome with it's bigger stage. By all accounts, Manchester (their hometown) the night before was a much bigger crowd, so it's not the bands popularity that befalls them, I guess they just need better promotion down here (I found out about the gig by accident, and it really wasn't advertised, from what I could see, other than by the band.
 
Won a pair of tickets to an advanced screening of S&M2 on Saturday, ahead of its nationwide release on the 9th. I'd still rather see it with a room full of metal heads but I'm at a gig on the 9th so no can do, so this will have to do instead. Should have just enough time to squeeze it in and make it to work by 11:30 for a night shift!



 
Writing could be on the wall for Metallica. You were lucky to see them when you did. With James entering rehab I would not be at all surprised to see them call it a day. I think a lot depends on how much Jane really wants to continue.
I personally would rather see them cut back on the touring and spend a bit more time in the studio anyway to be honest.
 
I'm sure I read that they (Metallica) need to tour in order to keep paying the bills and keep the lights on! Its a big organisation with lots of employees who need paying. Touring is a sure fire way to bring in lots of cash as albums don't make money like they used to !
 
Oh yeah, clearly the amount of touring they do is because of the money. I'm surprised that they wouldn't already have enough in the bank to just call it a day though.
 
Much as I don't want to, I have to admit I thought the same thing. One the one hand, James beat it once, so could beat it again. On the other, it might get to the point that he throws in the towel on touring as no doubt that's the strain on his commitment to sobriety. They've already cut back significantly on touring: whilst they do tour consistently, they don't do more than 50 dates a year, never do back to back dates, alway have two weeks off every couple months, etc.
 
Guessing that's to do with the release of S&M2 in the theaters?
 
I wouldn't say an anti-climax. Ok, so not amazing if you're in the UK, but Metallica have announced they'll play 5 US festivals next year, and headline each of them twice. That's unprecedented, I think. And then, to top it off, they'll do a unique set each night, so you get 10 different sets over 5 weekends in 5 different cities/states. Pretty impressive if you ask me (but then I'm a fanboi so I would say that).

This is, of course, hinging on James being out of rehab and happy/fit to work
 
In other news, Babymetal's third album ("Metal Galaxy") is released today

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Guessing that's to do with the release of S&M2 in the theaters?

I went to see S&M2 last night.
My thoughts;
You could tell the difference between the original, Michael Kamen orchestral arrangements and arrangements made for the new songs.
Kamen was a genius who knew how to work in and around the existing music rather than just follow what was already there.
That being said, and this is probably more to do with improvements in sound quality and possibly different selection of instruments this time around, some of the old S&M stuff sounded slightly different, with certain parts being emphasised more.
However, the orchestral arrangements for Master of Puppets was butchered!
Instead of playing the same arrangements as the original S&M as they did with other songs from the original, the composer/conductor had the orchestra play something different and just plain awful.
The orchestra just followed exactly what the band were playing and it sounded so boring.

There were a couple of seemingly unnecessary moments half way through which just didn't gel for me.
The inclusion of All Within My Hands was... interesting.
The Unforgiven 3 was one of the highlights, as well as a certain instrumental which was fantastic.

I went into this not knowing Michael Kamen died in 2003, so didn't know why Metallica didn't have him back.

I don't follow much of Metallicas live stuff any more.
Mainly because Lars' drumming is getting worse as the years go on.
There were times when he seemed to be speeding up, or basically not being able to keep a consistent time. And the extra snare hits during the halfway point in One which he's been doing for the past few years just makes his drumming seem even more sloppy.

Overall sound was great, although sometime the low ends seemed a bit over powering, and the bass guitar was at time too prominent. Which is ironic when you remember ...And Justice For All.

Final verdict.
A pretty decent follow up, but some of the arrangements could have used work to sound more interesting.
 
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