Sonisphere - The best laid plans...
The last couple of days were so well planned. I would go to my work do on Thursday, sleep in late-ish at the lovely hotel so that I would have lots of energy for Sonisphere on Friday. On Saturday I would then collect Izzy from her grandparents and get her back to the idlands in time for Lauren's birthday party in the mid-afternoon. It didn't quite happen like that.
It all started to go wrong at about 1am on Friday when I discovered the (very noisy) air conditioning in my hotel room didn't turn off. I got one of the staff up from reception, and he couldn't turn it off either, although he confirmed that they get a lot of complaints about it. I refrained from asking him why they hadn't fixed it then. I was too drunk to drive home, so spent the next six hours trying (and failing) to sleep. In the end I got up at half past five, thinking I could drive to Mum's and get a couple of hours' kip there.
And then the stomach upset struck, and I couldn't get out of the room for about the next hour. I was very very ill. Still, after a while it relented enough for me to make it to the car, and in turn to Mum's, where I was ill again. :-( I managed to get about an hour's sleep before John arrived. I then spent a couple of hours repeatedly being ill and trying to get the strength together to go out. Fortunately some motivation coincided with an abatement in the tummy bug (which was certainly aided by my lovely husband's trip out for some Imodium) and we got ourselves up to Knebworth and in the back gate without further ado (or, indeed, any queuing - yay for local knowledge!).
We headed for the bar, as although I wasn't planning to drink, I had a husband who was. It was also a good place to meet up with people. Texts were exchanged, and I met up with Pete, who I used to wargame with 20 years ago and hadn't seen since. Hasn't changed a bit. He was with Eric, who I used to have a big thing for (which was repeatedly thwarted by my father and my mate Rachel) and also hadn't seen in about 20 years. We were then joined by Lisa, who was part of the same Stevenage rock crowd "back in the day" and always lots of fun, and had a good old catch up. That was really nice, although I fear John and Pete's girlfriend may have felt a little left out.
Then Pete bought me a beer. Hell, why wouldn't he have done? However, that meant I had to drink it, and that made me very ill again. This unfortunately meant that when I bumped into Simon (again, old mate from my teens) I couldn't stop to chat for more than a minute or so as I was heading directly to the loo.
Some time later I caught up with the others again and we watched Diamond Head, Anthrax and Megadeth. Diamond Head were rather good, and I should have chatted less and listened more, tbh. I'd been really excited about seeing Anthrax, but whilst they were okay, they didn't really live up to expectations. They didn't play any of my favourites, and Joey Belladonna wearing a smart shirt really bugged me. You can't play thrash dressed like that! Megadeth weren't really my thing, and I yawned all the way through as I was soooo tired.
Despite that, John and I went much further forward for Slayer. They were as brilliant as ever, and I managed to forget feeling ill for a while - although I had no sense of balance so had to hang on to John whilst headbanging. And then I threw myself into a moshpit. What the hell was I thinking? Ill, exhausted me and several big blokes. I was thrown about and fell over a fair few times before I came to my senses, but it was still good fun. First one in a lot of years...
Now feeling bruised, tired and ill, we went to find John some food and have a rest. We met up with my old school friend Kriss for only a couple of minutes given the time constraints, and then headed off to see Metallica. They were really good. John and I disagreed on viewing points, so went our separate ways. I worked my way up to near the front, and really enjoyed the first half of an excellent set. There's nothing quite like the opening riff of "Seek And Destroy" played live. Unfortunately I was in with a bunch of idiots who were singing so loudly that I couldn't actually hear Hetfield at all, so after I while I got fed up and went in search of my husband as I was missing him terribly. Several songs later we found each other and hugged at the back. I wish I'd been closer for the Magnificent Seven version of "Am I Evil", with members of the Big Four, Diamond Head, Sepultura and Exodus, but it was better to be with my man.
The plan had been to stay around for Hayseed Dixie, but I was soooo exhausted. I really had nothing more to give the festival, so we decided to head home. Cue a (surprisingly pleasant) 4 mile walk through fields, lanes and streets. Still quicker than trying to get a taxi, and I suspect rather quicker than sitting in the queue to get out of the car park. Then bed. Blissful sleep.
John left at 9am as he had to get back home to pick a parcel up from the post office. I was going to get up to go and collect Izzy. Then I dozed off....and woke up at 4pm. Oh dear. So she missed her party, which makes me sad. And John ended up going to pick her up, therefore doing a helluva lot of driving today, which was also a shame. But I have at least shifted whatever it was that upset my stomach. I really need to turn in now, it's going to be a long day tomorrow.
Goodnight all.
It all started to go wrong at about 1am on Friday when I discovered the (very noisy) air conditioning in my hotel room didn't turn off. I got one of the staff up from reception, and he couldn't turn it off either, although he confirmed that they get a lot of complaints about it. I refrained from asking him why they hadn't fixed it then. I was too drunk to drive home, so spent the next six hours trying (and failing) to sleep. In the end I got up at half past five, thinking I could drive to Mum's and get a couple of hours' kip there.
And then the stomach upset struck, and I couldn't get out of the room for about the next hour. I was very very ill. Still, after a while it relented enough for me to make it to the car, and in turn to Mum's, where I was ill again. :-( I managed to get about an hour's sleep before John arrived. I then spent a couple of hours repeatedly being ill and trying to get the strength together to go out. Fortunately some motivation coincided with an abatement in the tummy bug (which was certainly aided by my lovely husband's trip out for some Imodium) and we got ourselves up to Knebworth and in the back gate without further ado (or, indeed, any queuing - yay for local knowledge!).
We headed for the bar, as although I wasn't planning to drink, I had a husband who was. It was also a good place to meet up with people. Texts were exchanged, and I met up with Pete, who I used to wargame with 20 years ago and hadn't seen since. Hasn't changed a bit. He was with Eric, who I used to have a big thing for (which was repeatedly thwarted by my father and my mate Rachel) and also hadn't seen in about 20 years. We were then joined by Lisa, who was part of the same Stevenage rock crowd "back in the day" and always lots of fun, and had a good old catch up. That was really nice, although I fear John and Pete's girlfriend may have felt a little left out.
Then Pete bought me a beer. Hell, why wouldn't he have done? However, that meant I had to drink it, and that made me very ill again. This unfortunately meant that when I bumped into Simon (again, old mate from my teens) I couldn't stop to chat for more than a minute or so as I was heading directly to the loo.
Some time later I caught up with the others again and we watched Diamond Head, Anthrax and Megadeth. Diamond Head were rather good, and I should have chatted less and listened more, tbh. I'd been really excited about seeing Anthrax, but whilst they were okay, they didn't really live up to expectations. They didn't play any of my favourites, and Joey Belladonna wearing a smart shirt really bugged me. You can't play thrash dressed like that! Megadeth weren't really my thing, and I yawned all the way through as I was soooo tired.
Despite that, John and I went much further forward for Slayer. They were as brilliant as ever, and I managed to forget feeling ill for a while - although I had no sense of balance so had to hang on to John whilst headbanging. And then I threw myself into a moshpit. What the hell was I thinking? Ill, exhausted me and several big blokes. I was thrown about and fell over a fair few times before I came to my senses, but it was still good fun. First one in a lot of years...
Now feeling bruised, tired and ill, we went to find John some food and have a rest. We met up with my old school friend Kriss for only a couple of minutes given the time constraints, and then headed off to see Metallica. They were really good. John and I disagreed on viewing points, so went our separate ways. I worked my way up to near the front, and really enjoyed the first half of an excellent set. There's nothing quite like the opening riff of "Seek And Destroy" played live. Unfortunately I was in with a bunch of idiots who were singing so loudly that I couldn't actually hear Hetfield at all, so after I while I got fed up and went in search of my husband as I was missing him terribly. Several songs later we found each other and hugged at the back. I wish I'd been closer for the Magnificent Seven version of "Am I Evil", with members of the Big Four, Diamond Head, Sepultura and Exodus, but it was better to be with my man.
The plan had been to stay around for Hayseed Dixie, but I was soooo exhausted. I really had nothing more to give the festival, so we decided to head home. Cue a (surprisingly pleasant) 4 mile walk through fields, lanes and streets. Still quicker than trying to get a taxi, and I suspect rather quicker than sitting in the queue to get out of the car park. Then bed. Blissful sleep.
John left at 9am as he had to get back home to pick a parcel up from the post office. I was going to get up to go and collect Izzy. Then I dozed off....and woke up at 4pm. Oh dear. So she missed her party, which makes me sad. And John ended up going to pick her up, therefore doing a helluva lot of driving today, which was also a shame. But I have at least shifted whatever it was that upset my stomach. I really need to turn in now, it's going to be a long day tomorrow.
Goodnight all.