Scorpions, Anathema, Saxon, Blue Oyster Cult, FM, Toseland , No Hot Ashes, Ramblin Man Fair, Maidstone, Kent 25-7-15

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An early start on the train to London, to meet Rob. He drives us to the festival (Thanks mate). Weather is fantastic ! We get our wristbands ; VIP ones i won via Saxon FB page, & i ask for it to not be too tight ( Rob says “He suffers from bad circulation!”) The reason for not being tight is i’m only going for the Saturday & Rob & Ady will do both days….so i can take it off easy & Ady can use it tomorrow 😉 (Not that i’d told him…i’m just good like that 😉 ) Have a quick look around the festival site. It seems a very nice size. First band we see are No Hot Ashes. I’d seen them before & my opinion hasn’t changed 😉 Then it’s Toseland. They go down pretty well, but leave me a little cold as i find it rather formulated & have seen it all before. (sorry). Next it’s FM. Simply quality. You know what you’re gonna get. Then it’s the mighty Saxon. Such consummate pros. Easily the best band of the day for me so far. Then it’s B.O.C. It’s the 3rd time i’ve seen them & i still just don’t get them. I suggest to Rob we go to the other stage for Anathema. Great choice. It felt so much better than last night in Sheffield & the audience seemed more into it. I made a right schoolboy error though as my camera battery died 🙁 So from then onwards, no video, just a couple of photos. Back to the main stage for Scorpions. Great set list. Make it Real, The Zoo, Coast to Coast! Then some real oldies jam “Top of the Bill/ Steamrock Fever/Speedys Coming/Catch Your Train” It then dipped a bit. The whistling song !! Thank god they brought it back up with Blackout , Rock you like a Hurricane etc ! Over all, a great day. Oh yeah, forgot, we had some great burgers & sweet potato fries. Expensive, but well worth it 😉DSC04561DSC04562

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Took a while to get out the car park, but, as Rob knows his way around Maidstone, we went a different way to the other cars & cut off some journey time. By now i was truly knackered & was dozing off in the car. As i said, i think i could have fallen asleep standing up i was that tired. Hell, i even managed to sleep in the same room as a heavy snorer 😉

P.S. On Sunday morning Rob made some Bacon & Egg butties. I really shouldn’t have stayed as i got to the train station with literally 1 minute to spare before my train left ! That could have been a very expensive butty ! Also, all afternoon, i had the most evil eggy farts 😉

Guano Apes, Scorpions, @ Mares Vivas festival, Portugal, 17-7-09

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Upon entering the venue, poor old DJ slipped & made a mess of his arm. There are some who say it could have been deliberate to get some “treatment” off the young female nurse 😉2009_0718guanomaresvivas00092009_0718guanomaresvivas00142009_0718guanomaresvivas0018

I think this is the only time i’ve met Daniela. Thanks to Jorge for helping out with the pass situation 😉

Guano Apes were good, but the Scorpions totally kicked their asses 😉

Click HERE for LOADS more photos etc

Monsters Of Rock ,Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions,Def Leppard, Motorhead, Bad News,Warlock, @ Castle Donington 16-8-86

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Brilliant day with great bands. Def Leppard was a very emotional affair as it was the “Return Of The Thunder God”. Scorpions had amazing sound quality, as did Ozzy. Andrew was fucked up BEFORE we even got in there ! A mini bus load of us went to this one. At the time, some of us were into rum & black, Andy just over did it ! He ended up falling asleep, laying on his side (recovery position almost lol) & vomitting…..there was dark coloured dribbles down his cheeks. When he actually came around, he was shaking. Either due to being cold or, more likely, maybe even alcohol poisoning ! Obviously, when he asked me to hold him, i told him to fuck off! lol Over the years, both he & the other lads, “progressed” to taking in boxes of wine ! Myself, i didn’t really induldge as i’d mostly be either driving us there or needed a clear head to record the sets 😉 Donny 861Donny 863

Years later i managed to find full audio recordings of every band that played. Sounds really good quality 🙂 

Scorpions, Royal Centre, Nottingham 31-1-84

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I’d wanted to see the Scorpions for ages. Unfortunately, the Royal Centre was the only place i could get to.(we hadn’t started going to Sheffield yet & i’m sure that would have been better ) If i’m honest, i’ve always thought that venue is rather lifeless. But beggars can’t be choosers, so have to make do.  It was a cracking set list including all the classics from over the years. When i think about it nowadays, it was pretty much a perfect set list :

Bad Boys Running WildBlackout,  Loving You Sunday Morning, Make It Real, Lovedrive,  Don’t Make No Promises (Your Body Can’t Keep), Coast to Coast, Always Somewhere, Still Loving You, Rock You Like a Hurricane,Can’t Live Without You, Coming Home , Another Piece of Meat ,The Zoo ,Can’t Get Enough ,Dynamite