England/Download 2016 Part 3
Avatar (from Sweden) were playing the main stage on the second day (Saturday), but they were on at 11:00 or 12:00, so we decided to skip seeing them and have a sleep in instead. There were no other bands we wanted to see until Rival Sons and their set weren’t until 15:40, so we went to the wellness center to relax. We got in the hot tub and it was the best way possible to start our day. Because of all the headbanging the day before, I had severe neck pain (okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad but I was really sore) so Malin gave me a neck massage! LOVELY! We tried the steam room but it was way too hot and steamy so we cooled down in the pool…
When we got to the festival Rival Sons got on stage just as we arrived. Malin went to get cash and food and I went to see Rival Sons play. They so much better than I expected (and I have to add my expectations were very high). The sound was just perfect and his voice… If I could, I’d marry it! I’m in love!!!! I got to hear all the songs that I wanted and they played a few ones from their new album that was released the day before. I had goose bumps from start to finish (and I even have some as I’m tying this…).
When the show was over I went to find Malin. She was still in the queue for the cash machine after 40 minutes and she was not happy about it. She introduced me to the man who was standing behind her. Patrik from Sundsvall, Sweden. Apparently they started talking and at first they were speaking English. For like 20 minutes. Then they realized they were both from Sweden.
When it was almost our turn at the ATM, a man who worked with the machines came up to us and said that the other queue was moving faster. “It is really good that you are telling us this just now” I said and laughed. He then turned to Malin and said that he had told her that earlier, but apparently he hadn’t. After some more trouble with the ATM we finally had the cash we needed and went to get some food. Hangry af. Finally we were getting fooooooood!!!! :D I had a hot dog with LOTS of mustard. A guy who saw me put all that mustard on came up to me. “You’ve got the right idea, love” he said and laughed.
We talked to Karlsson and Jonathan for a few minutes, before me and Malin decided to look for the tattoo tent. We ended up at the area where there was a really small stage and a bar. Malin got something to drink and I watched the band. They were really good and I found out later that it was Tesseract, who played the Encore Stage earlier that day.
Finally we found the Tattoo tent. We went in and started looking at the suggested tattoos on the table and found the “Download Dog”. We both liked it and we looked at each other. “Are we doing it?” “Yeah!!” “Are we really doing it?” “Hell yeah!!”. We started counting our money, to make sure we had enough. They only accepted cash and it would be £60 each. We had £60 + £58. SO CLOSE! We ended up asking someone if they wanted to buy half a bottle of wine (what was left in Malin’s bottle that she bought earlier). They didn’t want the wine but gave us the missing £2.
We finally got our “Bromance tattoo” that we’ve been talking about for so long. When we walked back to the main area we looked at each other, shaking our heads like “I can’t believe we just did this”. Finally!!! :D <3 Suddenly Malin said something we say a lot: “Whaddup Dawg!!!”… It’s unbelievable that we didn’t realize this before, but we both got it at the same time. I was so happy I screamed and jumped around. “AAAAAH OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!”. This tattoo now have got even more meaning than before.
Last year we said we’d get married (for fun, not for real) at Download since they had an inflatable church. But since we didn’t stay at campsite we didn’t have access to it. We decided that this tattoo was like “getting married” so we had to go on our honeymoon – the Ferris wheel. The view was just amazing! <3 Best honeymoon ever!
The last band on Saturday was Black Sabbath. I think it’s so funny when they play N.I.B and the lyrics go:
“Look into my eyes, you will see who I am
my name is Lucifer, please take my hand”
When they finish it, Ozzy shouts “GOD BLESS YOU ALL!”.
Another perfect day/night at Download2016, that I will carry with me, on my ankle, for the rest of my life.
To be continued…
