Reading Festival 2012

After my move to Barcelona, my TEFL course finishing, going to England to finish my thesis and moving out for good from my flat there, I was joined by my boyfriend and we spent a very interesting weekend at the Reading Festival (in Reading, UK). This was my experience: 



Thursday night, day zero:

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT camp in the green area unless you are 17 or under. We got ZERO sleep that night. I can understand people were excited that they were there, but screaming non-stop until 3 am is unnecessary. I also can't understand why you should bother other people, pass by their camp sites and scream, or sing, or just be rude. Also, it got crazy cold and we didn't have the proper camping equipment. A very bad experience in general. 

Friday, day 1:


Needless to say, that day we were knackered, and we had to wait for a friend of ours to arrive, which took him ages. I would like to invite you to take a look at the webpage of our other companion of the weekend: EdVill (in spanish, sorry), who came all the way from Venezuela and shared our good (and bad) times. 

Hadouken!: The first band of the day, it was really great, but the bad part was the sound, I really couldn't hear the voices at all, the guitar was also missing, sadly. Regardless, the put on a good show and it was loads of fun.

Coheed and Cambria: and amazing band, brilliant sound, these guys can play! I was waiting for  "a favor house atlantic", and they did play it, it was good fun. 

Angels and airwaves: I saw a little bit of them, not enough though. We were having lunch in the back at the time, I did feel it was a little like Blink 182, but without the funny bits. 

The Hives: One of the best acts of the weekend, seriously. I always liked them, but after this show, I adore them, if you have the chance to see them live, please do, its worth your time and money. In the mean time, check out part of their presentation at the festival here:

The Hives @ Reading Festival 2012

A Wilhelm scream: I just saw a couple of songs. I most say the lock up stage had rubbish sound. I've seen them live before in Birmingham, and that was amazing, these guys are really good. 

You and me at six: A band I've seen before at Leeds Festival 2010, I think they are ok, I love "Stay with me" and a couple of more songs, but that's about it. 

Bombay Bicycle club: this band has more fans than what I expected. I honestly thought it wasn't a band for a festival, but maybe to chill with some friends at your house... I was bored.

Paramore: Amazing as usual. It was pretty emotional for me, I love them so much. "The only exception" almost made me cry. It was a powerful gig. 

The Cure: As always, flawless, I love this people. Sadly, I was unable to stay the whole 3 hours, after 2 my body gave out and we had to go and try to sleep. 

The night was better this time. I guess people were tired and had to sleep a little, or it might have been the rain. 

Saturday, day 2:

It started better, we were well rested (or better rested), there was only one set of showers though for a BIG camping area, and it took a while to be able to take one, we almost missed the first presentation, which was unannounced and a surprise:

GREEN DAY!: Amazing as always, I had the privilege to be able to get into the tent (many people had to stay out), and it was great! they actually had to take them down, they didn't want to stop playing. It was a great surprise and one of the best moments of the weekend.

After the show (that was at 11am) we chilled for a while, went to town and had proper food, rested a little in the tent, and prepared ourselves for what was about to come:

Enter Shikari: the gig, was good? I don't know really, because we got smashed and had to get out. We were more focused on breathing and getting out of the mess we were in. Judge for yourselves:

Enter Shikari @ Reading 2012


Florence and the machine: Pouring down we managed to see this amazing band. It was great really, her vocals are flawless and the whole thing was amazing. 

At the Drive in: A band I used to listen to in the beginning of 2000, it was a real treat, this people can play! highly recommended. 

Sunday, day 3:

Another night of better sleep, a nice day out, sunny and warm, we were ready.

The cast of Cheers: a band just starting out, we saw it at the Festival Republic stage, very good, it reminded me of Bloc party, a great and fun sound. 

Eagles of Death metal: a great rock and roll band, a great sound and super fun. I was looking forward to seeing them and I wasn't disappointed. 

All time low: I really like this band, they were great fun, they cover of "Dammit" by Blink 182 was really good.

Good Riddance: I was looking forward to seeing this band, I used to love them in the beginning of 2000, but the sound was terrible, you couldn't understand anything that was going on so we went to see:

Bullet for my Valentine: I'm not particularly fond of their style, but they can play. My boyfriend really wanted to see them, so I humoured him. 

Kaiser Chiefs: We saw a little bit of their show, it was great.

The Black keys: A little boring for me, not my style, they had a lot of fans though. I was also very excited about:

FOO FIGHTERS!: a very emotional show, I cried many times in separate occasions, it was the end of their tour and they had their kids there. Dave Grohl dedicated a song to both his daughters, "Walk" to Violet and "Monkey Wrench" to the younger one (I don't remember her name), and also "These Days" to "those who couldn't be there, Kurt and Chris", I'm not a Nirvana fan, but I had my emotions on my sleeve, so that made me cry again, plus, I love that song. I found the whole show on youtube, enjoy:

Foo Fighters @ Reading Festival FULL!


We left when the encore started though, because we wanted to see:

Less than Jake: again, the sound! we couldn't hear the trombones, or anything for that matter, lock up stage: you need to work on the sound there!

That night was the worst, kids throwing thing at our camp (and everybody's camp for that matter), screaming, falling (on purpose) on our tent, it was really disrespectful. I understand that it is a festival, but, some people would like to rest, because they have been up all day, walking, standing, and some even drinking. 

My advice: If you are over 21 and want to be able to rest, don't camp in the green area! a friend of mine camped at the white one and told me it was ok, so, if I camp again there, which I will try not to do, I will go there. 

I was sad that I missed many bands, like the subways, two door cinema club, billy talent, the horrors, me first and the gimme gimmes, etc, but the reality is that in a festival you have to pick and chose the bands you want to see, you can't see them all. Next time, I guess. 

Leeds Festival 2010

After a long trip back from America (EEUU, USA, whatever you want to call it) I went to Leeds Festival. Due to jetlag amongst other things I missed day 1, so I couldn't see Arcade Fire (which I've seen before at the Hurricane festival), the Libertines, Frank Turner, 3OH!3, Bad Religion, etc, but I wouldn't have been able to endure a day there even if I really wanted to (I arrived that Friday to the UK, and that's what I keep telling myself to feel better). The good news is, I did go to day 2 and day 3, and this is my adventure:

Day 2:

I arrived a little late to the Festival grounds cause I was dead tired after my trip, I stayed in Leeds at a hotel (which was very crappy for the high price I paid) mostly cause I went to the festival by myself. The bands I had the pleasure to see are the following:

- All time Low: I had heard this band before (thanks to kerrang radio) and I quite like it. I really like the song "Weightless" and I think that was the highlight of the show, the gig was decent but nothing extremely amazing.

- You me at six: also a band I've heard of before courtesy of Kerrang radio, I adore "Stay with me" and I quite like "Underdog". The show was also pretty good.

- Limp Bizquit: A band I hated when I was in my early 20's, I hated Fred Durst with passion. I was very pleasantly surprised by them, the gig was AMAZING, the sound was incredible. I knew all the songs and I had a great time, I highly recommend them!

- Cypress Hill: I think festivals tend to be a little stuck in another decade, to make us remember our youth or something, this is another band that did that to me. I used to party with Cypress hill a lot when I was starting Uni, I'm not gonna say the year, hahaha... the gig was pretty fun, I had a great time. I was very surprised when they took out a joint and started smoking... that's just me being a traditional latin american girl.

- WEEZER: the band I was waiting for! One of my favourite bands EVER. They didn't dissapoint me at all... I even ran out of battery on my camera after their gig, it was so amazing! Rivers ran all around the stage, climbed a barrier while singing (don't believe me?), and many other things, and he's pushing 40! I was very happy about this gig, and think they were worth all the money I paid for the whole entire weekend! My only issue was that they didn't play "Keep fishin'" which is my favourite song by them, they didn't play "in the garage", also one of my fav. Their set list was the following:

Hash Pipe
Undone - The Sweater Song
Surf Wax America
Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus cover)
Say It Ain't So
Memories
Island In the Sun
My Name Is Jonas
Beverly Hills
Pork and Beans
Kids - Poker Face (MGMT- Lady Gaga cover)
(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
Buddy Holly

- Paramore: Another band I was very much looking forward to, I really like them and I have a girl crush on Hayley Williams. It was another great gig worth my money. They sound very good live and it was a lot of fun, felt very short though... (and I still have my girl crush)

- Blink 182: I was almost smashed against the back barrier of the front part and I was hit by a half full beer can (maybe it was almost full) on the head (leaving me a bump) - why would someone throw a full beer, it's beyond me! - I was also very tired, but this band was a big part of my Uni years, and one of the first punk bands (or maybe pop-punk?) I listened to and liked. The gig was really good, a lot of people were bitching about Tom's voice that day, but it sounded ok to me, and they were very funny and engaged with the fans a lot.

I left to the hotel that night, tired and kind of cold. I was woken up like at 3am by a party in the room next to mine! (and nobody from the hotel did anything). In the beginning the noise just mixed with my dream, but at 4 am, it woke me up and I told them to shut up basically, which they never did until they went to bed at 5am. I was very tired the next day, I planned to get up at 10 am, but that didn't happen. I was at the festival again a little late.

Day 3:

- Billy Talent: sadly, when I got to the festival, Billy Talent was almost finishing. I wanted to see them live, I had missed them many times before. What I heard was very good, but I only heard a couple of songs.

- Gogol Bordello: I heard about this guys before, but had never heard a single song by them. I enjoyed the gig very much. They are supposed to be gipsy-punk or something, I thought about Mano negra a lot while watching them live. I will do as Gogol says and will start wearing purple :) (Oh, I already do!)

- NOFX: Another band I really wanted to see! I even got mad at a friend of mine cause he saw them live before I did. This band was another one that reminded me of my early Uni years and that I really like to date. They were very funny and very good, even though Fat Mike said many times he was hung over and hadn't slept in like 30 hours. He also said Billy Talent woke him up because of their screams. A lot of jokes (mexican and jewish jokes, mainly) and a lot of good tunes made my afternoon.

- Lostprophets: I had seen them live in 2006 in Hamburg, and they were brilliant. This time, I wasn't disappointed either. An amazing gig by a great band with gorgeous men. What else can I ask for?

- Biffy Clyro: A band I also knew thanks to kerrang, I didn't know them by name, but I knew all their songs! (I realized I knew who they were without knowing their name). The gig was amazing, this guys are great live. I would recommend "Mountain", "Many of horror" and "Bubbles" to those of you that don't know this band.

- Queens of the stone age: Second time is the charm, I guess, I had seen this band live at the hurricane festival, and it was epic. This time they were as good, the only difference was that I didn't know most of the new songs and I didn't have such a great time, only when they played the old stuff. Still very good live!

- Guns and Roses: After more than an hour and a half of wait in the cold (it was getting extremely cold for the clothes I had, and most of the people there), guns came out on stage. I am a fan, I must say, I hated them throughout my adolescence, and I started to like them around 5 years ago, that day I had a Guns and Roses T-shirt (that yielded a lot of high fives by random festival goers), and I had a great time. They opened the show with "Welcome to the jungle" and "It's so easy" came second. I heard most of my favourite songs and had an amazing time, despite of the cold.

In conclusion: I had a great time, will I go to a Festival alone again? I hope not, it wasn't that bad of an experience, but it's better if you can share the experience with friends. Will I go again to Leeds? maybe, who knows, next year I'll try to go to Reading or to a Festival in Belgium, I want to go with my sister and that might be easier for her, it all depends as well on the line up.

Festival: Hurricane Festival 2007 - Scheeßel, Germany

Hurricane Festival 2007 - June

I wrote this two years ago after just coming back from the Festival, I was dead tired and feeling a little sick, but I had to write my impressions then because they were fresh, so, here it goes:

Thursday night, day zero:

We went to the festival one night before to set up tent and the likes. When we got there at 8 the place was already packed and it took us a while to find a spot to camp in. It was raining cats and dogs. Our tents were cheap 10 euros tents, so, the humidity got everything inside them wet!

That night we drank a bit and went to the “disco” they had there, it was good music and it was fun, but soon enough we went to bed. We didn’t sleep very well because the tent was small and we were really wet.

Friday, day one:

Woke up late, chilled… took a cowboy shower (cold) in the public bathrooms. A not so great experience by it self.

The bands started at 4, so we went. The bands that I managed to see are the following:

Mc Queen – A girl band from the UK… all I have to say is that they are kick ass.

Les Rita Mitsouko – some French band… it was ok for like 30 mins, after that, so boring!

Snow Patrol – I thought it was a really nice show, the band is good and they sounded great.

Jet- half saw, half heard… I was only interested in “are you gonna be my girl?” and heard it, so its all good.

Die Fantastischen vier – saw a bit and heard a bit… the show was great and the germans were going crazy! That why this is one of the most important bands here… they are very good.

Beastie Boys – well… I was a bit disappointed… first they had no idea where they were, they said “yeah, beastie boys in your area” WTF??? And they played mostly stuff from the new album, that’s instrumental! So, it was a bit boring.

Queens of the Stone Age – this band made my day, they are as good as I expected… I have no words to describe.

From day one I learned is better to stick to one stage if you wanna see the bands close by. That night we changed tents, so it was bigger and better… I slept ok.

Saturday, day 2:

Woke up relatively early. Decided to go to another bathroom and check out the showers. It had common showers but hot water, so I decided to give it a try, cause it was very cold and I didn’t want another cold shower. I come from a naked family (aka, my family never had any problems with being naked and so I never thought the naked body was a bad thing) and I’m very comfortable naked, so, I just thought: “I’m a naked person, its ok to shower infront of all this girls, if there’s a lesbian let her enjoy”, you could actually sort of see the guys side, but I didn’t care either… I would never see this people again, plus, let them enjoy my nakedness… This by it self was quite an experience, I felt like in the military or in prison… it was very amusing.

After all of this wonderful experience, we ate a bit and decided to go to the Green stage, the main stage, and stay there, so we could see Incubus and Marilyn Manson close by.

The bands that played that day were:

Mumm-Ra - Alt-rock, yet again, cool band, nice kids from the UK.

The Bravery - Indie rock, again, very good band, my future husband played the drums.

The sounds - I completely loved this band for a long time, now I loved them even more. The vocalist’s attitude is great… I love her! Plus, they sound amazing… It was a great show.

Mogwai - It’s a good band, but not for the moment, its instrumental and very slow… I was falling asleep! I think they made a wrong choice to have this band on this stage and at this moment.

Arcade Fire - Wao… I don’t know what to say about this band… it was very strange for me… they were like 10 musicians on stage, playing so many different things, all of them doing backing vocals and jumping around… the style of music, I don’t even know! It was very entertaining and I enjoyed the show…

Bloc Party - Great band… nice guys and a good show… I was laughing cause they seem like a very politically correct band (check out pics of them and you’ll see what I mean)… it was a lot of fun…

Incubus - finally, a band I completely adore and the love of my life (Brandon Boyd) on stage! I was a bit disappointed cause they didn’t play some songs I love and they didn’t interact with the crowd that much… the show was short, but I think it was worth the wait, the rain, the cold and everything, I was really close to them and I had a blast!

Marilyn Manson - I wasn’t gonna swim all of that just to die in the shore! I stayed put close to the stage to see Manson… The show was great, but I expected a bit more… It was cool that he played the songs I like, not that I like Manson so much…

Interpol - Saw them from very far (I was completely dead by then), but heard my favorite songs… they sounded great…

Comments about this day: we got rained on (like 6 times), we didn’t eat properly, we didn’t sit down for like 8 hours, we were really close to the stage (so crushed for many hours by many people), we got beat up, we didn’t pee, we didn’t drink anything (not to pee), but I think it was so worth it!

Sunday, last day, the sick day:

So, After the whole marathon that was Saturday I had a good night sleep but woke up feeling a bit sick… I guess the rain and the cold got to me… took another common hot shower and ate a bit more than the previous day… I took my time this day… I said “whatever, its my last day im gonna enjoy it!”… so some of us took our time, we went see the stands, bought some stuff, drank coffee or beer, sat down, chilled… then it was getting late so I got separated from my group and went to the blue stage… it was gonna be a punk day and the bands playing in the green stage were not that important to me…

Bands I saw by myself the last day:

Sugarplum fairy - heard them chillin on the floor in front of the green stage… good band from Sweden, the vocalist, YUM…

Juliette and the Licks - Juliette Lewis from “Natural Born Killers” rocking her heart out! Great band… didn’t enjoy it that much cause I was in line to get in the front… but they were great… she is a great performer and a good singer…

Less than Jake - No words to describe them… they are so nice, interacted with the crowd, and they really reminded me why I loved (and still love) punk so much… they are not conceded, they are very nice and fun! This band was I think one of my favorite from the hurricane festival…

Rentals - please please, no more indie rock!!! This band was not bad, but I was tired of the indie rock, I think I heard like 10 indie rock bands in 3 days… I didn’t want more of it by then…

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - I was so waiting for them! I was expecting fat mike on bass, but it was Eric Melvin (who looks a lot like my friend Raul from back home), but still it was very funny and entertaining. The vocalist, Spike Slawson from Swingin’ Utters, knew German and was talking with the crowd all the time, I was really impressed! Later on I learned that he also speaks Hebrew and French. They played “The Rocky Horror Picture show” song, “Somewhere over the rainbow” and “Good-bye Earl”, so I was very happy…

Dropkick Murphys - I started to feel sick, very sick at this point, but I really wanted to see them live so I stayed… great band, great show and great sound… but left after half the set to go home and sleep properly…

Conclusions: This experience was completely new for me… and I don’t think im gonna do it again… but for this time, it was very worth it!!

For pictures check: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023177&id=210100424&l=24a4f41a28

Festival: Rock im Park 2009 - Nueremberg, Germany

Rock im Park 2009 - June 2009

Ok, so after two years I went to another festival (in 2008, sadly, I missed the Hurricane with Foo Fighters, argh!). My sister and I decided to go to Rock im Park, which is in Nuremberg (close to where she lives, Wuerzburg). It was perfect, close to her and we actually have relatives living there, my grandma’s cousin, a 70 something lady, charming but can only speak german, so with my poor german and her husband’s poor english we managed to comunicate.

We arrived on friday morning to Nuremberg and had brunch with our new grandparents (Nuremberger sausages and sauer Kraut, breakfast of champions!), then had a small tour of this beautiful city and then left for the concert.

Day 1-

First of all we got very lost when we arrived at the venue, got out really far from where the stages were, and then got really lost inside again. We finally arrived and we had missed New Found Glory, sadly. The bands we managed to see were:

-All American Rejects: I had a great time, is actually a pretty good band, the biggest problem for me was the sound! I couldn’t hear anything from where I was!

- The subways and Guano Apes: why do I put them together? Because these 2 great bands had a very band sound! I couldn’t hear anything, just the drums, basically… so sadly, I cannot say I heard them.

- Chris Cornell: we moved to the other stage and had much better luck, Chris Cornell is amazing, this man can sing! He sang some his new stuff, some of his old solo stuff, and some songs by Soundgarden and even Audioslave. It was a lot of fun and I was really close to the stage.

- MIA: aus berlin… this berliner has actually a lot of fans… I was surounded by gay men and it was fun… too long for my taste though, and I actually thought that I would see M.I.A!

- The Kooks: After being smashed for a very long time and almost falling 100 times or more, this amazing band came out on stage… it was a great show, I was really happy to have waited.

After this we left and missed all the buses we could miss, and ended up going home by taxi. Our welcome home was hot tea and homemade butterkuche! We were lucky enough to sleep on a warm bed and have a shower available.

Day 2-

After a big brunch (again) we left to the concert. It was eassier to arrive at the venue this time, it was raining so we took our raincoats and some sandwiches again. The bands I saw.

- Dragonforce: Alot of fun, this metal band is as good live as they sound on CD. It was great fun.They coud only play like 4 songs hahah.

- Papa Roach: a band I saw in 2002 back home, and had a blast. This time around it was a lot of fun as well, too bad I wasn´t able to see them close by.

- Enter Shikari: this band was very strange, we were´t paying much attention but what we heard was very interesting, I must say.

- Placebo: even though it started to rain (anoying, but not that bad) me and my sister enjoyed the show a lot…Placebo is great live, and the new drummer, yum… it was a blast.

- The Killers: I think one of my favorites of the whole festival, had an awesome time…my sister actually tried to go see Manson after this, but there was so many people trying to go to the small stage (to see Manson and then Korn) that she had to come back, but to have a great time with me (she had seen them live before in Munich in March)… the only bad thing, they didn´t play “Bones” which is my favorite song, but they played “When you were young” so it´s all forgiven.

We played guitar hero in front of a lot of people outside the stages, it was great fun. We played “Everlong” by The Foo Fighters, I played bass and my sister sang…other people played the other instruments, it was amazing! hahaha

That night we also had to take a cab, but we got home better, without getting lost. We also had Tea and cake for us, a warm dry bed and a shower. Priceless.

Day 3- Bye Bye Nuremberg :(

After leaving our bags at the station we managed to arrive via S-bahn better than ever before.

- Machinehead: great show really,it was raining but sunny and we had two rainbows for part of the entertainment. The sound was good,so I have no idea what happened on this stage on the first day!

- The Prodigy: Ok, one of my favorite 90´s band, they rock! we had a blast even though it was raining a lot, very worth it!

Going to see Bloc paty in the other stage it started to rain really heavily, tropical rain sort of type, even though we had raincoats, we got pretty wet… they played “It´s raining men” and we started dancing around… afterwords, when it got better, they played “Walking on sunshine” and we kept on dancing not to feel more wet and unconfortable than what we were. I was OK, but my sister got really really wet.

-Bloc party: this is a band that I would so recommend to see live if you have the chance. Its a great show and they sound just like they do on recordings…wonderful… it was my second time seeing them and so worth the rain and everything.

- Slipknot: to finish with a cherry on top, this amazing band. I didn´t know I knew all the old songs, hahaha… they are great, an incredible show with a lot of lights, effects and fire!

After that we left Nuremberg to go back to Wuerzburg. We actually changed in the hauptbahnhof and I threw away my shoes, which were completely ruined and wet.

Conclusions: Amazing experience, a lot of great food, great city, great times, guitar hero and great bands…but, I´m not quite sure I would go back to Rock im Park, it was hard to move from one stage to another and the location was too small for so many people, I couldn´t even see Korn. Next year, I´ll try the Reading or Leeds Festival, maybe the one in Budapest, we will see…

If you want to see pics of this experience go to:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029963&id=210100424&l=9a2d131627